New Englander

Prostate cancer can be a very slow growing type that many if not most of us will die with but not of or it can be an aggressive or metastatic cancer that kills. It's important to get those PSA tests every year as well as the finger wave. It's easy and quick. FIL's was being monitored for years then PSA spiked. Targeted radiation rather than radical removal and he's been fine for a decade - PSA hardly detectable. Catch it early and there's options, catch it late and it may be too late.

I have a 7' offset flail. I've used it on a 620 Deere and it's a good combo. It's heavy and should have some wheel weights on the other side but the tractor is just heavy enough to handle it. Flails are a bit safer around people as they don't throw shrapnel like a hog. Hog with chains is Ok. Flail can be rough cut, like the old Ford one I had or semi fine cut like the offset I have now. I forget the make but It's an old Mass Highway machine with lots of welds. I haven't used it for a few years as our bat-wing finish has taken over but it's a spare if I need one. I recommend it for road side. The old highway dept. mower would chew through all sorts of stuff just fine and leave a descent finish. Downside: Wire! It found every old barbed wire fence on the place and wound it tightly to the point I used a torch to cut it off.

Satcom has indeed shrunk the world. When I first started flying the Atlantic all communication and position reports were by HF radio.If the boss needed to make an important phone call we could do an HF phone patch with our second HF radio but it was quite the chore, especially getting a duplex patch successfully running. Simplex is the normal 2 way communication, duplex is talking on the phone. It was sometimes difficult to get people to understand/use the push to talk. The handset in the cabin for phone patches looked like a regular phone but had a push to talk button for simplex. People would forget to let go of the button to hear the response or not push it to talk. It was a nightmare.Stockholm radio was one of the patch providers. HF patches only worked well if no solar flares or other interference was minimal. Calls had to be timed between required position reports as we could listen on two different HF radios at once we could only transmit on one at a time as the antenna coupler tuned the single antenna for transmit. Enter sat-com: Business jets were the first to add sat phones. One night while flying in a red aurora borealis no one had any HF communication with Gander or Shanwick Radio. We could talk to each other via VHF but no one was able to make a position report. I picked up the phone and called Gander Radio's regular phone and the radio operator supervisor said "yeah, we know, we doubled the spacing on everyone". It was not a time for a GNE or Gross Navigation Error! Now everything is via satellite. Position reports are automatic via ADS-C, Communication with ATC is via CPDLC or Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications, essentially texting but faster with canned messages. Now pilots make one HF call to confirm SELCAL with each controlling entity and that's it. Passengers enjoy texting anywhere!

Meth does funny things! Looks like one of the guys who come out of the woods for the Deerfield fair. Takes the whole family to come up with 32 teeth.

I normally wouldn't be in favor for honoring a celebrities memory by such a tribute but Dolly was an exceptional woman who both entertained us and through her foundation used her money and fame for good. https://imaginationlibrary.com/the-dollywood-foundation/ https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Back in the '80s I had the pleasure of flying a charter flight for Dolly. I remember the baggage cart arriving including lots of boxes that didn't seem to weigh anything - wigs! The plane was an early 600 Challenger, one of the ones that was originally destined to be a cargo plane for Federal Express until the CAB rules changed and they got 727s. As such the main cabin door was a reduced version of a cargo door and opened up with a set of retractable stairs that occupied where a jump seat would normally go. The jump seat on those 25 early planes was a fold-down affair that stowed behind the pedestal and created a platform when stowed. Mid flight Dolly, all five feet nothing or so of her, came to the cockpit, stood on that platform with headroom still, and said "Hi boys, how y'all doing"! She had a big smile and was just as sweet in person as her public persona. The flight attendant, used to sometimes dealing with unpleasant celebrities, couldn't get over how nice she was. I was the FO. The Captain was Nick Nixon, then about 70 and a country music fan from Texas. Dolly just melted him. The $100. tip was much appreciated. Happy trails Dolly, we will always love you.

I would think a carpet cleaner would help, especially if flakes gave been ground in.

Back in the day servicemen were often hitchin'. I would sometimes pick them up. Girls I'd pick up but sometimes they had their male companion hiding figuring rightly the girl had a better chance. It used to be a common way, and still might be, to get around on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. I rarely see anyone thumbing now and those I see usually look like Charles Manson.

I have my funny money drawer full of foreign currency left in my pockets or wallet after a trip. Most of the European currency is obsolete since EU Euros. Asian coins often have holes in them; many I have no idea now what they are. Funny now I still have GBP and Euros in my briefcase that I never use anymore, reminders of my career, I guess. I gave some to my daughter when she was going to visit Europe.

Alfred E Neuman

Cruise control limit + 5 generally. I get passed by most traffic, especially the MA, CT and NY on their way to/from their summer lake homes. There's been so many crashes at the confluence of I95 and Rt 16 that the NH State Police use their airplane to spot. It does circles and radios the patrol cars. They even put temp signs on the shoulder SAYING that's what they're doing but many idiots ignore them at their peril. There's been so many crashes that end up in the opposite direction lanes that a new median barrier is under construction. AI summary: In November 2024, former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu announced a strict enforcement crackdown on Interstate 95 following a series of serious and fatal crashes. He directed state troopers to issue tickets to any driver pulled over on I-95 regardless of the reason during the holiday season to curb aggressive driving.

