Valentine Countdown: Lulu's Back In Town, Leon Redbone

Valentine Countdown: Moonbeam, Kiss Her For Me, Nick Lucas

Valentine Countdown: Misty, Johny Mathis

Valentine Countdown: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Arlo Guthrie

Valentine Countdown: Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison

Valentine Countdown: Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Paul Anka

Valentine Countdown: You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me, Maurice Chevalier

Here's a little bonus for you, the Marx Brothers as stowaways, pretending to be Maurice Chevalier, without much succcess. 1931.

Valentine Countdown: These Foolish Things, Rudy Vallee

Valentine Countdown: My Darling Clementine

 He should have jumped in and saved her!

Valentine Countdown: Dream A Little Dream Of Me, Mamas and Papas

Valentine Countdown: Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin

Valentine Countdown: Hello Ma Baby, Joan Morris

Valentine Countdown: If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot

Walkin' The Dogs

 Hopping up when the dogs stir gets you going every morning, gets you ready to turn in at night. We see the sun and moon rise and set, and it is often spectacular.

Valentine Countdown: I Wanna Be Loved By You, Helen Kane

Valentine Countdown: Darlin' Cora Is Gone, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs

 The banjo is always supposed to provide a happy song. One of my favorites!

Valentine Countdown" Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper

Holy Cow, Valentine's Day Is Just One Month Away! Let's Begin With...

 ...Leon Redbone and the incomparable Joe Venuti and his Jazz violin!

Don't Smash The Hog House! Dropping A Dead School Marm

This red oak over by the old hog lot died a few years ago. I have been putting off cutting it because it wants to fall on an old hog shed. Of course, if I don't cut it, it will eventually come right down on the shed, so I decided "Why Not!" Here's how it goes.

Secret Weapon: An Old Post From True Blue Sam Blog (Feb 2010)

Not too long ago we posted some photos of a nice, late 1950's Studebaker station wagon, with overdrive. I saw on Statcounter that someone came to that post by doing a search for information about rebuilding an overdrive unit in a Studebaker. I wish they would have e-mailed me, because I happen to have the information they need; a 1959 repair manual that covers many brands of automobiles. This book was a great educational tool for me during my high school years, and it gave me the confidence to jump into mechanical adventures that most shade tree mechanics would send to the "Professionals."

I pulled the old book off the shelf and reminisced about my 1958 Silver Hawk. The photos and instructions in the Motor Auto Repair Manual especially helped in the disassembly phase of unfamiliar auto parts. Laying out the parts carefully on clean newspapers kept things orderly, and I was able to rebuild my transmission and overdrive unit without too much trouble.

The freewheeling rollers, and some of the bearings in the transmission had me stumped when I was reassembling all of the parts. How do you hold long roller bearings in a bore, fit in the last roller, and then slide in the shaft without things getting crossed up? The Motor Manual does not tell you how to do this. I called a mechanic who lived a couple blocks from us with my dilemma, and he let me in on a little mechanic secret: Butch Wax.

Butch Wax will hold parts in place when grease will fail. It is great for replacing the needle bearings in U-Joints when they have fallen out, and for many other applications when you need a part to stay put during reassembly. Mrs. TBS found the photo above for me, and this is the package I remember. I probably have an old container just like this buried in one of my toolboxes.

A search on the internet turned up this image of the current package for Lucky Tiger Butch Wax, only they don't call it Butch Wax nowadays. If you ever plan on working on a manual transmission, U-Joints, or other tricky reassembly projects, you need this in your toolbox. Buy it before you need it.

Snow Belt Solar Secret

The salesman never mentioned snow! We knew snow would shut down the panels and knew that we could blow snow because we have used leaf blowers for fireline construction and snow removal for decades. Your blower can move snow without scratching the panels, and that is an important benefit. Think about and plan for snow removal when you plan your solar panel installation.

There is an important safety issue that you should know when you are using a blower to move snow. Wind blown snow generates static electricity, and if you touch the panel framework while blowing you are going to feel the burn of a constant static discharge. It can make your heart go out of rhythm. I found these facts myself last year when blowing 3-4 inches off the panels. My heart settled down and ran right after a while, but it can be worrisome, maybe worse. Don't belly up to the panels while blowing snow!

Changing Your Headlights, Just Like It Was A Century Ago!

 Today it is more like it was in 1923! Back then, headlights had bulbs, and you would carry a few extra under the seat in your Ford. Then headlights modernized and we had sealed beams. Now we are back to bulbs. What's old is new again.

Excerpt, Passing of the Year, Robert W. Service

 My favorite poet says things well:

And so from face to face I flit,
     The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
     And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
     Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
     Old weary year! it's time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
     My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
     And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that's true,
     For we've been comrades, you and I --
I thank God for each day of you;
     There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!