The Story of Lori

[Lori Dee]

Northern Arizona is much cooler than the south.  Even Prescott and Flagstaff are much better temperature wise than Phoenix.

The difference is the elevation. The northern part of the state has mountains, while the south is desert.

PRO SURVIVAL TIP: For every 1,000 feet increase in elevation, the temperature drops about 10 degrees.

Some full-time nomads use this year-round. When the weather gets hot, they head uphill to cooler climates. When the weather starts getting cold, they head downhill. I had friends who were full-time nomads who traveled in a group. Their story was told in the movie, Nomadland, starring Francis McDormund. Part of the movie was filmed near the Badlands in South Dakota.

[Lori Dee]

Today, here where I live, the low early this morning was 47 deg (f) and late this afternoon
the high was 61 deg(f) .... partly cloudy.

No Air Conditioning needed.   

That wouldn't be bad.

I think the roughest part would be months of too much sun or not enough sun. I do hibernate in Winter. I just don't want to hibernate for six months out of the year. I have too much to do! 

Hugs!

[Emma1017]

The weather here on the east coast has been tolerable but we are down wind of all of those Canadian forest fires.

The smoke got so bad you couldn't see the Manhattan skyline across the harbor.

I think the Canadians are getting even with the American tariffs...

[Lori Dee]

The weather here on the east coast has been tolerable but we are down wind of all of those Canadian forest fires.

The smoke got so bad you couldn't see the Manhattan skyline across the harbor.

I think the Canadians are getting even with the American tariffs...

I saw a headline that said the smoke from Canada was the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

A friend of mine said that if Trump put a tariff on the wildfire smoke, Canada would keep it on their side. 

We have some wildfires here on the West Slope of the Rockies that are contributing to the smoke further east. (My apologies.  ) We are not affected here in southern Colorado because the jet stream goes north, then over the Rockies. In the winter, it goes south, so we might get it then.

[Lori Dee]

Yesterday, I placed an order for my polishing abrasives. I get mine from The Rock Shed in Keystone, SD, just a few miles from Mount Rushmore. They have a top-notch reputation and supply rock polishing supplies (including rocks) all over the U.S. My best friend went to high school with the owner. The business was started by his mother back in the day.

I ordered:

5 lbs of 46/70 Silicon Carbide grit
2 lbs of 500 Silicon Carbide grit
3 lbs of 1000 Aluminum Oxide pre-polish grit

I got an email this morning that my order has shipped!

I still have some grit, but this is the stuff I was low on or out of.

The 46/70 is a very coarse abrasive grit used for shaping hard rocks. I use Silicon Carbide because it is harder than quartz, and when it breaks down, the edges remain sharp, so it retains its abrasive ability.

The second step is with 120/220 Silicon Carbide. Same as above, except it is a finer grit. Like sandpaper, when you use a coarse grit, it leaves scratches. Then you use a finer grit to remove those scratches. But that leaves scratches, too, so you go finer and finer until the scratches are so small they are invisible to the naked eye.

The third step is with 500 Silicon Carbide (the higher the number, the finer the grit).
The fourth step is with 1000 Aluminum Oxide. AO does not retain its abrasiveness when it breaks down. The edges become rounded, which makes it a great pre-polish.

The final step is an Aluminum Oxide polish, which I think is about 8000 grit. There are other polishes available, and some people prefer Cerium Oxide over AO, but it is more expensive. I also mix the stones with plastic pellets in the polishing stage. That helps cushion the stones so they aren't bashing against each other, causing chips and cracks. The pellets also help spread the polish evenly all over the stone for a better final finish.

The first step takes the longest. It can take anywhere from a week to several months, depending on the hardness and starting shape of the rocks. Softer rocks, or those that are already rounded, can skip this step. If a rock has a lot of jagged edges, I will lop them off with a Dremel cutting wheel before they go into the barrel.

All of the other steps take about a week to complete. At the end of each week, I empty the barrels and inspect each stone. If it needs more work, it will go back into the barrel for another week. If it is ready to move on, it will go into the next stage's barrel.

Start to finish, it can take five to ten weeks, or more, to finish polishing a stone. Even then, sometimes I need to do some touch-ups with a Dremel, then drop it back into a barrel for another week.

Each week is also a maintenance day. Before starting the next stage, I do a quick check of the machines, clean any dust or debris, and see if they need a drop of oil on the bearings.

It won't be long now and I'll have the machines rolling again.

[Lori Dee]

My workroom is mostly organized for now.



General workbench on the left, with rock tumblers on the lower shelf. Well, the Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight) tumbler is on the bench for repairs.

The bench on the right is my jewelry workbench. Tools and supplies are handy, and it is well-lit.



The jewelry bench with mining gear stuffed in the corner. The lower shelf makes a good place for rocks that are stored waiting for the various polishing stages. Under the shelf is where I store the tubs of polishing grit.

