Good old Enock ,taken for a trip by aliens (if you believe the ancient alien lot )

Quote from: Gina P on June 18, 2024, 12:41:15 PMLightning is so cool. Natures fireworks. Having been in close proximity to strikes on many occasions really gives on an appreciation of the true power.

So true!

When I was a sophomore in high school living in New York State, I was on the second floor looking out my bedroom window. A large oak tree in the neighbor's yard across the street was struck by a huge bolt of lightning. The light was blinding and the thunder so loud and instant that I thought a bomb had gone off. The tree was split right in half.

The next day, my dad and I were looking at the tree. You could see all the grain of the wood inside. He pointed to it and said, "That proves it! Trees are made out of boards." < Dad joke >

Quote from: davina61 on June 18, 2024, 12:44:02 PMGood old Enock ,taken for a trip by aliens (if you believe the ancient alien lot )

I'm not convinced it was aliens, but "the Lord works in mysterious ways".

Enoch is my favorite Old Testament character. One of the unsung heroes of the Bible. I think he got a raw deal.

Think about it. In recorded history, only three people have ascended ("were taken by God"). Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus. Of those three, Enoch and Elijah did not experience death. Enoch was a holy man, described as one who "walked with God" and is mentioned in the Bible only a few times in passing.

There should be entire chapters dedicated to him. The only other Old Testament figure who "walked with God" was Adam and he got a lot more press than poor old Enoch. 

One of my double-barrel rock tumblers is dying a slow and noisy death. I thought the noise was coming from the rollers, so I oiled up the bearings but it was still noisy. Yesterday, I shut it down and did a better examination and it seems the noise is coming from a bearing on the motor shaft. Not a problem, I just oiled that too and the noise quieted down.

This morning, the noise is back. Shut it down again, and the sound may be coming from the electric motor. I got out the canned air and blasted the carbon dust out of the armature housing. Then, I oiled all the bearings again, but this time I flooded them to flush out dust or debris.

By this afternoon the noise was driving me bonkers. I logged on to The Tumbler's Bench and ordered a new motor. They had pairs of sealed motor bearings on sale so I grabbed two pair. This evening I received an email that the parts have already shipped! Now that is quality service.

By this weekend, I will be doing a complete rebuild of this rock tumbler. If I kept the box and the receipt I could have returned it. My experience with rock tumblers has been that you get another faulty one in exchange. But if you buy the parts from a third party and rebuild the machine yourself, it seems to last much longer.

I rebuilt the National Geographic (made in China) single-barrel machine in the same way. I replaced the ball bearings with sealed motor bearings and replaced the motor with a slow-speed, high-torque motor. It has been running smoothly 24/7 for almost a year.

If you want something done right, sometimes you just have to do it yourself.

The weather forecast calls for 79 degrees and rain. It is 70 now and not a cloud in the sky.

I got a text message from USPS that my rock tumbler parts will not be here until Monday. The tumblers have been running on an extended cycle waiting. Normally, I run each cycle for seven days. Beyond that, the abrasive grit breaks down to where it is ineffective. This is day eleven, so I'll go ahead and clean them out, set the rocks aside, and wait til Monday when I can rebuild Tumbler #2.

If the rain doesn't show up, I might be able to get out to the creek tomorrow. My sluice box is begging for attention. If it rains today, it should clear up enough that I can do some rockhounding elsewhere.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ... A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; ... " ~ Ecclesiastes 3:5

 

Hi Lori,

When I was growing up, I got a rock tumbler for Christmas. My father bought several more and it was more like his hobby. I was turning into a teen and trying to figure out my confused life, like these different gender feelings! I am nearing retirement and your posts have me thinking about just maybe buying a rock tumbler!

A couple of the name-brand tumbler companies have gone out of business or have been bought out by other companies, so the availability of the good ones and parts can be limited.

Avoid the National Geographic brand as they are known to have issues. Lortone is top of the line but the company was bought out. The new company promises to have production back up by this summer.

Thumler is another good one. A lot of people on the Rock Tumbling forums have them and love them. One of the forum Admins has about ten or more of them.

Harbor Freight/Chicago Electric went out of business but some can still be found. I don't like them. They are noisy and generate a lot of heat. That is the model I am rebuilding.

I would recommend the Highland Park model. I have never used one, but they have good reviews on Rock Tumbling forums. Leegol is built almost identically so has good reviews as well.

The key is to go cheap at first until you get hooked like I did. You can always upgrade once you learn what you like or don't like. The forums have a lot of wonderfully helpful people for advice and troubleshooting.

