2018 Recap

Health wise, the only problems I had was an impingement in my shoulder for which I went to Physical therapy for what seemed like forever and Sciatica for which I went to the Chiropractor. Both impacted what I was able to do.

End of last year had an interview to join a local group supporting public parks, the commitment was more than I was willing to commit to, but instead this year we joined the Travis Fourth of July Committee.

On the work front it is "death by many cuts", there were layoffs, then too few people on the project and then the vacation policy was changed so we no longer were entitled to vacation we had earned, but rather we had unlimited time off, just needed to get it OK'ed.

The work issues plus the problems I had working on the Land Rover put me in a deep funk.

Things done:
January

• Staten Island Greenbelt Trail of the Month Hike, trying out our winter wear in preparation for the frozen north of Sweden. Was hoping to do more hikes during the year, Sciatica had other ideas.
• NY Times Travel Show

February

• 11 - 17 Land Rover/Jaguar Ice Academy in Arjeplog, Sweden. Driving fast on frozen lakes.

March

• Lisa Brigantino and sister Lisa at Richmondtown Tavern Concert. 
• Land Rover fuel filter fiasco

April

• Land Rover exhaust manifold snapped stud saga, started March 24.

May

• Land Rover Brake line connection conundrum
• Greg Proops at The Bell House

June

• Red Mill British Car Show, tried hawking Rover parts unsuccessfully
• Helped prep for ROVERS picnic in North NJ.
• Food trucks at Mt. Loretto

July

• Fourth of July parade as Committee Members 
• ROVERS picnic in North NJ, last off-roading in Lump.
• Family Picnic, Eldest in for visit
• New Hope with Eldest 
• NYC with Eldest, Dead Rabbit, Seaport, Strand Books
• Mister Rodgers movie in Cranford, NJ
• Fort Wadsworth tour

August

• Goat beauty contest at Fort Wadsworth.

September

• Forging class at Staten Island Maker Space.
• Jazz Dinner at Christ Church.

October

• CranberryFest Turkey Dinner
• New Hope
• Bowie's album Heroes covered at Winter Garden, NYC

November

• Sold the 1963 Land Rover to a good home.
• Friend's Birthday party at Surf.
• Thanksgiving (8)

December

• Work trip to rainy San Diego.
• Vickie and Nickie's Holiday Sleigh Ride.
• Holiday craft fair at Makerspace
• The Young one and the Eldest, plus spouse in for XMAS XVIII.

Food Joints:

• Sayori, Japanese, our local
• Surf for brunch multiple times
• Beso, Tapas
• Blue, American
• Chris' Polish
• Inca's Grill, Peruvian
• Darina Cafe, Russian/European
• Phil-Am Kusina, Philipino
• 5 Guys Burgers
• Jimmy Max, pizza just a block away
  

Garden:
No new plants added.
Lost some heaths and heathers.
Lost some alpines.
Planted spring lettuce and spinach in April, only had luck with lettuce
Only 1 squash harvested over the summer.
Few heirloom tomatoes harvested, but plenty of small plums once production outpaced swiping by squirrel.
Planted about 25 new stock garlic (Spanish Royal) and 75 of ours, October 28.

House:
Had chimney flashed professionally
Polyurethaned Master bedroom windows, June, 2 coats.
Painted back bedroom in April, Benjamin Moore Steel Blue #823.
New shades in back bedroom and the Young one's bedroom.
Pressure washed driveway and front steps, November.
Rebuilt backyard bench in May, lumber from Boards and Beams. Used Teak oil on the white oak wood slats.
Re-plumbed kitchen sink drain, May.
Fixed a washing machine.
Discarded an old cabinet and bought a rolling 5 drawer storage unit for the work shop.
Added a folding work top to one wall in the garage.

2018 Book List

OK, so this year I finished 12 more Inspector Maigret books, started on the Raymond Chandler novel series, starting with The Big Sleep. The 1946 movie version is one of my favorite movies and it follows the book quite well.