The mining gear is just stashed here until I get ready to go to a site. I normally leave some of it stored in my Jeep because it is easier than loading and unloading. My back windows are blacked out, so no one can snoop to see what's inside. I don't leave my rifle or metal detectors (black bag on the floor) in the Jeep.



The general workbench is mostly just a place to store household tools for when I need them. It is a convenient spot to do maintenance on the machines, and the lower shelf is nice for them to run, and they are out of the way. In my old apartment, everything on these two benches was on my kitchen island or in the drawers. This is a much better space to work in.

And lots of room for more rocks!

[Pema]

Beautiful, Lori! And so organized!

Please forgive me if you've already said, but where did you get those workbenches? Are you pretty happy with them?

[Lori Dee]

Beautiful, Lori! And so organized!

Please forgive me if you've already said, but where did you get those workbenches? Are you pretty happy with them?

Thanks, Pema.

I got them online. I am happy with them in general, but I left a scathing review on Amazon.  My review was quite lengthy, correcting the assembly instructions.

The English, translated from Chinese, instructions were wrong in many cases. One of the benches was damaged in shipping, so I made notes as I assembled it. That made the second one go together much more easily.

There are things that I will likely change. The work surface is pretty, but not durable. It is made of laminated paper. Like composite wood or particle board, but this is pressed paper with something like a Formica covering. It dings and scratches easily, and you can't drill it to mount a vise. So I will eventually replace the work surface with a solid wood plank.

The top shelf has the durable steel surrounding it, but the bottom of the shelf that the light is mounted to is just a piece of cardboard. Literally, cardboard. I don't expect it to hold any weight, and storing anything oily or damp on that shelf would compromise its integrity.

I might replace the pegboard, too. It is of good quality, but the holes are two inches apart. All of the organizer hooks that I have are made for holes one inch apart. So far, I haven't needed to, but I could just drill more holes as needed.

Overall, it was okay for the price. It looks nice, and the frame is heavy steel construction, so it is durable. The price wasn't bad. It is just the work surfaces and shelving that leave a lot to be desired.

My review:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2SUOU3NXATRUN?ie=UTF8

[Emma1017]

Lori I totally agree about the instruction for any product from China.  I am always ready to grab a drink after assembly, sometimes during assembly!!!

[ChrissyRyan]

Buy made in USA. 

[Northern Star Girl]

Buy made in USA. 

Unfortunately "Made in USA"  is more than 3 times the price for just the bench without the drawers.
  Original price was: $803.86  Now: $452.99

It is better, but our budgets can dictate our choices...

        https://www.borroughs.com/product/48-wide-adjustable-height-workbenches-with-steel-painted-top-with-ledge-shelf/

[Lori Dee]

Unfortunately "Made in USA"  is more than 3 times the price for just the bench without the drawers.
  Original price was: $803.86  Now: $452.99

It is better, but our budgets can dictate our choices...

        https://www.borroughs.com/product/48-wide-adjustable-height-workbenches-with-steel-painted-top-with-ledge-shelf/

That one has a better top shelf, but is lacking overhead light, pegboard backing, drawers, a power strip, and a bottom shelf. I was a union electrician for many years, so I support Made in the USA, but as you mentioned, the price is way out of my budget.

[ChrissyRyan]

We should to do what we must do within our constraints, be wise consumers.

Hugs,

Chrissy

[Lori Dee]

We should to do what we must do within our constraints, be wise consumers.

Hugs,

Chrissy

What Trump is doing with the tariffs is twofold.

1. It punishes foreign countries to extort them into making a trade deal, and
2. It raises the prices consumers pay for imported products, thus making American products price-competitive.

What the wealthy do not realize is that when everything is too expensive, people stop buying. When people stop buying because of a boycott or prices are too high, the result is a loss of income for the business and a loss of tax revenue for the government.

History has repeatedly shown that when prices and interest rates are low, people spend more money, businesses expand, and tax revenues increase. But the wealthy do not worry about the balance sheets (i.e., our checkbook ledger) that tell us we cannot spend more than our income. Many Americans are in debt up to their eyeballs and living paycheck to paycheck because they do spend more than their income... just like our government does.

[ChrissyRyan]

What Trump is doing with the tariffs is twofold.

1. It punishes foreign countries to extort them into making a trade deal, and
2. It raises the prices consumers pay for imported products, thus making American products price-competitive.

What the wealthy do not realize is that when everything is too expensive, people stop buying. When people stop buying because of a boycott or prices are too high, the result is a loss of income for the business and a loss of tax revenue for the government.

History has repeatedly shown that when prices and interest rates are low, people spend more money, businesses expand, and tax revenues increase. But the wealthy do not worry about the balance sheets (i.e., our checkbook ledger) that tell us we cannot spend more than our income. Many Americans are in debt up to their eyeballs and living paycheck to paycheck because they do spend more than their income... just like our government does.

