Maine Bound!

[woods]

Yeah that’s bugging me too. I can’t figure out why it’s there though. The base it sits on is perfectly level. Only thing I can think of is the pegboard itself isn’t totally square. I probably will paint that bit of exposed wood to blend it. The holes are all aligned perfectly at least. I spent a bit of time tweaking it until they were. This was as good as I could get it.

the room.

after doing vinyl flooring in a few rooms of my house, not a single wall is square. I'm talking inches off.

 

[92 Green YJ]

the room.

after doing vinyl flooring in a few rooms of my house, not a single wall is square. I'm talking inches off.

Most likely. I know I ran into a few issues with the flooring myself.

 

[92 Green YJ]

So shortly after my 2:30 post above, the power went out and I heard the generator kick on. Man do I love this thing. It was totally worth every penny. Maybe five minutes after that, tones dropped for a downed tree that took out a power line nearby. So I responded to the station. Waited 5 minutes or so but nobody else came. Haven’t taken my EVOC yet so I couldn’t take any of the apparatus (I’m taking the road course on Sunday and have two zoom classes the next two nights). So I jumped in my truck and went to the scene solo. Not much I could really do other than stand there and stop traffic while I waited for Versant to come deal with it. Luckily it was a camp road so there was no traffic the hour or so I was there waiting for Bersant to show up. When they arrived I left. Went back to the station and dropped my gear and filled out a run sheet and went home.

I was barely home for five minutes, sat down, turnEd the TV on, and tones dropped again. This time for a jack knifed semi literally a mile up the road. I went straight to scene because the firehouse was actually the other direction. This time we had a good turnout. All told I think about 8 of us showed up and assisted the troopers in controlling traffic and shutting down the roads while the wrecker got it out of the ditch. As I understand it, this happens pretty regularly here. It’s a super sharp turn.

so that was a good hour and a half or so in the rain. And while we were on scene dealing with this, the tones dropped AGAIN! when we heard it the chief looked at me and said, is that us? Yep. Another downed tree/ power line. So one of our guys jumped in his truck and went to that downed line call while the rest of us finished with the semi.

here I am now at 7:30 and we are still running on the generator. Power company sure has had a busy day just like we did.

 

[92 Green YJ]

And in a final bit of irony for today. I was talking to one of the older members when we were at the semi scene about the power outages and how much I love the generator. And I mentioned I never even bother checking the power outage maps anymore since we’ve had it. Well I got to thinking, Versant has been in this area about 4 times already today. Why the fuck am I still running on the generator. So I checked the outage map and didn’t see anything out at all in Mariaville. Went ahead and put in an outage report. A few minutes ago I heard a big diesel coming up the driveway so I went out to meet them, it was the same crew from the downed line call I went to earlier this afternoon. Turns out down by the road where our line comes up across the field, a tree had smacked our line as well.

guess I should still report our outages when the generator kicks on from now on. It may well be just our house as it was today.

 

[KenV]

Sounds like you settled in well without regrets/missing SD beyond maybe people you know there. Did you wish you had moved sooner, or was yours the exact right time to go? I've read all 93p but am about nine concussions deep so I forget things here and there lol.

We're about where you were 18 mo ago, settled on moving but working out the 'where'.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Sounds like you settled in well without regrets/missing SD beyond maybe people you know there. Did you wish you had moved sooner, or was yours the exact right time to go? I've read all 93p but am about nine concussions deep so I forget things here and there lol.

We're about where you were 18 mo ago, settled on moving but working out the 'where'.

Absolutely. True we miss the family and friends we left in San Diego. My mom is actually coming to visit for 9 days next week. We see them when we can and I purchased Echo shows for the family before we moved. We try to video chat with everyone at least once a week.

as for timing, I think it worked out well for us. My daughter had a bit of a rough start early on at her new school, but she settled in and made friends quickly enough. I think it would have been tougher later for her as she would have gotten closer to her classmates back in San Diego. She’s looking forward to the start of the school year this year.

Overall we really have never been happier. The state is gorgeous and has tons to offer. The small town charm is real and something I’ve found I sorely missed in San Diego. In the 7 years we lived there we only regularly spoke with one of our neighbors. Here we’ve been here a bit over a year and regularly speak with many of our neighbors. It’s a different attitude and vibe here. Everyone is friendly and willing to help out complete strangers at a moments notice. The small general store up the road is the community hub where everyone knows everyone and chats and catches up. Hell even at Home Depot in Ellsworth it’s common to run into neighbors and folks you know. We love the house and having all this space and property for the kids and dogs to run around and play. Yeah, I am very happy we made the move. It’s the way life should be around here. And I love that my kids will get to grow up the way I did. Hell, my three year old can’t wait to take the dogs for a walk so he can go crawling into the blackberry brambles and stuff himself to his hearts content every single day. Though he’s picked most of them clean now.