The National Geographic has issues, but they have great customer service. If you get a bad one, they will replace it. I just got tired of having to replace it every few months and decided to rebuild it. It has been running for about nine months now with no issues. I am hoping to have similar success with the Harbor Freight/Chicago Electric.

@Kay226

Thank you Lori! I have a box of rocks from my father sitting next to my desk. I know that he wanted to tumble/polish them. Maybe I will get to them and then I will be hooked like my father and it took over most of his basement! I will definitely look at the brands that you recommend.

The rain finally arrived. Not much of a soaker, more like a few wet clouds. But off to the west, it looks like the Hills are getting hit. I don't know how much rain will fall overnight.

Tomorrow, I will head to the southern shore of the Badlands. I won't be far from the Fairburn Agate Beds. There are some areas I want to hunt that are not as picked over by tourists. With any luck, I may find the elusive Fairburn Agate. I have been looking since 2016 and have not found one yet.

It's going to hit 90 in the city tomorrow and I would rather be anywhere else. Except for Las Vegas.

Back home in the air conditioning now. The forecast for today was 90, but now it says today it got to 86. It was an hour-and-a-half drive out to the "spot" and I had the a/c cranked the whole time. I parked in the shade. We got in the creek as quickly as possible. Instead of refreshingly cool, it was like bath water. WTH?

I could have just gotten in the bathtub. It has less algae and leeches, and almost less fish poop. We were pulling rocks off the bottom of the creek — nothing to write about. The day became more about playing in the water.

Got back to the WHITE Jeep with sunscreen in the windshield and back windows blacked out, and parked in the shade.



Tomorrow's forecast calls for 88... so I guess that means 108?

Oh and on the way there, we normally stop at a small local truck stop/convenience store for a potty break and to grab some sandwiches for lunch later. Over the intercom, they were piping in Musak and this song came on. It is now stuck in my head and my Bestie and I have been humming it all day.

It is quite an affirming song, so sing along:


Overall, not a bad day.

Dear LoriDee:
I am glad that you had fun playing in the creek in the warm water with
the algae and leeches.... I am fairly certain that you got a nice
shower or a clean bath when you arrived back home.

So sorry to read about the high temperatures there...   for me where I live
this early morning started out at 44 degrees(f) and got up to 66 degrees(f). 
Tomorrow on Monday it may get up to into the low 70's ... plenty warm
enough for me.

Thank you for keeping me and the rest of your avid followers updated
with you life adventures.

HUGS, and more HUGS,
Danielle

I just witnessed the dangedest thing. I was outside talking with a neighbor and the birds were screeching really loud. It seemed to be coming from all directions. There were two Meadowlarks up on the peak of the roof and a Grackle a short distance away from them. Sparrows and Robins were in the trees. There was a Prairie Falcon perched up on one of the parking lot security lights. The smaller birds kept flying at him screeching, and dive-bombing him trying to scare him off. The falcon is much bigger and just watched them flying around like it didn't bother him.

That is the first time I have ever seen several different species working together to scare away a predator. The Falcon doesn't eat birds. He was probably looking for mice. The other birds don't eat mice, but they don't want him in their territory.

New medications arrived today. I have an appointment tomorrow morning so a nurse can show me how to do injections without stabbing myself in the eye. 

Parts arrived for the rock tumbler rebuild. The motor is wired slightly differently (2-wires instead of 3), but it is an AC circuit so easy enough to figure out. Got the motor replaced and it runs nice and quietly. Went to replace the bearings on the rollers. Hmmm, no bearings. It has plastic bushings that the rollers turn inside of. I pulled the end cap off and it is just a snap-ring keeping the roller from sliding and the end cap was packed in grease.

The User Manual says to oil the rollers periodically with a light sewing machine oil. That is just wrong. Lightweight oil would dilute the thick grease and provide no benefit at all. Like I said, you have to do it yourself sometimes. I pulled the end caps, cleaned them up, repacked them with Vaseline, and replaced them. Everything is working just fine.

Tomorrow sometime I'll refill the barrels and start another batch of rocks on their way to beautiful polished glory.

The nurse appointment went well this morning. Did my first injection under supervision and didn't even feel it!

