Binks Moe-Air compressor

The Binks is a carry-over from Rube, so it is very, very old, but works just fine although the hoses are getting a little old.  Used it most recently to blow the water out of the outside faucet system on the farm.  I have made up a fitting that goes into a valve after I remove the stem.  I leave it in for a little later in the year, around Dec, when I close up the house for the winter.

Ridgid Shop-Vac

Another Menards acquisition, some years ago.  Have gotten a ton of use out of it.  Cleaned the garage floors with it this year and just used it yesterday, emptied and cleaned the filter after dusting up the outdoor saws and table after fixing the fence.

McCollough 14" chainsaw

This is a handy little saw especially for trimming up.  I have given it a pretty good workout in it's lifetime, bought it at Menards I guess, a few years ago.  Fired it up today because the 16" was vapor locking on me while I was trimming up the big pine I cut down.  There is some worry that the chain is not being oiled, but I will have to have a closer look after this outing.  It worked pretty good, considering it probably hasn't been run in over a year.  It's good to have 2 of them functioning.

Trailer: 5 X 8 from Fleet Farm

Bought this little worker ten or fifteen years ago and built a pressure-treated wood frame for it.  It has moved us to the farm from Portage, to Pass Christian, and carried many, many loads of lumber and other stuff.  The frame was getting banged up, so I spent 2 hours fixing it with some new boards and putting new bolts through places where they shook out.  Looks pretty good now.  May be needing it to take stuff to Madison to the house we bought there.

Black & Decker Small Drill

This is a lemonade drill, hardly enough power to do much, but since I left my big one in Madison, I used it to drill the cedar boards for the fence repair and to drive some screws through to the posts.  I could smell it heating up a little, but it did the trick.  Probably belonged to Gordon.

DeWalt Chop Saw

I bought the DeWalt overhead chop saw quite some time ago, probably when I built Gordon's house.  It has served me well ever since and I have kept good care of it.  After Gordy's place, it has made the cuts for five decks here on the farm, all of the ash flooring in the house, the oak baseboard and door trim, window trim, roughing out the two patio doors to decks, punching a hole through the wall to the porch to make it part of the dining room, combining the two bedrooms, and probably ten other projects that I have forgotten, including building Pam's deck and doing her base molding.

17-foot LoweLine aluminum canoe

After golfing with Tony R in Racine, we happened upon this canoe for sale in a guy's front yard on the way back.  I returned and bought it for $300, strapped it onto the top of my truck and brought it home.  Included 2 paddles which could use varnishing, about 8 tie-down come-alongs, and six life vests, 2 of them still in the packages, some ropes, six styrofoam blocks for carrying it on the vehicle roof, and a bar to put on a vehicle roof, which I really don't want.  This enables me to sell the Peter Pond, which is too unstable for taking grandkids canoeing.

2012 VW Jetta TDI

Agreed today at Boucher VW in Janesville to buy a closeout 2012 VW that we looked at in Racine the other day for $22,044.  We put the $6K toward it from the sale of the 01 TDI.  It is standard model, 6-speed manual.  The 12's are on the old Passat frame so it will have the wheelbase of a Passat in prior years' production.  There is a 3-year or 75,000 mile warranty on this car and all oil changes and such are done by VW so I won't have a lot of car work to do.  Have to keep my skills up on the truck and van.
Picked it up on September 20, 2012.

Johnson Park Golf Club, Racine, WI

Played 9-holes with Tony R. on this beautiful, fun course in Racine.  We played the back nine and the fairways and greens were in really good shape.  The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed it.  I probably shot a 58 or 57, my usual.  Had to rent clubs.  Did all right without an oversized driver.  Didn't embarrass myself at all.

Alaska, WI

Golfed 9 holes with Nate at Alaska.  For some reason I burned up the course, tying my all-time low score of 48!  Hit 2 pars and just missed 2 more.  One triple bogey was my only bad hole!  I was kind of tired from camping with Elsa so maybe that calmed me down so I didn't think too much.

Shoop Park, Racine, WI

Golfed 9 with Tony Rottino at Shoop Park along Lake Michigan.  Didn't do particularly well--it was a 90+ degree day.  Probably hit the high 50's. Fun, though.

2003 Chevy Impala (Chris)

We have put brakes in Chris's Impala a couple of times and last time we put new rotors in the front.  I guess that was a couple summers ago.  He had bought the cheaper pads, apparently, and when he had to have a wheel bearing changed out, the guy told him he needed brakes bad, and he was right.  He brought it down here and we took them apart.  Naturally my 15mm socket broke.  It was a Snap-On too!  Went into town and I bought 2 more and a box end-knucklebuster wrench, too.  Back to the job and everything went well after that.  We had it done in no time at all.  The old pads were razor blade thin so we caught it just in time.  The new ones worked just great and we took an extended test drive, looking for Mike both at the school and at his usual bar-haunts.  Never found him and never got a call back for breakfast either after we gave up.  But the job went well.

Black & Decker Hedge Trimmer

It has a $7 price tag on it so it is a "germ" trimmer, but it works every couple of years when the front hedge needs a manicure.  Trotted it out, lubed the  blades, stretched out the long cords and Cathy went to work and did a nice job, but not without a cost. She whipped up a branch into her eye and spent a couple of miserable days before it started feeling better.

Black & Decker Air Station

This was left by Jim Abbey, and it has worked many a year, pumping up flat car tires, bike tires, wheelbarrow tire, etc.  Used it all summer...230SL tires, 7 different bikes. 

4 H.P. Briggs-Stratton Lawn Mower

Belonged to Jim Abbey and is pretty old.  2-cycle, 50-1 mixture.  It's been in the garage for 5 years because we've had Marvin mow for us, but the bottom and by the firepit grow faster and I decided to mow it and let the rest catch up. Ran great.

2006 Toyota Corolla (Sara)

This car had the slave cylinder of the hydraulic clutch system go out and Sara had it fixed at North Side Auto in Watertown, WI. She drove it and it conked out on her again, the clutch operating very close to the floor when you're moving, and not disengaging so you can't shift from neutral to anything while the engine is running.
I started it in 1st gear and drove it carefully from Edgerton to Watertown, timing the intersections and lights so I wouldn't have to go to neutral.  I was able to drive right through Watertown this way and right through a mile of road construction at the north end of town, without stopping.  I could have restarted, I am sure, but at a hassle to the other drivers around me.  I fortuitously found North Side Auto and coasted to a stop right by their bay door.  It was a Friday and the shop was closed, but we left her there and Sara came and picked me up. It was an appointment at the hospital there for Aaron to have his dressing changed on his leg anyway so everything worked out very well.

Giant Awesome bicycle

another germ-bike, an 18-speed "mountain bike".  It's small but pretty peppy for buzzing around the campus streets and challenging cars!  Rounds out my fleet of nine bikes: 2 in FL and 7 in WI. Gotta take it up the big hill and measure it's spin capabilities.

2005 Ford F-150 Pickup (Chris)

I have put front brakes in Chris' F-150 pickup as well as new rotors either last summer or the one before.  This time, he had to have some alignment and ball joint stuff done and the mechanic told him his rear brakes were very nearly gone.  He drove down and we got right at it, although he was sick with a cold and weak as a kitten.  He had gotten the pads on the way down for about 25-bucks, he said, in Tomah, probably at O'Reillys.  We took off the rear driver wheel and the caliper bolts came out easily.  We pried off the caliper and found that there was about 1/32 of an inch of pad left on both the outside and inside.  We also realized that the piston had a triangular chunk cracked out of it, but it was extended beyond the point where any leak could take place.  When we pushed it  back in, however, the dripping started, so we bolted it back on, and removed the line to it, then took it off and in to O'Reilly's in Sparts.  42-bucks for a new one if Chris gave them the old one to be re-cored.  Back we went and put it on, dribbled some brake fluid in, and purged the line of air, which went excellently.  Next morning we did the passenger side in about 45-minutes and took her for a run.  Perfecto!

Giant Option bicycle

a germ-bike.  The Option Giant is a very comfortable bike to ride but I do not think it is very macho, either on the hills or on the straightaways.  Need to take it on the Sparta hill course and measure it.

2002 Ford Focus (Pam & Nate)

Pam & Nate's 2002 Ford Focus.  Couple summers ago I had the thrill and nightmare of doing a brake job on the front wheels.  We decided that the rotors were shot and, on the hottest day of the summer, I beat on them for 4 or 5 hours with a 4-lb hammer, unable to budge them.  Finally I got wise and went into Green Bay to O'Reilly's and borrowed, at no cost, a gear puller.  I reversed the pulling tongs so that they were wide enough to clamp around the rotors, and put the fulcrum pin on the spindle.  A few turns with the wrench (after soaking also with KrudBuster) and pop, off they came.  That being accomplished, the rest was a whiz and the new rotors and pads have lasted a couple years already with no problems at all.

Terk FM+ indoor TV and FM antenna

Bought at WalMart for the TV Josie left us in Madison at the apt.  Works just fine.

1967 Mercedes-Benz 230SL

Inherited the 230SL from Rube and have a long history with various problems with it.  At the end of last summer, I started it up and it ran, idling for 45 minutes before I put it up in the garage for the winter.  Yesterday I pushed it out and jump-started it with the truck.  It popped on and ran, but the accelerator linkage came undone.  I idled it for 30 or 40 minutes just the same and shut her down.  I put a new top radiator hose in that I ordered on the internet.  No problem there and I should order the bottom one as well, because the one I have in there is not the right one and I have it stood off from the fan by teflon straps, which is subsufficient.  The accelerator linkage popped off a fulcrum under the passenger side manifold.  You can see it from behind the front wheel, but you can only get your hands on it  by jamming them beneath the manifold, front and back.  It doesn't want to go back on.  I can't find my book, so I need to do some research as to what might have popped off there and where it might have gone.  Long ways to go to get this car primo.  It smells inside something terrible, too.

Garmin Foretrex 101 wrist GPS

Put batteries in the Garmin for a bike ride last week and it didn't boot up.  I took it apart at my leisure and found the clip that the batteries ride up against was stress fractured and a piece came loose.  I tucked the loose piece behind the flat part so tht it protruded it somewhat and it kicked on.  Used it on the Black Earth Bike ride with the Bombay Bicycle Club.  It seemed to work fine.

Fuji S-12-S Ten speed bike

a germ-bike.  rolled this one out to test-drive it up the big hill a few times and see what it can do.

Blue Fin Runabout w/Force 85-hp outboard

We bought the Blue Fin for like $1000 bucks from a guy in Deltona, Florida a year ago and it immediately became a big project.  We dragged it north and at the tune of about 700-bucks I got the motor worked on at Powerhouse.  It had needed a lot of tuning up and a new water circulation pump, seals and so forth.  It ran after that but we had to learn some stuff...like jiggling the throttle while you are starting the motor. 
Sea Foam proved to be the miracle.  We ran a can through it and it immediately improved it's running.  There are lots of cosmetic things needed, but I did buy and install a Bimimi top last summer and I love that.  We were able to take the grandkids all boating. 

When I put it up for the winter, I drained the lower unit of the outboard thru the clutch pin hole.  I was worried about that, because in the manual it said "do not remove." I did put it back in but now there is a big question mark.

2001 Hyundai Accent (Josie's)

I have put front brakes in this car, out in Portland and Josie has had the rear shoes done since then.  Otherwise I think I've got her using Mobil One and such.  It has 94,000 miles on it.

Josie's Accent has some issues I'm trying to address:  Took it to Scotty in Edgerton but his dad had just died and he put me off for a week.  Her biggest issue was that in the winter it stalled and missed until it warmed up.  I was thinking an EGR valve stuck open, but Scotty said it could be anything from a leaky head gasket (I hope not that) to something as simple as a temperature sensor telling the computer that it was 70-degrees out when it was 10-degrees.  It is running fine right now, as far as I can tell, in the warm summer, so we'll see what happens when I can take it in.  I topped up a quart of oil and dumped a bottle of injector cleaner into the gas fill. 