 

[KenV]

I think family is the hardest part for us, but as I've worked to convince my wife, her relatives can travel just fine. Same goes for friends, may of whom are either retired and mobile or planning to do the same.

Like you, I was raised in a smaller town and want that life for my family. It isn't the only reason, as our kids don't take as well to the heat. I can tell they're much happier in cooler weather, something we don't have enough of here. I'll just mention crime and air quality without diving into either.

Good to see it's working out for you. Thanks for taking the time on this.

 

[[486]]

miniature stacking conveyor made outta treadmill bits

Where is you excitement. A 4’ extension to a cheetah

other option I had in mind was a short little section of grain auger

And now I'm thinking about pneumatic conveyor tubes like you'd do with cement powder or silage or whatever

biggie size tow behind compressor blowing into a piece of 4" pvc pipe will make quite the eductor without even needing to try for fancy angles and shit
blow the pellets in there kinda like you would with silage into a silo

If it wouldn't put dust everywhere I'd totally be doing this to get sand and stone into my basement.
Might need to get a dust collector bag filter thing to do it anyways...

 

[aczlan]

If you're going to go that route, blow into it with a 3" or 4" make the hopper dust tight and then use a piece of 6" as a vent going outside, have it go straight up as far as you can before you turn it out so that as much as possible of the dust can fall straight down rather than clogging up the horizontal run.
Straying from the subject, but a cyclone separator would probably work much better than a dust bag, something like this:

Cyclonic separation - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Aaron Z

 

[RusM]

Why were you wearing bunker gear to a brush fire? Tell your chief to get some grant money and get Wildland gear for everyone.

Also, you've gotta be in good shape to keep playing fireman.

 

[SanDiegoCJ]

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen those new at home depot

Yup, our Home Depot here in Twin Falls Idaho has them. They had one displayed last weekend.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Why were you wearing bunker gear to a brush fire? Tell your chief to get some grant money and get Wildland gear for everyone.

Also, you've gotta be in good shape to keep playing fireman.

We have forestry gear. Not really sure why we weren’t wearing it. When I got to the station the chief and another member were already there and they had bunkers on so that’s what I grabbed out of my locker. We pretty much only did pants though.

and yeah I know. That’s why I didn’t do the academy this session. Need to get my ass in shape first.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Another rainy day today. And since my weekend is screwed with what we have going on at the firehouse, I decided we should have a family day today. Took the kids over to Bangor to check out the Urban Air adventure park. Lots of fun and a pretty cool set up.

 

[budget76]

go back to that adventure place once a week with the kids and spend the hour on the trampoline, that shit will get you back in shape fast. I remember going a couple years ago when I was biking & running semi-regularly and it still wore me out, different muscles used for sure

 

[92 Green YJ]

go back to that adventure place once a week with the kids and spend the hour on the trampoline, that shit will get you back in shape fast. I remember going a couple years ago when I was biking & running semi-regularly and it still wore me out, different muscles used for sure

Funny you say that. I said the same thing while we were there. Also noticed the wife and I were really the only parents that were participating with the kids. We bounced on all the trampolines, did the ninja warrior course, went up in the giant play structures, etc. this place offers monthly memberships for like $14 per person which is actually cheaper than what we spent for the day. There is another one in Orono that we are going to check out next time. Whichever one we like more we will get a membership to. The kids had a blast too, and like you said, it’s damn good excercise.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Few pictures of one of the completed brackets I made for my filament storage system for the new studio. Translucent lime green PETG with 4 walls, 7 top and bottom layers, and honeycomb infill Pattern at 50%.

and I managed to get a little more work done in the studio this morning.the tongue and groove up top isn’t permanent. I had a few pieces laying around so I put it up there to see how it would look. I’m gonna try and get some 8’ long by 8” wide pieces which should cover that top gap perfectly. I also mounted the 8’ long LED shop lights above the top part of the bench (I have another pair that will go on the bottom of the bench top to illuminate the bottom shelf). And I got the top bench framed out for the most part. Need to add some angled braces to stabilize the top shelf a bit.

And I’m a bit torn on adding a center leg down between the top and bottom shelves. I like the wide open look and it would be nice to not have a leg in the center. but on the other hand, adding one would add that much more support to the top bench. But I’m not gonna be hammering on stuff on this either, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be work bench strong. I’m thinking adding some gussets along the back to the wall or something should be plenty sufficient and leave me the wide open feel between the two.

 

[rockota]

Yeah that’s bugging me too. I can’t figure out why it’s there though. The base it sits on is perfectly level. Only thing I can think of is the pegboard itself isn’t totally square. I probably will paint that bit of exposed wood to blend it. The holes are all aligned perfectly at least. I spent a bit of time tweaking it until they were. This was as good as I could get it.

put a batton over it... frame the entire thing and no one will notice.

