It was another year indeed!!!!!!!!!!

Well how about that. 

Last post said it might be another year, and looks like it was.

Whats new? A few things...
What's old? 2020.

No need to go into detail, we all know 2020 has gone to hell in a hand basket. I feel like its been 2020 for 6 years.

A few things to update:

Mazda3 is gone, Here's a Tacoma.

While I loved the Mazda, the hatchback like just wasnt cutting it. Needed a bit more room. Enter the 2020 Tacoma TRD Offroad, 4x4, Manual Transmission, yadda yadda yadda.

I like it.


What else...

Went to North Carolina. I think just once since the last post? Maybe twice? We try to go every summer.

I am going back for a weekend or two throughout the year.

I mean, I think that's really it, or at least all I want to talk about right now. I might make a post or two coming up about the truck. maybe something else. I dont know.


Whatever. :)

BILBO TOOLBAGINS

Finally, he's getting to that tool bag post he's talked about...

Here it is. I finally decided to pull out my tool bags and take some pictures.
I have many tools, most located in my tool chest/drawers. However, I keep some of my tools in tool bags, ready to grab and go when and if the call is made. This all started with my time with Brethren Disaster Ministries, and has spiraled out of control.

The bags. I keep the Tool Box in my car, as it is my on the go auto repair box.

It all started with my tool belt, so we will start there.

I headed down to Lorida with just tool belt containing a hammer, and a cast paw. I picked up some tools down there, and added a pouch when I came back.

The belt will be replaced eventually, but it really suits me now.

The Hammer and Claw: Eastwing 16oz and Cast Paw

A general purpose hammer with a smooth face. I swung this hammer almost nonstop for 5 days from sun up to sun down. Never really fatigued me. The cats (cast) paw is invaluable for ripping nails out.

Tool Belt Accessories: Knife, Punch, Screw, and Tape

I added these when I picked up the pouch. It contains a basic screw driver with changeable bits, your standard Stanely 99e knife with extra blades (including roofing blades), finishing punches, and a tape measure I was given when I was down there.

Multipurpose Pliers: Linemans 369

Just a multipurpose pair of Lineman's pliers. I use them to pull nails and staples, snip wire and cords, and hold nails to hammer when I hit my thumb.

The Tool Bag: Cave of Wonders

This is where it starts to spiral out of control. I started buying these things as needed, for around the house, but always kept in mind the need for travel should I need too.

This guy is packed

The Power Tools: Milwaukee M12 Sawzall, Hammer Drill, Impact Driver, and Flashlight

Started with just the Impact driver and went on from there. I'm really impressed with the M12 line. the smaller sized tools are great for travel, and the power is just as good as the bigger M18's we use at work. The only reason I can see using the larger M18 would be for a portable 1/2 inch drive impact gun. The impact driver is a beast, and I have used it a ton.

Milwaukee Accessories

Just bits and pieces for the drill and driver. Those multi-step bits are the bomb. The drill bits dont do so well in the impact driver. Once the impact part kicks in, they chatter to much and stop drilling.

The Other Guys: Estwing 28 oz waffle, Ball Peen, and Wonder Bar, as well as a Nail Pouch, Files, and Air Shim.

The 28 ounce hammer has yet to be used, but was bought with the intention of framing and driving larger nails. The Ball Peen is for smaller trim work, as well as shaping and flattening tin when making roof patches. The wonder bar is for making those old shingles fly. Also used for shimming and adjusting. I picked up the nail pouch down in Lorida, and it was worn in conjunction with the basic tool belt.

The bar file is for reshaping the cast paw and hammer claws, as well as knocking down nail heads and other pokey bits of metal. The Rat Tail file has yet to find a purpose, but enlarging holes is probably what will happen. The Air Shim is awesome. Its a little air bladder that you can use to shim, adjust, and lift things. Comes in real handy when putting shelves on Ikea furniture.

Other Things: Wiss Aviation Shears and Torpedo Level

The first thing I bought when I got back from Lorida was the shears. We were installing metal roofing, and they would have really come in handy. I used some down there to make brackets out of scrap metal to rehang gutters as well as cut the metal roof pieces. The Torpedo level is just a level. I bought one with a magnet and pipe grove for setting fence posts. It also comes in handy with Ikea furniture.

Not pictured is my Ryobi laser level cube. I forgot to take a pic, but it's just a laser level. I use it for marking studs. Also not pictured is my Studdy Buddy. Its a hand held magnet that you use to locate studs in the wall.

Tape Measures

The Fat Max is and awesome tape measure, and the other is my cheater tape. It has the fractions written out on it.

THE SAW BAG: It's a bag with a circular saw in it.

Milwaukee M12 Circular Saw

All this bag has in it is the saw. It's a smaller saw, using a 5 3/8 inch blade, but it will cut a 2x4 in one pass. Very torquey, and the battery life is pretty decent with one of the larger M12 batteries.

The Plumbing Bag

There isn't too much in here. I am just starting to build it. I also use some of my work tools if I am around the house.

Slim Pickings: Just a pliers and a wrench

As of right now, this is it. A 14" Pipe Wrench and a set of Channel Locks. Again, when I am around the house, I use some of my work tools. I'll be ordering some offsets and speed wrenches here soon, as well as some other plumbing related things.

Well, there you have it. My tool bags. I hope to put them all in use soon, as the trip with BDM to Lorida was truly an amazing time. I would do it again in a heart beat.

I am going to make my tool box a separate post as it's not home related, more auto. It' will come soon enough.


Ok, enough is enough. This was a large post, and I am tired of typing.

