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[grizz]

 

September 11th

 

Dennis took the day off work….

 

After all, it’s his birthday. 

 

So we got in the GMC early, hit the road for Hannibal for the day, and a few stops along the way. 

 

First stop….. breakfast along the motorway. 

 

Then onwards. 

 

A FB memory came up from when Craig and I stopped in Iowa at the underwhelming American Pickers store after visiting the late Ray and Eve. 

 

Craig had caught this pic perfectly despite it being totally innocent. 

 

 

.

 

[grizz]

First stop was an antiques mall. 

 

A school that someone had bought and turned into a massive shop. 

[grizz]

More….? 

[grizz]

From the School House we headed to Hannibal. 

 

This is Mark Twains town. 

 

Friendly, laid back, tourist friendly, friendly. 

 

Loads to see, spent some more money and we had an awesome lunch. 

 

The whole local fire department have their lunches there every day. 

 

Mine was Catfish…….. Possibly the best meal I’ve ever had of Catfish. 

 

Our server was an absolute darling and full of advice and knowledge. 

 

Nice. 

 

I also bought myself a 4-6000 year old broken arrow head for $15.00 

 

Always wanted one of the little pieces of extreme craftsmanship. 

 

If it was intact, price quadrupled. 

 

Absolutely chuffed  though. 

[grizz]

More

[grizz]

Lunch was good

[Jenson Velcro]

Thanks for posting the photos, I do generally find it easier than trying to find time to watch videos. It all looks great although looking at the size of meals served I’d be the size of a house after a fortnight over there.

[grizz]

Back home we went out for more food. 

 

I love how this id how people get around. 

 

Well, in Missouri at least. 

 

Brutal tools these side by sides. 

[grizz]

 

Back to photos. 

 

 

[grizz]

More? 

[grizz]

I am currently working on a spectacular bucket list item. Of course it could crash and burn completely. But if successful, it would be a keeper unlike so many of my builds.

 

 

In the meantime……….

 

USA roadtrip photos done.

 

I got really tired of creating videos.

 

 

But the build I have been doing the last few weeks has to be reported of course.

 

 

Or maybe it’s just too boring.

 

 

I am having a failure of confidence in the internet at the moment.

 

 

 

Anyone ever build an “off grid urinal” at home or somewhere else?

 

(NO……… HAVING A PEE IN A HEDGE OR ON AN ELECTRIC FENCE DOES NOT COUNT) 

 

What did you build, how well does it work?

 

Any advice?

 

 

When I  was in the military these were our urinals. Known as a piss lilly.

The toilets were known as Gokarts. 

I don’t recall them being so exposed though.

 

Still, it was 43 years ago. When we were brave and stupid in equal measure.

 

Life was good, even though tough at times.

 

 

.

[MrBig]

I'm hoping that these two subjects are not related 😁

[grizz]

34 minutes ago, MrBig said:

I'm hoping that these two subjects are not related 😁

Which two? 
 

peeing on an electric fence? 

[MrBig]

Bucket list item and "piss lilly" which I have to admit I have been educated on!

[grizz]

4 minutes ago, MrBig said:

Bucket list item and "piss lilly" which I have to admit I have been educated on!

Errrmmmm yup. 
 

Unrelated.  
 

Bucketlist item can still be a bust.  
 

But…… if it happens to work out…… 😍

[grizz]

Saw this on FB. 
 

I guess “off grid “  could be interpreted differently but it’s not this one for me. 
 

 

.

[grizz]

So…..?

 

Where were we? 
 

Creating an off grid urinal ehh. 
 

What that really means is a place to pee in town (though I live very rural, I have extremely nosey neighbours)  without having to go indoors alm the time, especially in winter when a 3.00 am walk up the garden path would wake you up totally. 
 

So I started looking at options. 
 

Youtube was pretty useless on this occasion. 
 

So I went out back, to my reduced scrap pile behind the garage on the farmers land and pulled out a 20 liter compressor tank and started to measure, cut, fold and weld it into something resembling a space capsule. 
 

I was also searching for porcelain urinals and alternative items to repurpose. 
 

Unsuccessfully. 
 

This was step one. 
 

 

 

.

[grizz]

 

And just like that……

 

Measured, eyeballed, then cutting, welding,  painting. 
 

All in the video. 
 

Resulting in this thing. 

[grizz]

Looks like urinals run in the family. 
 

My brother, 41 years in the military, Engineers also has an outside urinal that feeds straight into his sewerage’s feed, including a rinse and flush action that never allows it to bite back. 
 

Judge if you have to but asthe old saying goes, “Every Cripple limps in his own way” 

 

Problem solving often too.  
 

Fucktup pressure sprayer +4 screws+cutoff 50mm pvc pipe+gluegun= Outdoor relief.  
 

 

 

.

[kevins]

I just use the compost heap!

[grizz]

20 hours ago, kevins said:

I just use the compost heap!

I would use it too, if I had one. 
 

 

[grizz]

So. 
 

Lets start at the beginning. 
 