Afterward, we were talking about disability claims. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with a County VSO (Veteran Service Officer) to talk about filing additional claims. My nurse said she recently filed a claim for the same reasons and it got denied. She is in the process of a higher review. She said tinnitus is becoming harder to claim under some new rules that I am not aware of. But with hearing loss and tinnitus, I should have a better chance. So tomorrow's outfit will include earrings and my VA-issued hearing aids. Hard to deny hearing loss or any other claim when it was the VA that diagnosed it. They just say that it isn't service-connected. Really? I lived on a tank for almost 15 years and it isn't service-connected? Huh? What? Can you speak up, please?

I got the rock tumblers refilled and rolling again. I decided to take a look at the old motor to see if I could figure out what went bad on it. As I manually turn the motor shaft, I can feel it catch sometimes, like there is a burr or debris in the bearings.

Wait...

Motor bearings. They come in a set of two. I'm looking at the motor and it has two bearing housings. Duh. I found where the bearings go! Some days I feel extra blonde. 

Wait, you didn't live on one of those QUIET tanks? I am pretty sure I read about those... 🤔

Sorry you have to deal with all that bullshoot. It takes a lot of strength to not lose your focus and just keep plowing forward in a system designed to make you give up.

Love,
Allie

The loudest part is the gunfire when shooting the main cannon. 105mm shells go big boom. But the part that affects tankers the most is the squeak from the tracks when moving. It causes high-frequency hearing loss. When I first filed for VA disability (1990), the VSO at the American Legion told me that this would not be covered. The VA's position was that it was preventable. Whoever made that decision never wore earplugs while wearing a communications helmet. It can't be done. The squeaks and booms come right through the intercom.

Since then, the VA has changed its position. I spoke with the VA Director of Public Affairs for this area and he told me to file a claim. He said it would get approved. So... fingers crossed.

Quote from: LoriDee on June 25, 2024, 04:46:07 PMThe loudest part is the gunfire when shooting the main cannon. 105mm shells go big boom. But the part that affects tankers the most is the squeak from the tracks when moving. It causes high-frequency hearing loss. When I first filed for VA disability (1990), the VSO at the American Legion told me that this would not be covered. The VA's position was that it was preventable. Whoever made that decision never wore earplugs while wearing a communications helmet. It can't be done. The squeaks and booms come right through the intercom.

Since then, the VA has changed its position. I spoke with the VA Director of Public Affairs for this area and he told me to file a claim. He said it would get approved. So... fingers crossed.

It doesn't go without saying, so I'm going to say it:

Thank you for your service. That all is unimaginably and utterly terrifying to me.

My sister works with Vets returning mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan... as they try to reintegrate and pursue a college degree. She's dealt with so many cases of PTSD, and some suicides... but met so many wonderful, brave and amazing people. To not take care of our veterans is a great shame.

I worked with bae systems for about 2 years. I was a tester/fixer of armoured vehicles the factory was producing for its military contracts. There was a time where I drove nothing but the new ACV for the Marine corps and the armys Bradley's, ampv, and the cat ammunition hauler and the mobile howitzer.

It was mandatory we had to use double hearing protection when driving or in the vehicles while driving. Which made it very difficult to ensure the comms and radios were working while driving. Although I don't ever remember having to do hearing tests while working for them.

The Army went through a phase where they became fanatics about hearing protection. We were required to wear a set of earplugs in a case on our uniform to ensure we had them. We didn't wear them in the tank, relying instead on the CVC helmet. But just mechanicking in the motor pool we would wear them.

If a hearing test showed you had hearing loss, you had to wear the double protection like you described. Insertable ear plugs with the headset "cans" over your ears. That was a PITA. We figured out how to cheat on the tests. Whenever the hearing test machine would send a tone, a light would come on. We would watch for the light in reflections on the tester's glasses, or if facing away from them, in a window or glass picture frame. Then it was just a matter of clicking the button every time we saw the light. Amazing how our unit seems to have no hearing loss and never had to wear those awful earplugs.

Of course, now, that will come back and bite me because my medical records won't show hearing loss, and I could be denied that claim. We will see what the outcome is.

Spent today helping a friend. The passenger electric window on her car wouldn't stay up. We ripped the door panel off (after consulting YouTube on how to do it). The regulator is working, and the glass is intact but the regulator won't hold the window closed. Rain is in the forecast and she lives in a "not nice" part of town.

She has a walk-in appointment at Tires Plus for tomorrow morning. I loaned her a tarp to cover the window just in case. She planned to go with me tomorrow to a new site I want to scout. But it will be just me.

It is a little over an hour's drive, so I will be AFK most of tomorrow (if it doesn't rain). I'll have to bring my selfie stick so I can share some pics of Lori Dee in the wilds.