One more day

Going to try and make it in tomorrow thus saving a personal day for a later date. Today was incredibly long. They didn't fare well in my area over the weekend. The guy scheduled for Saturday decided not to come in. He turned his two week notice last week, so I didn't think he would be in. Two of the remaining people in my department called in. So, work was about where I left off when I went home Friday. Eight more hours until freedom. Some down time is long overdue. Plan on playing in the garage most of Wednesday. Not even planning any short trips as of yet. Leaning more towards just playing with some of my tools and toys and maybe hitting the range several times to produce some empty brass.

Not much of a show

Went to the tractor show this morning. Huge let down. Have a hard time believing they would even advertise something so small. The flea market consisted of two booths with junk I would throw out. No steam anything, which would not have been an issue had they not advertised such. The tractors? A total of maybe forty of them. Parking lot looked to have about twenty cars. Oh well, at least I know not to bother next year. I did get hold of my buddy from work and waved him off of wasting his time.

Went to stores afterwards. Menards was out of their advertised rock, so I don't need to rush to get it by tomorrow. I usually don't shop there, but the price would have been good, had they actually had any. Headed over to Home Depot. Once again, I am left with a bad taste in my mouth. They raised the price of the rock I used in the back yard. This was no big deal. What I really dislike intensely is what they have done to check out. They have eliminated all cashiers except for the garden area and contractor check out. They have those self check out counters everywhere else. They blocked the regular cashier lanes off with displays. No, I am not against progress. I am against eliminating entry level jobs for kids starting out. I go out of my way to avoid them as I see them as a way of eliminating needed jobs for lower skilled labor. Home Depot just made my no go list. Just have to make do with Lowes, which is my first choice anyhow.

Rest of the day was just groceries and chores. Trying to work up the ambition to go to Louisville tomorrow. It's always a fun show, just not really feeling like driving. May just play in the garage for a while tomorrow.

Ahhh, the weekend, a full weekend

Made it to the weekend, all two days. Tomorrow, I do believe, weather permitting, I will be attending the Princeton Indiana tractor show. Suppose to have a big flea market, steam powered saw mill, old tractors and lots of neat stuff to look at. Should make for a nice day. Have a gun show in Louisville to hit, and then, only two workdays next week. Vacation is looming in the not so distant future. I need to pick up some stone before the weekend is over as the sale ends Sunday. Not sure where to fit that in on the schedule. Two loads should finish off the landscaping. Going to go with river rock in the front yard. Need a few more bags of gravel for the back. Figure I can cripple myself at the beginning of vacation so I have a couple weeks to recover.

Time is slowing down to a crawl

The work part of the day anyway. The closer vacation gets, the longer the days. This weekend is the JAG show at the Louisville convention center, so that will be a mini break before vacation begins. It is a huge military gun show. Lots to see. They usually have several booths that look like they are straight out of a firearms museum. Totally awesome displays. They have some regular firearm dealers there, but it leans heavy on the military side. If I work Saturday, I will probably take one of my personal days Monday, which would make next week a one day work week. I could deal with that.

Machines are doing their very best to irritate me before I get out of there. I have been doing more machine repair than machining at work. Get one going, and the neighboring machine eats something. Blew a power supply on the drives on the one machine. Don't luck out like that very often, but our automations department had a suitable replacement on hand and we were back up and running again. I need to get away for a while.

Gonna be a busy weekend

Got off work and went to an antique auction with a buddy from work. Todays stuff wasn't really anything I am interested in, but tomorrow, a whole assortment of electronic parts and equipment. All kinds of components and gear. Figure if it goes cheap and hopefully when I am there, as I have to work tomorrow, I may pick some items up. They have tabletops full of boxes of old tubes, wire of all sorts, boxes of resistors, capacitors and some cool old radios. Have to work until afternoon, so I don't know if I can catch any of it or not. Have to wait until Sunday to go to the gun show. Only one full week left until vacation. Suppose to work Monday and Tuesday of the following week, but, I may just take a couple of personal days to fill the void. Two whole weeks out of that rat race would be awesome. Lord knows I can find all kinds of stuff to do.

I got my Bluetooth module in the mail today. Just have to solder all the parts together, flash the chip and my new display for the mill will be ready to try. Wish my Kindle fire had Bluetooth as it would make a really nice display monitor. Connecting through Bluetooth, I can use it and then carry the phone or tablet away when I am not using the mill. I already downloaded the app to my phone. I will use the phone for a display until I can find a cheap tablet to replace it. May take time, but I know I will find an outdated tablet at a fleamarket or clearance store somewhere on sale cheap. Don't need a high end one for a display.

Looking a little more like a lower,

and less like a paperweight. Finally got out and did a little bit of work on the AR lower. Hope to get more done tomorrow. Like to get the milling on the sides done, and hopefully, drill and cut the threads for the buffer tube over the weekend. Going to single point the threads in the lathe as I don't have the right size tap, and don't care to spend the money on something I won't use too often. If I keep on track, hopefully be starting to mill magazine and trigger group area out during the week. See how things go. Work has been pretty brutal lately. Energy lacking by evening as a rule.

Don't intend on rushing it. If I don't feel like doing it after work, vacation is just around the corner. Want to run the electric for my powder coat oven while I am off as well. Garage is really looking up. Intend on getting a little shooting in on vacation as well. Not really planning on going anywhere, just some relaxing and playing.

Decisions, decisions....

I get home to find my set of end mills, reamers and a few other tools sitting at my door. Do I play, or cut the grass. It was hard, but I did the chores. All weeds are whacked, grass mowed and everything cleaned up. Should have some play time tomorrow. If it is another day like today, it will be my Friday, because I will use a personal day to finish the week out. I swear it seems like the monkeys are running the zoo at work. Besides, a three day weekend sounds pretty good to me.