More Mud Holes?

Couple more leaks passed by our way this week. Let me show you their features.

This first one was relatively small. A backflow company was attempting to change out a backflow, and in the process split a piece of galvanized pipe.  We had to cut back on it with a hacksaw, and install a new compression fitting with curbstop. We always try to fix our leaks under pressure, especially the small ones. Fixing the leaks under pressure prevents disruption of service to the customer, as well as prevents us from putting customers under a "Boil Water" notice.

Split right behind the curbstop in the galvanized pipe.

 

Next one was a doozy

 

 

 This leak came in at 4:30pm. Sometimes we let them ride till the next day, but in the case of leaks like this one, we decided to fix it immediately. The water main runs directly underneath the driveway, about where the split is between the dry and wet pavement. Trucks were loaded with dirt and limestone, trackhoe was loaded up, and off we went.

 

 

 

Driveway was cut to gain access to the ground and water main underneath. Once we got down to the main, the leak indeed up being a 5 inch split running inline with the pipe. Looked like the pipe had suffered a hit when it was originally installed, and just wore out over time. 

Strike first, strike hard. No mercy.







Ended up staying till 12am

 

 

The split section was cut out and replaced. Sometimes we can install a repair band around the main, but the position of the crack made prepping the pipe too difficult. Before wrapping a pipe, the ideal way to handle a split is to drill a hole at the edge of the split line, to prevent the crack from spreading. The split on this pipe was on the bottom, so we would have to submerge our drill in the water and mud to drill the pipe.

 

After the main was repaired, the hole was backfilled, and water service restored. Didn't get to keep the water on this time. Total repair took around 6-7 hours. Not that bad, but we could have shaved an hour off if we went straight to the clamps and replacing the piece of affected pipe.

 

A repair band was attempted first

Two hymax couplings were used, as well as a new piece of pipe.

Driveway secured.

Bye Felicia.



Captains Log: 2

What I had planned on doing this weekend involved working on my car. I am working my way up to a tune for the Rabbit, so I was wanting to get in some supporting mods, mainly a revised intake and exhaust manifold, as well as fuel injectors.

 

However,

I went to Ikea instead.

 

The Land of Swedish (USA, Chinese, French, Italian) made wonder

 

Now I'm not a super Ikea fanatic, but I am an Ikea family member, and I do enjoy the establishment. The wife and I wanted to tackle the toy issue in our house as well as clean up our media area. While there might be more "quality" furniture else where, I have yet to see someone tackle storage like Ikea does. Ikea quality is fine as well. I've found it to be very solid furniture.


So I switched the Rabbit into truck/station wagon mode and we headed out. The Rabbit can handle pretty much whatever I throw at it. I usually carry my BDM tools with me wherever I go, and that includes a ladder. It can hold all of it with the seats up. That's for another post though.

 

7'x2' is the max safe load I can fit. More could fit with some tetris skills.

The purchase.
Wife trying to price it out before we check out.



Plenty of room left. The Rabbit didn't even squat. I even folded the front seat back up.

 

 

Everything was loaded up, and after we got our snacks we headed out. This is the part of the story where I discuss the "bomb" scare at Ikea, and us having to evacuate. I'll save all the typing, and just link you to the news article. Watch the video! I was interviewed! IM FAMOUS!

 

BOMB AT IKEA! (IT WAS A BAG OF POTS)

 

While I enjoy shopping at Ikea, I less than enjoy assembling Ikea furniture. However one comes with the other, so after a slight delay I started building. This time around I thought I'd be "professional" so I got out my levels. Wrong move. This probably doubled the build time. I made it my mission to not have a single crooked door, and between the bubble and laser level I think I succeeded.

 

Well, that's about it for this weekend. Hope to get into some shenanigans at work and share them here. I'll leave you with some pics, see you then!

 

People leaving Ikea during evacuation

Hanging out, waiting for the all clear (it never came)



Being pushed back even further

Where I stood for a few hours, waiting for my car. We were eventually moved even further back.





Captains Log: 1

To mix in the personal with the work, I'm going to start these "Captain's Log" posts. So we will start off with a little review of what's been going on these past few weeks.

Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM)

A few weeks ago I drove down to Lorida, a small town south east of Sebring. I joined a group of people other from various places (Virginia, Delaware, Michigan) who are part of a group called Brethren Disaster Ministries. This group is part of the Church of the Brethren, but that is a story for another day. You can read more about them here: http://www.brethren.org/bdm/

We did roof repair and replacement on around 17k square feet of buildings. Patched holes and vents, and then installed metal roofing. I was the youngest one there, and I really enjoyed my time there. I hope to join up with a group again, as I really felt like I did something.



The Rabbit

My latest car is a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit. 2.5 Inline 5 cylinder, Manual Transmission. Mundane by automotive standards, but a fun car none the less. I'm currently in the process of "sprucing it up", to either sell it or keep it as a run around. 125k miles and as of this typing, seems to be running like a top. I have a couple of things lined up for it to better improve it drivability and "fun-ability". All on the cheap.

 

 

 

That should catch you up to date in the personal life area for now, I'd like to go more into detail later on a few of the car stuff, but that can wait for later. Will update with a work related post here in the next couple of days.

 

Thanks for reading!



Nope, not going to say it

I suck at this.

A few things have happened in what, the year I've been off here. Some work related, some not. Instead of writing one large post, quickly touching on a few subjects, I'll take the next few days, weeks, or months covering them.

I can do this. I can do this. I'm probably not going to do this.

Before I forget....

justinraymer.com