My week

So, I was off for spring break this week.  I got quite a bit done, it seems.

I got a windows XP virtual machine set up for my wife.  She can't figure out how to use ubuntu and keeps whining about not having windows and such.  But she refuses to take any of the precautions I try to get her to take, like disabling javascript and cookies and such.  That's why I switched her to ubuntu in the first place; so I wouldn't have to be her "help desk" all the time.  So now, when she screws up the virtual machine, I'll just delete it and copy back from the original that I've saved.  I also found my windows 98 disks and got a virtual of that set up.  Now if I can just find the old games I wanted to play.

I need a 50 amp 220 volt line for my welder.  I bought the old-work outlet box, the power outlet, and the face plate.  My breaker box is full, but I have a 20 amp 220 volt line I'm not using.  I found it's breakers and pulled them.  It was two 20 amp 120 volt breakers instead of one 20 amp 240 volt breaker, but that doesn't matter.  I bought a slim "space saver" 50 amp 240 volt breaker and got that installed.  But home depot was out of the 6 gauge, 2 conductor (plus ground) wire.  They guy gave me a list of other stores that had it.  I went to one of them today, and they were out too.

My mig welder ran out of gas, but I managed to finish my wife's drafting table first.  I'll post about that later.  I'll have to go to the welding supply store and get a new supply of argon/co2 mix, so I'll probably try to find a home depot near the welding supply, but I'm going to call ahead first.  I'm tired of wild goose chases.

I went to visit my aunt and uncle.  I don't get to see them much, so that was fun.  They're also out in the country, which I don't get to see enough of either.  My wife doesn't like it, but I hate the city.  For instance, I did some target shooting with my...nephew?... with high-powered pellet guns.  I can't do that in the city.  Personally, if I can't shoot a deer rifle or my 45 without worrying about hitting a neighbor's house or having one of them call the cops, then I'm too close to them.  But, my wife has to be close enough to the city to go shopping, so I'm kinda stuck.

I got some new ideas on the trailer.  I want to weld jacks under it to make leveling it easier (and so I don't have to spend storage space on the jacks).  I think I figured out a way to weld them to hinges welded to the frame so that I can swing them out of the way, since the trailer is so low.  But I need to find a way to lock them up and unlock them without having to crawl under to do it.  As to the height itself, I think I found a way to get an easy 4 inches or so of lift, but I need to look into how safe it is first.  I'll let you know how that works out.

And finally, I stripped the paint off the cargo rack I welded up.  Chrome paint isn't going to work.  Even Chrome enamel turns flat gray when it gets rubbed, which isn't going to work with my backpack strapped to it all the time.  So I'm going to go with a plain black enamel.  I'd rather go glossy, but I'm going to try and kill two birds with one stone and get barbecue grill paint.  I don't know if they have that glossy or not, though.  Actual chroming would be nice, but at the price ($85 is the cheapest I found) I might as well have bought a rack (although making my own gave me an extra 3 inches width and depth, and 3 inches or so storage height).

So, today I'm back at work, for a week anyway.  Next week, I have to cover night shift while someone else takes a vacation.  Oh well.