1. Brief Guide to Philosophy Classics, James M. Russell, 1/7
2. So Anyway, John Cleese, Finished 1/22.
3. Maigret and the Tall Woman, Georges Simenon(GS) 1/22-29
4. Dogopedia, Justin Hankins 1/29 - 2/4
5. Aunt Dimity and the Summer King, Nancy Atherton, finished 2/18
6. Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters, GS 2/11 on the plane to Sweeden.
7. Maigret and the Man on the Bench, GS, 2/19 - 3/1
8. The Big Sleep #1***, Raymond Chandler, 3/2 - 3/8
9. Maigret's Revolver, GS, 3/9 - 3/14
10. Death of a Ghost, M.C. Beaton, 3/15 - 3/21
11. Maigret is Afraid, GS, 3/22-3/27
12. Maigret goes to School, GS, 3/28 - 4/2
13. Maigret's Mistake, GS, 4/4 -
14. Earthly Remains**, Donna Leon, 4/5 - 4/14, Venetian mystery on one of the outer islands, each of the books in this series makes me want to return to Venice. Plus I can get a haircut since our hair lady moved there.
15. Maigret and the Dead Girl, GS, 4/14 - 4/18
16. Death of the Deamon, Anne Holt,  4/19 - 5/6
17. The Taxidermist's Daughter, Keye Mosse, 5/7 - still not done
18. The Lady in the Lake #4***, Raymond Chandler, Author writes great lines.
19. The Waters of Eternal Youth*, Donna Leon, 5/10 - 5/26, starts sad, but has a happy ending.
20. Bryant and May and the Burning Man, Christopher Fowler,  5/28 - 6/9
21. The Bedford Triangle, Martin Bowen, 6/9 - ?, Book about covert flights to Europe from Britian during WWII to drop and pick up people and equipment. Very interesting, but many facts to absorb.
22. Maigret and the Headless Corpse**, GS, ? - 6/30
23. Death of an Honsest man, M.C. Beaton
24. Beyond the Truth, Anne Holt, 7/? - 7/28
25. Maigret Sets a Trap, GS, 7/25 - 7/28
26. The High Window #3, Raymond Chandler, 7/28 - 8/1
27. Growing a Feast**, Kurt Timmermeister, 8/? - 8/24. Follow up to Growing a Farmer, chapter about the cheese cave was among my favorite.
28. The Witches' Tree, M.C. Beaton, 8/25 - 9/5
29. Maigret and the Minister, GS, 9/6 - 9/8
30. Odd Numbers, Anne Holt, 9/9 - 9/21
31. The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, 9/24 - ?
32. Carsick*, John Waters, October  Enjoyable, what a character he is.
33. Year of the Cow**, Jared Stone,  November, Follow a family as they eat through a whole cow, recipies included.
34.  The Children Return, Martin Walker, 11/21 - December
35. Maigret Enjoys Himself***, GS, 12/4 on a plane to San Diego. Maigret is forced to take vacation and follows a murder as a private citizen does and sends hints to the Inspector in charge anonomously.
36. Maigret's Failure, GS, December

Backyard Bench Upgrade

The planned project for Memorial Day weekend.

Picked up 1 x 3 x  48" white oak from Boards and Beams Lumber in NJ.
They had a very good selection, everything was well marked and the place was very tidy. Needed 7 slats, but boards were 9 foot lenghts so I got 8 slats and 4 scrap pieces which I am sure will see good use.

Procedure:
Disassemble bench, retain brass fasteners.
Clean off metal bench ends and back with scotch-brite abrasive disc.
Prime bench ends and back with red oxide paint.

Paint bench ends and back with Krylon Regal Blue.

Drill hole in ends of bench slats using bench drill press.
Sand slats severely.
Apply Teak Oil, both sides, 2 coats.

Attach metal back to 2 slats, measuring multiple times prior to using drill press to drill pilot holes. Initially used brass #8 x 3/4" screws, but the head snapped off on 2 of them so I switched over to stainless.

 Reassembled on a non-rainy day.

 There is room for 2 small side wood trim pieces on the back, but I may omit them.

 Finished product. Bench initially had metal strapping under the middle of the slats to distribute weight between adjacent slats. I had purchased copper plated pipe strapping which I might add.

Memorial Day 2018

Problem:
Commander-in-chief is a draft dodger and consummate liar.

Plumbing Problem:
Water not draining from kitchen sink.