Josie said the braking felt funny, but it seemed just fine to me and the fluid was OK.  I braked with my hands off the wheel and it slowed down pretty straight. 

Her third issue is putting it into reverse.  I noticed that.  When I tried once it didn't go and just kind of whirred in neutral.  I noticed that when I pushed down on the shifter and over to the passenger side it would catch every time.  Could be that the linkage just needs adjustment.  We'll see what Scotty thinks on that one, too.

Magnavox DVD/MP3 player

Bought at GoodWill for 8-bucks.  Took a chance, because they don't check their stuff.  The jury is still out because although it works fine with 3 video cables between it and the TV, there is so far no sound.  I will have to pick up an audio cable and see if that solves it.  Otherwise there was a reason this machine ended up at Goodwill.  Good task for tomorrow......

Sansui 14DLCD1909A Television

Got this from Josie, it's at the apartment on Dixon in Madison.  Fired it up after buying a 10-dollar antenna at WalMart.  I had to download the instruction manual from the internet and saved it as a favorite.  Works great!

Schwinn World 10-speed bike

A yet another germ bike.  lol.  10-speeds, rotten tires.  Took it to Speed's and had them put on 27X1 1/4 Kenda K35's at 90 PSI and new tubes 700X35/40 SV 27 X 1 3/8  Cost = 47.90 including labor.  Need to take it on the big hill and see what it can do.

Zebco Ft-35 Fishing Reel

Another bargain at the junk store. Bought it for 2-bucks and it included a nice rod with teflon insert eyelets!  Got it because Uncle John was coming down to Mount Dora to go fishing with me, and we indeed used it.  Had to repair a gear on the inside, which had a metal core, so I could rough it up and superglue it.  Casts real nicely.

Zebco Mercury fishing reel

bought this and the nice rod with teflon eyelets for like 2-bucks at junk shop.  Needed to be fixed inside; nothing that was that difficult.

Tomah Vets' Golf Course

Went with Ben Linzmeier.  Beautiful day.  Did a little better than last outing, but still pretty rusty. 

+1  +1  +1  +2  =  -1  -2  -1  +1      Total of +2



composite scramble for season=

+1  +1  +1  +2  =  -1  -2  -1  +1      Total of +2

LRER bicycle (Ben Linzmeier's)

Ben Linzmeier rode his bike down here to Sparta from the Twin Cities (3 day ride), camping along the way.  I initially thought it was a 12-speed, because I didn't see his climbing gear, but it is and 18-speed.  I rode it on my 10-mile course just to test it out.  Seat was high, so I was really extended, but it is a nice cruiser.  It climbed the big hill in 234 reps, not as low-strung as my Univega, but it was quite do-able.  So it compares to other bikes that I have measured on the hill as follows:
     Univega                                                         275 reps
     Ben Linzmeier's LRER                                 234 reps
     Raleigh 410                                                   168 reps

Sparta Country Club

First outing of the summer, with Ben Linzmeier, front nine in Sparta:

+1   +1   +1   +2   +1   -1   +1   -1   +1   Total  +6  


Composite best game for the season

+1   +1   +1   +2   +1   -1   +1   -1   +1   Total +6

Blueclean Power Washer

Bought in May, 2012 at Fleet Farm in Winona, MN.  About 129-bucks.  Put it together today.

Heddon 190 Scandia Mark IV reel

Was Grandpa Lee's.  Still in excellent condition and a go to reel for me.  Mounted on a 5-foot rod he had, fiberglas.

Raleigh 410 bicycle

This another germ bike.  It's a nice cruiser and I had new tires and tubes put on it last year.  12-speed with six on the wheel and two on the crank.  The spin gear feels nice and fast on level ground, but I can tell you that it doesn't climb as easily as the Activa.  That's OK because it really cruises nicely.  Seat is comfy too by comparison. 

