Marfa Low Crown

Nice. Definitely spent some time doing that. What gauge is that square tubing? So... I thought I'd give the thread a little bump and post a first impression review of the engine welder I recently bought. Like most things in life there was what I wanted vs. what I could afford and of utmost importance in this decision was reliability of the machine. There were 200+ amp engine welders that were available in my price range but I would have had no money left for repairs if something went wrong. I didn't know how these machines had been treated, some of them had a high or even unknown number of hours, and although I wanted that kind of power and flexibility it was just too much of a gamble potentially buying someone else's problem. I went for the safe play and bought a nearly new Hobart Champion 145 that's still under warranty. New, the machine is around $1600 with the leads sold separately. After you add those and tax you're pushing $2000 but I was able to get mine for $1500 with better leads than Hobart offers for this model. Owner was a nice guy who owns a fence / gate company and he bought it as a back up when his Bobcat 225 went down. He ran a little more than one tank of gas through it which means roughly 10 hours of operation and then parked it. I thanked him for breaking it in and I feel very good about the purchase. The online reviews for it are spot on. The negatives are minor and I will start with them. Cons It has no idle and runs full throttle the whole time, there's no hour meter on it (you just have to estimate by gas usage), and you can't run tools off the 120/240 and weld with it at the same time. I also noticed that when it's on an uneven surface the machine will shake enough to move the throttle arm slightly which causes the motor to 'gallop' a bit. I didn't notice any difference in welding performance when it did this and the cure seems to be to push the throttle arm all the way to full max. Lastly, I brought some 1/16th electrodes to see how it performed on the lowest amperage setting (40) and the results weren't great. This machine wants to run hot ; it's mentioned in the reviews and I'll talk about that in a second. I didn't try 5/32 rods but my guess is it will burn 6010 and 6011 fine in what would be about the middle range for them. Some people claim you can weld 5/32 7018 with it but I wouldn't think this machine has enough ass to run them effectively and that's been the been the general consensus I've read from those who've tried it. A final negative (which is really kind of positive in a way) is that you're going to have to really learn the machine and eyeball it on your amperage. There's no precisely finding say... 93 amps on this dial which only gives you a few amperage anchor points which I think are 40, 100, 120, and 140. It takes some real tinkering to find the sweet spot you're looking for and the motor is loud enough that you lose one of your senses, hearing, and can't listen for that perfect sizzle to help you know when you're there. Heat and puddle performance is what will let you know when you're in the Goldilocks zone. You have to kind of weld by the seat of your pants with the Champion 145 but I view that as a positive because having to diagnose your way to the perfect set up for the rod / situation you're in will make you a better welder. Once I get this dialed in I plan to make a card / overlay I can put over the amperage dial that has my preferred settings bookmarked for specific rods or welding positions. Pros For what it is, an entry level engine welder, this machine is worth the money. As mentioned this welder wants to run hot and don't be surprised if you're getting similar performance on an electrode that you'd run 10% (or more) cooler on a different machine. You can fly with cellulose rods, 6010 is no problem, with the only caveat being you've got to keep a very tight arc length with these electrodes or you'll break and lose it. 7018 is more forgiving. I'm not going to lie, I miss the arc force / fine current type settings you see on more premium machines but this thing is a 500cc motorbike, not a 1000 cruiser with leather seats and a stereo. The arc is stable and reliable enough and apart from some arc blow here and there it has never sputtered on me. The duty cycle is respectable and running 1/8th rods, which is what the vast majority of owners will probably do with this, it's going to be pretty hard to overheat the machine. The fuel efficiency is really pretty impressive and you can weld hours and hours on a single tank of gas. As the other reviews say, it really does fire up in one pull start and there's no reason to ever take the machine off of the Run setting. Cut your gas off on the back to stop the machine and turn gas knob back on and pull the cord when you're ready to use it. It's that easy. If you're going to let it sit definitely put some fuel stabilizer in it. Mine hadn't been used in a couple of months and came with 3/4 tank of gas still in it. I definitely noticed a difference when I ran through that and refilled it with fresh gas. Pretty much treat it like any riding mower I guess. It comes with wheels and handles to push it around but you have to raise it up pretty high when you're wheelbarrowing it around or the tendency is to hit your shins. It rolls around easily enough for something that weighs 200lbs but in an ideal world you'd rather not move it much if you don't have to. All said, Hobart got it right on this machine and it's exactly what it's supposed to be for the market niche it fills. You're not gonna see one of these on a pipeline job but this machine has farm and ranch covered all day long and can handle light/medium professional use as well. Cattle guards, pens, fence braces, light to medium mobile repair or fabrication, there's no reason at all to pay more than double for a Bobcat or Ranger 225 unless you need the abilities of those kinds of machines. For myself, I'll upgrade to a larger machine down the road but I'm going to let this pay the way for it.