Solution:
Remove old 1.5" pipes, which were slightly corroded and 2 of the slip joint nuts broke upon removal.
Remove the Trap and the Tee and flush out. Quite disgusting.
Snake out the section of the drain pipe below the kitchen with the trap and tee removed.
Dump the prescribed amount of pequa down the drain, wait and flush with hot water.
Leave bucket under sink in case I forgot I had removed the drain pipes.
Reassemble with new parts. Heavy brass dishwasher connection fittings was reused.

New Parts:
2" EZ hub
6" x 1.5" flanged tailpiece in rough brass
sink tailpiece washer
1.5" slip joint nut for tailpiece
9.5" x 1.5"  double offset tube in rough brass (cut in half)
12" x 1.5 straight tube, store only had chrome.

Disassembly Sunday after Dinner.
Reassembly Monday morning.

Trap and Tee reconnected to drainpipe with new EZ Hub.
Dishwasher connection connected to trap with slip joint washer.
Half of offset tube connected to dishwasher connection with rubber washer and thread sealant(not a slip joint).

Straight tube, other half of offset tube and tail piece connected with slip joint washers and slip joint nuts, hand tight.
Those pipes inserted into first offset and then connected to sink with sink tailpiece washer and slip joint nut.
Ran water, looked for leaks, cleaned up.

Spring Flowers 2018

April and May flowers.

Primula

Tulips, Dicentra, grape hyachinth, weeds

 Iris Henryi (yes yi)

Gentiana

A tree

Primula

Violet

Lilly of the Valley

Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)

Lump Exhaust Replacement, Exhausting.

Needed to replace the front pipe of Lump's exhaust system, there had been some rust-through and presumed carbon monoxide leakage which I heard is not a good thing.

Purchased a side exit front pipe (GEX1563) and gasket (213358) from DAP Enterprises.

Leading up to the simple task of replacing the front pipe I saturated all the fasteners with penetrating oil and I painted the pipe with high temperature paint. The 3 bolts connecting the first and intermediate pipe came apart easie-peasie. Hurrah for SS fittings. Removing the 4 nuts connecting the front pipe to the exhaust manifold were going according to plan up until the last nut. There was movement, but not on the part of the nut. The last stud snapped, bottom right, worse possible place.

Initial attempts to loosen it failed; threading the stud(not enough thread for second bolt to hold), vice grips, more penetrating oil, heat, even more penetrating oil, praying. No luck.

 Purchased better grippy pliers, but no better luck, then purchased some specialized stud extractors, the first only managed to snap the stud closer to the manifold.

 This second one didn't really have enough stud to keep a hold on, but I reckon it would have disapointed as well.

 I then drilled and tapped in a square stud extractor, but it did not live up to its name. I drilled a larger hole and used the next size square stud extractor. Same unrewarding result.
 Lastly, I decided to drill an even larger hole and the drill bit snapped off and became lodged inside the stud that was rusted in place. Finally, I managed to extricate the end of the drill bit and then I knocked the remains of the stud inwards and the stubborn stud finally came out.

 Connecting the new front pipe to the manifold with the new gasket sandwiched between was quick.

A view from the wheel well.

 Connection of the Front and intermediate pipes mit exhaust putty for a tight connection.

Connection and hanger.

  Hanger closeup, the Brass Acorn nuts from an old water meter on the hanger look quite nice and protect the threads too.

Gathering quite a selection of specialized tools which I hope I never have to use again.

CAV Fuel Filter Housing Revisited

This is the bane of my existence. This is a 90 degree connector and I needed just one straight adapter. One end is 5/16 (1/2x20 thread) SAE 45-degree flare, the other end is O-ring boss with 1/2 x 20 thread. Not NPT. Not 37-degree flare. Not inverted flare. If I found a website with O-ring boss male adapters they either did not have the correct sized ends or the flare was 37-degree.

Figure B

Was it easy to acquire?
Sure. As easy as putting a half pound of butter in a tigers ear in a dark basement with a hot needle(Sir P.G. Wodehouse).
Yes, it was that easy. In fact I never sourced one.

In October of 1999, I replaced the original CAV fuel filter housing with an AC T-95 spin on filter housing. It was supposed to make changing the filter easier and priming the fuel system easier as well by allowing the filling of the filter with fuel prior to installation.

