How are you spending your Corona isolation time?

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vinny11950

Minister of Fire
May 17, 2010
1,793
Eastern Long Island, NY
Well, I do a lot of twitter surfing. I take walks, and watch some Netflix, Amazon prime. Luckily I can work from home, but everyday feels like Sunday because of the limited traffic.

I found this cool twitter post

 
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If you have a woodworking shop consider joining in and contributing to the national effort by rolling your own.

 
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Yard work, got gas for the splitter & the mower. Hit Aldi for a few things , got paper towels (1 6 pack ;) ).

Serious wood splitting in my future.

Oil tank full ($1.53 a gallon!!! )

And turning flower beds. Bought some seeds, seed starter, pots, etc, and gonna grow my own ;););).

I'm sure I'll find more to do. Gonna be a while.
 
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Mostly garden work at this time of year for us when it's not raining. The soil is still heavy and damp, but workable. I have a temp side job doing a large document review and setting styles for tables. etc. in it. It's not exciting but keeps me focused on something besides the virus. I have a few paintings I'm working on that provide a delicious retreat. That and regular walks fill my days right now.
 
Every evening I've been taking the chain saw out, cutting up dead half rotten tree's and burning them in the fire pit, takes me about an hour and a half to cut, gather and light up the fire, its pretty good exercise, I actually have attracted a few neighbors, they hear the saw, see the smoke and come over with a bucket of beer, we all stand 10ft away from each other but we talk and I think we all secretly like meeting up like this, there is no invite, its only 4 or 5 us and we're able to listen and enjoy each others time.
 
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There is a weird strangeness to standing that far from other people when your whole life you have done differently.
It is a little weird, but we all have to do our part, isolation is just weird in general, especially if you live in a more populated area, so when we do get together and maintain a radius, this contact is well cherished.
 
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There's lots to do around the house now that spring is here. Things to do on the cars, too. Want it to be a few degrees warmer, though before I start doing the chores.

I've been buying Trivial Pursuit games at library book sales (they usually have games, too). Have over 30 games, and we'll play one on Saturday and another on Sunday.
 
It's Honey Do time.

It's Dixie Do Time :)

Plotting out new garden beds (flash creating them with 6 month old shredded oak leaves, 3+ YO composted manure <WITH it's own worms !!!>, and kitchen scraps). Loosened soil underneath, turned them today (raining), adding ash from the stove (poor womans lime !). Have dark tops ready to cover & heat. Mixing 2 YO compost, and will keep stirring & stirring. Turning on outside water this week.

Soooo much wood to split, Bertha's gonna be flexing her muscles :)

Honey Do List is the name of my handy man :cool: ;)
 
I made a big dent in my future wood supply on my wood lot which is one town over. I have several vehicle projects lined up when I am not working from home. I just picked up a Toyota Land Cruiser LJ70 and need to go through it. It needs a radiator flush, new fluids, brakes bled, oil changed and a diesel fuel filter changed. Once that is done I need to change out the timing belt. I would prefer the weather would warm up a bit before starting on the the Toyota. Meanwhile I have a few trees on my house lot to drop and process. I also need to tip the cab on my Unimog and install an overdrive. All sorts of stuff to do.
 
I made a big dent in my future wood supply on my wood lot which is one town over. I have several vehicle projects lined up when I am not working from home. I just picked up a Toyota Land Cruiser LJ70 and need to go through it. It needs a radiator flush, new fluids, brakes bled, oil changed and a diesel fuel filter changed. Once that is done I need to change out the timing belt. I would prefer the weather would warm up a bit before starting on the the Toyota. Meanwhile I have a few trees on my house lot to drop and process. I also need to tip the cab on my Unimog and install an overdrive. All sorts of stuff to do.
Wow, Mog and an LJ70. What else up your sleeve? I've considered importing a Japanese or Eurpean car better suited to our third world roads.
 