#rules Life balance. I’m shart thread royalty & one of the biggest losers on this one. Fuck it, most exciting thing to happen in months anyways.

I'm just happy to be here. You gotta play them one game at a time. I just want to help the ball club and the good Lord willing things will work out.

I propose a third category called purgatory. Anyways I'm off to fap in the shower. BnB I'm staying in has one of those hand held shower wands if you know what I'm saying. 55d 9h 52m 22s into 2020 and absolutely no sign of getting laid. Huzzah!

He’ll be fixing the cable in no time.

I spent 22 years in that industry and went from busboy to GM & wine director. I can absolutely tell you that a table here and there doesn't mean jack shit to a server's bottom line. Some fuckers have to be educated. Your daughter was raised right.

There seems to be no arguing with TrashMaster J

..... and we’re done here. “The debate over how to pronounce GIF, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format, re-emerged this week when Steve Wilhite, the inventor of the widely used Web illustration, declared it should be pronounced “jif,” like the brand of peanut butter, rather than with a hard G sound.” May 23, 2013 ..

I've always preferred words that are pronounced how they're spelt...

Years ago, back when I worked in fine dining, I had the pleasure of working around a great chef named Jamie. His sense of humor had been etched in stone decades before political correctness came along and he was also damn good at what he did. We liked each other immediately. We used to have a regular diner whom I will call "Martha" and she was the worst sort of patron. Rude, demanding, awful tipper, bullied servers ; I was the only waiter on the staff she couldn't push around and it became my job to wait on her every time. The management appreciated it as did the other servers so I would take one for the team. One night Jamie ran escolar as a special and with his aforementioned sense of humor, our pre-shift meeting was one of the funniest I ever attended. He explained the re-"percussions" of over indulging in it and kept the portion around 4-5 oz. or so. In what can only be described as cosmic alignment Martha came in that night and ordered the escolar. She absolutely loved it but complained about the portion and asked if she could get another filet. I could not believe my luck. I didn't even walk to the kitchen, I floated. Beaming, I approached Jamie and explained the situation. His pain was palpable. His face flushed, he grimaced, he held his head in his hands, he paced, he laughed, he took huge deep breaths, he went through it all. Finally he laid his hands flat on the expo, dropped his head, and his body seemed to go kind of limp. "I will go out there and explain it to her, but don't think for a moment that's what I want to do.", he said. On one hand I was crushed. We had Bin Laden in the crosshairs and let him go. On the other hand, I will always say that Jamie was a true professional.

It had to happen... After dodging many bullets in 2020, one with my name on it finally hit home. Ex girlfriend and I went out for sushi & talked about our recent break up and what we're each going to do in life. At least it's amicable but it doesn't make it any less stressful. That's probably why I slammed ice cold Chang all through dinner or managed to eat 4 orders of mackerel sashimi without really noticing. I don't know why I do these things to myself. Not wanting to go back to the empty house we still share, I decided to walk down to the bar to meet up with some friends. Why I thought this was a good idea with a stomach full of beer and mercury I don't know but I did. Four houses down it hit me. I was absolutely, positively, certain it was just going to be a little fart. You. Mother. Fucker. It's all I could think. I just stood there, shoulders slumped, completely defeated. Nothing left to do but the bow legged shuffle back to the house for a full wipe and change of boxer shorts. I feel like I have failed y'all. I'm Marfa Low Crown and it has been 001 days since my last shart.

