11.13.2026

Jim had his colonoscopy yesterday and he had good results.  So now we're both done with that test for a long time!  But very grateful for good news.

We woke up to a beautiful first snowfall!  We probably got about 2" of wet snow.  It probably won't last long but it's a reminder that winter looks wonderful on Angel!

So definitely an inside work day.   Jim decided that he might as well go a bit farther with the car repair.  One bolt broke off of the stabilizer bar, which he repaired, but that prompted this whole repair.  The other bolt is in bad shape too...

This is the vibration damper that he cleaned up and painted - looks so nice...

He got both control arms for the wheels removed...

He's doing as much take-apart work as is safe, but he can't do too much more until the other crossover member comes - right now, it's scheduled for Monday.

11.12.26 - High 39.5/Low 32.3
11.13.26 - High 36.8/Low 32 - first snow 2"

11.11.2026

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who served in the military, keeping our country and its citizens safe, especially those near and dear to my heart - Jim (Air Force), my dad (Air Force), and Jim's dad (Merchant Marines).  Be sure and thank a veteran for their service!

Jim continued to get the new support member ready to go.  His new bolts came in so he has some as place holders waiting to assemble...

More pre-winter chores - the maintenance light is showing on the generator...

Filling up the battery.  Nice that Jim has the battery heater now to keep things healthy.

Removing the air filter to clean it.  Everything is in good shape - the generator has only run about 30 hours so far this year.

All ready to go!

 

High 52.8/Low 36.6

11.10.2026

Now that our cap is on the stack, time to take the scaffolding down...

Taking the bucks down...

Taking pieces over to the Bobcat...

We oiled the joints to keep them moving...

Taking off the anchor bolts...

Taking everything back to the shed...

Putting things away...

The battery in the excavator is iffy, so Jim wanted to start it.  It started right up!  He let it run for a bit and then moved it over to its winter parking spot.  Before the end of the month, we'll get the battery out and the tarp back on.

Finally, loading up the platforms...

Putting the platforms back in the pole barn.  It's amazing - hours of work both setting up and dismantling the scaffolding for 2 minutes of placing the cap!  But if it works, it will all be worth it.  

In the shop, Jim got a coat of paint on the bracket for the car...

As well as on these other pieces...

One of the new support members came yesterday - Jim was happy to see that it's identical to the old one.  You just never know.  He's still waiting on the other part to come in - hopefully by the end of the week.

High 55.2/Low 43.4

11.9.2026

 While Jim is waiting for car parts to come in, he attended to some of those not-so-fun jobs that needed to be done.  The sealant in one corner of the shower needed replaced, so first Jim had to carefully remove the old sealant...

Using his heat gun to dry the area...

He brought up his air hose to try and really get things dry...

New caulk in place...

Tape off, now it just has to dry.

Next, he wanted to replace the whole house water filter.  This is always a pain, because no matter how carefully Jim does everything, including shutting off the water, there's still water in the filter and it tends to go everywhere...

All replaced and back together - and the floor got a little cleaning too, although I'll probably clean it again tomorrow.

I had a big mailing to get out today, so in between these jobs, Jim did lots of schlepping of trays from the office, to the pantry/meter room, and finally to my car so I could take them to the post office.  On my way there, I saw this gorgeous rainbow...

High 53.9/Low 45 - patchy light showers

11.8.2026

 These are just some of the tools Jim had to use to try and get the broken bolt out of the car...

He broke one of his reverse tap tools trying...

The next approach was to use his drill - first starting with a small bit up through the middle of the bolt.  But look at how precise he got it - perfectly straight in the middle!

Then he used a specific size drill bit to drill the rest - look at what remained...

Then he could use his rachet tap...

And the new bolt will fit!  This one isn't the right length, so Jim is ordering the new hardware tonight...

Jim took off the other support member that he plans to replace - it's definitely showing more rust...

The bracket and bolts are definitely rusty - Jim already has new bolts for this application...

Jim cleaned up the bracket in the blasting cabinet - what a difference!  He'll put a coat of paint on.

So then came some clean up.  He'll be on hold until the support members come in.

The cap for the stack came in today - this should keep anything from going down the stack if that's indeed where the debris is coming from...

Back out on the scaffolding to put the cap on - putting up the ladder...

Placing the cap.  It's a very tight fit so at this point, Jim isn't going to put screws in to hold it in place.

Bringing the ladder down - we'll take down the scaffolding another day.

High 51.4/Low 43.3