Introducing #DisOldHouse: Our hashtag for sharing the [mis]adventures of renovating the closest thing I have to a childhood home, all while raising a family in it.
My grandfather bought this house new in ~1960. And I lived here with my grandparents 6th grade through my first two years of college. @Jillianmarisa@vmst.io and I gave up a turnkey place across town to keep this one in the family, and hit the massive reset button. 😲
It's been... A journey. Making memories!
As a general rule, I do not share links to non-fedi SM posts. I’m not in the business of distribution of substances to patients in rehab. We’re all here for a reason.
FediFirst, or nothing at all. This is the hill
I choose to die on.
Maybe an occasional screenshot.
#FediFirst
What a wonderful day! We just watched an #EasternBluebird couple discover the box we put up in the backyard.
Now @Jillianmarisa@vmst.io and I are narrating for them. It’s like house hunters bird edition back here. 🥰
Will they pick the new-build roomy mansion in the bad part of town? Stay tuned!
#househunters #naturalist #backyardbirding #naturalist #birding
Introducing #DisOldHouse: Our hashtag for sharing the [mis]adventures of renovating the closest thing I have to a childhood home, all while raising a family in it.
My grandfather bought this house new in ~1960. And I lived here with my grandparents 6th grade through my first two years of college. @Jillianmarisa@vmst.io and I gave up a turnkey place across town to keep this one in the family, and hit the massive reset button. 😲 It's been... A journey. Making memories!
Now that I'm somewhat well connected (and maybe even trusted?) in the Missouri conservation community, I'd like to start pressing people and orgs to adopt Mastodon as part of their SM strategy.
If/when I get someone on the hook-- where should I direct them to learn more, and talk with their teams? joinmastodon.org is surprisingly unhelpful.
I need a formal(ish) "sales pitch" for SM managers... cc @Gargron@mastodon.social
So anyway. Here’s the repair package. All in, under $75 (vs $190+) and I really enjoyed solutioning it.
I’m looking forward to this small project with my kiddo. I didn’t have a dad growing up and was lucky to work a few years at a hardware store to learn about a lot of the handy stuff. Plus YouTube university.
Can’t say I’m glad this happened because the timing is terrible. But yay learning opportunities for us both, making memories, and hard work.
PS: Grandpa’s vice grips 🥰
Super proud dad moment. 🥰 All fixed! And this hitch plate is way stronger than the original piece of metal. Nevermind the color mismatch. I’m for function over aesthetic, all day long. #Dad #ProudDad
Oh and harbor freight guy talked me into some cutting oil. Which makes sense.
It's in plumbing, BTW. Totally would have expected in metalwork or drilling. But plumbers use it too, for threading metal pipe, I guess? (Don't they mostly use PVC, ABX, and PEX at this point?)
So anyway. Here’s the repair package. All in, under $75 (vs $190+) and I really enjoyed solutioning it.
I’m looking forward to this small project with my kiddo. I didn’t have a dad growing up and was lucky to work a few years at a hardware store to learn about a lot of the handy stuff. Plus YouTube university.
Can’t say I’m glad this happened because the timing is terrible. But yay learning opportunities for us both, making memories, and hard work.
PS: Grandpa’s vice grips 🥰
Grabbed the punch, and found some step drill bits that look pretty sweet. Never had a need, but have been eyeing them. Love the concept, and this should help with my cordless drill power concerns.
Also b/c I'm assigning the repair work to the kiddo I got some stop collars so he doesn't go crazy and overbore the hole.
Oh and harbor freight guy talked me into some cutting oil. Which makes sense.
It's in plumbing, BTW. Totally would have expected in metalwork or drilling. But plumbers use it too, for threading metal pipe, I guess? (Don't they mostly use PVC, ABX, and PEX at this point?)
But these are 5/16 bolts and I'm worried about drill power, plus the drill bit "walking" before it bites. I saw on a YouTube that a guy used a punch to minimize that. So off to harbor freight for that. And maybe some sacrificial drill bits b/c I don't want to ruin my good ones.
Grabbed the punch, and found some step drill bits that look pretty sweet. Never had a need, but have been eyeing them. Love the concept, and this should help with my cordless drill power concerns.
Also b/c I'm assigning the repair work to the kiddo I got some stop collars so he doesn't go crazy and overbore the hole.
There's a tractor and mower store here in town so I called them. Of course they don't have my brand, but they do have one for another brand but they wanted $190! Pass. So I checked tractor supply and they had a single hitch plate for $40. Score! Still the wrong brand with bolt holes that are most certainly not going to work. But I figure I can drill new holes on the tractor itself...
But these are 5/16 bolts and I'm worried about drill power, plus the drill bit "walking" before it bites. I saw on a YouTube that a guy used a punch to minimize that. So off to harbor freight for that. And maybe some sacrificial drill bits b/c I don't want to ruin my good ones.
I know I give #LLM a lot of hate. It's mostly deserved. But one area where #ChatGPT excels is helping to provide the names of things. So I asked chatsy (what @Jillianmarisa@vmst.io calls it) to name the hole on back of lawn tractors for the hitch pin for towing accessories. BC you can't research solutions without knowing what the darned thing is called. It's the pin hole which is part of the hitch plate. Checks out. Yay...
There's a tractor and mower store here in town so I called them. Of course they don't have my brand, but they do have one for another brand but they wanted $190! Pass. So I checked tractor supply and they had a single hitch plate for $40. Score! Still the wrong brand with bolt holes that are most certainly not going to work. But I figure I can drill new holes on the tractor itself...
First off, the kid is alive, unscathed and I didn't even yell. I was pretty disheveled though.
So my first thought was that I'd need to do metal work but that's a DIY area I haven't gotten into. I don't have the time (or money, frankly) to do now.
So no welding or metal cutting. I have lots of cool tools but no angle grinder for that very reason. Though I must confess I briefly considered getting that fancy variable speed drill press I've been eyeing...
I know I give #LLM a lot of hate. It's mostly deserved. But one area where #ChatGPT excels is helping to provide the names of things. So I asked chatsy (what @Jillianmarisa@vmst.io calls it) to name the hole on back of lawn tractors for the hitch pin for towing accessories. BC you can't research solutions without knowing what the darned thing is called. It's the pin hole which is part of the hitch plate. Checks out. Yay...
The dude was rightfully mortified and super guilty, but accepted responsibility. So I spent last night fretting/researching and devising a plan to repair/replace it pronto. And I'm pretty happy with the solution. Strong dad vibes here. Anyway, stand by for excited toots about solutioning...
First off, the kid is alive, unscathed and I didn't even yell. I was pretty disheveled though.
So my first thought was that I'd need to do metal work but that's a DIY area I haven't gotten into. I don't have the time (or money, frankly) to do now.
So no welding or metal cutting. I have lots of cool tools but no angle grinder for that very reason. Though I must confess I briefly considered getting that fancy variable speed drill press I've been eyeing...
JL Johnson :veri_mast: