And more junk.

Seems like every time I go there for some coupon sales anymore the stuff I try to get is already sold out.
the last few times going there to find out they were out of stock.
I find the store 20 miles from me is out of stock a lot of times but the store 50 miles away usually has it. Then I order it online and don't get the in store coupon price but the gas for 100 mile round trip is more than the savings most of the time. Has to be a more expensive item to make the trip worth it.
 
Our closest HF store in about 60 miles away. New store but larger population area to serve, council Bluffs and Eastern Omaha area. The usually have things on hand but do run out occasionally. They used to have actual sidewalk sales, where the merchandise is all out under one roof? Now they put tags of the "sidewalk sale" items in the store and you have to hunt for the tag to find it.
 
WE have the TV, land line bundle also. Price went up to over $220 a month. This includes unlimited long distance continental US calling that was used a lot but not so much anymore. Cell phone service is not all that reliable in this area, especially where we sit on low ground. Junk text crap comes through just fine but try and talk from the same location.

I also looked into streaming TV a few years ago. Most of them are movie oriented or syndicated shows. To get the shows we watch the most we would have to subscribe to and that usually brings the cost right back to where we are now. None of the streamers carry Discovery. RFD, Cowboy Chanel, and 2 or three other channels we have now. Never did get anything out of You Tube as it always bring up a bunch of stuff I am not looking for. When I do find it the video can't be understood, shake and shimmy their way around some shop or some place about like a camera on a dog chasing a ribbit. To get what we want we either pay the price, or sell the TV. The kids have nothing but those TV stick things but have two younger kids too. Don't have a clue what it is how it works, I can't even run the remote for it as none of the buttons are labeled, just stupid symbol on them. Have enough of that now.
 
I think Loree is really leaning towards getting Fubo, not so much for me to get NASCAR racing but she wants local news which they have, and the Colorado Rockies baseball is what really sold her. Our cable dropped the Rockies a couple years ago and she has been mad about that ever since.

Peacock is owned by NBC so they wouldn't carry anything other than the NBC races, Aaron.

Didn't get but a couple hours in the shop today, but got that slot car track disassembled, sanded and wire wheeled the contacts with a dremel. Hopefully can put it back together and give it a test tomorrow.

DAC
 
Haven't had time to check into any of them yet. Contractor finished his part of the bathroom tub to shower conversion, so I had to get to the rest of it. Water valve was installed but had the shower head bar and 2 grab bars to put in. Spent more time up and down step to get what I needed from my basement shop. Pictures coming. Anybody have a couple of M4 X .7 - 4" metric screws they are not suing? 3" that came with the valve are not long enough.
 
Haven't had time to check into any of them yet. Contractor finished his part of the bathroom tub to shower conversion, so I had to get to the rest of it. Water valve was installed but had the shower head bar and 2 grab bars to put in. Spent more time up and down step to get what I needed from my basement shop. Pictures coming. Anybody have a couple of M4 X .7 - 4" metric screws they are not suing? 3" that came with the valve are not long enough.
Wish I could help on those metric screws, Rog. Sounds like you are getting that shower done in good time!

I took the Roku adapter we have in the house and brought out to the shop to test them on the existing TV's. Was hoping I wouldn't have to buy "smart tv's". Fortunately that thing works on them now that there is Wi-Fi out here in the shop. I ordered a couple more since they seem to be out of stock at the local Walmarts. When I get them set up on the shop TV's I guess it will be time to subscribe to Fubo, so I can get NASCAR out here. Will be able to watch dirt track racing too since we already have Flo Racing.

Then I goofed off. Put the slot car track together and wired it up. Used this old T-Jet transformer.
IMG_1947.jpg

"Ran in" the track with a couple of Tyco 440X-2's.
IMG_1946.jpg

All these cars got some lap time today. Those X-2's I took the traction magnets out of on the figure 8 were pretty darn ballistic on 18V! The ThunderJets and AFX Magnatractions seemed to like the 18V well.
IMG_1948.jpg

I need to get back to reality soon and finish designing the racecar I have to letter. This stuff will get put away for awhile again soon.

DAC
 
The track project is coming along good. I like them open wheel cars in the bottom of your pic. I like them open idea of fixing that up like a dirt track. I remember fastening down the inside turns and shimming the outside up a little at a time while testing the cars to get a real nice banking. My son always chose the outside lanes because of the guardrails.
 
The track project is coming along good. I like them open wheel cars in the bottom of your pic. I like them open idea of fixing that up like a dirt track. I remember fastening down the inside turns and shimming the outside up a little at a time while testing the cars to get a real nice banking. My son always chose the outside lanes because of the guardrails.
Thank-you Jim! I built 4 of those old school modifieds over 20 years ago.
IMG_1958.jpg

IMG_1959.jpg
The 85 car was the first one, Basically a test to see if I could build these. Body from a '40 Ford Tyco hot rod, on a Aurora "Specialty" chassis.

