Other hobbies and interests?

[Swingpure]

Funny story...
In March I had Da 'Rona. They say that pulverized my immune system and allowed the valley fever to come back. They also gave me a lot of steroids over that time that really flatten your immune system too. No fault - we didn't know we were dealing with VF at the time.

Now I've taken a 6 week course of Fluconizole 200mg x2 a day. Beat the VF but that leaves your immune system flat still. And then the kid comes home from college - with Corona. So this will be my second ride through Covid land.

Still I think 2020 has been a bigger blessing than a disaster. You just can't let your spirits get down. We stay self isolated and don't venture out much, mask up when we do and stay conscious of people around us and use Lysol spray on things like the gas pump when we are done. Picking up to go orders is interesting. "Put the food on the ground in front of the truck and step away."

Now I'm about to go out and socially isolate in the desert with some 4wd therapy at least 1,000 meters in all directions from another soul.

You must be waiting for New Years and 2020 to end. Funny at the start of the year I thought 2020 sound like it was going to be an amazing year.

When you drive in the desert, are thorns a big concern, or are the trails pretty clear? When I used to hike in the desert, I used to think about how my poor tires on my ATV would fair in the desert.

Sponsored

 

[Swingpure]

We were out clearing a ski/hike trail this weekend and we camped there. More photos are on da dogs blog.

We heat our place 98% with wood. My Fall and Spring, up until the black flies show up, is pretty well taken up with cutting down, cutting up, hauling, splitting and stacking trees. Your extension saw would come in handy at times.

We go through about 15 Face Cords a season.

 

[Bsenecal]

Current Hobbies?
Amateur Radio (Ham) Mostly 2/70 but soon into HF
Off Road Driving / Four Wheeling (No Rock Crawling)
Hiking / Camping
Tequila Aficionado / Collecting
RE-Learning German
RE-Learning Spanish
DIY Home Repair - Currently working on a "Speakeasy" in our home where the living room use to be.

I have a passion for C.E.R.T. and Community Preparedness but not currently active there since we relocated. Been waiting for the wife's knee replacement and my Valley Fever (fungal infection of the lungs - desert people will understand) to get better. Soon I should be re-entering that world.

Reading through all of the hobbies here I can say there area a lot of commonalities with former interests. Things I just haven't had time for lately:
Hunting
Fishing
Model Aircraft
Rockets
Photography (I still take pictures just with a cell phone, no more fancy gear)
Audio / Video Production
Wood working
Custom Knife Handles
RC Cars
Beer Making
Oil Painting
Martial Arts

Wow, you are a very busy active man. Very impressive.
Brian

 

[Bsenecal]

And

Yum yum. Enjoy!
Brian

 

[gfitzge2]

Those are awesome. I like that clean look.

The Mach 1s have hood and side graphics. But I like the mechanical things that are on them. So since it has the graphics, I will probably go all out with the Fighter Jet Grey and the appearance package. That adds orange stripes and calipers and some orange on the seats.
It should look something like this.

 

[Arly]

We heat our place 98% with wood. My Fall and Spring, up until the black flies show up, is pretty well taken up with cutting down, cutting up, hauling, splitting and stacking trees. Your extension saw would come in handy at times. We go through about 15 Face Cords a season.

I'm a class B certified sawyer with the NFS and have been for many years, but I'd guess 99% of the folks here say "whats that?" But I hardly ever bring my normal saws along. Pole-saws have become my "go to tool" in the woods and I own 3 of them. We clear trails and over most summers, use between 7 to 10 gallons of fuel in them.

 

[GTGallop]

When you drive in the desert, are thorns a big concern, or are the trails pretty clear? When I used to hike in the desert, I used to think about how my poor tires on my ATV would fair in the desert.

No issues with thorns.
Air down to about 20 so that the tires handle the rocks.

 

[Swingpure]

I'm a B class certified sawyer with the NFS, but I'd guess 99% of the folks here say "whats that?" But I hardly ever bring my normal saws along. Pole-saws have become my "go to tool" in the woods and I own 3 of them. We clear trails and over most summers, use between 7 to 10 gallons of fuel in them.

That’s cool!

I drop a fair number of trees, but I only know, that I don’t know everything and every tree is different and any tree could kill you. If I come across a tree that scares me, I respect that and do not go at it.

99% of the tree I drop, drop within inches of my target, but every once in awhile a tree goes the opposite direction. After the fact, I can always see my mistake.

I had one tree this spring that had a good lean on it, no concerns. On my first wedge cut, the tree collapsed, fortunately away from me.

