Keeping Busy, Isolation/lockdown projects

[taipan821]

While I am the fortunate few who are deemed essential, many of us are cooped up in our homes, either working from homes or stuck without anything to do.

Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to share any projects that we are doing to keep the boredom at bay.

For me, I am unable to attend my regular hobbies, so I am studying to upgrade my amateur licence, in addition to doing an extensive clean up of a bunch of crap I've accumulated.

What are some other things people are doing to keep occupied/sane?

[sheddi]

Well my bigger plans are mostly scuppered by the lockdown:
- I have a fence that needs replacing > the builders' merchants are closed
- I have a shed full of junk that needs clearing > the dump (officially the "household waste recycling centre") is closed

So it's the smaller stuff. Gardening, vehicle servicing, fitting an Aux In to Mrs Sheddi's car head unit, catching up with reading books & periodicals (I'm dreadful for subscribing to magazines and then never reading them).

[lailr]

Gardening, yard work, shooting......

About to be Turkey hunting and Trout fishing.


I have started throwing hatchets for fun...not sure how useful, but eh.......

[flybynight]

Gardening, yard work, shooting......

About to be Turkey hunting and Trout fishing.


I have started throwing hatchets for fun...not sure how useful, but eh.......

Give us a field report on harvesting the turkey and especially the trout...with a hatchet

[woodsghost]

Nebraska is not under quarentine or SIP. So I'm trying to sell unneeded gear, which is proving to be a chore with also being the parent of a toddler and a new born. My hat is off to those who make a living at this.

[MPMalloy]

Well my bigger plans are mostly scuppered by the lockdown:
- I have a fence that needs replacing > the builders' merchants are closed
- I have a shed full of junk that needs clearing > the dump (officially the "household waste recycling centre") is closed

So it's the smaller stuff. Gardening, vehicle servicing, fitting an Aux In to Mrs Sheddi's car head unit, catching up with reading books & periodicals (I'm dreadful for subscribing to magazines and then never reading them).

Hey: 1st off, what does the highlighted part mean? Second, I am straight-up that way with podcasts.

Digital packrat forever, forever digital packrat!

[Halfapint]

Work sent me home with a laptop, it’s been dreadfully slow so I’ve been cutting out early and doing projects.

I found on Facebook market place chickens for under 60¢/lb so I bought over 200 lbs. I processed 12 chickens that night. The others are getting processed today. I bought a new vacuum sealer and dehydrator. Went through and dehydrated some onions, peppers, carrots, celery, and jalapeños that were going to go bad on short order.

Bought over 200 mason jars because I ran out. Picked them up from random people selling bulk lots. So far found a couple worth some money! One has all the lettering upside, another seems to be a centennial jar.

I ripped up the garden demoed 1 yard of compost on it. Going to till that in and add more. Yesterday built some raised garden beds that I had been thinking about, luckily I get to use my mom as a rough draft. 2x4’s and galvanized metal sheeting for sides. The trick of using a backwards wood blade to cut roofing is MONEY.

Lots of projects!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I tried my hand at fileworking on some knives and I think they turned out pretty good. So I learned a new skill and I'm pretty happy with it.

Only problem is I ran out of knives to work on about a week or so ago and now I'm right back where I started.

[NT2C]

I have started throwing hatchets for fun...not sure how useful, but eh.......

Hey, few things enforce social distancing as effectively as a well-aimed hatchet.

[NT2C]

I tried my hand at fileworking on some knives and I think they turned out pretty good. So I learned a new skill and I'm pretty happy with it.

Only problem is I ran out of knives to work on about a week or so ago and now I'm right back where I started.

Grab some old pieces of steel (could be anything flat and about the right thickness) and use it to practice your designs on.

[NT2C]

Bought over 200 mason jars because I ran out. Picked them up from random people selling bulk lots. So far found a couple worth some money! One has all the lettering upside, another seems to be a centennial jar.

I assume you meant to type "upside-down" and your brain got ahead of your fingers (or vice-versa) but I'm having trouble trying to understand how that could even happen. Aren't the letters part of the mold the jars get formed in? Now I'm going to have to dive into mason jars on YouTube...

