No, never watched any of the Star Wars films and have no desire to watch. Best sci-fi is that which has its basic in real science. I would bet even small children have an understanding of how light behaves. And by the way, the whole thing about the Star Wars trilogy or whatever was made up; the studio was failing and they decided they could bank on the star wars film. While I have not watched the films, I have seen enough clips to know the whole thing was rather hokey. The plot sucked but what captured people was the special effects. Which spawn a whole lot of other films with poor plots but great special effects to the point where any crappy screenplay could be done as long as you had a lot of special effects. I was at my sister's house once and she was watching one of the CSIs; which I don't care for either. The people are looking at a rather blurry photo of a car sitting in front of a flat building. The guy exclaims; What is that dot on the windscreen? The woman taps some keys; they alway taps keys in these shows. Magically the photo enlarges to clearly show a tag hanging in the window of the car and they could read what was on the tag. What Bollocks! Any idiot knows that is impossible, you can not create data where it does not exists. CSI is suppose to be based on real crime forensics, not made up science and it hurts the show. So in a sci-fi film, make up the science instead of saying that you can have a light saber. Say it is a pubdatic saber instead and make up the science that makes it possible. That way, people with knowledge can enjoy watching the film instead of saying, what rubbish. Let's take the Star Trek original TV series; not the crappy films or the crappy TV show that came later. They made up the science for the Phaser because they knew that a laser could not do what the Phaser did. That worked. OK, now back to hauling wood
Imagine the first person to dream of a way to cut down a tree, without an axe....later on, without a two person saw... Kinda like thinking a horse could not be beat at dragging a cart... As I thought, you would over analyze this thing beyond common sense. And I thought you were coming out of your shell.... I guess I'm the hopeful turtle. We know what is fake, we know what is impossible, we also know how to let Legos, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, & unengineerable Hot Wheels take us away for just a brief moment....even as adults. We call it...."Imagination." Find some.....it's a fork in the road of reality, a curve in the direction of humility, a blend of wonder and dreams.
Maybe I got too real...in a sense... Let's chalk it this way. Sci-fi (to an extent) is simply....entertainment.
I liked Star Trek, the original. Space 1999; if you can find it although season 2 sucks; my brothers gave me the DVD set. Time Tunnel (they were showing that on one of the old stations), Oh, the Twilight Zone is just brilliant; mainly from Rod Sterling but some of the other writers were good as well. My brother wanted me to watch the Last Star Fighter. It was OK but nothing to shout about. I did watch one of the Lord of the Rings and I do a pretty good impression of "my precious." I have seen reruns of The Invaders; that was an old TV show but interesting. Oh, and I watched reruns of Lost in Space. I have some toys of Lost in Space, the robot is sitting on the shelf above my desk.
When I see a picture of an older tractor like this I think "I wonder what this tractor has seen & done in it's lifetime?". Still serving it's owner well it looks like!
These old machines are built tough. It has had an engine overhaul since Dad purchased it; that was done not too long after Dad died. I also rebuilt the hydraulic pump; that I did myself. It has some lift issues; most likely the cylinder is leaking; yesterday on one of the heavier loads it was slow to lift. However, the lift stays up under load. It had an oil pan leak; the guy that rebuilt it was a Ford Mechanic; and Dad said he was the best tractor mechanic in the area. However, we found out afterwards that he had developed a drinking problem. He put the wrong pan gaskets on and shortly after it would drip at both front corners. The leak got progressively worst to the point I would lose oil pressure. So I eventually put her into the shed and set about dropping the oil pan. You have to move the front axle out of the way; there are front bolts that require this. I had to support the tractor on some heavy blocks etc. The oil pan is very heavy, solid cast iron. You also have to pull the timing cover etc. The front pulley was worn so I ordered a Chinese made one and had to do some machine work to get it to fit. I decided to replace the old front rope seal with the new one piece seal. There is a place in NC called "Just 8N" that has parts for these tractors; too far for me to drive so I ordered through the post. I have a new wiring harness to put on. I had starting problems and after doing some rewiring etc. got the spark back. I also put copper wire ignition wires on her; that is important for these original 6 volts systems. I want to give her some fresh paint.
I need to head out and haul more wood; want to get everything already cut to the house. I waste too much time on the interweb. I watched an interesting lecture this morning by Dr. Donald Livingston on the reasons behind the US Civil War. I keep trying to explain to people that most wars are over economics and not ideals. However, that is a different topic for a different forum. I hope to finish bucking that large locust. I might not have dropped it if I knew that part was still alive at the time; it wasn't much actually. Most of the bark was off the tree; it is amazing at how trees can have such a small part alive. It would eventually died completely because there was little to feed the roots.
Good on you for digging in and making it right! I like all my machines to be mechanically sound, including maintenance. I try to keep them looking good as well. Doesn't make them run any better, but I get a feeling of pride from doing it, which is reason enough for me.
Yes, I feel really bad for all the years I let her sit outside; can't undo that now but I can make it right. Also, sitting outside was hard on the rubber. I thought maybe the front tyres were too far gone but I took one of the front wheels to a shop to repair a leak and he said the tyre still had life in it. There was a lot of rust on the rim where water had gotten in. He said the rim would be OK.
Another load. This is the last of the poplar and a sweetgum that I had cut this spring. I am going back and get the oak and finish bucking up the locust. First I need to sharpen the chain on The Beast.
Here is a load of locust BTU goodness. And here is another load of locust BTU goodness I also brought up most of that white oak that I had cut. If I had a way to mill I would have turned some of that locust into fence posts; I would like to replace the corner T-posts in the back veggie garden with wood posts so I can pull the fence wire tighter. I don't use PT wood anywhere near my veggies. The lift on the Old Girl is leaking down; I noticed it with these heavy hauls. I guess this winter I should look at going in and doing some repairs. The Old Girl is also a bit loose in the front end, I need to replace worn tie rods; lots of play in the steering wheel which makes it harder to do fine maneuvering between trees.