Decks

Five decks on the farm: 1) the big one behind the house; 2) the side one out the south patio door; 3) the covered one on the detached garage; 4) the little one outside the front door; and 5) the "poop deck" on the hillside.
We water seal them annually before we put out the deck furniture.  Did that today with Thompsons green which has an anti mold agent in it.  It is still clear protectant.  We put it on with a 1-gallon sprayer.  Bought two 2 1/2 gallon cans.  Noted that what was left over from last year was destroyed by freezing.  It got all curdley, had to be discarded.  Expensive stuff.  Can't let that happen.  Just use it all.

Birdhouses, Bluebird and otherwise

Tucker made me about 35 or so bluebird houses and we have them all over the farm in the open areas.  I had put them out again after removing them for the bulldozing of the fields and field edges.  Cleaned them all out last fall and there are bluebirds all over, so some of them are being used, anyway.  I put out four or five various birdhouses that have been taking up space in the garages.  In the fall, however, they need to be cleaned for the following year's use. 

Retracting 30-ft Power cord reel

Installed the reel in the attached garage in the right front corner so that I can hook up my saws outside next to the driveway when I set up to do a job.  Works real nicely and plugs in right below, very convenient.  The plug has 2 or 3 outlets so I can plug in a table saw and a chop saw and not have to cycle between.  Got it from Cathy for last Xmas.

Beretta 9mm pistol

Have run only a few rounds through this magnificent gun and that has to change.  Plan on doing some target shooting with Herb at the indoor range in Stoughton.

Club Cadet 4 cycle weed whipper

Purchased this weed whipper last year and it runs really nicely, but I am disappointed in the head, which is not a spool of line, but a system where you have to thread an 18-inch piece through it.  When it wears down, you have to pull out the remainder and put a new one in.  That can be a real hassle.  You have to use a long nose pliers and sometimes it breaks off and you have to take it apart. 
Nonetheless, I fired it up today and weed-whipped a path to my 50-yd shooting target.  It ran fine.

BlackJack 2-ton trolley jack

I bought this last fall after my boat trailer suffered a flat because it lifts the trailer with the boat on it quite easily, whereas the whole thing slips off a car jack.  But I found a new use; lifting tree trunks up off the ground enough so I can block them up with the chainsaw.  So I gave it a good workout doing a large boxelder that I had felled, trimmed up, and now have blocked up for firewood.

Noleen Zed Sport ATS-26 mountain bike

Bought from Josie for $100. 

Hurricane-80 Reel

Bought this reel and rod set at WalMart in Pass Christian for twenty bucks when we moved down there.  It's not a bad heavy duty set-up.  Fished off the piers in the Gulf with it some and brought it back up to Wisconsin.  Caught a 24-inch northern on it last summer.  It's dependable.

Burning brushpiles

A constant job, burning brushpiles.  There are two major ones, up above the burn barrel in the field and down the road in the pit.  Don't know when the time will be right.  Plenty of others being created every time I cut.  Today I started off the season by trying to burn all the toppings of the downed trees that I zipped up the other day...work in progress.  I worked an hour and a half on it and had it blazing, but the more brush I piled on, the more it rained until I had to give up.  Will finish it in more agreeable weather.

Hudson Backpack Sprayer-4 gal.

This Hudson Suprema, 4-gal backpack sprayer is great.  I use it for weed and vegetation control only, although I have the neutralizer stuff to clean it and make it safe for other stuff.  Last year (2011 summer) I sprayed numerous zones with extra-strength Roundup to wage my war of attrition on burdocks.  With burdocks, you had better kill the plant because it is a biennial and it is a survivor.  Nonetheless, I combine harvesting the burrs with spraying and I have virtually eradicated them.  Once in a while I run across one, usually in a far-off area I don't visit much.  I spot-sprayed shrubby vegetation, small trees, stump-sprouts, and sumac growing in the fields which were bulldozed and planted summer of 2011 with Garlon-4 Ultra.  I will testify that this stuff KILLS what you put it on and nothing comes back.  This summer, 2012, I took a walk down where I had done it and it is pristine!