I hate you. Girlfriend of 5 years started losing interest in sex almost a year ago. She swears up and down it's not me or anything I've done and thinks it might be the start of menopause. I'd stick around and be patient in this but the problem is that she does fuck all to 'help me out' yet she expects fidelity... and she has gotten it. Broke up with her on Sunday. I had to tell her the truth, "I've come to realize that my best chance of having sex again begins with breaking up with you.". She agreed it's not fair....said she even considered letting me have a gal on the side if the idea didn't make her so jealous. I'm sure in a year or a few months or whenever this thing passes she'll wanna do the wild thing 5 times a day but I won't be around for it. FML.

F'n seriously? This article is reading like he had several suitcases of shake, in which case, the judge should throw the book at him.

All of you, my brothers, were with me on that climb.

They always do.... So far, still dodging bullets in 2020. Went to my favorite taco haunt not far from the shop... felt that all too familiar rumble halfway through lunch and knew the clock had officially started ticking. I'd like to make an observation here : when you're a serial sharter it really affects where you go and how you do things. For example, the farther from home / work a restaurant is... the better its bathroom has to be. Otherwise I'm sticking to safety and that's measured by no more than 5 mins away from a bathroom I know and trust. Also, it doesn't hurt to have some bathrooms staked out around town to help extend your range. I'd like to add that even five minutes is pushing it when you're doing all you can not to push it. I had to speed through a regular speed trap..had I been pulled over, I'd have sharted. I had to go over a train track...had a train come, I'd have sharted. Try to leave yourself more outs than this. Anyways made it to the shop, up a flight of stairs in the dark, and jussssssst made it to sanctuary of a cold porcelain bowl which I promptly obliterated with hot road tar belched from Krakatoa itself. There's been some pretty heavy ordinance incoming this year but so far I'm unscathed in 2020. If I wrote this story ten years ago it would have had a sad ending indeed but it's really about removing all trust from your asshole and placing it in yourself instead. If you have to ask...if you have to think...if you have to wonder... it's a shart.

Ok update - It's an 04' manual transmission GMC dually. Jumping it did nothing... pulled the battery and it tested good at the auto store. Replaced starter relay bc.. fuck it... maybe i can get out of this for $16. That didn't do it. Found a mobile repair guy on craigslist, scheduled an appointment for today and when I went to get him the VIN I thought.. heck try to start the truck again. Wouldn't start for 2 days.. fired right up. I had him come out anyways. No error codes / log stuff of any kind. All signs pointed to the starter. We pulled it and it was pretty blackened in there.. might have even been the original. $440 with tax, part, and labor.. repaired in my driveway and saves the cost of a tow. I can live with that.

Truck started up just fine and ran last night. Went out this morning power and gauges light up won’t even try to turn over with the key. Battery is good, replaced starter relay fuse, nada. I’m not a mechanic so who knows 😕 can anyone recommend a mobile diagnostic service here in San Antonio that doesn’t charge an arm & a leg? I don’t want to get it towed to the mechanic only to find out it’s a fuse or something simple

All of this. Even though I think we all want to at times, it's none of our jobs to be traffic vigilantes. If they're an asshole driver cutting in front of others that's how they go through life and they'll get what's coming to them soon enough. Be it in the form of an at-fault accident or a cop that sees them, they'll get what's coming. The longer I've lived the more selfish, violent, and entitled I've seen people become. You don't need a gun pulled on you for something stupid like this. I remember having a yield sign to exiting interstate traffic one time and as I stopped to allow them to pass the asshole behind me layed on his horn and eventually passed me on the right shoulder, narrowly scraping the car. There were a few of us in the car and It took EVERYTHING I had to not follow that prick to the stoplight so we could all drag his ass out but it's just not worth it.

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Beef & Brew says otherwise unless you’re talking a handjob at The Nighthawk or a BJ from the swing girl at The Old San Francisco steakhouse

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