Your projects, what are you working on in your free time? Options

[mirocu]

Not the same, I like seeing your handiwork!
And don't rhyme that three times or I'll go berserk!

Today we finalized the tractor garage eletrical project so now we have power! Feels great not having to mess around with a loose extension cord in the snow every Saturday anymore. Still using an extension cord although it's not loose and it's thicker than a regular one and it's down in the ground with a very strong hose around it.

Maybe not a pretty work but decent enough and much cheaper than a real installation

[mALX]

Project: Mow Lawn
Status: <sigh>

Went out a bit after 1800. Very nice temp for this time of year. Overcast sky. Steady breeze. Couldn't ask for better mowing circumstances. Mowed about five minutes. Got hit by a drop of rain. Within a brief few minutes we were in the midst of a downpour. It then settled down to a steady light rain. So much for mowing today. Likely tomorrow too. A shame, as I've already gone longer between mows than is good for my mower (and myself).

Project: Weekly Grocery Run
Status: Completely

Did so this morning. Nothing more needs be said.

Tuesday Evening Addendum:
Mowed earlier this evening. A struggle, but I survived...so far as I can tell.

Wednesday Morning Addendum:
Woke this morning drained of all energy, likely the result of yesterday evening's mow. Gave serious thought to forgoing today's exercise-walk. Breakfast revived me just enough to sway me the other way. Not sure I made the right decision. I survived it. But I'm now almost totally drained again. Didn't help that when I headed out, roughly 0545 it was already 79F with a feels-like in the mid eighties! I pretty much gave out at the 5/6 mark, but due to where that is along the route had no choice but to carry on. Did so, even managing a halfhearted burst of speed at the end. Thankfully I can vegetate the rest of the day.

Almost forget to mention I received a call from our County Court Clerk's office yesterday. My Jury Duty excusal application has been accepted. I always feel guity applying, but believe my health is too unreliable to be counted on in such situations.

Decrepit, if you are getting noticeably tired after doing a chore like that; really need to have a cardiologist check your heart out. That is a sign that your body isn't getting the oxygen it needs; and it usually has something to do with your heart/circulation. Please have it checked out soon, I don't like the sound of that at all; you've got me worried now!

Not the same, I like seeing your handiwork!
And don't rhyme that three times or I'll go berserk!

Today we finalized the tractor garage eletrical project so now we have power! Feels great not having to mess around with a loose extension cord in the snow every Saturday anymore. Still using an extension cord although it's not loose and it's thicker than a regular one and it's down in the ground with a very strong hose around it.

Maybe not a pretty work but decent enough and much cheaper than a real installation

And probably a lot safer than a loose extension cord in wet snow!

[Decrepit]

Project: Upload YouTube TpF Scenic Excursions episode
Status: FAIL
Did this overnight. Results were unacceptable due to advice followed while rendering the upload fine in my Video Editor (Filmora9). Deleted the upload episode rather than publish it. Will try again tonight or tomorrow night, using my standard render settings.

Project: Open food cans
Status: HOPEFUL
Does anyone make a long-lasting, reliable can opener any more? If so, I've not yet stumbled on it. The one I'd been using gave up the ghost at the beginning of the week, following only two years or less of faithful service. Bought another of the same model during Tuesday's grocery run. It wouldn't open either of the two cans I tried it on. Returned it. Bought a $20 Hamilton Beach electric model as replacement. So far it's opened every can I need it to. But for how long? We shall see. An irony is that the ultra basic/cheap opener I bought at a Military BX during the late 70s / early 80s provided decades of reliable service before finally wearing out from constant use. Since then, I've gone through who knows how many openers, all of which either last no time at all and/or have trouble with certain cans. I'm not holding out much hope for the new opener, but if it provides even two-three years of solid service I'll be grudgingly satisfied.

[Acadian]

Decrepit, I use a manual can opener that I've had for years and am very happy with it. Oxo Good Grips Can Opener. Should cost around $14. Here's a link to show one.

I find it a little easier to use and faster than my old USMC P-38 can opener.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Jul 20 2019, 12:41 PM

[mALX]

Yeah, Decrepit = I bought an electric that looks pretty on my counter but almost never seems to work; not even right from the start. Am I doing it wrong or something?

Anyway; at the same time I bought the electric, I picked up one of these cheap hand turning manual can openers at Walmart for just in case I wanted a can open during a power outage or something. = works like a charm every time (over three years so far).

The odd thing is; the electric one only cost 7 dollars; the manual one was double that!







This post has been edited by mALX: Jul 20 2019, 04:46 PM

[Decrepit]

Project: Publish new TpF Scenic Excursions episode
Status: Complete
Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep22 is now online and ready for view. A link is found in our What are you playing? thread.

@mALX
<nods> I still have my top-of-the-line Hamilton Beach electric. It continues to open 'some' cans like a champ. Other, forget it. It also has a tendency to produce tiny metal shavings during the opening process. I went online and researched 'best can openers' before taking the plunge. Wouldn't ya know that HB model is their first or second recommendation???? I searched Amazon reviews to see if mine was a deflective fluke. Nope. Lots of other owners mention suffering the exact same issues mine has.