Interesting amount of water needed for ladder trucks. The hydrant at the end of the driveway is red topped, so it's not going to be close to feeding one. The pond, however, was built as a fire pond in the days before the water main was installed. The local FD did give it a try a few years ago and it seemed to work. There's almost no flow into it this time of year so it's essentially water table - stays to the top of the dam and spills a bit with any rain. I've no idea what the usable volume is. Blue: 1,500 GPM or greater (Very Good/Superior Flow) Green: 1,000 to 1,499 GPM (Good for Residential/Standard operations) Orange: 500 to 999 GPM (Marginal/Fair flow) Red: Less than 500 GPM (Inadequate flow capacity)

I saw it on Clarkson's too and wondered how it possibly could survive. Looked pretty cool though. The same episode had a NL farmer who was beating the system in some ways by making his property an airport thus skating the onerous drone rules to enable him to use high tech autonomous drones to selectively spray his fields. He had some impressive yields and all new equipment.

Water line was installed in the road in the '60s. We're still on a well due distance to road and pond crossing needed. Hydrant is conveniently at the end of the driveway. It's coded red so I guess the flow is on the low side. Pond in front of the house was built in the '20s by damming a small stream. I guess we'll have enough water. Local department, somewhat unfairly, has a reputation for saving the cellar hole and chimney but Portsmouth is next door with big equipment and can knock down a structure fire.

I had several Ford PUs back in the day - 360s 390s, etc. They were simple machines that worked well. I ended up with GM as my wife had Suburbans and the like so having commonality was an advantage. Ford's breaking spark plugs, transmission problems etc. all point to poor engineering choices. That doesn't mean GM is without sins either - junk torque converters and the like. I've been perhaps lucky and haven't encountered any of those. Pick your poison.

I don't have anything with one anymore but I was always amazed at how much they caught in the oil even at short clean-out intervals. Certainly cheap to maintain.

FIL had targeted radiation for a complete fix. His doc had been watching his PSA and doing the digital for some time when his PSA suddenly spiked, so it was caught early. I get mine checked every six months as a MRI spotted something. So far, so good. PSA at 1 or less. It's a good reason for all of us to get routinely checked and also have our colonoscopies, I'm having mine this week and of course I'm looking forward to it - not. 😄Soft food and lots of liquids starting today. Good luck! I sure hope yours is repairable even if removal is the only option.

Rock Auto's look up - rocks! Local parts store often looks up parts on their site then cross references it. Since my sister retired I order from them unless in a hurry.

Because there’s little market for 50hp 1600lb cars with no creature comforts and that can’t meet current safety standards. While hybrid vehicles can get that mpg AND have all the bells and whistles people want. You and your wife are the rare couple that accept the very basic transportation. We had a Suzuki Jimmy on St. Lucia this year. It’s a cute little 4X4 suitable for that island but I wouldn’t want to be on I95 with the behemoth vehicles and distracted drivers with it. Great mpg but not available here due safety standards. For the folks who don’t know what the Metro is: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/geo-metro

Because there’s little market for 50hp 1600lb cars with no creature comforts and that can’t meet current safety standards. While hybrid vehicles can get that mpg AND have all the bells and whistles people want. You and your wife are the rare couple that accept the very basic transportation. We had a Suzuki Jimmy on St. Lucia this year. It’s a cute little 4X4 suitable for that island but I wouldn’t want to be on I95 with the behemoth vehicles and distracted drivers with it. Great mpg but not available here due safety standards. For the folks who don’t know what the Metro is: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/geo-metro

Bosch heat pump and furnace here based on as much research I could find.

An old saying goes “if you want to learn something well, teach it!” CFIs, if they really want to do a good job, submerge themselves in the material. Student pilots can present some interesting learning opportunities 😄. I thought about getting a flight instructor rating but built time by ferry flights and being a mechanic I had opportunities that others didn’t. Through the years and a bunch of ratings and countless simulator training sessions and check rides I’ve come across all sorts of instructors. The best sim instructors were guys with actual time in the model. I had some really good primary and instrument instruction as well as some fine folks in jets. I just added a seaplane rating competing my check ride last week. I had two different instructors, the younger was okay, the older better and the examiner was excellent. Why a new rating in my 70s? Well, every pilot needs a biennial flight review or any kind of check ride. Getting a 135 ride every six months I’ve never needed one but since retirement I would by December. I could have simply hired an instructor for an hour but what fun would that be? Skimming across a lake at 65 mph, visiting different lakes you can’t really see except for in the air, and just learning something new. I’m a firm believer in training. Did the training in a 1947 Piper PA-12s on EDO floats.

Pipeline patrol, banner towing, sky diver flights are all avenues for accumulating the requisite 1500 hours now needed for a right seat airline job. Many foreign airline use an ab-initio training program that put candidates in with very low hours but intense training, sort of what the military does. Ab-initio seems to work well but I wonder if the experience the old school of us gained flying junk and gaining some real hard experience is lacking. Probably doesn't matter but when I think of the Airbus stalled all the way to the ocean by one of those low time guys I have to wonder. Fly by wire plane failed down to direct laws. The proper action is do nothing, the plane is trimmed up and will continue to fly fine while you run the checklist and recover a higher flight control law.

Propane, being heavier than air, is a concern on boats. The locker with the tank has to naturally vent overboard and there are several other precautions that I don't remember now. I used alcohol/electric stove that was cantankerous on alcohol but didn't require starting the genset. SS flex pipe in my house has a heavy copper ground wire to prevent a hole in the case of a lightning strike which isn't too much of a concern in a basement run, however, propane aux heaters in attic air handler installations have blown up a few houses after getting hit by lightning. Apparently the line gets holed but not ignited. Propane leaks drifting downstairs and accumulating until a combustible amount finds an ignition source and BOOM! Home owner unlocks the door smells gas, turns lights on and.........

I have a 6.0 so I looked at it yesterday. Idle @ 30, increases to 40 off idle. It's been that way since I've owned it. Last 6.0 and 5.3 were similar but I'll keep an eye out for any changes. It doesn't look like fun to get the sump off a FWD especially one that's dripping PB Blaster Surface Shield all over it.