Morning coffee

[mustang6984]

Had to go to 3 grocery stores to get hamburger meat. Lots of steaks, roasts, ribs just no hamburger. Finally got some at our local butcher. No potatoes for fries though. The search continues.

This stuff is getting crazy. Had to go to 3 stores to find a bag of dog food! Same here re: potatoes and other produce. will make another run today. If nothing today...guess I'll get up and go at 7 in the morning after the stores have been closed all night to re-stock, and grab what I want/need then before the hordes show up.
This is just not necessary...don't people realize that as long as trucks and trains are running....food will be available? And TP?!?!?! UGH!

[RICH MUISE]

Before the hordes show up?..lol, you have not got out much lately have ya? That ghost town look around Branson is probably because everyone got out and did their shopping at 6am.We went to United markets last Thursday, suppose to open at 6AM Mondays and Thursdays for seniors only til 10. I got to the first one right at 6, parking lot full, no one waiting to get in!?. All checkouts already had 5 or 6 shoppers backed up with cart fulls! Other than shopping, driving around Amarillo is pretty much normal traffic except for a noticable decrease at the rush hours. Gas a few days ago down to low 1.70s.
Connie and Sherri "went to church" today in their 'jammies.........Their church was broadcasting the service on Facebook.

[mustang6984]

I have been out pretty much every day. Went to dinner in restaurants Monday and Wednesday. Not anymore....all closed down now. Went to Wally's World and other stores to get what I could and needed. I refuse to play the hoarding game...walked out only with what I need for the next few days. If the trucks stop running...maybe I'll play then...but otherwise...nope.
Branson only has a population of 10k...Hollister another 5k and Forsyth less that 5k. With all the tourists gone, and 2 Wally's World locations plus 3 Country Marts and 4 other grocery stores...not as bad as other places. And no one around here is out at 7 in the morning. When I was in the stores at 2 in the afternoon...they were packed.
Out of those 20k people...only about 8k or so are adults. So I think I will find little competition at 7 a.m. as opposed to a much higher population area like Amarillo.
Wonder how all those people got into the stores ahead of you? Someone must have either opened the doors early, or they let all their friends in first.
******************************************
I should clarify some things here...about Branson for those who may not understand what I meant about it being a ghost town, yet being packed in the stores at 2 in the afternoon.
Branson is a destination place here in MO...for family based entertainment...and usually by now the show palaces are open, restaurants that were closed for January and February have re-opened and tourist traffic has begun to show up for spring break and early birds who are retired. Travel through town on the main drag, a 2 lane "hiway" is usually slow...not even close to the posted 35 mph but closer to 15-20 mph.
Now...the town, which had begun to come to life in the last 2 weeks...looks as empty as it does on January 10th. You could fire a LAWS rocket down the 76...and it would run out of propulsion fuel long before it hit anything. Driving down 76  now is easy...and the show palaces have all shut down again. Motels and hotels and the condos which rent out on a nightly/weekly basis are all empty. Thus Branson...is indeed a ghost town. For now.

[hiball3985]

This virus will be the longest lasting thing China has ever made

[djfordmanjack]

Oh ****, that is just too funny Jim....sorry....lmao

This virus will be the longest lasting thing China has ever made

[hiball3985]

Oh ****, that is just too funny Jim....sorry....lmao

A little humor never hurts after all the crying..

[djfordmanjack]

So true Jim ! We are all aware of that this desease is serious. But if we had only 5 days to live would we rather spend 5 days weaping and moaning and in fear, or 5 days smiling and being happy. Everyone will have their own reply to that. For me, I am still smiling, talking to family and friends on the phone, think of my sweet girlfriend, work on the cars, listen to good music and enjoy the good things.

Although I am a bit worried about the new toilet paper hoarding desease ?! It spread more quickly than the virus itself. I guess none of those people have been out in the woods for any longer than 2 hours or so....

[mustang6984]

This virus will be the longest lasting thing China has ever made

ROTFLMAO! there may well be some sad truth to that!

