Got the air compressor going!

[Pat]

Egon, the "OTHER" compressor is a Devilbiss 30 gal on wheels. It is 120VAC powered and is rated for 6.9 cu ft per min at 90psi and pumps up to its set point of 125 psi (well it used to.)

The big two stage on 240 VAC with the 80 gal tank pumps up to 175 psi and is rated for 9 cu ft per min at 90 psi.

The smaller one (the one you asked about) will only pump up to about 30-35 psi now and of course does not shut off. It did not suffer graceful degradation of performance, just one day it worked and the next it didn't. I was using it with my plasma cutter and I need 60 psi.

I took a brief break from writing this as my wife called me on the intercom to inform me we had a cat sitting in the driveway in front of the house. My computer is upstairs so I went and looked down from the upstairs bathroom window and sure enough there was an adult bobcat just sitting there. I banged on the glass and was ignored. I opened the window and whistled and was ignored. I shouted at the cat and was mostly ignored. Eventually it got up and walked a couple feet into the grass on the away from the house side of the drive. Meanwhile a rabbit about 15 ft from the cat started heading down the drive way in the opposite direction of the bobcat who apparently did not see the rabbit. We have a breeding population of bobcats on or near our property and sightings are not rare, even in the middle of the day.

OK, I'm back on topic... Once the portable compressor messed up I quit fussing with it. I don't know how fast it leaks or if it leaks down. I will have to plug it into some hydro and see.

Pat

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Pat, I think that bobcat should be named "Bob" since he seems to be quite comfy with being around your place. Yes, the bunny population is going to suffer, but so will the gopher and squrrel populations. A few bobcats might be a.... "good thing". [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Dave the "compressor wizard", nice to hear from you but I am not entirely in agreement. We have too many bobcats to have a decent quail population. As ground nesting birds like the quail are a target for the attentions of the bobcats and killdeer and bunnies get targeted too. It isn't all rats and mice.

I know it is nature's way and the world isn't a Disney movie BUT I have been known to intervene and assist(?) nature in some instances. This morning would have been an easy pistol shot if I were so inclined and went downstairs to arm myself. I just scoped the new rifle yesterday and have only bore sighted it but not fired it for final scope alignment. The scope's parallax adjustment only goes down to 50 yards and the cat was much closer, say 50-70 feet (certainly less than 25 yds.)

Only yesterday I was musing to the gun shop owner (retired Army) that I should put a reflex sight on top of my scope for those times when a target presents itself too close for the minimum magnification of the scope (6.5-20X) and too close to set the parallax (well under 50 yds) and may be moving as well. Besides by the time you fuss around stetting the parallax and twisting the variable power ocular the shot will probably not be available anymore. With a reflex sight (like a HUD in a fighter) you can get off a well aimed shot at close and or moving targets when a powerful long range scope is useless.

Pat

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Several years ago when I lived in a city in CA I opened my curtains one morning to see the neighborhood pestkat sitting in my backyard. I decided he had caused enough trouble for one catlife and knowing that I needed the most subtle firearm available for the job of taking him out, I selected a Remington Model 513 with a bull barrel and topped with a match scope. I chambered a .22 short, and knowing that I had a huge problem with parallax with MAYBE a twenty-foot shot, I held just above the tip of his ear, and PUTT! That .22 short made almost no sound as I sent Pumkin Face to cat Valhalla. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Dave, No joke, that is a felony in California now. I'm not sure but I think kicking your neighbor's cat is a big crime too in the people's republic of Kalifornia.

When I was in high school (after we moved from 40 acres 7 1/2 miles north of town) we lived 2 1/2 blocks from the school and 3 1/2 blocks from the police station. We had oodles of really big feral cats living there and breeding profusely. This was back in the days when you used a 50 gal drum for a trash barrel in the alley behind your house and burned the trash AND the trash men actually picked up the heavy barrel of glass jars, steel cans, and ashes and dumped it in the garbage truck (single handed.)

The feral cats would jump up and get into the cans to eat anything they liked before you burned (didn't burn every day.) Then to exit (witnessed by their ash laden foot prints on the soot covered inside walls of the cans) you could see where they jumped part way and rebounded from side to side till they made it to the top in a couple increments. Some of these cats were pretty heavy duty and more than once turned the heavy drums over.

Our neighbor across the alley had a Pomeranian dog and the lady and her daughter (high school junior when I was a freshman) used to "ride shotgun" with their BB guns to keep the cats at bay when they fed the dog outside. Otherwise the cats would mug the dog for its food.

My bedroom window was at the rear of the house facing the alley. On a few occasions I would, on seeing a big feral cat in the backyard garden or closer, remove the screen from the window for a shot with my single shot bolt action .22 rifle. Short hollow points are not really loud but are effective at close range with good shot placement.

My mom made me bury #2, # 3, etc since I just put the carcass of #1 in the trash and when burned (partially burned?) it did not smell nice.

