The random chat thread for throwing out things that don't matter

@haloruler64 

Thanks!

Posted by: @t-bone

 Not that it is my business but is anyone still not vaccinated? 

My son won't get the shot yet. He caught the virus last year had almost no symptoms, and had test and he still has antibodies. Has no desire to get one till he has no antibodies, other is large scale samples that prove that those with antibodies have no problems with shot. I imagine many people have had shot but have anti-bodies from having and recovering from virus, or are under 17, or whatever the cut off age is. I expect herd immunity will have happened by then.

Sorry to bring up the mask thing, that is my fault. For future discussions on the topic of CV and vaccines lets move to the unmoderated section of the board.

 I started to replace my small  gas powered and pneumatic tools with cordless electric.  I finally got a taste of the Milwaukee 18volt system with one of their 6ah high output batteries and I am impressed. The 12 volt Milwaukee stuff which I have had for a few years now has been great with plenty of power but now the 18volt is a kick in the pants. I started off with the fuel blower which has a similar output as gas. It is so powerful that I plan to use it to dry cars with.  From there I bought a hedge trimmer, will be receiving a line trimmer this week and eventually a chain saw to replace an old Sears that has carburetor issues.  I plan to sell my compressor soon and use the proceeds to buy a heavy duty impact and die grinder. I like that I have one system and the costs are not that bad being able to buy just the tool without a battery and charger since I already have those. No more leaky 2 stroke oil, fumes and noise. No more compressor maintenance and running out of pressure with using a small tank that creates clutter in the garage.  Since moving over from Dewalt I have been impressed with Milwaukee eco system and their ability to match their specs to gas and pneumatic or in some cases exceed them. 

The Milwaukee stuff is fantastic for the most part. I have a mix of Milwaukee and Ryobi cordless tools. For some items that get abused more or are at higher risk of theft (some recent work locations) I tend to use the cheaper gear. I've been considering a cordless chainsaw myself but probably not gonna go Milwaukee for that. Watched a Project Farm comparison video on YouTube and the Milwaukee performed pretty poorly compared to the rest. IIRC the DeWalt really outshined the others and was almost as good as the gas powered control. Ryobi was higher in the list and competitively priced. Since my chainsaw utility is pretty low, I'll probably go with Ryobi for that particular item. 

Posted by: @grumpy

Posted by: @t-bone

 Not that it is my business but is anyone still not vaccinated? 

My son won't get the shot yet. He caught the virus last year had almost no symptoms, and had test and he still has antibodies. Has no desire to get one till he has no antibodies, other is large scale samples that prove that those with antibodies have no problems with shot. I imagine many people have had shot but have anti-bodies from having and recovering from virus, or are under 17, or whatever the cut off age is. I expect herd immunity will have happened by then.

That is the hope that herd immunity will in fact set in (it very well may be helping us right now in certain areas of the US). It would be great if being infected will equate to long-term protections we will have to see on that. Herd is roughly defined by 70% population coverage. No way to know that for sure unless you get a documented 70% vaccinated. Educated guess is that anything over 60% + those like you son will do the trick. So excited to be leaving the 2020 tunnel 🙂

I got vaxxed even though I was very sick in 2020. For most people, the first shot had no effect and the second shot showed immune response. For me, the first shot of Pfizer absolutely kicked my ass. Five days straight of feverish sleeping with short periods of being awake, eating, and passing out again. I guess that demonstrates that I had antibodies and a strong immune response as it is, having had a strong strain of the virus directly from China.

Posted by: @marsrock7

The Milwaukee stuff is fantastic for the most part. I have a mix of Milwaukee and Ryobi cordless tools. For some items that get abused more or are at higher risk of theft (some recent work locations) I tend to use the cheaper gear. I've been considering a cordless chainsaw myself but probably not gonna go Milwaukee for that. Watched a Project Farm comparison video on YouTube and the Milwaukee performed pretty poorly compared to the rest. IIRC the DeWalt really outshined the others and was almost as good as the gas powered control. Ryobi was higher in the list and competitively priced. Since my chainsaw utility is pretty low, I'll probably go with Ryobi for that particular item. 

I seen the Project Farm review. Actually I was in two minds of what I needed but your post made my decision easier. The good thing about the line trimmer that is coming tomorrow is the quick lock feature where I can buy various attachments one of them being the poll saw.  

This is better because I need to cut limbs and this has a 10 inch bar for some thick branches.  You can also buy an extension to make it longer for more reach and then I seen a video where someone says that you can even add two if needed to really get it up there.  I will keep my gas chainsaw since it still does the job incase I need to cut a tree but for de limbing small branches I can use the hedge trimmer which can cut up to 1" and for larger stuff the poll chain saw.  