The other 3 are tribute cars to racers I liked back in the day. The 61 is a tribute to a New England NASCAR modified racer named Richie Evans. It was an Aurora Pinto funny car, also on a Specialty chassis.

55 was a tribute to a local racer back in the late '60's. It was an Aurora Hot rod roadster. I had to build the roof out of sheet styrene. On a Thunder Jet chassis.

777 is a loose representation of a car my favorite country artist, Marty Robbins raced in the early 1960's. It was the same body as the 85 car but butchered up even more. On a Thunder Jet chassis too.

I cleaned and oiled up some more including the 777 and 55 cars above.
IMG_1960.jpg

Used the redneck variable speed Dremel to clean pickup shoes. I need to see If I can get a battery for the cordless one. Warmed the motors up on a early 1970's Tyco transformer.
IMG_1962.jpg

I had planned on wedging the turns up like you did, Jim, when it comes time to mount permanently. The guardrails are sticking far enough away from the track that there is no "leaning on it" for an advantage. One of the reasons why I wanted to do this 1/32 Eldon track. Problem is that the outside lane, the contacts overlap the correct direction. The inside lane they overlap opposite. Makes some bumps at the track joints on the inside. I race alone so not really a big deal, but it would be cool to have both lanes smooth if I'm going to put in the work to mount it permanently. Got a couple ideas but it will take a bunch of work.

Had to run around in town again this morning, got home made a few phone calls and ate lunch late. I picked up a Roku device for the oldest TV in my shop. 20 bucks. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it working but I have the "Chili Bowl" on in my office! Biggest open wheel midget race in the country. Christopher Bell has done good in first day qualifying, and Kyle Larson is struggling again. Of course there are 400 cars there so it's not between just those two.

Office TV on Roku.jpg

That's enough of this nonsense. Got to be in town again for lunch with some cousins Wednesday and Thursday for a funeral. Just want to have a week at home for once!

DAC
 
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You done a good job on those cars Doug. I remember Marty Robbins racing. What channel did you watch that race on.

Growing up an old guy had a car shop a couple of blocks away. He raced dirt track at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana. His car was a 56 Ford. Me and my buddies couldn’t wait to get out there on Monday to see how wrecked it was. I built a 1:24 scale model of his car. He would let us hang out and help him work around his shop.

I’ve been watching some of the old NASCAR races on YouTube, I sure miss them old racing days dirt and asphalt.

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You done a good job on those cars Doug. I remember Marty Robbins racing. What channel did you watch that race on.

Growing up an old guy had a car shop a couple of blocks away. He raced dirt track at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana. His car was a 56 Ford. Me and my buddies couldn’t wait to get out there on Monday to see how wrecked it was. I built a 1:24 scale model of his car. He would let us hang out and help him work around his shop.

I’ve been watching some of the old NASCAR races on YouTube, I sure miss them old racing days dirt and asphalt.

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Thanks again Jim! That channel is a streaming app called Flo Sports. Comes with a lot of other type of sports but I only watch racing.

I think we pay $150 annually.

I was still pretty little, probably around 6 or 7 when I discovered a guy that had a ramshackle house out on the road in front of our trailer court that was building Buicks for the dirt track. I remember they were Buicks because his homemade headers stuck through the holes in the fenders.
About the only other memory of it I have is he showed me that cutting a 55-gallon drum diagonally made 2 racing seats! Still would be a few years before I saw my first race. After we started going regularly in 1968 I built several models of local racecars but they all went down the creek in 1972. One of those models helped get me my first job in 1973, working in a race car shop. The shop owner remembered me bringing the model
into the pits to show him. He probably was trying to help us out since we had lost everything in the flood. Worked there until I graduated high school when the company went bankrupt.

Flood damaged Polaroid picture of that model.
75 model.jpg

We found one other picture of some of my models back then.
Model cars.jpg

Polaroids don't take great pictures, much less being washed a couple miles down a creek---LOL!

The Roku devices that were compatible with a TV in the house and the lift bay TV came in today so I ran some laps on the track and had more Chili Bowl on TV Wasn't as bad to get them going today since I had done the shop office one yesterday. The next step will be biting the bullet and subscribing to "Fubo" to get the local and other networks that carry NASCAR channels. 80 bucks a month but we will still come out ahead over cable.
Lift bay TV on Roku.jpg

This old Chevelle T-Jet was the most versatile car I ran tonight. I need to figure out what made that one drive so well on both lanes!
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IMG_1966.jpg

DAC
 
Looks like a pretty good sized step up for that Chevell after crossing the finish line or does the camera make it look worse than it is. Those cars sure turn out nice after you get done with them.
IMG_1965.jpg
 
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