My handheld crank opener that gave up the ghost late last week is a $14/15 Walmart purchase. it worked perfectly for several years, then all of a sudden conked out with little warning. Is yours the "Made in USA" model? That's what I had. It's also what I initial bought as replacement. The replacement couldn't open anything from the get-go. (It too appears on the 'best can opener' list.) Maybe the new USA opener was a fluke? I didn't want to risk it, so bought a different, cheaper handheld as backup for the new electric.

@Acadian
I've seen openers like your $14 link, but none were on Walmart's shelves when I bought. If and when my new openers fail I might well try one of those.

[Decrepit]

Project: Weekly grocery run
Status: gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

A good day for errands as it's somewhat cooler than usual. Left home a bit earlier than is my norm. Arrived at Walmart in one piece. Shopped. Paid for purchases. Loaded food into car. Noticed car right-rear tire completely flat. Walked to Wally World Automotive Center. Was told to SLOWLY drive car to a Center stall entrance. Did so. Was told there'd be a 3-4hr wait. Offloaded grocery purchases, mostly easily spoiled produce. Walked cart to Walmart dairy section. Asked if I could keep cart in their cold storage section as long as needed: yup. Walked back to automotive center. Waited....and waited....and waited. Most definitely waited over three hours. Car ready. Bill, $10.85US tire patch. Retrieved cart from dairy section. Walked to car. Transferred food to car. Drove home. Transferred groceries to their proper storage locations. DONE.

On the bright side, I suppose that if a tire had to go flat, I was in a nearly ideal situation to get it taken care of with minimal hassle.

[Acadian]

Wow, Decrepit. Very frustrating indeed. If it was going to happen, as you say, the circumstances were not bad. So glad that some smart thinking and a cooperative store allowed you to save your groceries and the only damage to your wallet was a tire patch vs towing/new tire.

[mALX]

Project: Weekly grocery run
Status: gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

A good day for errands as it's somewhat cooler than usual. Left home a bit earlier than is my norm. Arrived at Walmart in one piece. Shopped. Paid for purchases. Loaded food into car. Noticed car right-rear tire completely flat. Walked to Wally World Automotive Center. Was told to SLOWLY drive car to a Center stall entrance. Did so. Was told there'd be a 3-4hr wait. Offloaded grocery purchases, mostly easily spoiled produce. Walked cart to Walmart dairy section. Asked if I could keep cart in their cold storage section as long as needed: yup. Walked back to automotive center. Waited....and waited....and waited. Most definitely waited over three hours. Car ready. Bill, $10.85US tire patch. Retrieved cart from dairy section. Walked to car. Transferred food to car. Drove home. Transferred groceries to their proper storage locations. DONE.

On the bright side, I suppose that if a tire had to go flat, I was in a nearly ideal situation to get it taken care of with minimal hassle.

Oh bless your heart!!! Really glad you happened to be at WallyWorld when it happened = and that they were so accommodating over your groceries while you waited! (but too bad you had to wait so long for them to fix it!)

[Decrepit]

Project: Replace TpF Scenic Excursion YouTube thumbnails
Status: Ongoing

Started some time ago, stalled after a few attempts. Yesterday and today quite a few were remade and uploaded. Episodes 01-07 and 11-14 now sport new thumbs in my 'current style.' They mostly retain original images, now cropped and/or shrunk/expanded, by necessity rather than choice. I can't capture new images for those episodes as their TpF save files are long deleted. Were I to grab images via current saves, they'd show 'modern' scenery rather than crude, limited scenery those episodes document. An exception is episode three. Its original thumb image was so blase I went with a new capture, a close up of one of the route's delivery trucks.

Of remaining 'older' episodes, 8-10 might or might not be replaced. Ep15 very likely won't. Fifteen and above are in my current style, though I'm not 100% happy with 21.

It's a silly little project, with possible negative consequences. I now consider those early episodes decidedly sub-par. These new fancier thumbs might entice folk to watch them. That's not bad in and of itself. My concern is, by watching scenically sub-par early episodes, they won't be tempted to try my more recent, better work. As if anyone's gonna watch 'em whatever the thumbnail looks like.

Evening Addendum:
Went ahead and redid TpF SRA thumbs 8-10. Remain adamant about leaving ep15 thumb as-is.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jul 26 2019, 01:10 AM

[Decrepit]

Project: TpF SRA23 'Goods for Hartlepool
Status: Ongoing.

All footage is captured, and edited with Filmora. Quite a few captions are in place, though more are needed. A YT thumbnail screenshot is captured, but the thumb itself not created. Nor is the YT description. I'm way ahead of myself of this episode, and don't intend to rush. Publishing ep22B early as I did was a mistake, as folk stopped watching the better main episode 22 before it reached my already abysmally low normal view count.

My first SRA23 WIP test render is complete...time to see how it turned out.

[Decrepit]

Project: Replace Worn Out House Slippers
Status: Ongoing after setback
Hoped to buy a new pair during yesterday's WallyWorld grocery run. Searched its shoe department without spotting a slipper section. Asked nearby worker for help. Was told they stock men's house slippers only at the approach of winter. Ordered a pair off Amazon.com this morning, along with a 16-month 2020 British steam train wall calendar.

