Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday Update Car Work
Kate brought her Saturn over for Gerardo and I to repair the Stabilizers.
Getting the bolts off.
Another view of the work.
Here Fred and Gerado are both deeply involved.
Kate, Gerardo and YiYu later came back for some Fried Chicken. We use Martha Stewart's recipe. It brought back good memories of Perm.
Coated and ready to fry.
Checking the temperature.
Delicious.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Memorial Day Gardening
With my Roto-tiller all repaired, preparing the garden was not a problem. 
All tilled and ready to plant.
Kate had pre-planted some cucumbers, acorn squash, peas, and zucchinis for us to get a head start. I bought a flat of tomatoes, also.
Liz got three tomato plants from school and I planted those too.
All done, now to keep them watered till the rains come.
We will see how long it takes for the weeds to take control.
A Trillium volunteer up by the house.
All tilled and ready to plant.
Kate had pre-planted some cucumbers, acorn squash, peas, and zucchinis for us to get a head start. I bought a flat of tomatoes, also.
Liz got three tomato plants from school and I planted those too.
All done, now to keep them watered till the rains come.
We will see how long it takes for the weeds to take control. 
A Trillium volunteer up by the house.Saturday, May 23, 2009
Roto-tiller Repair
In 1979, I bought a Roto-tiller 'kit'. It was very inexpensive. It was a combination of belt and chain driven tines with a five Horse Power motor. After about three years of continuous repair of the drive train, my friend, Don Korten, gave me an old Sears Roto-tiller which needed a motor but had gear driven tines. I recycled the tines and motor from my original Roto-tiller onto the Sears frame and drive and went along happily for many years. The motor was multi duty in that when I was not using it on the Roto-tiller I would use it on the kid's go-cart. 
Not very pretty, as Consumer Reports would say, "Antiquated Technology on an Obsolete Chassis." I would say, Proven and Reliable."
This year I started it up and after about ten minutes it quit running, no compression. After some soul searching about repair or replace, I remembered seeing an ad in the Harbor Freight circular for a motor on sale. Off I went. The new with the old.
The new motor did not line up quite right, I had washers under the old motor, so a search of the material under the workbench I found an aluminum bar the right size, four holes, and a cut on the band saw and I had a couple of spacers.
Perfect alignment. Now some bolts.
Now I will be able to get the garden planted by Memorial Day.
Not very pretty, as Consumer Reports would say, "Antiquated Technology on an Obsolete Chassis." I would say, Proven and Reliable."
This year I started it up and after about ten minutes it quit running, no compression. After some soul searching about repair or replace, I remembered seeing an ad in the Harbor Freight circular for a motor on sale. Off I went. The new with the old.
The new motor did not line up quite right, I had washers under the old motor, so a search of the material under the workbench I found an aluminum bar the right size, four holes, and a cut on the band saw and I had a couple of spacers.
Perfect alignment. Now some bolts.
Now I will be able to get the garden planted by Memorial Day.Sunday, May 17, 2009
Spring in Minnesota.
I am finally home. It is nice to sleep in my own bed. It has been warm here, warmer than in Perm anyway. I walked around the house and took pictures of the plants blooming.
My apple tree, it has more blossoms this year than I remember in previous years.
The bushes in front of the house. 
My Trillium is still healthy. That window looks like it needs some work. I'll put that on the job list.
My apple tree, it has more blossoms this year than I remember in previous years.
The bushes in front of the house. 
My Trillium is still healthy. That window looks like it needs some work. I'll put that on the job list.Sunday, May 10, 2009
Spring in Perm
The first sign of Spring I saw.
Driving home from the plant. During the winter they put sand on the roads and in the Spring when the snow melts it is all over everything.
Houses along the freeway.
Traffic is the same everywhere.
A plowed field waiting for planting.Sunday, May 03, 2009
Gorky Park Revisited
In the last couple of days I have gotten around the city to see things and take walks. You can compare some of the pictures to the ones I took when there was snow on the ground.
It was still a bit on the cool side but no one seemed to notice.
The center dome.
A lot of people enjoying the sunshine.
It was still a bit on the cool side but no one seemed to notice.
The center dome.
A lot of people enjoying the sunshine.
This is the beer house, pronounced, "Balticia".
This is the alternative to the ice slides. I waited for some little kid to take a header into the water but none did.Saturday, May 02, 2009
Shopping In Perm
One night after work Rajmund, Lucas and I went shopping for souvenirs and some small items for the project. Yulia, one of the SME's went with us to keep us out of trouble.
Traffic near the Central Market.
Very busy, a lot of people getting ready for the May Day Holiday.
Yulia, the SME, showing us how to flag down a taxis.
This is a memorial to the inventor of arc welding.
Here is a representation of his original machine.
Dinner after a hard day of shopping and sightseeing.
A couple of people waiting for a table at the restaurant. It must be the cat causing the problem.
Traffic near the Central Market.
Very busy, a lot of people getting ready for the May Day Holiday.
Yulia, the SME, showing us how to flag down a taxis.
This is a memorial to the inventor of arc welding.
Here is a representation of his original machine.
Dinner after a hard day of shopping and sightseeing.
A couple of people waiting for a table at the restaurant. It must be the cat causing the problem.Friday, May 01, 2009
May Day Parade
Today in Russia it is May Day. It is one of the many 'big' holidays in Russia. It is the first day off I have had in 32 days. So as a celebration, I went to the parade.
Here are some of my friends, "Ma-check" and "Vote-check" are operators from Poland; me , of course, then Rajmund , an engineer from Poland.
There are actually a number of parades in Perm, each of the neighborhoods have their own parade and they meet up at "Prospect" and march together to the University.
These are the Communists.
These people are the Social Democrats.
I don't know who these people were but they have something to do with the Kama River.
And there were a lot of them.
Even more going by.
This is not your the typical policewoman.
Nothing works better for crowd control than 700 Kgs of living breathing horse flesh.
Some more people joining the parade.
The required picture of the Lenin Award for Industrial Excellence.
And to top it off, look who I ran into. It is interesting the people you meet when you don't have your gun.
Here are some of my friends, "Ma-check" and "Vote-check" are operators from Poland; me , of course, then Rajmund , an engineer from Poland.
There are actually a number of parades in Perm, each of the neighborhoods have their own parade and they meet up at "Prospect" and march together to the University.
These are the Communists.
These people are the Social Democrats.
I don't know who these people were but they have something to do with the Kama River.
And there were a lot of them.
Even more going by.
This is not your the typical policewoman.
Nothing works better for crowd control than 700 Kgs of living breathing horse flesh.
Some more people joining the parade.
The required picture of the Lenin Award for Industrial Excellence.
And to top it off, look who I ran into. It is interesting the people you meet when you don't have your gun.