[Beowolf]

I gave my axes a boiled linseed oil coating whether they needed it or not.

I did a little yard work, though there wasn't much to do.

I need to put in a couple of braces on the patio bench I built when I realized there's some fore and aft flex. May do that later today.

I have some motorcycle work to do that will take a few hours. Maybe a Saturday project.

And I've been reading a bunch of poetry. That's probably been the nicest break from this mess.

[JT42]

...fitting an Aux In to Mrs Sheddi's car head unit...

Hey: 1st off, what does the highlighted part mean?

Sounds like he's figuring out a way to wire in an external audio source ("auxiliary input") into the radio / control head of his wife's car.

My project: working on writing my second book.

[Stercutus]

I have to admit I am a little jelly of the free time a lot of people are getting when there is so much to do around here. The wife is working 12 hours a day 7 days a week so she is barely keeping sane and I can't tap the kids too much as they still have on-line classes to complete. So I have all the usual spring stuff to do but am working overtime so have less time to do it in. This doesn't leave any time for extra projects and I had to cancel "vacation" time that I had scheduled to work on other projects due to all the travel restrictions. If it sounds like I am bitching, well I am a little.

[sheddi]

...fitting an Aux In to Mrs Sheddi's car head unit...

Hey: 1st off, what does the highlighted part mean?

Sounds like he's figuring out a way to wire in an external audio source ("auxiliary input") into the radio / control head of his wife's car.

That's it, exactly. The car doesn't have one at the moment but there's a socket on the back of the ICE head unit that's meant for a CD changer. There's a wayn to fool the ICE into thinking there's a CD changer fitted, then use that input for aux in from eg. a phone or M3 player.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I tried my hand at fileworking on some knives and I think they turned out pretty good. So I learned a new skill and I'm pretty happy with it.

Only problem is I ran out of knives to work on about a week or so ago and now I'm right back where I started.

Grab some old pieces of steel (could be anything flat and about the right thickness) and use it to practice your designs on.

If I can find some, I'll do that. I might have some scrap steel in my garage, but I'm not entirely sure.

All else fails, I can go back and clean up the blades I've already done work on.

[MPMalloy]

...fitting an Aux In to Mrs Sheddi's car head unit...

Hey: 1st off, what does the highlighted part mean?

Sounds like he's figuring out a way to wire in an external audio source ("auxiliary input") into the radio / control head of his wife's car.

That's it, exactly. The car doesn't have one at the moment but there's a socket on the back of the ICE head unit that's meant for a CD changer. There's a wayn to fool the ICE into thinking there's a CD changer fitted, then use that input for aux in from eg. a phone or M3 player.

[RoneKiln]

I'm still working full time, but all my exercise/social activities are shut down. I've gotten a few things done with that time.

Built a chinup bar.
Dug up 2 blueberry bushes, built up mounds for them and replanted them.
Cut a base into a rock bowl to use as a bonsai pot.
Repotted a prebonsai juniper, discovered it didn't fit in the rock bowl, and stuck it in a different pot.
Did a lot of weeding.
Did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing of my woodshop and house.
Cleaned and organized the shed.
Got 2/3 through pruning my peach tree and will probably go finish that when I get offline shortly.
If the weather holds this weekend, I'll rebuild a raised garden bed made of cob, and start building a benchtop on the edges to protect the cob from rain. The bed also wraps partway around the firepit area, so the benchtop will be used a lot.
I need to prune my kiwis.
I want to do more work setting up my woodshop.
I need to mud the drywall in the tiny house.
I want to calibrate and finetune the drum sander and tablesaw I picked up at the Grizzly scratch and dent sale last year.
I want to get cabinetry built in the tiny house. I have most of the wood for it already.
Maybe plant a proper vegetable garden.

I wish I could more easily delegate more of my work and take some time off to work on these projects. Most of my crew are better wired for following established procedures to do consistent meticulous work (which is good for most of our work). I get all the weird stuff that takes creativity to plug into the system (which is better for my temperament, but still makes delegating the work take more effort than doing the work).

