I've been getting back into the home espresso thing. Bought a nice Breville machine, new burr set for an old Cunill Tranquilo grinder. Plus a whole laundry list of accessories of course. The latest was cappuccino cups. I specifically wanted a set of 4 (maybe 6), clear glass, no more than 8 ounces max.
Found a nice size & simple style, made by Libbey, just what I wanted. Except no place has them locally, and all the online vendors want to sell them in a case of 24 for about 50 bucks. Sigh...
So the other morning I walk into the nearest thrift store & found pretty much exactly what I was looking for: Simple, clear, cut glass cups, ~8 oz, new in box. 4 cups for 3 bucks. Guess that'll have to do, heh. ☕
Found a nice size & simple style, made by Libbey, just what I wanted. Except no place has them locally, and all the online vendors want to sell them in a case of 24 for about 50 bucks. Sigh...
So the other morning I walk into the nearest thrift store & found pretty much exactly what I was looking for: Simple, clear, cut glass cups, ~8 oz, new in box. 4 cups for 3 bucks. Guess that'll have to do, heh. ☕
I picked up a DEWALT DCF889M2 20-volt Max Lithium Ion 1/2-Inch High Torque Impact Wrench from Bezos because it was a warehouse deal fro 200$ off retail!
More fishing gear. Eventually I’ll luck out and buy something that will actually catch me a fish.
Most of the fish taken from the local stocked lake aren't really worth bring home. I tend to buy my fish, and they usually come from the ocean. I go fishing to give me time to solve all the world's problems. I'm sure you understand. I like the idea of dailycatch.
I just nabbed a Victor tonearm - it has on-the fly VTA adjustment, unlike my current tonearm that has a clunky set screw.
Yard sale find, Michael Kelly "Arena" acoustic cutaway, $30. Actually left it at first, came back and it was still there!
Odd failure; the internal piezo pickup plugs into a preamp; a second 3.5 mm socket connects to the output jack. Inside the preamp the 3.5 mm jack split into its constituent pieces; I replaced it and got the preamp working again. That's inside the guitar, where the jack perhaps had a single insertion cycle, when the preamp part was installed. The battery door was missing, so I fab'd a replacement out of a piece of black plastic, using two of the screws that holds the preamp assy in place to secure.
I chick'd out initially because I noticed the neck was slightly bent backward, as if someone had tightened the truss rod too hard. The hex key was actually in the bag that came with it. I took off about 1/2 - 3/4 turn and it came back straight again. I put these steel flat tape-wounds on it that I happened to buy somewhere for a different sound than the 99.9% of these acoustic electrics using the bronze round-wounds.
These Chinese manufactury instruments are interesting these days, as they've refined the necessary quality to the peak of what can be done inexpensively. The guitar has to be easily playable everywhere on the fretboard, be acoustically loud and sound good, the machines have to be good, multi-featured preamp, good looking wood and finish - and cheap. If not, no one will buy it because the next guy has all that. You couldnt get a guitar close to this 50 years ago, without going name brand.
Odd failure; the internal piezo pickup plugs into a preamp; a second 3.5 mm socket connects to the output jack. Inside the preamp the 3.5 mm jack split into its constituent pieces; I replaced it and got the preamp working again. That's inside the guitar, where the jack perhaps had a single insertion cycle, when the preamp part was installed. The battery door was missing, so I fab'd a replacement out of a piece of black plastic, using two of the screws that holds the preamp assy in place to secure.
I chick'd out initially because I noticed the neck was slightly bent backward, as if someone had tightened the truss rod too hard. The hex key was actually in the bag that came with it. I took off about 1/2 - 3/4 turn and it came back straight again. I put these steel flat tape-wounds on it that I happened to buy somewhere for a different sound than the 99.9% of these acoustic electrics using the bronze round-wounds.
These Chinese manufactury instruments are interesting these days, as they've refined the necessary quality to the peak of what can be done inexpensively. The guitar has to be easily playable everywhere on the fretboard, be acoustically loud and sound good, the machines have to be good, multi-featured preamp, good looking wood and finish - and cheap. If not, no one will buy it because the next guy has all that. You couldnt get a guitar close to this 50 years ago, without going name brand.
I notice that the Chinese marketing is also getting smarter. Selling an item as "Michael Kelly" or "David Louis" is far more likely to win customers than "Long Fuk Trading Co. Ltd."
Nice axe.
Nice axe.
I’ve been gathering parts and supplies for the motorhome engine refresh project.
Is a shame what a pair of clogged catalytic converters, in series, can do to a 180 cubic inch engine that’s dragging a 6,000 pound box around for 90k miles. I may however be able to sell the catalytic converters to pay for the cost of parts so far however.
The plus side is that there are stainless steel headers, complete with the forward half of the system available nowadays for $150!
Add to that (6) new oem exhaust valves/springs, resurfaced heads, everything else needed to reassemble again…
Is a shame what a pair of clogged catalytic converters, in series, can do to a 180 cubic inch engine that’s dragging a 6,000 pound box around for 90k miles. I may however be able to sell the catalytic converters to pay for the cost of parts so far however.
The plus side is that there are stainless steel headers, complete with the forward half of the system available nowadays for $150!
Add to that (6) new oem exhaust valves/springs, resurfaced heads, everything else needed to reassemble again…
Attachments
Today my Raspberry Pi 400 arrived. I've previously bought and used a Pi2 and Pi3B but this one is far more useful since it's built into a keyboard and comes with a mouse, a wall wart, software on SD card, and a Pi Pico development kit. At AU$160 shipped this thing is the deal of the decade. Unfortunately I need a DVI to HDMI adapter to use it with any of my monitors, but should be able to play around with it next week.
Core2D CPU + 2 GB RAM + Motherboard + CPU cooler, less than $70 shipped here on local Amazon. With warranty, boards are brand new.
Mouse and keyboard together from $5 and up...
Check out VIA, Gigabyte and MSI mini units too, as possible substitutes, because the Pi seems to be in short supply.
Mouse and keyboard together from $5 and up...
Check out VIA, Gigabyte and MSI mini units too, as possible substitutes, because the Pi seems to be in short supply.
Panasonic VP-8131A Shipped from the USA, so customs will kill me some more, and then there is the exchange rate.
Probably arrive next week.
Probably arrive next week.
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...9jU2v73AhVkp1YBHVpHBWMQ9aACKAB6BAgBEEY&adurl=
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...9jU2v73AhVkp1YBHVpHBWMQ9aACKAB6BAgBEE0&adurl=
You can check these out as well, I have no comments to offer, never used them.
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...9jU2v73AhVkp1YBHVpHBWMQ9aACKAB6BAgBEE0&adurl=
You can check these out as well, I have no comments to offer, never used them.
Today at a church weekly flea market, $5 got me a Bialetti MINI EXPRESS 1 TAZZA coffee maker in red. Like this one, but with corrosion on the bottom. Cleaned it, ran water through it, then coffee, and survived.
https://www.vintagemanstuff.com/product/bialetti-mini-express-1-cup-italy-1970/
https://www.vintagemanstuff.com/product/bialetti-mini-express-1-cup-italy-1970/
I got another music synthesizer partial kit, just the PCB and front panel. it looks like it might take a year to find all the parts needed to finish it. Complete kits are not available from JSI as they can't get the parts either. I expected to have trouble finding the CPU, but I have them. It seems that things like opamps, LDO's, and even SMD capacitors are out of stock at the usual places.
https://www.jsisynth.com/progue.html
https://www.jsisynth.com/progue.html