Hobbies and Things

Hello, It’s been a few months. I’ve been busy catching up on things since I was gone for 44 days. Some projects start out “small” and then grow exponentially. Repaired the deck. That stayed small as I ripped out about 6 boards and replaced them. My Son thought he would help me and started to remove a gate to change the rotted gate post. He was here for a long weekend. “HEY Dad, how far down does this concrete go?” Oh, at least 3 feet. He stopped and it was looking at me every time I walked to my car. 2 weeks later I got after it and it took a bit but I got it out fairly easily after sitting back and thinking how I was going to do it. I got a 1″ masonry bit and a big hammer drill. Drilled the concrete then banged in a Hilti Anchor. Threaded in an Eye bolt. Then soaked the ground around the post/concrete with a hose for several hours. With that preparation it lifted right out using the tractor’s 3 point hitch arms. New post and a new gate… all good now. Took the 1976 Pontiac Trans Am to the shop. Pulled the engine and transmission. I needed a new clutch and I wanted the old rear main rope seal replaced so it didn’t have a slow leak anymore. While the engine was out it was a perfect time to fix the exhaust manifold leak. Then we noticed the valley pan gasket was leaking. Fix that too. How many miles is on this thing Guy? 104,000… thinking about a new timing chain? Yep… OK, put one on. I go in 2 days later when the Valley Pan is off. Hey Guy, we have a problem. Look! Oh, that Cam Lobe is round and not lobed anymore. Looks like I need a new Cam… and so it went. Had the radiator looked at and they said it really should be re-cored. Ok. Then I took all the engine Tin and had it sand blasted. Then I painted it with the correct paint for a Pontiac Trans Am. After that I worked on the engine block for over 10 hrs and painted it too. The necessary parts are now all gathered and hopefully it will go back together soon. Since I have been home I bought a Large and an XL Big Green Egg with a few attachments. My favorite attachment is the auto vent which keeps the Egg at the correct temperature. It is called a SmoBot. I have done ribs twice now. Prior to this week I did two Brisket’s which were OK. Went to OU and OSU and Missouri Mine and Tech for some campus visits. While at OU in Oklahoma city we asked were some good BBQ is… they told us. I ordered ribs and the other people around the table agreed that mine were better. So with that last confidence booster last Thursday I tried a Brisket again and it was an utter failure. I called up my Mentor and asked if he would come over and demonstrate how he trims and seasons the brisket and where to put the meat probe and explain how he wraps it up with butcher paper. He did and then I did the next one while he watched. His looked better but mine wasn’t bad. With that I fired up the grill the next day and everything went well. I pulled them off 18 hrs later and let them rest for 2.5 hrs. Unwrapped them and wow they were still hot. While trying to cut them they started falling apart. I need a better knife! Success! Even Loraine thought they were good. I sliced them then put them in vacuum bags and put it in the freezer for Christmas Eve Dinner Party. It’s been a great day, especially after that epic fail a few days ago.