My step son who cuts down a lot of trees, had one break in half on the way down and the top half came back and took the chainsaw out of his hand.

There is a real skill to taking down trees and I totally respect your training!

 

[Vitis805]

I am in the wine business so my hobbies include drinking and eating entirely too much. I also preach about the benefits of earning your own food so I like to fish for trout and hunt deer. I work on ranches and vineyards in my spare time so here are some gratuitous photos of my Ranger in the wild.

 

[Arly]

I drop a fair number of trees, but I only know, that I don’t know everything and every tree is different and any tree could kill you. If I come across a tree that scares me, I respect that and do not go at it.

99% of the tree I drop, drop within inches of my target, but every once in awhile a tree goes the opposite direction. After the fact, I can always see my mistake.

I had one tree this spring that had a good lean on it, no concerns. On my first wedge cut, the tree collapsed, fortunately away from me.

My step son who cuts down a lot of trees, had one break in half on the way down and the top half came back and took the chainsaw out of his hand.

Most ER visits related to chainsaws are from kickback. Our ER's see about 30,000 per year. There are good safety courses out there. Here is the NFS program.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

I will relate my chain saw experience. Neighbor had a Century Plant... Like many desert plantings they have a finite life and this plant raised its death Stalk up about 12' in the air and over the next year died. These huge thorned fronds are vicious. So to remove this huge plant I helped the neighbor cut down the stalk and cur off the fronds. In shorts and a tee shirt I got soaked with the "juice" of the fronds of the plant. That night I was in terrible pain...nothing would help my whole front side was "on fire". Nothing would help and I had welts the size of quarters all over my front side of my body except for the Crotch...which was thankfully protected... I web search in agony showed me my problem. This juice is not harmful but is highly loaded with oxciallac acid crystals which look like little daggers and impinge the skin through the skin and welt up big time. There is nothing to do but endure until these crystals disolve...several days. so after several sleepless nights the pain started subsiding. Live in Arizona, have a chain saw? Avoid giant agave and such as the chain saw provided a launching pad for the crystals to embed in the skin.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[mustang marty]

Hi Folks,

I will relate my chain saw experience. Neighbor had a Century Plant... Like many desert plantings they have a finite life and this plant raised its death Stalk up about 12' in the air and over the next year died. These huge thorned fronds are vicious. So to remove this huge plant I helped the neighbor cut down the stalk and cur off the fronds. In shorts and a tee shirt I got soaked with the "juice" of the fronds of the plant. That night I was in terrible pain...nothing would help my whole front side was "on fire". Nothing would help and I had welts the size of quarters all over my front side of my body except for the Crotch...which was thankfully protected... I web search in agony showed me my problem. This juice is not harmful but is highly loaded with oxciallac acid crystals which look like little daggers and impinge the skin through the skin and welt up big time. There is nothing to do but endure until these crystals disolve...several days. so after several sleepless nights the pain started subsiding. Live in Arizona, have a chain saw? Avoid giant agave and such as the chain saw provided a launching pad for the crystals to embed in the skin.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Mother nature got even I guess . Recovering quickly hopefully happened Phil .

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Mother nature got even I guess . Recovering quickly hopefully happened Phil .

Hi Marty,

Pain subsided in a few days but the welting was with me for almost two weeks.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Swingpure]

Hi Folks,

I will relate my chain saw experience. Neighbor had a Century Plant... Like many desert plantings they have a finite life and this plant raised its death Stalk up about 12' in the air and over the next year died. These huge thorned fronds are vicious. So to remove this huge plant I helped the neighbor cut down the stalk and cur off the fronds. In shorts and a tee shirt I got soaked with the "juice" of the fronds of the plant. That night I was in terrible pain...nothing would help my whole front side was "on fire". Nothing would help and I had welts the size of quarters all over my front side of my body except for the Crotch...which was thankfully protected... I web search in agony showed me my problem. This juice is not harmful but is highly loaded with oxciallac acid crystals which look like little daggers and impinge the skin through the skin and welt up big time. There is nothing to do but endure until these crystals disolve...several days. so after several sleepless nights the pain started subsiding. Live in Arizona, have a chain saw? Avoid giant agave and such as the chain saw provided a launching pad for the crystals to embed in the skin.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

I did not know that! Yikes!

 

[LightingBlue]

One of my crazy hobbies, I like garden tractors (used to have 8 of them ). This is my 45 year old Case lawn tractor (all original except belts) The 45 year old seat wont withstand my fat arse ! LOL

Can't compete with your '31, but can easily take the lawn tractor in age, HA HA HA!!!

About to embark on a twin 2-barrel carb setup to replace the big single-single.

Sponsored