The filter housing had 2 In and 2 Out ports, one output I used as a bleed port. I have no idea where I got the fittings, but all hoses connected to the filter housing via four 90 degree connectors shown above, see Figure B, B for Bane.

For some reason after changing the Glow Plugs in November, the fuel system developed an air leak and when trying to bleed through the top port of the filter, things only got worse. That port would not stop leaking.

 So out with the new

 and in with the old.

I returned to the original CAV Filter housing. I used a Union Nut (RN (Rovers North) PLQ637) and olive (RN 530966) to connect a 1/4" hard line to the Filter port. The other side of the hard line eventually terminated in a SAE male flare.
I used a funnel to fill the filter via the top port (where the banjo is) prior to purging the fuel lines of air. Saves on many manual pumps of the fuel pump.

 This is the Banjo Bolt (RN part 563195) on the #4 Injector Nozzle Spill Rail. The previous bolt was rounded and I had problems separating the hose adapter from the banjo bolt. I also ordered a spare banjo bolt for the other injectors (RN273521) in case I wanted to omit the hose from the filter to #4 injector. I had read that on later/earlier 2.25 diesels this was not used, but could not find a second verifiable source, so I kept it. I had already made a new hose for this connection. The new banjo bolt washers were (RN 273069)

 After plumbing all the lines, after filling the filter with diesel, after starting to purge the system of air, I noticed the hose to the injector pump was leaking at the injector end. So I decided to replace more hoses. Of course the fittings were different for both hoses on the Injector pump.

Hoses:
   Filter to #4 Injector      = 3/16" hose   banjo to flare  1 foot in length
   Filter to Injector Pump = 1/4" hose     flare to flare    1.5 foot in length
   Injector Pump to Filter = 5/16" hose   flare to flare    2 foot in length

After replacing the hoses and another round of purging, starting the engine was to be next, but was not to be. The battery decided not to cooperate.
Charged the battery while lunch was consumed and about an hour later the engine started right up.  I let it idle for more than the legal limit and then stopped it and restarted it. Hope it starts tomorrow. A new battery will be a project for next weekend.

Past Trip: Ice Academy Arjeplog, Sweden 2018

We received an Email from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) about an Ice Driving experience in Sweden and 2 days later we were booked.

Sunday, February 11
Woke early because I do, transferred Dame Maggie to "Camp". Got back to the estate on time and left for the airport at 2PM.  Our flight from Newark to Stockholm was on SAS 904. It was a disappointing flight due to a plane change and wrong seats and no WiFi and no video screens, only iPads with a disappointingly small video selection and a broken reading light. Slight arrival delay on the tarmac due to deicing fluids at plane parking space. Arrived Monday morning, I did not get any sleep.
Day 1:
Monday, February 12
    Spent 4 hours in the SAS Lounge in Terminal 5.

 The spiral staircase was a good landmark, but a bad choice after too much time without sleep.

The next leg of our trip was from Stockholm to Arvidsjaur on NextJet 2N596 out of Terminal 3. This was across the airport and through SkyCity, an easy 10-15 minute walk. The flight was delayed an hour. Concerns about our luggage being loaded onto the plane dissolved once we realized the plane we expected to fly out on was not our plane at all. We arrived Arvidsjaur in the dark and landed on a snow covered runway.

 Arty arrival photo at Arvidsjaur Airport. Not as cold as expected.

 We were met in the airport by a JLR representative and we were driven to the hotel in a LR Discovery sport. The drive to Arjeplog and the hotel was 1.5 hours.
We arrived at night, but this was the entrance to the hotel in the day.

 This was the front entrance, but our group had our own special secret entrance.

There was another driving group at the hotel driving Maseratis.

This was our entrance and the Tipi were we could hang out and relax.

So we arrived at the hotel around 6:45PM Monday night and were greeted by more JLR staff.
Our room (533) was clean and we had presents awaiting us. Mugs and a heavy picture book of what the experience should be. We had a short time to get ready for the 7:15PM meeting followed by dinner. Dinner was a 3 course affair and all the food was very good.

Day 2:
February 13, 2018

 The vehicles waiting for us at the hotel for the first trip to the Lake House. The drive was probably 10 to 15 minutes. The guests drove to the lake following a lead driver and were trailed by another JLR driver.

