Claire Berlinski is worried...

Claire Berlinski is worried ... and so am I...

I've been expecting this...

I've been expecting this...  But I didn't expect it to come from an (alleged) conservative.  Governor Awesome just became Governor CINO to me...

Before I retired, I paid hard-earned dollars into Social Security for 45 years.  For about 25 of those years, I paid the maximum amount.  If I live to be 100, my “benefits” won't even come close to matching what I contributed.  Had I invested that money even in something with really low yield, like CDs, I'd be far better off.  These days I'm considering that an absolutely best case scenario.  What I'm actually expecting is that before I can draw even a single dollar of my “benefits”, the progressives will find a way to deny them.  With, apparently, Chris Christie's encouragement and help...

I wonder...

I wonder ... what life insurance costs for this guy?  Full screen it...

A nice drive in the mountains...

A nice drive in the mountains...  We drove up past Hardware Ranch toward Ant Flats, just enjoying the signs of spring and watching for wildlife.  It was getting toward dusk, and the deer were coming out to forage – we saw lots of them, most especially along the road to Ant Flats.  We also saw a pair of peregrine falcons, several large hawks, and a multitude of ground squirrels.  The signs of spring are everywhere.

As we drove past the entrance to Hardware Ranch on the way back, we came across some horses enjoying themselves in the low sunlight:

Racer boo-boo...

Racer boo-boo...  Race's favorite entertainment is to chase a ball when I take him for a walk.  He doesn't do this like most dogs, because he's a border collie.  Instead, catching that ball becomes an existential challenge.  He accelerates toward it straining every muscle that could possibly help to the utter maximum.  He pays no attention to anything that might be in his way (which is how Debbie got injured a couple years ago while running him – she got in the way).  He pays no attention to his footing.  Consequently, with some degree of regularity he injures his foot – most commonly, by splitting a nail.  I think it happens when he's putting his foot down at supersonic speed and there happens to be a stone underneath. 

Those split nails bleed like a cheap horror movie, and they look like they must be painful.  He did it again yesterday, so we stopped by the Blacksmith Fork Veterinary clinic to see if they could patch him up.  Within two minutes Race was whisked back to see Dr. Russell, and just 8 minutes after we walked in, Dr. Russell walked out with a bandaged up Race (he had a nice pink foot) and all his front nails trimmed up.  I love this place!

Last night, we crated Race for the night (as usual).  This morning when I took him out for his morning walk, the bandage was gone.  There wasn't a trace of it anywhere in his crate.  He ate it.  He ate his bandage. 

I guess he doesn't like pink :)

So Debbie bandaged him back up with a purple bandage, and we put an Elizabethan collar on him to keep him from eating his bandage.  What a border collie!

Barn progress...

Barn progress...  The tile guys were here today, and they completed the grouting – their part is finished.  No photos, because I'm not allowed to walk on it until Thursday – the polyurethane grout takes that long to cure...

Turning some more hardwood...

Turning some more hardwood...  I found another log (box elder, I think), a little bigger, in my log pile.  I trimmed it up on the band saw, then mounted it on the lathe's face plate, and started turning a bowl.  You can see various stages below.  It's finished now, sanded down to 320 grit, and awaiting only some Watco finish.

This is quite a learning experience for me, as I've never tried my hand at turning wood before.  I've read a lot about it, but that's not at all the same thing actually as doing it!  On this bowl I experimented quite a bit with different lathe speeds, with and without the live center on the tailstock, and with all five of the carbide turning tools (a very basic set) that I've purchased.  I can now use the tools without digging into the wood, which is at least a very good first step.

I've also learned enough to understand the pro and con comments I've read about carbide turning tools.  Basically the carbide tools rip and tear more than high speed steel tools, because (amazingly!) they aren't as sharp as the steel tools.  I've ordered a set of high speed steel tools, which I think I'll be using for finish work – the carbide tools seem great for roughing out the shape.

Using the live center added a lot of stability to the process of roughing out the right side of the bowl (what is now its top).  On the other hand, I am kind of amazed at how little vibration I felt when turning the completely unfinished – and grossly unbalanced – log, even without the tailstock in use.  I think that's a result of the sheer mass of this lathe.

Yesterday afternoon I made a run to Home Depot, and they did have the Watco.  So today the bowl and goblet get finished.  Photos will follow, of course.  The Home Depot experience was frustrating yesterday.  I had a fairly long list of things to buy, all little things I need to finish off the hatch to the upstairs storage and mount the electric hoist up there.  At least half the things I needed were either very hard to find or were out of stock on the shelf, and I had to get help from one of the hard-to-find employees (it was busy, and they were all helping an endless stream of beseechers).  I finally managed to get everything I needed and headed home, stopping at Jamba Juice on the way home for a big mango smoothie.  When they called my name, a young man quickly walked up to the counter and took my smoothie and left.  I told the young lady serving what had happened, and she immediately called the police and started making my replacement smoothie.  Before she could finish my smoothie, a policeman walked in with the kid who had stolen my drink, verified that he had the right person, handcuffed him and left.  Wow!

That smoothie tasted wonderful :)