[Halfapint]

Bought over 200 mason jars because I ran out. Picked them up from random people selling bulk lots. So far found a couple worth some money! One has all the lettering upside, another seems to be a centennial jar.

I assume you meant to type "upside-down" and your brain got ahead of your fingers (or vice-versa) but I'm having trouble trying to understand how that could even happen. Aren't the letters part of the mold the jars get formed in? Now I'm going to have to dive into mason jars on YouTube...

Weird my notification didn’t show up that someone replied. And yes you are correct upside down it was late and I wasn’t paying attention.

You know I have no idea, I looked online as there are some cool ones and I started finding collectors that really love the upside down writing. You find anything useful on the youtoobs?

[moab]

I have to admit I am a little jelly of the free time a lot of people are getting when there is so much to do around here. The wife is working 12 hours a day 7 days a week so she is barely keeping sane and I can't tap the kids too much as they still have on-line classes to complete. So I have all the usual spring stuff to do but am working overtime so have less time to do it in. This doesn't leave any time for extra projects and I had to cancel "vacation" time that I had scheduled to work on other projects due to all the travel restrictions. If it sounds like I am bitching, well I am a little.

I'm in a similar situation. The wife and I were working in essential business more than full time. I still am. But she's home sick now. After her heart attack. So all my plans are on hold.

This isn't prepping related really. I mean maybe. But not really. The one project I am sad that I can't get to is my Jeep. My Jeep (bug out vehicle and daily driver) really needs sound deadener and heat shield applied to it's floorboards. Or the pan as it is called. It's pretty noisy on the freeway. And the heat boils up from the floorboards in the summer. And I've had a ton of both materials around for years. From other car projects. But it's a two day job for one guy. And maybe even with two. I have to remove all the seats and carpet. The console and some of the seat belts I think. Then apply the sound deadener and the heat shield. Which takes about a day as you have to cut the sticker like sound deadener into shapes that will fit the contours of the tub (floorboards). Then replace the old carpet with new that I already have as well. Then put the seats and seat belts and console back in.

I've been wanting to do this for over a year. But with the Jeep being my daily driver it's hard to find two days that I can leave the JEep torn apart in my garage. And a guy or two to help me. My sons 19 and loses interest quickly. lol. And I have one friend that is a car guy too. With limited time. And with my wife and work I have like no time. So I'm laymenting not being able to do this project. I need one more day in the week. And for my wife to be better. lol.

[NT2C]

I have to admit I am a little jelly of the free time a lot of people are getting when there is so much to do around here. The wife is working 12 hours a day 7 days a week so she is barely keeping sane and I can't tap the kids too much as they still have on-line classes to complete. So I have all the usual spring stuff to do but am working overtime so have less time to do it in. This doesn't leave any time for extra projects and I had to cancel "vacation" time that I had scheduled to work on other projects due to all the travel restrictions. If it sounds like I am bitching, well I am a little.

I'm in a similar situation. The wife and I were working in essential business more than full time. I still am. But she's home sick now. After her heart attack. So all my plans are on hold.

This isn't prepping related really. I mean maybe. But not really. The one project I am sad that I can't get to is my Jeep. My Jeep (bug out vehicle and daily driver) really needs sound deadener and heat shield applied to it's floorboards. Or the pan as it is called. It's pretty noisy on the freeway. And the heat boils up from the floorboards in the summer. And I've had a ton of both materials around for years. From other car projects. But it's a two day job for one guy. And maybe even with two. I have to remove all the seats and carpet. The console and some of the seat belts I think. Then apply the sound deadener and the heat shield. Which takes about a day as you have to cut the sticker like sound deadener into shapes that will fit the contours of the tub (floorboards). Then replace the old carpet with new that I already have as well. Then put the seats and seat belts and console back in.