We were met each morning by Bond Villain henchmen at the Lake House.

Normally there are 30 students in the Ice Academy, but we only had 12, so there were 3 groups of 4 people with 2 people to a car. Each Group had 2 instructors and a recovery driver. Every day we drove 3 different cars. Day 2 we drove Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Jaguar F-PACE, day 3 we drove Range Rover Velar, Jaguar F-PACE and the Jaguar V6 RWD F-Type and on day 4 we drove the Jaguar F-PACE, V6 RWD F-Type and the V8 550 HP AWD F-type. Both F-types had non street legal studded tires.

 Except for the F-Types, I believe all the vehicles were diesel.  Oh, and we always left the cars running.

At the lake we did three driving stints in the morning and then 3 more driving stints after lunch. There were also coffee breaks and a very good, very large lunch. The days felt long and we did learn a lot.
The Lake House had a map of the courses out on the Ice.

On Day 2 we drove on Dynamic Platform 1 and 2 around orange traffic cones to learn the maneuvers. In the cold the cones tended to shatter. There were plenty of pieces that some poor worker needed to pick up at the end of the day. In the afternoon we graduated to the Slalom course.

 Here we are at the Drift Circle with the Lake House in the background for an idea how large the lake is.

Day 3:

February 14, 2018

More driving today, but no more cone courses, real driving circuits and the V6 F-Types were added today. Handling Circuit 3 was added in the afternoon and it was so long that it never seemed to end. It had a straightaway which was the only relaxing section of the whole course.

It was a large lake.

We had a trip to the Testing facility this day, no cameras allowed. There were various cars in camoflage and hills designed to test traction control. The quick tour was quite interesting. There was to be an off-road excursion, but a leader had gotten stuck so that was cancelled.

Day 4:

February 15, 2018

We drove the V8s today. They had a lot of power, but I preferred the rear wheel drive F-Type. We covered the same curcuits, but started taking them the opposite direction. Over the course of trip we both only needed to be extracted from the snow twice.

V6 F-types in the foreground, V8s in the background.

At the end of the last day everyone was driven in the V8 F-Type by one of the professional drivers on Handling circuit 3. It was called a Customer Hot Lap and it was quite something. When we were driving you wondered how much faster could someone go and much faster was the answer.

 The sight you were met with at the end of the day upon return to the Hotel, our Tipi, reserved only for the Ice Academy guests. You could relay and get a drink or review you day and have a laugh.
Dinners were at 7 and were 3 courses and not a course was bad.

 On the last night, dinner was at another Tipi, we were driven by bus and had traditional foods including moose and reindeer sausages and moose hearts and a very good pea and spinach soup. The main instructors were there and it was nice to socialize with them.

The only bad luck we had was cloud cover at night, so no Northern Lights were seen. Other than that it was a great trip.

Day 5: Trip to the Arctic Circle. 
February 16, 2018
There were 5 of us on the self driving trip to the Arctic circle, 3 Range Rover Sports and our 2 chaperones each driving a Discovery. Passed this sign many times during our stay.

  Most signs were partially or fully snow covered.

  Normal sight on the way to the Arctic Circle. Lots of lakes and more houses than I expected. If a house was painted, the color would have been barn red, light blue or light yellow. No other colors were seen out in the country.

Houses at the end of the road.

 The outhouse at the end of the world.

Way easier to get to than the Antarctic Circle.
We were provided a bagged lunch and arrived back at the Hotel around noon.
We hung out in the Tipi till our ride back to Arvidsjaur Airport.

Arvidsjaur to Stockholm on NextJet 2N593
The flight had a quick stopover, but no problems getting to Stockholm. Once at the Stockholm airport we had to find the bus to the Airport hotel which was quite difficult in the dark. Luck was on our side and we just made the bus and got to our hotel in less than 10 minutes. The room was small, but it was just for one night. Dinner was a smorgasbord and cost almost as much as the room.

Saturday, February 17
No problems today, bus back to airport, spent some time in the SAS Lounge and caught the flight from Stockholm to Newark on SAS 903. A much better flight, got the seats we wanted and watched a few movies.

Once home we picked up the dog from "Camp" and drove home in a snowstorm utilizing the skills learned while at Ice Academy Sweden.