RDM

Wow - 11+ hours without a comment in Banter? Is everyone hung over from too many IPAs?

Yea - we had an old Craftsman push mower for 30+ years back home. Dad bought it in the late 60's. Was a plain-Jane model with 21" cut and automatic push (that being me!). Had a cast aluminum deck so it was very light and easy to push. We changed the oil every few years and it never missed a beat until long after I moved away. It was pre-safety BS too - no blade interlock or any of the other stuff that is just more things to break. All the junk on mowers these days is just more stuff to wear out. I still have my two Gravely walk behind mowers too - one is a 1962 and the other a 1969. Don't make them like that anymore too. No safety stuff other than the owner's manual between the operator's ears. I still use them on occasion for nostalgic reminiscing. The triple gang reel mower attachment provides a 75" width of cut, and endless gawks from passerby's. That said, they can't compete with my Kubota BX - no cup holder on the walk behinds. (profile pic shows the winter setup).

Happy Birthday youngster, and many more!

Cool - keep it! That $800 bucks will go far compared to payments on another truck. That's where I'm at too. Costs almost nothing but to drive it. Replaced both tie rod ends and the idler arm on mine a long time ago. However, all the bushings are still original and the shocks too, although as a group they are shot. Been contemplating having all bushings replaced with urethane, replacing the shocks and the brake lines too. Even if it costs a few grand, still a lot cheaper than payments. Plus, I'll be paying for my wife's vehicle for a couple more years - the 7th of 7 that I've owned. Bought her a one year old SUV 15 months ago. Since then it's been driven 62 miles...

Yup - agree. Something 2-3 years old is still barely broken in. With the rapid depreciation of new vehicles these days it's hard to justify buying something new. I'm nearly 60 and have only owned 7 vehicles in my entire life. Still own 5 of the 7 now. Oldest is my 91 Chevy Silverado I purchased new in July 91 for $17K loaded. Only reason I purchased new one then was A.) couldn't find any used worth buying and B.) knew I was going to keep it a long time. Didn't think I'd still have it 29 years later. It has no rust, 185k on the odo and the only thing major I've done is rebuild the tranny and replace the intake manifold gasket. Needs some new seals and a gasket here and there, but overall is in good shape. Would love to have a newer truck, but the sedimental attachment is too strong to part ways with the one I have now.

Looks scrumptious Mrs. J. My wife is Asian-born and makes all kinds of curry. She has curry from Japan, Thailand and India. It's so darn good I always overindulge. What you have there looks like some of the curry my cook in India used to make. He had about 20 kinds of curry powder in my kitchen. Ranged from medium to beyond hot. He used to get a read on how I was feeling before cooking to get the spicy right. India has the best carrots in the world too (they are red, not orange), which go great with all curry. Same thing when we lived in Thailand. Our cook had all kinds of curry powder. They have various kinds of green, red, yellow, brown and orange curry - and some of it will light you on fire. What you have there in the picture just looks fantastic.

Wow - already up to 76 here with 68dp.

Don't recall ever seeing anything like this in May. There's a lot of navy blue there... Interesting that the border of NY and PA is not under a warning too... https://www.weather.gov

That's sad Mappy. So close, but so far away. Looked at the fiber coverage map and there's a sharp cutoff up towards the M-D IVO Parr's Ridge. Similar situation my brother had near my home in semi-rural Ohio just north of Dayton. He lives just outside ATT DSL coverage (less than a mile). Was on DISH for years with very slow data rates. With no sign of fiber coming anytime soon folks in his area generated a unified campaign and lobbied for better service. After a couple years ATT deployed a cellular upgrade that now provides the option to go with a fixed cellular AP option. Provides Mbps speeds to fixed APs which is light years ahead of what he had with DISH. Those fixed cellular options for semi-HSI can be setup fairly quickly if pushed. Surprised MD doesn't push for the same in under served areas. Not sure we could ever live without fiber again. Just checked our FIOS speed and we're at 82/79Mbps (down/up).

Oh my, really? One would have thought the school districts would have raised this up the chain. With a coordinated response the technology exists to tactically establish hotspots and the associated linkages to major trunks quickly. The large providers and elements of the USG have those capabilities. Hopefully this will be part of the lessons learned that are documented and improved upon for the next time. (perhaps wishful thinking on the latter) Didn't realize parts of BaltCo are not yet connected. The Dulles Corridor is singularly THE most connected data spot on Earth, yet our fellow citizens so close by have no Internet at all? Sad.

Hey - hat head hurts too! In 9th grade two of us needed the 1 XL helmet in the inventory. (my hat size is around 9.5) We flipped for it and I lost. (no joking, that's how we decided). Had to wear a mere large that crushed my skull when I pulled it down to normal position. Couldn't stand it more than a couple mins. Most of the time the bottom of the face mask was around my nose. It looked every bit as goofy as it sounds. Never been able to wear normal baseball hats. Looks like a beanie cap up top.

It has happened, albeit I'm referring to the infamous year without summer in 1816, and this ain't 1816. None the less, snow is snow, no matter when it falls and if we do get anything this weekend, even snow TV, we'll all be jumping for joy. We need something to release the tension in the COVID and Banter forums. There's a limit to what yeast, malt, barley and hops can do alone.

