Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[TheChronicOne]

Well, I was sort of planning on having a bunch of free time today but I've already filled up the schedule with lawns. Here it is nearly November and I'm just as busy right now as I was back in June. I've over stuffed my business here.. I need to drop one or two people. That might happen naturally over the winter time, we'll see. 

My advice, for what it's worth ? Wait and see if you lose people naturally over the winter months. It's very easy to ditch customers, but not so easy to get new ones.

That's the name of the game. I'll see who all is still on the roster by mid February and adjust from there. I know one thing, these stragglers that aren't on a set schedule will have to get on one and the people that keep waiting 5-6 weeks to call up and expect a 2 week price will have also get with the program. I used to be able to tolerate that stuff when I was fighting for business but I am no longer at that stage, thankfully.

Which.. leads to my next observation, which is... you'd be surprised about the whole "getting new customers" bit!  That is one area, amazingly, I don't worry about. I turn down 10x more work than I actually accept and do. In the middle of the growing season, I pass up 15-20 new lawns A WEEK. 4,5, 6 a day....(90% from Facebook believe it or not but I do still get phone calls, emails, and people stopping me face to face) Of all the problems to have, I enjoy having this one.      Lord knows, I'd hire some people and take on this work but every time I try to hire someone it turns into a complete disaster and I wind up losing money and business. Between that and my physical disabilities I just can't take on any more work. As it is I work ~50 hours a week and that's being crippled all to hell. STILL, you're right, I'd rather keep people I have than go through the whole "start up" process of taking on new business. But, if the day comes that a tornado wipes out half of Lawton I'll be able to fill the roster back up swiftly. People are lazy these days and don't want to bust arse out in the heat. I capitalize on this. 

Lastly, to top this all off, the whole "see if anyone leaves the roster" is definitely a go now because the trash picking up contract is expanding. The largest business out there is hopping on board so now I'm going to have to spend a decent sized chunk of more time every morning out there. This is great news though, because it's just in time for winter! I was contemplating trying to find one more little something or other to do over the winter to help the finances but now I won't have to; the problem solved itself!     

[TheChronicOne]

Gonna buy some lotto tickets today. I don't recall ever buying any actual tickets. I've bought a few scratch offs over the years (last time over a decade ago) but never done the numbers stuff. The friggin thing is up over a billion and a half dollars so why not. 

Looks a hell of a lot like some of the numbers I got this morning. I went ahead and bought 5 "lines." Who knows!! I'm more of the mindset of "hey, if I get three or 4 that's still some sort of prize I think... "        I felt like such a tool buying them this morning, though. I have no idea what I'm doing I said, "give me five numbers" and he tried to explain to me there is a difference between "numbers" and "lines" and the price is different blah blah blah I said, "just give me 5 things of numbers, 5 lines whatever is .. 5 chances to win, I'm going to be as broke on Wednesday as I am today."

[TheChronicOne]

Quitting while I am ahead because I managed to re-paint the ATR-72 and unless I am mistaken, it looks just fine. I may need to paint more on the wings at a later date but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, the fuselage is in top shape!

Also, the fuselage is together on the 737. Good stuff!!

Lastly, I finally did some work on the F-52. I did some of the tedious stuff. Mainly, I put all the decals on the cockpit instrument panel. Looks like a million bucks, thanks Microset! 

Next I'd like to paint the interior parts on the F-52 but like I said, I'm quitting NOW, while everything is going well....  I am not trying to push my luck. I've learned that a good day with a lot of forward progress can be erased by trying to push the issue. I'd rather not have to re-do anything so I'm leaving it all alone and am off to play some video games. 

[TheChronicOne]

Current state of the ATR-72:

[kerick]

That looks pretty! Keep it up!

[TheChronicOne]

Thank you! This is such a pet project...          This is a bucket list, holy grail type of build.

I can't wait to see it finished.. ... . .  .       

[NARSES2]

That looks pretty! Keep it up!

Does indeed 

[TheChronicOne]

Skipped my early morning "plan update" post today. Woops! I was busy trying to get my book keeping for my business in order. I let that stuff get 1 month and 3 weeks behind. It took forever...  buuuuuuuut...  I GOT IT DONE!      I'm really bad about this. I had been doing well keeping things up to date until I reached Sept then I got lazy about it.    I keep thinking things will slow down (and it's easier to remember) but things are NOT slowing down. Hell, I was mowing today! It's nearly November!!!! 

But anyhow, I'm going to try to keep working on the F-52. I got back into it the other day and it took an hour just to get up to speed. I had to re-learn what the hell I was doing and re-figure-out the build order and all the rest of the stuff... figure out where things were and where I left off.. etc...  it really sucks having to do that again. This kit is complicated as hell (to me anyway) so just getting my bearings every time I start working on it is a pain in arse. To keep from having to go through this again and again I need to keep working on it while everything is fresh in my mind. At this point, I need to paint the interior. I got all the decals on the instrument panel so it's just a matter of paint then I can put everything together. I may need to add some nose weight. The kit doesn't mention it but I'd rather be safe.

Boeing 737 will be worked on again as well. Time to sand sand sand! Fuselage is together now so it's a matter of getting ride of joint seams and the rest of the raised detail. Probably going to have to skim coat a couple places like where the doors used to be and where the windows used to be but It's close to taking primer. This time around I'm going to work on and finish the fuselage seperate from the wings and stabs. 

Good stuff and I'm looking forward to working on it all.