Likely most everyone can realize when everything is too expensive, people stop buying. When people stop buying because of a boycott or prices are too high, the result is a loss of income for the business and a loss of tax revenue for the government.

[Lori Dee]

Likely most everyone can realize when everything is too expensive, people stop buying.

The wealthy do not worry about running out of money and not being able to pay their mortgage and utilities. They have people to monitor their assets and pay their bills for them. They likely can't tell you how much money they have in a checking account.

But like you said, MOST PEOPLE do not live that way. The average Joe is concerned about whether he will have enough beer for Sunday's ball game. 

[ChrissyRyan]

There is something to the fact that lower costs can lower prices and many consumers prefer lower prices.  I suppose lower costs could instead keep prices about the same and increase profits.

This can be a lengthy discussion because there are many issues.  Govt. waste.  Who should pay the taxes, and how much of their wealth and income should those taxes be limited to?  Do overseas goods cause job loss here because expenses are higher here than in other places resulting in a higher cost of goods sold?  Do companies / individuals or NGOs or not for profits who lobby or donate big $$$ get favored treatment and access to politicians and favors?  Lots more too. . .  Is there corporate welfare or do those incentives truly provide for a better jobs situation and better economies?

I will say that sooner or later higher taxes do not solve the fiscal problems by itself because eventually there will be no money left by anyone to pay the higher taxes and greater attempts will be made to avoid paying more in taxes.  Expenses need to be cut.  Which ones though?

Which reminds me of the simplified 1040 postcard:  How much did you make this year?  Send it all in.

What should be done, when, and over what timeframe?  There are no easy answers but at least some logical, fair, and morally just steps should be taken.


Chrissy

[ChrissyRyan]

The wealthy do not worry about running out of money and not being able to pay their mortgage and utilities. They have people to monitor their assets and pay their bills for them. They likely can't tell you how much money they have in a checking account.

But like you said, MOST PEOPLE do not live that way. The average Joe is concerned about whether he will have enough beer for Sunday's ball game. 

That is likely very true.

[Sephirah]

@Lori Dee

Dear Lori: What is going on in Colorado? 
      ? The sun is not shining bright enough?  Not enough wind blowing ?

What you are describing would not work well here in Alaska, long bitter cold winter,
long 22+ hours of night - no sun...

Being able to handle a heavy " electric base load" at any time of day or night regardless
of what the sun and the wind are doing is what makes hydro, nuclear, and even fossil fuel power plants
a clear choice for "primary" power generation. 
The other stuff is fine for supplementing the power needs of the grid.

It is important to not throw out the baby with the bath water as there is an effort continually strive
for cleaner energy.

Unfortunately Hydro dams are being dismantled to save the fish, nuclear has a bad name, and fossil
fuel generation with coal, natural gas, or oil and even heating my home with a wood stove...
...all of them are unpopular with many zealous environmental groups.
Certainty, Electic Vehicles have their own set of pollution issues.

Just my kilowatt of opinion... that is all.
HUGS, Danielle

You know I love you, Danielle, but I think we might have to agree to disagree on some of this. I don't think, really, that there's anything necessarily wrong with telling people to turn off stuff they're not using. Or trying to do things to reduce the load on a power grid. We live in a world of devices on standby. Most of which no one really pays any attention to. And expect it to just always be okay.

I agree with you on Hydro, and Nuclear, when it comes to power generation because they are far more sustainable. Although nuclear is extremely messy and arguably causes as many problems as it solves. Fossil fuels, though... no. They are not sustainable, and cause a ton of issues that we have taken far too long to understand and try to combat. I don't think I would call environmental groups "Zealous". We are approaching our fourth heatwave in the UK this year. It's kind of unprecedented and feels like every week we get the whole "Hottest since records began" speech. And over the last few years, every summer, half of Europe seems to be on fire. So I think we have to look at what we're doing to the planet and look for different options.

The UN recently came out and said we are failing in trying to combat climate change. Because we are still way too reliant on things which make it worse. Not better. Mostly because money. I read an article a while ago that said something along the lines of if only 4% of the Sahara Desert was covered in solar panels, the world would have unlimited free power. But that will never happen because companies can't make money on free energy. It would destroy all the established industries that make billions pumping stuff out of the ground. So, naturally, they don't like the idea.

The reason renewable energy is secondary in a lot of places is because people don't have the desire to take it further. In my opinion. It could be primary if countries were willing to put the effort into making it primary. But most of the world is not. And that's why these environmental groups try to speak up about it. To try and make people see the dangers of what we're doing in the face of big oil and gas companies telling everyone it will be okay. While the world is getting more and more chaotic, and hard to ignore.

Maybe the baby needs to be thrown out in order for it to grow up.

[Lori Dee]

Which reminds me of the simplified 1040 postcard:  How much did you make this year?  Send it all in.

I love this!

When I helped out in my friend's accounting office during tax season, he had a big sign on the wall in the waiting area:

it's ours,
not theIRS!