 My neighbor is getting this stuff done by a professional service having them use a lift and a crew of four people. Im sure it costs a fortune where I can work smarter and have these tools pay for themselves.  

  Its crazy how much money there is to be saved by doing it yourself but if you tackle it as a hobby being able to research and play with new tools its actually fun. 

Im selling  my old equipment on eBay to finance this transition. Keep in mind if you want to sell on eBay they ended their contract with PayPal so you need to link a bank account.  I have noticed since they have done this my items are selling quickly at a higher price and all of the scammers have closed their accounts. Much better like it was back when it was a little harder to get verified to sell. 

Posted by: @haloruler64

I got vaxxed even though I was very sick in 2020. For most people, the first shot had no effect and the second shot showed immune response. For me, the first shot of Pfizer absolutely kicked my ass. Five days straight of feverish sleeping with short periods of being awake, eating, and passing out again. I guess that demonstrates that I had antibodies and a strong immune response as it is, having had a strong strain of the virus directly from China.

I really hope that the virologists who are working on this can figure out why some people have absolutely no symptoms and 600K other people bought the farm. One of my acquaintances is showing off by eating hot (really hot) peppers because it appears his sense of taste is permanently gone and only extreme sensations like peppers tickle just a little bit of response to his taste receptors. 

It's the lets make a deal of diseases New car: door #1, bucket of dead squid: door #2, Grim reaper door #3

Haha yeah. COVID kicked my ass so bad, I was soooooooo sick. But luckily I had my sense of taste. Again, I got the Chinese strain as I was at a trade show with a lot of factory workers from Shenzhen at CES 2020, so I think that's where I got it, and my symptoms were very different from those around me who got sick in California. I could taste, and that's good because I was drinking fruity cocktails. But I was WILDLY congested, couldn't stop coughing, and everything hurt so bad. For over a month. 

Posted by: @haloruler64

Haha yeah. COVID kicked my ass so bad, I was soooooooo sick. But luckily I had my sense of taste. Again, I got the Chinese strain as I was at a trade show with a lot of factory workers from Shenzhen at CES 2020, so I think that's where I got it, and my symptoms were very different from those around me who got sick in California. I could taste, and that's good because I was drinking fruity cocktails. But I was WILDLY congested, couldn't stop coughing, and everything hurt so bad. For over a month. 

I have not been to Shenzhen but I really enjoyed Shanghai and Being - really good food and the great wall is pretty cool. The part of the wall we went to had these sled cars that rode on tracks that you could ride down the mountain on when you got tired hiking around. Seeing the terra-cotta soldiers where they were discovered was also very cool.

Did you get to Hong Kong? That is the one city I am jones to see (James Bond fan always loved you only live twice)  I had a trip to South Korea canceled in March 2020 because it was clear if I went there was not guaranty that the US would let me back. I was really bummed at the time but in hindsight very glad that I did not go. I wonder how many variants and when the variants started to diverge in PRC took place. Going to guess your 2020 trip was between January and March. As I recall April and beyond was travel bans and lockdowns. I think wuhan is within a 1000 miles of Shenzhen so if that was the original outbreak if it were a month or so after first encounter you got the early flavor or a first generation variant 

Oh I didn't go to China, although I do want to. It was in Vegas, as CES always is. Early January, before COVID was even in the news. 

Highlands of Scotland.

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I got me another toy for the yard. I have to cut down a good number of branches because of overgrowth and it is taking forever. The Milwaukee poll chainsaw has been a  blessing but the majority of time is having to cut all the small branches after the limb is down on the ground and empty them into the bin. When I use the chain saw its overkill and cumbersome tiring to wield because it is heavy and awkward, and has to cut though with very little support being at ground level with the bar hitting ground making the mud kick up. 

There has to be a better way so I searched on Amazon and found this amazing pruning tool. Because of brushless motors and lithium batteries it has the torque to cut though 1.4" branches like it was butter but that is not why its great. It can articulate that action in a matter of seconds without having to wait for the blades to open again. Its so fast and so powerful that it is a major time saver. Just need to watch my fingers and go at a steady pace. 

The video is for the 1.2 inch version and I have the 1.4 inch and I have tested it on branches that are larger and it cuts right though without straining. This is one of those tools that makes you think how awesome lithium power tools can be as a game changer for time consuming tasks. 

Who likes craft beer?  What is your favorite style?

Sours are my style choice.  The two best breweries in my little area that make sours are:

Ellipses Brewing in Orlando https://www.ellipsisbrewing.com/

Arkane Aleworks in Largo http://www.arkanebeer.com/

Both make so many different sour brews all the time and will each have about 4-5 available at the tasting room at all times.