Blue Max 18-inch chainsaw

Got this bugger at Menard's a couple summers ago and it is a real workhorse!  It sat in the garage all winter and all I had to do was get a gallon of gas, add 5-0z of 2-cycle oil, tighten up the chain and let 'er go.  I gut one tankful, about an hour on trees I had felled in the fall across from the driveway.  Good workout...I'm gonna feel it tomorrow.  Good thing it's gonna rain.

Activa Trail Univega

This is a great bike.  I think it sold for around $365 new and this one is a rummage sale model and mine is green.  I love it.  Kept on the farm in Sparta.  21 speeds.  It is my go-to bike for doing the hills.  In lowest spin-gear it takes 275 4-stroke cycles to climb the big hill over in Cole's Valley.  It is a good work out but this bike can climb it. 

Amana Clothes Dryer

Front loading clothes dryer on the farm.  Annual cleaning at the time of putting it back in it's place for the summer.  Used the tool that attaches to the vacuum cleaner to suck dust that got past the filter, which was a lot.  It took me an hour of diddling around, but I got it real clean.  This should be an annual task for sure.

Amana Refrigerator

This fridge is in the kitchen on the farm, and is a remnant of Patty and Jim, the only appliance left of theirs, and it doesn't really match our other kitchen appliances.  Matter of time before Cathy wants to replace it but it works well.  Seasonal maintainance is to vacuum the dust off the fins underneath, which is mostly done from the front but requires using a little vacuum nozzle adapter we bought.  I did this today...they were quite dusty and I could tell because the fridge was running long.  Also took the back off and vacuumed out around the compressor and fan area.  Cleaned it up real good.  This should be an annual ablution to keep this thing running efficiently.

Wheelbarrow

The wheel on the wheelbarrow has been an ongoing problem, going flat all the time, so I bought a new one at Menard's while we were shopping for stuff there.  Came home today and cranked off the old one, put the new one on the axle, and off we go, hauling weeds and firewood and stuff.

Scott's Basic Lawn Spreader

May 3, 2012  Used the Scott's spreader on setting 4.5 to spread 2 bags of Menard's 28-0-3 weed killer, right after a big rain.  Needed 1/2 bag more.  Only got the perimeter below the fence. Bought a 5000-sq ft bag at WalMart and finished the job.

Shakespeare Alpha XT600 reel

This has got to be my last fishing reel down in FL unless I come across something that is practically free.  Spent $5 on this one at the junk store.  It listed for $35 new so it isn't like it's a classic or anything, but it is perfect for the stiff rod that I bought for a measly 2-bucks when Cathy and I went to Micanopy antiquing.  The rod is fiberglas but has a meerschaum or epoxy coat over it, which was chipped off in about 6 or 7 places, probably from slapping against the gunwhales of a boat or something.  I took the epoxy dough, the kind you cut off a piece of then knead it with your fingers until it is mixed, and pressed it on all of the chip spots of the rod.  You really have to work fast because at first it doesn't want to adhere, but then it starts setting up and you've got very little time to press it home and shape it a little bit.  It is really good stuff though.  I use it to seal pvc pipes and all kinds of stuff.  I will have to sand it down after it cures.  Anyhow, now I've got one intermediate stiff fishing pole and a heavy duty reel on it, once I've taken this one apart and cleaned, lubed it.

Shakespeare 700 reel

Got another reel for five bucks, this one a good Shakespeare 700, kinda chipped up, but ball bearings feel tight.  I'm sure I can open it up and clean and lube it and it'll be like new, for surf fishing down in FL.  I got a nice 9-foot graphite rod in excellent shape for another $5 for it.  It has 7 eyes with teflon inserts.  Will leave it down here, so I have two surf rod & reel sets now for when I come back down.

South Bend Silver Strike M70 Reel

I needed some heavier rods and reels to take up ocean fishing down in FL and have been looking thru the junk shops, but never a bargain comes up; hardly any fishing stuff at all.  Next to the last day of the winter here and I dropped in the junkiest one and they had a hundred rods and reels...just had got hold of a bunch of them.  There were bundles of five or six heavy duty rods for $25 bucks, but I reigned myself in and bought two rods and two reels.  This one didn't turn out to be any huge deal, because it can be bought for $35 apparenely, and mine's all chipped up.  It is well-made though, and has ball bearing action.  I'm sure that I can take it all apart, clean and lube it, and it will be just fine.  I mounted it on a 9 1/2 foot graphite rod with seven teflon insert eyes.  It will be just dandy for fishing in the surf, or off a boat, whatever.

