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AH! A Kiwi...! That explains it... Well, there is a shortage of volcanoes and hot springs in my part of Texas, so you'll have to give me a pass on not snapping to that one... I've lived in a few houses without a bathtub as well... in fact, the one I'm building is designed from the ground up...

Part 4: Little Friends Charles little dog Sambra has become a regular fixture at The Ranch, and it seems the only time she is not velcro'd to her Best Bud, or tearing around the place chasing the local rabbits, is when Charles lets me take her around on errands. Watching Sambra chase a rabbit...

Part 3 Fencing Me In (Or "Them" Out?) The whole month was not spent on my knees in the bathroom.... unlike a few weekends in New Orleans... The wet winter has a few happy side effects... One - The rains have filled every pond and tank in the county. A lot of livestock will not be drinking...

Part 2 - Low Riders Living into your 80's presents a lot of challenges, many of them involving gravity... just getting from Point A to Point B turns into a risky trip skirting catastrophe if you fall so part of the whole "Aging in Place" philosophy is to find your Elders regular paths thru...

MAN... this getting old stuff is getting...Old... almost a month has passed offshore now and I forgot all about updating my Blog... it has been BUSY out here on The Galactic Rim... so without further ado... Part 1 Mud Month March is truly Mud Month in my part of Texas... cool and wet... all...

Happy New Year, Gentle Readers! (I'm a little late and back at sea as usual, but you have to remember that even at the speed of light, it takes a long time for things to get posted from here on The Galactic Rim) As a reward for your patience, here's an UPDATE for those of you following the...

Hi Brandi! How's every little thing? The "Hydraulink" is a self-contained hydraulic toplink that allows you to quickly adjust the length, it is NOT a hydraulic system that can lift a load... I use it on my box-blade and forks.... It allows me to adjust the angle of the forks or blade from the...

Photos - It seems there is some sort of tech issue getting my photos to post properly from out here on The Galactic Rim... I can't seem to edit the existing post either... So here are the photos in question, in their own post: PEX Plumbing and Black-iron Gas Pipes The utility shed...

Gentle Readers- Please excuse the hiatus, Friends.... I have been continuing the work on the project but a close friend of mine, currently discharging his legal obligations to Society as an unwilling guest of the Federal Gummint has been a daily beneficiary of my keyboard time. Surprisingly...

Well, Gentle Readers, it was another outstanding month at the Ranch! A milestone was reached and are now proud owners of a septic system, thus the Trinity is now complete...with a roof, electricity, and a place to poop. Having lived rough-in-the-field off and on for many years now, I...

Kicked major bootie at The Old Goat Ranch this month... I first had to renew some safety training....Cold Water Survival and Helicopter Escape Training... I can't believe it's been 4 years since my last go-round, but it has...and as much as I would have rather been working at the Ranch, these...

...and direct from the "Serve-All" in beautiful, cosmopolitan, Bedias, Texas, I bring you the latest instalment of: ....Why I love Small Towns #8,302..."The Dogs Know Their Place"

...WOW...!!!! There is actually some bandwidth today!!!!! QUICK....some pictures!!!!

...and some views of the inside of the house...

Here is the ramp my in-laws now refer to as their "Runway"...

Back at work...and the "Gnet Gnomes" seem to be having an off day...so how about a couple of photos from last go-round... Me and Precious Bride call this one "Bedias Gothic"

Aight Gentle Readers....I've been home and am now back at sea....and more progress has been made... The Glory that was Spring in Texas has matured into the all-consuming heat of Summer...the stock tanks filled by the generous rains of the past few months are starting to retreat from their...

Well...I started off quiet because of the work...and then because there were just no words... I am an associate member of West EMS... ..it was a tragic month down here in Texas...our Emergency Services community was dealt an enormous blow with the plant blast in West...but true to the calling...

Got a good day in today with my "Wood Butchers" Charles and Marty....got the King Rafters hung, cut all the common rafters, and even got some of the girders hung up as well... Sweet working in a Texas spring day... BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!! T

More Adventures in Homebuilding - ...so I sez to Precious Bride, I sez.... "...Hunnybun...by the time I'm done with that concrete, you'll be able to do your housework with a firehose, a yard blower and a roll of duct-tape..." $800 worth of dangerous chemistry, three days of scrubbing and...

AIGHT... I've rested enough.....It's time to get off this cruise ship, get on home and GET BACK TO WORK... See you all on the Flip Side.... BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!! T

Pine, especially Southern Yellow Pine, has been used for-EVER for siding...a classic ship-lap pine siding, known as "116 Car Siding" is named that because it was used to side rail cars... A good coat of paint or stain and you should have a beautiful and durable finished wall... Go with it... T

Here is a photo of Precious Bride on our 1990 JD 870....AKA "The Little Green Giant". Gotta love that Texas Girl....She thinks my tractors sexy....:p ...but when she gets a hankering for seat time....I must content myself with other work...

Ah yes...More Questions....Excellent, Young Padawan...the only bad question is the one un-asked... Screws - Nails are excellent fasteners when used in SHEAR....your fastener engineering assumes that the the forces exerted on the nail are perpendicular to the long axis of the nail (from the...

It's been perfect working weather here in Texas...my craftsmen have turned in an outstanding performance, and I have scheduled concrete for tomorrow,. Knowing my luck, this should trigger a 100-year flood...Stay tuned...!

So much for Pole Dancing...a total of 23 6x6 treated poles wound up closely resembling the Plan... Schweeeeeeet.....! The rain has let up tho the north wind thats drying things out makes it a bit chilly in the morning...just enough to make a jacket, hat and a cup of hot coffee during our...

I may move slow, but I am persistant...ground is broken...the "Barn-Do-Minium" is underway Its taken a while. to get to this point..30 years, in fact. ...and you know something? I gotta be living a charmed life when I can tell Precious Bride I'm heading off to enjoy a little Pole Dancing...

To all you Dog Lovers....Thanks...

So...I need some help here... Tho I have a lot of experience with drawing programs like "Microstation" or "Autocad" and can do more tricks with "Sketchup" than a monkey on a mile long vine, I cannot draw freehand to save my azz... ...and I need a logo for the ranch...."The Old Goat Ranch"...

Anyone know where to buy a plain, old-fashioned, unlined denim "Chore Coat"?:confused: ...some folks call them "Barn Coats"... Everything seems to be lined or made out of super heavy canvas....or sold by L.L. Bean at Yuppie prices... I used to get them at Dickies...but even they seem to have...

Tho I have had worked with natural gas plumbing and appliances in one form or another all my life, commercial and residential, I will have to install propane out at The Ranch.... A quick search turns up multiple used tanks for sale, some with gas... This raises a lot of questions....:confused...

Hello Neighbors! Has anyone added external hydraulics to their 870 and can you share a few pointers? My 870 does not currently have any external hydraulics or a FEL. My main intent is to drive a hydraulic top-n-tilt tho I would like to have enough capacity to serve a log-splitter in the...

Hello Neighbors- I have been lurking for a while and what has impressed me the most about this forum is the good humor of the members and the good sense evident in the advice. At the urging of Eddie Walker, I am going to try my hand at a thread, and tho I am a Greenhorn dont be gentle, as I...