OH, yeah, the ATR-72 is going into "cold storage" for the next couple of weeks. Like I said in an earlier post, I still want to get the gear at least started but I'm not taking ANY chances on this paint finish. I'll go ahead and let it cure/gas out for two weeks.... THEN decal it, THEN put on the top coat of gloss. By then I shouldn't have to worry about crazing and if I don't try to do it in a wind storm (like last time) hopefully I can achieve an optimal spray pattern and volume instead of drenching it or having it orange peel or dry too quickly in the air...        I really need a paint booth but those are the types of projects I never seem to arsed to do.       

Remember all those months ago I was setting up my air tank to try airbrushing? Yeah, I found out I had a leak on a fitting and that was the end of that project. All I need to do is order a part and put it on but...  I dunno... if it's not work on an actual kit or organizing my work station I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything. Well anyway... I've had plans to build stands for builds and even to create an airport base for taking pictures but... ehhh?      One of these days maybe....   

But yeah.. paint.. no more painting in the wind. I have to learn to be patient! If the weather is not cooperating, just shelve it for a day or two. 

Getting long winded, as usual, so I'll wrap this up for now..   

[TheChronicOne]

Body work on 737. At current I need to work on the nose area with a bit more glue then some sanding then I plan to prime this to see what I need to do next.






I'm also painting the interior stuff on the F-52. I ran into a mental block and lost an hour or more of time trying to think my way out of it. See, problem is this thing is PINK and I need to glue the canopy on but I don't want to paint the edge of the cockpit the canopy glues to because it won't adhere worth a flip so I need to glue plastic to plastic but since the plastic is PINK, will it show and look ridiculous? Finally I remembered that the frame work of the canopy will be painted and will hide that stuff anyway (for the most part) so I guess that solves that problem. So... I want to glue the canopy on as soon as possible because while the fuselage halves are apart there is plenty of room for the vapors to go away and not foul the clear plastic. After that, I glue in the cockpit innards, some clear piece that functions as the HUD I guess, and that's it. I still need to finish detail painting too but we're well on our way here.

In other news, however, I'm not moving real fast here. I'm a bit sluggish for one because I didn't get that much sleep last night but I'm also a bit tore up over my friend, Mimi, my Aussie Shepherd dog. She's nearly 16 years old and a couple days ago she stopped eating and now she has stopped drinking water even..  she seems pretty miserable and does nothing other than sleep so I've decided to put her down Friday. Any further along than that then she's going to be suffering from not eating and becoming dehydrated. This sucks. I've had that baby since 2004, since she was a wee puppy. Crazy, because she wasn't doing too awful bad as little as 10 days ago. When I got home from work and saw me she even ran/trotted for about 10 feet and was wagging her tail happy to see me but this blasted winter like weather and stuff is here and now she's just in real bad shape. Things can change so quickly sometimes. She was eating well and drinking well, too. But now.. it's like she has been through a tremendous battle and can go no further. Earlier she stuck her nose down to the water bowl like she wanted a drink but just stood there.. as if it were too painful or something. Refuses all food, even good "human food". I can even open up her mouth and cram it in there and she just spits it out.  Soooo... yeah, I think I'm making the right decision here. I'll give her one more day to sleep and laze around the house warm and comfy then she gets to sleep forever.






Them border collie types and what not are some good dogs. I never met such a noble creature. Dogs, humans, or otherwise. I'd like to have another some day. Great companions, not too much to handle, and double as pretty decent security, too!

[kerick]

It's just horrible to loose such a friend. We had to put down our family dog a few years ago. The only dog my daughters had known. We all still miss her. We naturally want to hang on to them but you have to decide when to end the suffering. Sounds like you made the best decision you could.

[zenrat]

I feel for you man.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks fellas. Things went south a lot quicker than I was expecting. I checked on her last night and could tell she wouldn't make through the night. Of course, by then it's too damn late to do anything about it but to let her rest peacefully. I got up a little early to check on her and sure enough she had went within the last 2-3 hours or so. Now I'm waiting on places around town to open then I'll see if I can get her cremated. If that costs wild sum I guess I'll have to take her to the landfill. Local laws and such... can't bury them in the yard or anything like the movies would have you think.

[NARSES2]

Oh that's so sad, she looks absolutely gorgeous in those photos. I feel for you mate.

My brother's Alsatian went the same way. 15 years old and seemingly full of life, but then just started to refuse food as yours did. All over in about a week, she just seemed to give up. So sad.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks bud. I've never made this far into a relationship with a pet so while I been completely aware of this phenomenon it was still quite a surprise. I knew she was getting close and always knew that she wouldn't make it to winter but when she got worse, it came on quickly. About a week ago I figured I'd have maybe another month now here just a few days later she is gone. Last night she was so happy to see me though.. I picked her up and she started wagging her tail so fast. Such a good dog.

[major]

The Dog! The only true and honest relationship we will experience!

It is so sad to lose such a faithful friend after so many years.
She was such a beautiful looking girl.
Lost my german shepherd girl this time last year, although much quicker.
She was 14, had slowed down, but still the boss of the house. She passed away in her sleep.
Still miss my Bonnie lass!
The year before, Finn, my 12 year old Dobbie/shepherd X, went of his food and water overnight. Rushed him to the vet first thing, turned out he was in the late stages of renal failure. No indication that anything was wrong before that, and I would get all my lot regularly checked out. Had to let him go. I think it is the last act of kindness you can do for a best friend!
(The reason why I have no money, and my vet has a nice house! We are a house of Four dogs, and nine cats! )

My condolences.