Diamondback Outlook

Diamondback Outlook, 21-speed bike.  Avg list price $249 and I got this one, in like-new shape at a garage sale in Mt. Dora for 40-bucks.  Guy kept it in really great shape.  SRAM MKX-200-70 grip shift derailer.  26 X 1.95 tires.  This one feels like the center of gravity is a little lower and you don't feel so unstable cornering at speed.  I bought this in winter of 2011-12 and probably put 100 miles on it, mostly on my ten mile fitness course, but a tire went flat and I fooled around with it and never did get the tube patched properly.  I was riding the other bike and left this one to be put back in action when I come down to Florida again.

Giant Sedona

Giant Sedona men's bike.  26 X 2.125 tires.  Considered a leisure class bike. 
18-speed Xage derailers      Xage brakes

Lists for $380 average retail.  I bought it at a garage sale in Mt. Dora, FL for $40 and he threw in spare tires and tubes.  It's in beautiful shape and the guy really took care of it.
You sit pretty high on it and it feels like your center of gravity is forward quite a bit.  Therefore if you corner at high speed, you get real unstable.  It's great for a workout ride through the city where you encounter lots of different surfaces.

Shakespeare 2200 reel

I picked up a piece of history for two dollars at a flea market, thinking I needed a third rod and reel in case one broke when Ken Stogis came down to Florida to fish with me.  Ken never got here but I had this piece ready.  It works OK but I really think it would be best to take it apart and check and lubricate everything.  The real corker is the rod that it was on, a Grantsport Model 430, about 5 1/2 feet long and pretty stiff.  Good feel to it.  W.T. Grant Co. made this rod and the one pictured is a Model 440, the closest I could get.  They went bankrupt for various reasons.

Mine is kinda peely looking just like this one...isn't that great.  Anyhow, they're back-ups in Florida for whenever.  That puts three on the wall of the garage, certainly enough to keep me fishing, and one guest. 

Shakespeare Mantis Reel & Rod Combo

I paid 3-bucks for this combo...maybe it wasn't such a steal, as it can be had for 19.95, but it is LIKE NEW in every way from the color and sheen to the action of it all.  I needed to have it down in Florida for back-up and for when someone comes down to fish.
The rod matches and is a Mantis, too.  Kept in Florida.

Shakespeare Synergy Steel Reel

Reclaiming old, broken reels is my new hobby, mainly because I love to tinker with mechanical things, things that people consider broken and unfixable generally aren't, and I'm cheap.  I got this reel at a Goodwill for $5 and I think I paid a lot for it.  But it has beautiful lines!  Took it all apart, lubed everything, tightened everything, put new line on it and it works just great.

It really is a beautiful little reel.  I paid another $5 for a Quantum Iron rod with teflon inserts and BRAND NEW!  The reel can be had on the internet for $20 and the rod for $40.  I have a $60 rig for ten bucks!
This set I have hanging in the garage down in Mount Dora, FL for fishing down there.

Remington Mod. 870 12-gauge shotgun

Bought this at a gun show in Lakeland in 2011.  Herb was down to FL after that and I needed a gun to shoot trap with him and to go and shoot sporting clays with him and his friends who winter down in FL.  Paid something like 300 bucks for it.  It's in great shape.  Was given by deceased owner's wife to have his gun club dispose of and I bought it from a member representing that club.  The Lakeland show was fabulous.  Hundreds and hundreds of people walking in and out of the convention center with rifles, shotguns, pistols in their hands, uncased!  Just amazing.  The anti-gunners would have fainted to see it.
Shot a few rounds of trap with it over the summer.

