What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

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We have two stray cats that hang around our house morning and evening, to be fed. Today I took Lynx to the vet as he had a hurt front paw. This vet practice is taking COVID-19 seriously. Lobby closed, you park in a numbered space. A vet tech comes out, properly masked, to pick up the pet and later to drop him off.

Lynx has a few puncture wounds in that paw, so he got a shot of antibiotic. He's healing up already.
 
I jumped into the quagmire of governmental process. Contacted the VA about getting compensation or treatment for tinnitus, which I acquired working on the flight line with Phantom jets back in 1970. Talked to a representative for about an hour, and he sent me some forms. He also suggested that I get a VSO to help me jump through the hoops correctly. I contacted the local Veterans Services and have an appointment with my new VSO via a phone call on Monday.
This is a monumental event for me. After almost 50 years of avoiding the Veterans Administration, I'm finally asking for help.
 
Two projects with my wife: baking 4 loaves of bread (3 Swedish rye, one white sandwich bread) and writing ~40 thank you cards for teachers and staff at our child's school.
 
Gave my basement/shop a face lift. It started with a purging, the kind that is painful at first, but then becomes liberating. Leveled my workbench, replaced the working surface, added a shelf for organizing, replaced a basement door that was broken (which escalated to patching mortar and a lot of plaster work), and setting up a spot for a new tool.

Before:

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After:

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And:

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we drove 3 hours to Raleigh. :NC so that we could be here for my 8 am Neurologist appointment today, naturally, I woke up at 4 am and cannot go back to sleep

Sorry you had a challenging day, but I have a suggestion for the next time you go that way that isn’t too out of the way. Swing by Bullock’s BBQ in Durham...man I miss their Brunswick Stew.
 
Swing by Bullock’s BBQ in Durham...man I miss their Brunswick Stew.
Yesterday my wife read in The Joy of Cooking (2019 edition) a Roy Blount Jr. quote that "Brunswick stew is what happens when small mammals carrying ears of corn fall into the barbeque pit." Which sound good. And when you put that way, it's a wonder that it doesn't occur more often.
 
You should post pics of what you build. Random tip: for these kinds of builds I get an appropriate furniture dolly from Harbor Freight (if ur in the US) https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=furniture dolly and I use that as the base. It starts out perfectly level and the price is generally worth it for the casters alone. Obviously if u under size them, your project can become tipsy. The even have a solid wood top one, perfectly flat and mobile starting point

Finally Nearing the end. I had one workbench before the project that was dedicated to every single hobby I have. Now I have a rolling soldering station to handle all those Eggtimer kits I need to build, I have a rolling drill press stand, I have a rolling hobby table, and I built my kids a smaller rolling workbench also so they can do projects also.

Pictured is my rocketry table (not completely finished yet, but enough to start storing kits and hobby gear. Behind it is the kids workbench.

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Super glued some tape together. Have a run of unique parts tonight, so used the masking tape method for fixturing. Start with a piece of stock brought to final thickness and cover it in tape, burnish it down with a pin then do the same on the fixture plate and CA together. Stock is oversized to accomodate all the parts I have to run, so no work offset changes between setups and I'm only milling through the first layer of tape, so setting up the next part is easy as taking off what tape is left, cleaning the plate and reapplying tape. Been using this method for a little while now and I'm still blown away how well these parts are held.
 

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Continuing the laundry renovation. Everything is ready for the bench. Just have to fit the sink to a bench and it is all done. Only problem is that the benchtop, I found out today, is still two weeks away :(.

Two more days of our 14 day isolation (entirely at home) to go. Can't wait to get out somewhere. Test came back negative again yesterday.
 
Yeah, I said that once during a kitchen renovation. I still have nightmares...
Nah. Easy stuff. My nightmares are caused when I need to make sure everything is level. The laundry has been leveled already.

I installed some concrete water tanks in the backyard that had to be level over about a 30' span, including around a corner, a while back. Total 10000 litres. The land isn't quite level and neither is the fence, so even when leveled with a spirit level, laser level and a pipe level it still looked wrong. Turned out to be within about 3mm across all five tanks once installed. The guy installing couldn't believe I got it that good. Leveling is where my CDO hides.
 
Made some fun but somewhat unnecessary modifications to the rocket delivery rig. I hadn't used the TIG welder and press brake for a while so I got them out. First was an Amsoil bypass filter bracket. Add an oil fill cap, return oil fitting and a breather welded to the valve cover. Then a coolant filter bracket added to the alternator bracket. IMG_9423.jpgVXPH1339 2.jpgIMG_E0270.JPGIUDZ7079.jpgIMG_1171.jpg
 
Laundry.

The wahing machine went Kaputsky on Saturday with a load of my clothes and a full basin of dirty water. It's acted up a little before, so when I found it on Sunday I figured I just had to restart the cycle, as I'd done before. No love.

Bought a new washer today, it'll be in the house tomorrow, and now I'm sitting in the laundromat while my clothes go round and round in the dryer. (Yes, I rewashed them first.)
 
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