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Warning thread drift - I did not import either one of them but someone else did once they were 25 years old. The LJ 70 was imported by dealer in VA and then resold by a dealer in Florida and I paid to have it shipped up., The Unimog was brought in via a specialist dealer in NH, Unimog Center. In both cases I did research on the dealers but I spent a lot more time on the Unimog as its a more expensive purchase. Even if they are 25 years old there are lot of rules, regulations and paperwork. The default answer by a bureaucrat is no and that can get expensive once the vehicle lands in port. If its not done right, in some cases it has to be shipped back to where it came from or destroyed. Lots of stories about Land Rover Defenders being crushed. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a Unimog which didnt follow the rules and was for sale for quite awhile as it import paperwork was suspect. Once the vehicle has cleared customs and is registered with a state, then its treated like a normal vehicle. The key thing is I have to do the maintenance and sourcing parts is more a challenge. The local NAPA doesnt typically have listings and even the dealers may not know how to or not willing to get parts through their inventory system. Parts may interchange with other models that were sold in the US for the the Toyota but far rarer with the Unimog. I have to do my own diagnoses and repair which I like to do. There is no local dealer to call and if I had to pay someone to do the repairs I am paying them to learn how to work on something they may never have seen before. That definitely applies to the Unmog, while the Toyota is probably close enough to models sold in the US that some mechanics would be familiar with the systems.
 
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Warning thread drift - I did not import either one of them but someone else did once they were 25 years old. The LJ 70 was imported by dealer in VA and then resold by a dealer in Florida and I paid to have it shipped up., The Unimog was brought in via a dealer specialist dealer in NH, Unimog Center. In both cases I did research on the dealers but I spent a lot more time on the Unimog as its a more expensive purchase. Even if they are 25 years old there are lot of rules, regulations and paperwork. The default answer by a bureaucrat is no and that can get expensive once the vehicle lands in port. If its not done right, in some cases it has to be shipped back to where it came from or destroyed. Lots of stories about Land Rover Defenders being crushed. Arnold Schwarzenegger's had a Unimog which didnt follow the rules and was for sale for quite awhile as it import paperwork was suspect. Once the vehicle has cleared customs and is registered with a state, then its treated like a normal vehicle. The key thing is I have to do the maintenance and sourcing parts is more a challenge. The local NAPA doesnt typically have listings and even the dealers may not know how to or not willing to get parts through their inventory system. Parts may interchange with other models that were sold in the US for the the Toyota but far rarer with the Unimog. I have to do my own diagnoses and repair which I like to do. There is no local dealer to call and if I had to pay someone to do the repairs I am paying them to learn how to work on something they may never have seen before. That definitely applies to the Unmog, while the Toyota is probably close enough to models sold in the US that some mechanics would be familiar with the systems.

Sounds like fun, Peakbagger. I enjoy working in my old Jeep Cherokee too. Though like you said, the weather needs to warm up a little bit more.

And I had never heard of the Unimog before, so I just learned something new. I give you credit for working on these old vehicles, especially sourcing parts. And even replacement parts nowadays fail right out of the box.

My winter protect was rebuilding my steering gearbox because the remanufactured replacement that I put on it made the steering sucked so much. Now it is back normal. But I didn't mind rebuilding the old gearbox, I found it soothing and fun.
 
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Warning thread drift - I did not import either one of them but someone else did once they were 25 years old. The LJ 70 was imported by dealer in VA and then resold by a dealer in Florida and I paid to have it shipped up., The Unimog was brought in via a dealer specialist dealer in NH, Unimog Center. In both cases I did research on the dealers but I spent a lot more time on the Unimog as its a more expensive purchase. Even if they are 25 years old there are lot of rules, regulations and paperwork. The default answer by a bureaucrat is no and that can get expensive once the vehicle lands in port. If its not done right, in some cases it has to be shipped back to where it came from or destroyed. Lots of stories about Land Rover Defenders being crushed. Arnold Schwarzenegger's had a Unimog which didnt follow the rules and was for sale for quite awhile as it import paperwork was suspect. Once the vehicle has cleared customs and is registered with a state, then its treated like a normal vehicle. The key thing is I have to do the maintenance and sourcing parts is more a challenge. The local NAPA doesnt typically have listings and even the dealers may not know how to or not willing to get parts through their inventory system. Parts may interchange with other models that were sold in the US for the the Toyota but far rarer with the Unimog. I have to do my own diagnoses and repair which I like to do. There is no local dealer to call and if I had to pay someone to do the repairs I am paying them to learn how to work on something they may never have seen before. That definitely applies to the Unmog, while the Toyota is probably close enough to models sold in the US that some mechanics would be familiar with the systems.
Perhaps we should make a thread about obscure vehicles? Thread drift indeed.

We basically have an untouchable car, 500 Abarth Cabrio, so unless it's a maintenance item nobody locally will touch it. So far I've been able to fix everything that's ever broken in the driveway, but no longer being in the south the Fiat has become more of a liability and the roads are too tough on it. We want to get a third car since my truck is a long bed four door Dually, but now with coronavirus things will probably be on hold for a while... I really like the Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon diesel vans, but learning that they are actually terrible on rough roads has kind of been a let down. Really we should build a garage before getting a third car. Most vehicles for the USDM are vanilla appliances meant for smooth interstate highways. Really I'm looking for a more comfortable Lada Niva, but nothing really like that in the US. Downeast Maine roads are more like Russian roads than American roads. There are two import dealers in VA that are well reviewed, you probably bought your LJ70 from one of them.
 
I spent all day saturday moving wood stacks to a different location in the yard but Sunday me and my oldest daughter went mushroom hunting on some conservation land that borders our place. Their were quite a few people out walking and riding horses. More so than usual but I guess with the non essential lockdown folks are trying to get out and make the best of the extra time. I took my daughter to a secret spot with some great views of the niangua river. The pic doesnt do it justice but the first image is about 150 feet drop to the water. Its actually nice to just get out and slow life down in spite of all our circumstance.
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BTW I went solo hiking up here on Saturday. Nice loop in the early spring. its called the Franconia Ridge in NH. Its a loop that goes up from a mountain pass (locally called a Notch) and then runs long ridge line from Mt Lafayette over mt Lincoln to Haystack. The ridge is part of the Appalachian Trail. this is just a stock photo, there is less snow on the ridge currently with a few bare spots but I was wearing traction on my feet from parking lot to parking lot. The snow was like styrofoam until I was heading down when it got a bit greasy on top of underlying crust. Plenty of folks out but everyone kept "social distance". The biggest issue is the ouhouse at the parking lot is closed. Not a problem for me as I am local but more of issue for those who come from a distance.

This stretch of the AT is generally regarded as in the top 10 (possibly top 5) most scenic sections on the AT. Hard to beat on a nice day. If you look carefull you can ses the trail running down frm the summit.

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I spent all day saturday moving wood stacks to a different location in the yard but Sunday me and my oldest daughter went mushroom hunting on some conservation land that borders our place. Their were quite a few people out walking and riding horses. More so than usual but I guess with the non essential lockdown folks are trying to get out and make the best of the extra time. I took my daughter to a secret spot with some great views of the niangua river. The pic doesnt do it justice but the first image is about 150 feet drop to the water. Its actually nice to just get out and slow life down in spite of all our circumstance.
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Is that the same river that has that really cold spot in a state park?
 
Is that the same river that has that really cold spot in a state park?

Yea.....bennet spring state park is probably what you are referring to. Its right up the river from those pics. It's about a mile long spring that spills into the river....really cold lol. This river is fed by a lot of springs which allows the water to be cold enough to hold trout. It's great small mouth fishing too. Have you been there?
 
Yea.....bennet spring state park is probably what you are referring to. Its right up the river from those pics. It's about a mile long spring that spills into the river....really cold lol. This river is fed by a lot of springs which allows the water to be cold enough to hold trout. It's great small mouth fishing too. Have you been there?
My wife is from KC her auntnuncle from Aldrich. Went tubing thru there and when you hit that cold spot your ass froze. Unreal
 
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bennet spring state park

Got a invite to run down there fishing in a few weeks. Not going to happen. My buddy has been there a few times and enjoyed camping and trout fishing with good success. Great times. Sounds like it would be a questionable place to be fishing right now! Supposedly elbow to elbow fishing at times. Actually guessing the fishing pressure is light if its even happening?