[hiball3985]

I laugh and work on things like the car, house etc to keep busy. I feel sorry for all the people who are stressing out. Maybe the next high demand item will be straight jackets 

[RICH MUISE]

There is a silver lining to all this, believe it or not,..........the chances of a mass shooting happening have greatly diminished!

Short road trips are good unless your in a lock down. It feels great to get out, just don't stop anywhere unless you have to. I put 90ish miles on the '57 yesterday. Mid grade gas was down to 1.87!! When I stopped, I wore a latex glove for the gas pump and credit card.
I read an article by a health executive yesterday on getting out and driving. She said there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, if it helps relieve stress, do it. She went on to say it's not the actual driving you do, it's what you do along the way and when you get where you're going that matters.

I'm finally getting my garage straightened out. I built some overhead storage shelves supported by unistrut attached to the ceiling, and finally got the plastering and painting done on the wall I built to close off the back overhead door. Next project is to finally get my air compressor permanently plumbed and anchored. I bought some 3/4 copper pipe for a cooling run before the filter. Trying to decide if 30' of run is enough. The humidity here is normally low, in the 20's range.
I was surprised to find that 3/4 copper is almost 3 times the cost of 1/2", which is why I only bought 30'.

[mustang6984]

Copper is wildly insane in price now. What valuables did you sell to fund that purchase? LOL!!!

Good idea to use the copper for cooling...wrap it in athletic ice packs before it gets to the line going to your paint gun filter and you will really have cool air! You can buy those in any sporting goods store...they have ties for securing to an arm of leg...and you just toss them into the freezer.
They are a gel material and get real cold and hold it for about an hour or so.

[RICH MUISE]

Don't care about the coolness of the air at output, I do it before the drains and filters to help condense the moisture from the air. I may add a dryer unit to the system, and an additional 10 gallon tank I have, or be on the lookout for a second 60 gallon tank. If I had the money, I'd buy a two stage unit with an 80 gal. tank, but I don't. My twin pump 5 hp setup is almost adequate, but falls short when trying to make a paint pass on a complete car. It'll do it ok for primers and clear, but trying to spray a metallic base coat with a consistent pattern is a whole 'nother story.

[SkylinerRon]

For everyone using an air compressor.

Send for a FREE catalog at  tptools.com

It has everything you need to know about setting up for air tools and lots of USA made products.

Enjoy,

Ron.

[gasman826]

I ran 2" high pressure PVC for headers around the ceiling with 1" drops.  It cools quickly, adds to the tank size, does not rust, easy to install, and is cheap.  My compressor tank is only 60 gallon so the 2" pipe increases the storage volume.  I bought an old two stage compressor with a 3 PH motor.  I found a 3HP 1PH at an auction.  It ran daily for near 20 years before it dropped a valve.  I found the same compressor, new on eBay.  It runs 175 lbs but it really works to keep up with my media blast cabinet.  So I bought an industrial 185 CFM diesel compressor and a 12.5 cubic foot media pot for those really big, nasty parts.

[RICH MUISE]

Amarillo got put on stay-at-home orders today as of midnight. Lubbock yesterday. Very confusing  issues. Essential businesses only, including parts stores and auto repair shops, and gun shops. HOWEVER........apparently it is against the orders(law?) to actually go to them as the only acceptable reasons to leave your home, other than a walk, is medical or food unless you work at an essential business.
I'm not bitching, I think it's a good thing, and hopefully they got an early as possible jump on it. The Texas Panhandle area is 176 miles wide by I'm guessing 300 miles. As of this morning there were 25 confirmed cases in the entire panhandle, but they're expecting alot more quickly as testing has really just got into gear.
When I heard that, I figured there probably are not going to be too many road trips, in the '57 at least, so I took it out this afternoon and put 180 miles on it. Haha...only in Texas.....I saw 5 vultures feasting on a dead animal beside the road, and a half hour later I saw a dead horse beside the road next to a horse ranch.