Fienwerkbau 124 Sport .177 cal rifle

This rifle I got from Rube.  In it's day it was cutting edge workmanship; it still outshoots most anything I encounter, with the exception of other German pellet rifles.
I have brought it to Florida a couple of winters but only shot it a few times with my neighbor across the street, Chuck, who likes to shoot at plastic soldiers across his pool in his Florida room.  He typically keeps score by who can hit ten first, but with this rifle and no scope I can typically take the little hands and arms off the soldiers routinely.

2000 Chrysler Town & Country Minivan

We bought this one in Kewaunee, WI while visiting Pam & Nate.  The idea was to have a multi-passenger car for carrying kids and grandkids around PLUS pulling out the rear seats and installing cots, air-mattresses, and blankets, etc. with storage underneath the cots to create a little RV.  It has worked exactly perfectly for that.  We've slept in it many, many trips and it even inspired Steve & Linda to purchase a full size van and do the same thing.  They are physically bigger than us and needed the big van. 

I switched it over to Mobil-One and change it every 10,000 miles.  Have put front disc pads in a couple of times and rear shoes once.  It's been to Portland with me and Chris; New Mexico and Utah/Colorado with me & Cathy, and down to Pass Christian and to Mount Dora. 

1995 Chevy S-10 Pickup

This was my mother and Jim's truck.  She gave it to me when he passed away--she doesn't drive.  Mine has a topper on the bed that matches the truck color.  Very nice.  It's the 4-cylinder, kind of underpowered but gets pretty good mileage and has hauled a lot of stuff for me.  I've put front brakes in it a couple of times, and new rotors last time.  Switched it to Mobil-One synthetic as soon as I got it and change it on the 10,000 mile mark. 

2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Bought this car on the internet from a dealer down in Naperville, IL.  It was put together from a wreck in Texas.  When the windshield got foggy, "flood" appeared having been written on it.  The windshield was from a flooded car.  Right side had obviously been hit, because the headlight was foggy.  It ran well and got me 49 1/2 mpg right away.  The first thing I did was have Jason in Madison (the TDI wizard) put a new timing belt in and that kind of stuff.  It has a bunch of little cosmetic issues which I can work on. 

Basics:  1.9 liter turbo-diesel

Crosman C1K77 .177 cal pellet rifle

This rifle belongs to my neighbor across the street, Chuck, in Mount Dora, FL but I had the good fortune to tear it completely down because it had broken and we were just using one of my guns to shoot at toy soldiers in his Florida room.  It has a floating barrel but Chuck, thinking something was wrong, had filled in the spaces with gunk.  The problem was a complete loss of power.  I took out my Swiss army knife and when we got it completely taken apart, it was apparent that the main spring had broken.  I gathered up all the parts and took it over to my place when we were done shooting, so that I could look up some stuff on the internet.  When I did, I was amazed to find that I could order a replacement spring for five dollars from Crosman!  The problem was that I had had to take all of the slide mechanisms, the trigger assembly, and the spring retainer at the breech and when the part came, I broke the plastic cover over the breech container trying to compress it with a furniture tool.  That cost another three bucks.  Then I put the whole thing back together.  There was pressure on the spring when you broke the barrel to cock it, but it wouldn't click into the "stay cocked" mode.  I took it all apart again and had a devil of a time figuring out the trigger.  Moreover, I couldn't get a good diagram of the trigger on the internet anywhere.  I took apart the complicated little trigger mechanism and put it back together again, not seeing anything wrong.  I blocked on it for a long time and was going to give up and just take it back over to Chuck when it dawned on me that the trigger mechanism might not be close enough to the tang on the back of the piston that it was supposed to catch.  I fiddled and fiddled with it until I realized that part of the trigger mechanism slid under a groove on the receiver.  When I put it all together yet another time and cocked it, it clicked right into place!  There was a pellet in the chamber, of course, from Chuck having tried to shoot it, and I discharged that into the back fence, before taking the whole thing over to him in a frenzy of joy.  We shot for a couple of hours.  He was able to put the scope back on and get it sighted in pretty accurately.  It really is not a bad little rifle for being inexpensive.