I now have a muzzle suppressor (aka silencer) which will interchange between my Ruger 10-22, Ruger MK II target pistol, Ruger 22-45 pistol, and the neat little Walther P-22. The rifle requires subsonic ammo to be stealthy but the Walther with its short barrel is quiet with every long rifle shell I have found including the CCI mini mags and such.

In the event that the target is concealed in grass or weeds and a follow up shot is required I find they are not particularly apprehensive or put on alert by the first shot even though the feral cats are much much more "nervous" than the bobcats. In 7 years I have shot at 3 feral cats. One overwintered several years in a row and was particularly elusive and sneaky when approaching his hunting ground (our bird feeders.) I never saw the cat in warm weather, only with snow on the ground.

I bore sighted the 6.5-20 X 50 mil dot scope on the 6.5mm Creedmore flat top AR yesterday when I was at the gun shop getting a target trigger installed. I will be taking a few shots to zero it in later this afternoon. When I get used to it the rifle should be capable of taking a cat sized target at several hundred yards. Anyone with really good skills should shoot a 10 inch diameter group with this rifle at 1000 yds (over half a mile.) The top marksmen of course do way better at least much of the time. I think 120 grains coming out of the muzzle at over 3000 ft per second with flatter trajectory than a .308, less wind drift, and greater retained energy too will "do" a cat (or a lot of other varmints) fairly expeditiously.

Pat

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Pat, What do you do with your household trash now? Burn? Ship? Burn and ship? I threw Pumpkin Face in the trash can and was AMAZED at how heavy he was. It was all I could do to keep his tail from sliding through my hand when I carried him out. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Starting last year we have trash pickup and waste disposal company supplied trash cans on wheels with hinged lids. The operator is pretty liberal and has let me pile up mounds of empty cardboard boxes or put out a full container plus another trash can of ours. When I wanted to dispose of the old burned out drums half full of ashes he said sure no problem and was really happy when I used my FEL to load them into the back of his compacting truck.

They drive 7-800 ft down our drive to make the pickup.

We have no formal recycling. We can give plastic shopping bags back to Wal*Mart. We donate our aluminum cans to the local senior center. We didn't do a garden this year so no composting.

Pat

[egon]

We have had recycling here since before we arrived. Compost goes in a large wheeled bin and garbage into black plastic bags. The next week its cans, plastic and glass in blue bags with paper in clear bags. Every fall and spring there is a general junk pickup. They make about three or four trips picking out specific materials each trip.

On the weekly garbage rums if you stuff has non acceptable stuff in it it's left for you. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

San Diego was a regular recycling boutique as well. I was happy separating cans, glass, plastic, newspapers/magazines into separate containers. We had the large bins on wheels with hinged lids for just plain trash but separate containers for curb-side recycling of the above list. We were prohibited from putting grass and plant materials such as tree and bush trimmings into the trash. You either cut them to spec and tied in bundles to be left curbside or placed in your own containers, marked with adhesive stickers provided by the city, for pickup by a separate truck. The recycle bins were serviced by separate crews as well. Three different collection teams.

The demographics do effect recycling efficiencies. The legal resident population of just San Diego county in California is greater than the entire resident population of the state of Oklahoma. Here in Oklahoma, away from the population centers, out into the more remote rural areas, there is just not enough population density nor raw numbers to effectively and efficiently support much of a recycling system. That plus you should realize that Oklahoma is NOT on the leading edge of modernity in many respects, mostly a very good thing.

Oh, by the way... the upright air compressor has been unused and holding at 150 PSI for several days. No leaks!!! It is at 150 instead of about 175 because I let it down while opening the bottom condensate drain.

I couldn't make the leak test on the portable unit as when I went to try the missing outlet plumbing reminded me that I had cannibalized the output fitting to get the upright compressor operational. I will be going to town sometime this week and will get the needed fittings then.

Pat

[Bird]

The more I see and read about other place's garbage collection and recycling, the better I like ours. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] We just have once a week garbage pickup; every Monday, rain or shine, holiday or otherwise. They even came on Christmas Day. If you want to put your own garbage cans out, they'll empty them. If you want to use plastic bags, that's fine, too. If you want to set furniture, wooden or cardboard boxes, if they can fit it into that garbage packer, they take it. Limbs and such are supposed to be tied in 4' bundles, but they don't bother to check. If the guy can pick it up and fit into the truck, it's gone.

Recycling is optional. They used to provide a little green plastic box ON REQUEST, but several months ago, they just delivered the bins on wheels with hinged lid to every house. You can use it or not. If you do use it, the collection is the same day; just a different truck. And you can put "mixed residential paper, cans, glass, plastic" all in the same bin; no separating. The recycling material is supposed to be clean and they gave everyone a sheet with more detailed instructions, of course.

And if you wish to take stuff to the landfill yourself, you can also do that at no charge if you show by drivers license and water bill that you live in this town.

Of course the city contracts with Waste Management for the service and for that we currently pay $10.58 (including sales tax) a month on our water bill.