I've been wanting to do this for over a year. But with the Jeep being my daily driver it's hard to find two days that I can leave the JEep torn apart in my garage. And a guy or two to help me. My sons 19 and loses interest quickly. lol. And I have one friend that is a car guy too. With limited time. And with my wife and work I have like no time. So I'm laymenting not being able to do this project. I need one more day in the week. And for my wife to be better. lol.

This may or may not be a good idea but what about just ordering pre-cut sound deadener and carpet pieces? I know they make them (pretty sure you can get them in one piece now, not two separate pieces) and places like JC Whitney used to carry them. There's got to be stuff like that out there that pre-moulded to the right shape and is just a drop-in after removing the seats, etc.

EDIT: Bingo! https://bedrug.com/bedrug-jeep-floor-li ... p/wrangler

[echo83]

Cool thread! Thanks for putting this up!

I'm still working from home, as is Mrs. echo83, and keeping our two kids occupied is the new full-time job.

1.) Turns out they're good at "pre-gardening;" yard cleanup, some brush cutting, and keeping the burn pile fed.
2.) I take them out to explore the neighborhood with a compass and binoculars every day, so they can do a little navigation and bring home plants and other bits of nature we find.
3.) Teaching them about tools around the house. We've been doing some spackling, replacing some door knobs, and hammering nails/tightening screws.
4.) Hide and seek. So. much. Hide. and. Seek. Loser has to do pushups. That's gotten mixed reviews.
5.) Indoor camping, We set up the tent, air pads and sleeping bags. Looking forward to taking this outdoors soon.

Did I mention they're 4 and 2?

On my own:
1.) Invested in a little bit of SKS gear pre-pandemic, so I did some research on the ammunition and stripper clips that I bought.
2.) Cleaned and re-cleaned my firearms. Replaced the SKS stock.
3.) Sharpened and re-sharpened my knives
4.) Rotated/consumed some MREs and Mountain House Meals (March order of Mountain House gut bumped to MAY. Brutal.)
5.) Downloaded and listened to a couple of new audio books.
6.) Decided to step up my efforts at pest control. Winter is over, since I got rid of a groundhog that's been digging around and under our house for a year. His friends haven't gotten the memo yet.
7.) Got back into skateboarding. That's been awesome.

[NT2C]

Bought over 200 mason jars because I ran out. Picked them up from random people selling bulk lots. So far found a couple worth some money! One has all the lettering upside, another seems to be a centennial jar.

I assume you meant to type "upside-down" and your brain got ahead of your fingers (or vice-versa) but I'm having trouble trying to understand how that could even happen. Aren't the letters part of the mold the jars get formed in? Now I'm going to have to dive into mason jars on YouTube...

Weird my notification didn’t show up that someone replied. And yes you are correct upside down it was late and I wasn’t paying attention.

You know I have no idea, I looked online as there are some cool ones and I started finding collectors that really love the upside down writing. You find anything useful on the youtoobs?

Everything I've found seems to indicate that the lettering is in the blowmold used to make them and I can't see any possible way that could be done upside-down. Best I can figure is that they were a special series put out for some reason.

[emclean]

Bought over 200 mason jars because I ran out. Picked them up from random people selling bulk lots. So far found a couple worth some money! One has all the lettering upside, another seems to be a centennial jar.

I assume you meant to type "upside-down" and your brain got ahead of your fingers (or vice-versa) but I'm having trouble trying to understand how that could even happen. Aren't the letters part of the mold the jars get formed in? Now I'm going to have to dive into mason jars on YouTube...

Weird my notification didn’t show up that someone replied. And yes you are correct upside down it was late and I wasn’t paying attention.

You know I have no idea, I looked online as there are some cool ones and I started finding collectors that really love the upside down writing. You find anything useful on the youtoobs?

Everything I've found seems to indicate that the lettering is in the blowmold used to make them and I can't see any possible way that could be done upside-down. Best I can figure is that they were a special series put out for some reason.

unless someone messed up the order for the mold, and didn't notice till they started producing. if people do something all the time, they stop noticing the details. the infamous HK catalog (where the mag on the cover has the rounds loaded backwards)is great proof.