Remember when I tried to sell my Coronet Major wood lathe?? 
7 foot table 

Rather big. 
 

So I decided to change all my sheds around. 
 

Making the woodwork shed into a garage and automotive shed and store.  
 

And then enlarging the “Prozac Shed” to take the 2.1 meter lathe table and my industrial bandsaw abd a pillar drill, along with some more machines. 
 

So the  first job was to create some space and change shed use, orientation and garden beds.    
 

So my small shed has been with me around 20 years. 

Originally bought and built to take a spare engine, transmission, axles, interior of my old 1963 Ford Taunus Tra  

Now full of firewood and kindling for the fireplace in the house  

 

Some garden beds to address too  

 

The pics are a bit nondescript  

 

 

 

.

 

[grizz]

Next up. 
 

Some paving and leveling out. 
 

Then swing the small she’d through 90’ 

 

.

[grizz]

Grizz I smell a huge project on the horizon…do we know what it is yet? 

 

LOL. 

 

You are right.  

 

Some posts will be double posts because they are not in sequence. 

 

Like this one. 

 

I have been there about 10 times in two months. 

 

 

 

And of course this “swear filter” proved to be invaluable after I disassembled it and removed two stuck, bent, broken 16 gauge nails from its rail and internal hammer mechanism. 

 

But paying £30.00 for a tool worth 4 times that………

 

Priceless (or is it?)

 

 

 

So of course there were two loads of hardwood all for £150.00

 

Price per length, £5.00 for the first load. 

 

In the hardware store I saw the cost at £65.00 per length 

 

Shocking 😳 

 

Second load was “free” costing me ULEZ AND a 50 mile round trip. 

 

This probably gives it all away. 

 

But hopefully the process will be interesting enough for those who like to watch and read. 

 

 

 

I also found the pic I took of the hardwood price tag in the shop. 

 

Keep in mind that I paid £5.00 per length on load number one and load two was essentially FREE.  

 

FREE money is good. 

 

Life is good. 

 

 

 

.

[Westbay]

12 hours ago, grizz said:

I would use it too, if I had one. 
 

 

New Year Project ? 😂

[grizz]

I know there are all sorts on this forum. 

At least one, possibly 21 of you are clever old sticks and know about calculations, permutations, deviations and fuel consumption. 

This leads me to my question. 



Firstly, Yes I know we don’t all pay the same tariffs for electricity, but assume that I pay top dollar (because I am not vigilant) 


If I have a 2000 W oil filled heater, other sizes obviously are at 1500, 1200 etc. 

But……. Assuming that I use it at full power half the time and half power the rest of the time. 

TIME = 12 hours max per day. 


What would be my running cost per day for this oil heater??

I’m on bottled/cylinder gas and have a huge house. But only can be in one space at any given time. 

My lodgers are here 6.00pm to 6.00am daily. 

So we only run the heating as needed. 




Thanks to whoever takes the time to arrive at an answer for me.

[Westbay]

19 minutes ago, grizz said:

I know there are all sorts on this forum. 

At least one, possibly 21 of you are clever old sticks and know about calculations, permutations, deviations and fuel consumption. 

This leads me to my question. 



Firstly, Yes I know we don’t all pay the same tariffs for electricity, but assume that I pay top dollar (because I am not vigilant) 


If I have a 2000 W oil filled heater, other sizes obviously are at 1500, 1200 etc. 

But……. Assuming that I use it at full power half the time and half power the rest of the time. 

TIME = 12 hours max per day. 


What would be my running cost per day for this oil heater??

I’m on bottled/cylinder gas and have a huge house. But only can be in one space at any given time. 

My lodgers are here 6.00pm to 6.00am daily. 

So we only run the heating as needed. 




Thanks to whoever takes the time to arrive at an answer for me.

quick 'n dirty = 60-70p / hour....

Buy 'em thick  woolly jumpers ! 🤣

[GlenAnderson]

I’m paying, I think, about 35p/kwh. 
 

6 hours at 2KW is 12kwh, and another 6 at 1kw  brings it to 18kwh. Multiply that by your rate/kwh, in my case £0.35, and you get £6.30 a day. 
 

In practice, it’s probably going to be a little less than that as the thermostat will cut it out when the room gets to temperature. 

[grizz]

10 minutes ago, GlenAnderson said:

I’m paying, I think, about 35p/kwh. 
 

6 hours at 2KW is 12kwh, and another 6 at 1kw  brings it to 18kwh. Multiply that by your rate/kwh, in my case £0.35, and you get £6.30 a day. 
 

In practice, it’s probably going to be a little less than that as the thermostat will cut it out when the room gets to temperature. 

 Thanks Glen

 

I noticed my rates change month to month. 
 

just a random number here. 
 

but I guess averages at 30p/unit. 

[GlenAnderson]

Unless you have storage heaters or do loads of high power stuff at night, then you might be better off on a tariff that stays the same regardless of the time of day. 
 

Daytime use of your 2KW heater flat out will be costing you £1.15 an hour.