 

[aczlan]

A couple of shelf brackets underneath?

https://www.amazon.com/CUZURLUV-Shelf-Bracket-Max-Load/dp/B07VN219GV/

Aaron Z

 

[surpip]

I'd just use a piece of 2x2 deck rail to support the center, I'm guessing that 2x6 deflects at the span now, that would bug the sit out of me.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Well right now the top bench is basically floating. It’s attached on the left and right side but that’s it. So it Kind of wobbles back and forth since it’s such a long span. I think some angled gussets on the outer ends tying the back beam into the side beams and also tie the front beam in as well should help the lateral stability. Then I was thinking just some simple wedges tying the back beam into the 2x6 I have laid horizontally across that the pegboard sits on should stiffen everything up nicely and lock it all together.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Well we spent the morning applying the first coat of epoxy to the floor at the firehouse. We were planning to do both coats today, but it’s still tacky and it’s hot as hell today so we decided to let it cure overnight and apply the second coat tomorrow instead.

Obviously this means we can’t park the trucks in the house for a couple of days so 4 of us took rigs home with us. they are all at the 4 closest houses to the firehouse. I wound up getting engine 1 to bring home which works out fine because it is the truck I am taking to the EVOC test course tommorow anyway. When I got it home I decided to give it a much needed bath. Didn’t want to roll on to the test course with a filthy truck in the morning.

This is our oldest truck that rarely goes out on calls anymore and we are actually trying to replace it with an urban interface truck in the near future. However, it is also our smallest truck so the thought was this would be the easiest truck to test in. I guess the last people that took EVOC last time took the tanker because it has a backup camera on it, however, it turns out due to the sidesteps on it that it’s actually a bit wider than what is technically road legal, so they kept clipping cones with the side steps during testing. I’ve been driving and practicing the course obstacles in this truck all week so I’m pretty confident I’ll do fine tomorrow. And if I pass I’ll be able to drive trucks on calls which is something we sorely need.

 

[RusM]

If you can't pass in that, please have someone kick you in the junk repeatedly.

That also looks like a pretty nice rig to be replacing

 

[92 Green YJ]

If you can't pass in that, please have someone kick you in the junk repeatedly.

That also looks like a pretty nice rig to be replacing

Yeah. She’s an old girl for sure. It’s a 92. I think going to and coming back from the course today is the longest it’s been on the road at one time in a couple of years.

and yeah, passed my EVOC no problem. Gotta take a ride in rescue sometime this week with the chief and she will sign off on me being good to drive both Rescue 1 and Engine 1 on calls. Then they will start having me practice on our tanker and engine 33.

After we got back from EVOC we did the second coat of epoxy on the bay floors. Just got home from that. Current plan is we are going to give it until Tuesday to make sure it’s fully cured before we bring the trucks back to the station. The system we have works. We weren’t home an hour yesterday when we got toned out for a structure fire. Chief brought the engine back to the station and the LT brought the tanker, we all geared up and went to the scene.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Couple shots of me running one of the EVOC stations in Engine 1. This was the serpentine course. Had to successfully back thru around 4 cones alternating each side then drive thru them forward the other way. This was the first of 9 stations I had to get thru. Did it clean and passed no trouble.

 

[Firstram]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Miracle-Sealants-Company-511-32-fl-oz-Indoor-Floor-Sealer-Pour-Bottle/50343106

This wet look sealant goes a long way, repels water and should hold up for the life of a coaster.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Spent most of the day back working on the studio today. Made some major progress I’m pleased to say.

I started with installing and wiring up the work station lighting. Four 8’ long led tubes. 2 for the top level and two lighting up the bottom level. Like everything else I put them on a smart switch.

then I added some angled braces to stiffen the work station up

installed the sanded plywood for the bottom deck

followed by the top deck and all four power strips. Each has 16 outlets on it and I divided them across two UPS battery backups. One for the left side and one for the right.

then I went ahead and stained everything. Colonial Oak.

Ia slo spent a bit of time putting away and organizing some stock.

 

[92 Green YJ]

I then finished all of the wiring And installed the breakers in my sub panel.

had to hang a flat screen for some downtime entertainment. 43” fire TV.

And I went ahead and moved the laser up to the work station and finally got the air assist hooked up to it

And I got the Mac Mini mounted up under the work station and started getting everything wired up and set up. Still have a ways to go and I’m gonna have to do some major wire management. But it’s getting there.

 

[rockota]

My OCD is going nuts with the raw OSB....

 

[92 Green YJ]

My OCD is going nuts with the raw OSB....

I know. I’m gonna have to paint that section too.

 

[FleshEater]

That’s a long span with no middle support on that bench.