Nice job on the deck. Just a thought... Our deck is about 900 sq feet and the annual power washing is quite a chore even with a 3000 psi gas powered pressure washer with extension hose. For years I just used a wand with adjustable nozzle. Slow and tedious at best and when adjusted to a fan spray pattern the pressure is not equal throughout the pattern. The result is stripes on the deck boards that look fugly. Bought a power broom attachment and tried that, but the 3 nozzles dilute the pressure just a bit too much. (looks like this - https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200747603_200747603 ) Because of the reduced pressure on each nozzle, ended up having to slow down and/or do repeated passes to get the boards clean, which takes too much time. Three years ago we bought the ideal power washer accessory everyone with a deck should have. Is called a Rotating Surface Cleaner attachment. There's various sizes and designs. Ours looks something like this - https://www.homedepot.com/p/MTD-Genuine-Factory-Parts-15-in-4200-PSI-MAX-Quick-Connect-Rotating-Surface-Cleaner-for-Gas-Pressure-Washers-490-245-V003/310449923 It really works well. With two nozzles that rotate around inside the housing, the pressure is diluted, but not too much like with the power broom. The nozzles rotate around very fast under the housing and really do a great job. It cuts down the time needed to do our deck boards by at least half. Still have to use the adjustable wand on the railings, which is tedious at best. If you and/or anyone else does not have a rotating surface cleaner, highly recommend one. They are well worth the expense in saved time and energy. Much easier to move around than a power wand because it rests directly on the boards. The consistent distance between the nozzles and the deck boards also provides much more consistent results than a wand. Good luck.

In 20 plus years here and on Eastern before we've all seen a lot of things. There's some thin lines on certain topics that are subjective in content and context, such as what is construed as politics or not, with a focused effort on avoiding the same. The one thing that's never been a problem before nor tolerated is racist comments. You've crossed a very clear line here now twice with the mere innuendo. Does not matter if you are a red tag or some other perceived elevated title in the hierarchy, your comments, whoever you are, have no place here.

What does race have to do with anything? Ignorance does not know race or gender and the profound lack of civility and objectivity being displayed here today is sad. Don't need to throw kerosene on a bonfire.

Is that top shelf really your frig? It better resembles the Craft Beer section at Wegman's. Impressive. See what appears to be some more tucked away in the upper left hand corner. Is that perhaps your special stash? When I lived overseas long ago, we had a refrigerator in our supply room to, ahem... "store batteries". (there were a few batteries in it, honest) On the side of the frig was a "suggestion box" that had a lid on it with a slot to "put your suggestion". The slot was actually where you put your mitts to lift the lid to get access to the lever for the tap. The bottom of the box was open to allow the good times to flow. The full keg was kept in the fresh food section along with the bottle of CO-2 and regulator. It took some dexterity to lift the lid and pull the lever with one hand while strategically placing your iced mug under the box so as to not spill any. We kept the one liter mugs in the freezer section "with the batteries" (to order a one liter Pils in German is ein mas). The ability to fill one's mug with flawless form and flow was a right to passage on being accepted as part of the crew. Heaven help you if you spilled any in the process (sacrilegious!) for the condemnation was immediate and with full contempt! Over time the "suggestion box" became famous for a multitude of people who lived a worked there plus those who periodically visited. For those who submitted too many suggestions after a hard day, it became infamous. When we moved the facility from one location to another the new facility kept pestering us to send them the frig and suggestion box. We held out and made sure the frig was THE last thing to go and that it's departure was with full honors for all those who served before us. We ensured the keg was emptied with distinction and full pomp and circumstance before it departed (hiccup/burp). Did you ever think about adding a suggestion box to the side of your frig?

Only 1.13" here just N of Vienna. Where was this setup a mere 2 months ago?

Great way to look at it. I fear we will make up for this -NAO cool spell in a month or so and pay the price with AN temps for a while...

Yep - and for some the protection comes in the form of one of those nice white jackets with no sleeves. They come in any color you want as long as you like white. After they put one on the protected, they put em in a round room with padded walls and tell them to stand in the corner. Keeps em occupied for a while...

That poster has significant issues. You did well by not trying to address any of them. Less is more with some...

Concur. A pandemic is also not like the Mississippi and its levies, not even remotely so. The science behind the mitigation strategies are going to save an untold number of lives, if we have the patience as a society to sustain the same. Had we done nothing and just "let nature take its course" the results would have been cataclysmic. Remain concerned that many areas are prematurely pulling the plug, but I'm also empathetic to those who are in a dire state financially.

Thanks so much! That's an awesome site. Didn't know about Scaled Instruments, nor how many replacement parts they have a available. Definitely worth $21 to get a new solar array. Appreciate the lead and suspect others will too.

Good morning, If you haven't done so already, try cleaning the solar array with a rag and water periodically (if you can easily access it). Suggest not using windex or anything with a solvent in it. The ammonia may do more harm than good on the plastic cover over the array. I clean mine every couple months now. It helps some, or so it seems. But the cloudiness of the plastic cover is getting worse and at some point I'll need to have the array replaced (if that's an option) or just buy a new unit. Davis is probably betting on the 2nd option on purpose.

Moving this over here... That's about where I'm at on the solar array too. Been cleaning off the array with water every couple months to try to baby it along. But the crazing is getting worse and overall the diminishing performance indicates it's time to look at a replacement. Gotten nearly 10 years about of our Davis Vantage Vue, which I guess isn't bad. Wondering if moving up to a Pro is worth the expense, or perhaps trying one of the options from Ambient Weather or Acurite. Their color displays look entertaining. Those 2 and Davis seem to be the big 3 in the weenie wannabe home weather market. If you or anyone else has suggestions, I'm all ears. Heck, if I still had the head unit for my old Heathkit base station I'd put it up for nostalgic purposes.

The solar unit on my Davis outdoor unit is probably approaching it's last leg too. At the point I'm having to replace the backup battery with increasing frequency as it takes on more of the load. Dunno why Davis doesn't put glass over the solar array. Any plastic cover like they use will craze over with time as the plasticizers in the plastic cover outgas and becomes brittle. A glass cover would last nearly indefinitely and would not add that much to the overall cost.