Project: Create TpF SRA23 for publishing sometime mid week (at the soonest).
Status: Almost done
YT description written. YT thumbnail made. All that remains is finishing text narrative. Enough text is already in place to publish as is, should I not come up with anything else.

[treydog]

Because I am easily distracted by shiny new (to me) things, I am trying to find good text-to-speech (TTS voices) that can be plugged in to a freeware TTS program.

Apparently there are a LOT of SAPI 5 (the current standard) voice packages, and the quality is pretty variable.

But the whole concept is fascinating to me- and I also think it would be fun to hear some of the forum stories read with an Edinburgh accent....

[SubRosa]

But the whole concept is fascinating to me- and I also think it would be fun to hear some of the forum stories read with an Edinburgh accent....

I would love to hear them read by Laura Bailey, or Jennifer Hale. Even excluding such stellar stars, I have been exposed to some really good readers thanks to HP Podcraft. Andrew Leman from HPLHS is an astounding reader, as are Heather Klinke and Rachel Lackey. Edward E French reminds me of Vincent Price. Or Greig Johnson, and wow, so many others on that podcast.

[mALX]

Because I am easily distracted by shiny new (to me) things, I am trying to find good text-to-speech (TTS voices) that can be plugged in to a freeware TTS program.

Apparently there are a LOT of SAPI 5 (the current standard) voice packages, and the quality is pretty variable.

But the whole concept is fascinating to me- and I also think it would be fun to hear some of the forum stories read with an Edinburgh accent....

Who did you hear reading with an Edinburgh accent? Do YOU have an Edinburgh accent? Does Mrs. Treydoggie? (and if Mrs. Treydoggie does, then I want voice files made up for my Oblivion character!!!!)

Before her move; Kazeara was reading her story chapters to me and recording it; then she would send me a link to the recording in a PM. Her accent was gorgeous! She can speak in numerous different languages too, she is really spectacular!

[treydog]

Sadly, the Scottish accented English voices I found are free ONLY if one is citizen of Scotland....

As for myself, I am a bog-standard East Tennessean (well- okay, I do a little better with the long "I" and not dropping all the terminal "G's" from words.) Mrs. Treydog is also a "native speaker" of our peculiar brand of Appalachian American English.

But I am still searching for free TTS voice downloads....

[mALX]

Sadly, the Scottish accented English voices I found are free ONLY if one is citizen of Scotland....

As for myself, I am a bog-standard East Tennessean (well- okay, I do a little better with the long "I" and not dropping all the terminal "G's" from words.) Mrs. Treydog is also a "native speaker" of our peculiar brand of Appalachian American English.

But I am still searching for free TTS voice downloads....

Well, I would def be interested to know if you find some good ones! I have Microsoft English Anna; and that is it. She is actually really good if you raise her pitch a little and slow her down (by no more than -2). She is still robotic/flat; but not as bad as my (former) laptop's built in one at all.






This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 3 2019, 04:20 PM

[SubRosa]

our peculiar brand of Appalachian American English.

So do you pronounce Appalachia as "Apple At Cha", or "Apple Ay Cha"? I ask because it came up on a MonsterTalk podcast, where they were discussing monsters of Appalachian folklore. The interviewee spent some time in western North Carolina, and the people there said it like "Apple At Cha". That should be a hop, skip, and a jump from you folks in ETN.

[Decrepit]

Project: Upload new TpF SRA episode
State: Complete
A link is found in our 'What are you currently playing?' thread.

Project: Eradicate rodent infestation
State: False alarm?
About a month ago, washing cookery at the kitchen sink, I heard sound from somewhere near a counter-top. Investigation showed a container of Mrs Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend on its side. The upright container had been in a rather precarious position. That, and the fact that it was unlikely a mouse would explore a counter only 4-6ft away, meant I could not automatically assume infestation. Examining the Toaster area too proved an inadequate determinant. Playing it safe, I baited trap with Peanut Butter and placed it in a location that never fails to lure mice to their dooms. I've checked periodically since then. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. As of now I consider the case closed.

[treydog]

our peculiar brand of Appalachian American English.

So do you pronounce Appalachia as "Apple At Cha", or "Apple Ay Cha"? I ask because it came up on a MonsterTalk podcast, where they were discussing monsters of Appalachian folklore. The interviewee spent some time in western North Carolina, and the people there said it like "Apple At Cha". That should be a hop, skip, and a jump from you folks in ETN.

Rather more like "latch". As noted, due to my parent's influence, I do not quite as pronounced an E. TN sound as most folks. That said, when I ordered a meal in New York City, the waiter asked if I was "from Texas," so there's that.

Not sure I can do it phonetically, but Dad used the cheer from his high school (in 1930's Knoxville) whose colors were blue and white to illustrate the "East Tennessee i". Thus, "Fight blue, fight white. Fight, fight, fight," was rendered as:

"Feit blue, feit weit, feit, feit, feit."

(With the "ei" sounding like that in the word "height".).

This post has been edited by treydog: Aug 5 2019, 12:47 AM