Thanks for the article Ken! These aircraft are just amazing! They have been passed down to several generations of crews and looks like they will see several more!
I read somewhere of a guy who found himself assigned to the very same aircraft either his father or grandfather had been a pilot of.
Jim
Hey Gang!
Sitting here today in anticipation of a ‘perfect’ storm that’s suppose to hit us later today! Nobody seems to know just how much snow we are to get, but they keep speaking of “feet” not inches.
The rest of the time I find myself cleaning around the house! I have always been on the clean side, almost to a compulsion, although not always the neatest or most organized as you have seen by my workbench. During the last several years, with the stress I was under with Mom’s illness and her passing, so much was let go! Now that I have made changes in my life style, ridding myself of the issue of mom’s house, I find with the diet changes, and loss of weight, I now seem to have tons more energy. I have the need to keep myself occupied, and old habits are returning. (sitting around = boredom, boredom = snacking on something to occupy myself.)
I intend to get back to the build, but suddenly I find one of my fish tanks to be needing some care…
Jim
Ken: Great article, I too am amazed that an aircraft that old is still our main strength bomber. Fifty-four years! That’d be like the Wright Flyer (1903) still being used in 1957!!!
Jim: You’re probably better off cleaning than modeling. I really need to clean this hole up but never seem to get around to it. And I’m sure your fish will appreciate having a nice clean new home.
This evening threw out some bread crumbs in the snow for the small birds hoping they’d get some before the crows came and took it all. Didn’t see any crows but a skunk showed up and ate it all! Didn’t feel like trying to run him off… (hmm, need a nose-holding smilie!)
Well, I still never made it to the workbench as the aquarium project ended up being more than a clean.
I had decided that I should replace the glass canopy as all the plastic bits were in bad shape, so I headed out to Petsmart ahead of the storm. When I left, I carelessly left a bucket partially filled with water on top of the tank. While I was out, the bucket had slipped and fallen and in the process, knocked loose a hose, which one end of stuck into a filter. With the end dangling free, it turned into a siphon. By the time I got home, 15 gallons of water had drained from the tank, barely an inch of water remained inside.
I quickly filled some buckets of water to treat and add back to the tank, and then spent hours extracting water from the carpet with my carpet cleaner, and rounding up fans.
Surprisingly, the fish seemed to have survived this event and are actually behaving as if they are quite happy! Normally, they can be very sensitive to sudden changes to temps, ph, water hardness and all, but they seem unfazed. The thing that didn’t survive is my heater. They can overheat and crack if left to run dry, which is what happened. I didn’t know this until I stuck my hand in the tank and received a rather painful shock! The fact that I was standing on a wet carpet… It could have been worse!
Now I will have to venture out into the blizzard to see if I can get a replacement!
Jim
Ack, wet carpet what a mess! Still glad to hear your fish are okay.
Ack! Yes, wet carpet! I have had fans running non-stop for two days, and they are about to drive me up the wall! It’s amazing just how much even 15 gallons will do as the carpet was wet a good 8 or 9 feet out from the tank! It’s also amazing just how much muck came up out of the carpet when I used the extractor on it! I use the Hover Steam Vac Cleaner several times a year and no doubt it must just get the dirt closer to the surface! What a way to deep clean your carpet. “Warning! Do not attempt to clean your carpet this way! Stunts like this are best left to total idiots!”
Well, it is done for the most part: Cleaned, fresh water, filter box cleaned, new heater in place, plastic plants cleaned and put back in, and new tacky ornaments!
Water is still a bit cloudy, but that will clear up in a day or two. All that is left it to install the new cover after I cut in openings in the back for the filter, air tubes and the wire for the heater! Next I need to add a few livestock as there are only 4 small fish left after I killed the rest of through neglect!
I’m telling myself it’s time to stop as I have been at for going on 14 hours! This included a two hour walk about mid-day in the snow and cold! I told you I am more energetic these days!
Looks like I won’t make it to the work bench again…
Jim
P.S. Should I mention that this is the smaller of my two tanks? I’ve already begun the cleaning process on the 29 gallon, but called it quits!
J.
Really cool, Jim. I’ve always though tropical fish were cool but it seems like a lot of work though.
FYI …I’m still here guys. I don’t have full-time internet access yet so can’t participate as much as I’d like. It’s great to see all the progress y’all are making. Things are slowly getting more normalized for me in the new place and hopefully it won’t be long and I’ll be back up and running. I’m currently building Tamiya’s 1/48 Sherman Firefly just to keep my skills up. I’ll keep checking in as time permits. Take care!
Don’t get the wrong idea by my example. With all I’ve been through, I neglected the tanks far too long to the point where they became polluted and over run with algae and bacterial blooms. Once set up, a fresh water tank just needs a half hour of maintenance once a week or every other week to do a partial water change and tidy up the tank. I have kept fish for almost (yikes!) 40 years now.
They can be fun, and very relaxing to sit and watch as the fish swim and dart around the tank. It’s a proven fact that doing this can actually lower stress and cause your blood pressure to drop by several points…
Jim
Yikes! I just realized the date and it’s time to move to the next group build!
I did chip away at the big fish tank tonight, but then took a break to work on the A-10, cleaning up the landing gear and bay doors. Lots of mold parting lines to clean-up and more than a few ejector pin marks and a few sink holes to fill as well! I’ll have to get a few WIP photos up and posted in the 4th Berny build to help move it along.
Speaking of which, I still didn’t update my badges by adding the third build to my GIF!
Jim
Don’t feel bad. While I have copies of all my GB badges that I earned during my many years here; I have yet to post any of them since I have no idea how to make an acceptable-sized “fruit salad” or GIF that works on my signature line. Still, you should get yours going, you earned it.
Mike and Duke: Good to see you guys are still around!
Mike: That Sherman sounds cool, would love to see her when you get a chance.
Duke: Someone here gave me the address to the cool rotating viewer that I’ve been using for forgot who now. I have it bookmarked on my home computer if you’d like to use it- pretty easy, you just copy and paste your images and it gives you a link to paste in your text line.
Jim: Thanks, I loved fish as a kid but now days I’ve got so much hobby stuff going on I’m not sure where I’d even fit them in these days. I might be better off with an exotic fish screensaver.
BTW: Didn’t even notice the date- guess I’ll be moseying along to Berny GB IV now…
Perhaps I take on too many things to occupy myself, but then I’m not much for sitting around doing nothing.
Jim
Hi Everyone!
I apologize for being “Away With Out Leave” (AWOL). Some personal matters have been occupying all my time.
Jim: Very sorry to hear about your fish tank and carpet. And very glad you did not get electrocuted! So how much snow did you end up getting? Our weather has been miserable too. Not a lot of snow, but way below average temperatures. It is also good to hear you are still exercising and feeling better. I have been keeping at it too. I have lost 19 pounds so far.
Mike: Glad to hear from you again! We completely understand about not being able to keep in touch. Also happy to hear that you are close to having things back to normal.
And to everyone: It is time to move over to the “Fourth Annual Berny Memorial Group Build”. Here is a link to it:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/164145.aspx
See everyone there, and looking forward to another fun year!
Ken