Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[Ulu]

I don’t worry about becoming poor. It’s inevitable. At some point, my healthcare cost will reach the point of insolvency.

If my wife passes before me, it will be even worse. She’s practically insisting on that, in any event.

If she outlives me she will surely regret it. Her first instinct in dealing with problems is always to throw my money at them.

 

[Ulu]

So here I am, reconfiguring a transformer.
Well, actually disassembling it.

By removing some unneeded windings, I can make room to add 8 turns to the secondary winding. The laminations all have to come off, as individual bits. (“E”s and bars, as seen on the bench.)




Bumping the winding up from 44 to 52 turns will raise output voltage from 32 volts to ~38.2 volts. This will allow charging all 3 boat batteries at once.

I have it all re-wound and insulated now, and I am carefully reinstalling all the laminations.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; A question or few about a dog. Last fall one of my neighbors got a puppy. I would visit and was around the pup last fall when the pup my neighbor and the 3 year old grandson were out. I was around the pup several times. A few months pass and i see the neighbor walking the more grown dog, so i wander over to chat. The dog acted afraid of me. Would jump back and would not let me pet it, but was not aggressive. Neighbor said it acted that way around a male relative. We speculated it might be that i let my beard grow out. Any way after a few moments the dog would settle down.

Forward in time to a warm day in late winter. I am sorting thru a stack of lumber to get a short 2x4. Suddenly the now larger dog shows up in my yard and is being aggressive. Is growling and barking at me, then lunges at me. Kept trying to get behind me and go for my lower leg. If I faced it, it would back off a bit but continued to growl and bark.

That neighbor's house is two houses away. There are two houses between my place and their place. So not next door. Seems they had let the dog and the grandson play in their yard. The dog saw me and charger over. Soon the 3 yr old came over following the dog. Seems there was no one watching him. Had a dilemma for a while, trying to keep the dog off me and keep an eye on the child. Without the dog I would have just led the boy back to grandma's. After maybe 15 minutes the grandparents could be heard calling the boys name. I yelled that he was at my place. This has happened twice , but not lately.

There are two issues. One being we live near a busy major county road so I did not want to lose sight of the child. The other being that dog. Both grandparents saw how the dog was harassing me and commented on it. The man said he would get one of those boundary collars to keep the dog home but he has not.

Weeks later the dog has charged into my yard several times since. I do not know why it dislikes me. but not just me. The house between me and the dogs place is a rental and a two-man crew comes into mow. That dog was out and went after those men also. Tried to get them from behind as well. Did get one's pants leg but no skin. I was unloading firewood from my truck and the dog eventually saw me and came at me again. I had a hoe handy i was using to pull firewood out of the bed of my truck. I new better to not let the dog get behind me.
I was going to use the hoe when grandma showed up. She got the dog on a lead. I had told her before she has a problem with that dog. This time i told her i would hurt the dog if he bit me. She said she understood.
Most recent episode was a couple days ago when i was mowing my grass. had to stop mowing twice to deal with the dog. I grabbed an old mower blade I use to clean out from under my mower the first time. Second time I got a knife from my boat and was ready to use it when grandma showed up. When she got control of the dog i asked her to let me try something.
I went and got a dog biscuit I keep around to give to another neighbors good dog. On the lead the dog would back off so i broke off a piece of the biscuit and tossed it on the ground. The dog eventually ate it. I fed the dog four pieces that way. Figured maybe i could make friends but do not count on it. Told the woman i did not want to kill her dog and wanted to have peace in the neighborhood. Have been friends with them 14 years.

The woman tries to use a leash but the man just lets the dog out expecting nothing to happen.

I do not understand the dog. I have never done anything to it. There is a leash law in TN so I figure not so much legal trouble if i hurt or kill it. Thing is i do not want to hurt the dog, but will not be attacked in my own yard without doing something.

Thoughts???

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Hello; A question or few about a dog. Last fall one of my neighbors got a puppy. I would visit and was around the pup last fall when the pup my neighbor and the 3 year old grandson were out. I was around the pup several times. A few months pass and i see the neighbor walking the more grown dog, so i wander over to chat. The dog acted afraid of me. Would jump back and would not let me pet it, but was not aggressive. Neighbor said it acted that way around a male relative. We speculated it might be that i let my beard grow out. Any way after a few moments the dog would settle down.

Forward in time to a warm day in late winter. I am sorting thru a stack of lumber to get a short 2x4. Suddenly the now larger dog shows up in my yard and is being aggressive. Is growling and barking at me, then lunges at me. Kept trying to get behind me and go for my lower leg. If I faced it, it would back off a bit but continued to growl and bark.

That neighbor's house is two houses away. There are two houses between my place and their place. So not next door. Seems they had let the dog and the grandson play in their yard. The dog saw me and charger over. Soon the 3 yr old came over following the dog. Seems there was no one watching him. Had a dilemma for a while, trying to keep the dog off me and keep an eye on the child. Without the dog I would have just led the boy back to grandma's. After maybe 15 minutes the grandparents could be heard calling the boys name. I yelled that he was at my place. This has happened twice , but not lately.

There are two issues. One being we live near a busy major county road so I did not want to lose sight of the child. The other being that dog. Both grandparents saw how the dog was harassing me and commented on it. The man said he would get one of those boundary collars to keep the dog home but he has not.

Weeks later the dog has charged into my yard several times since. I do not know why it dislikes me. but not just me. The house between me and the dogs place is a rental and a two-man crew comes into mow. That dog was out and went after those men also. Tried to get them from behind as well. Did get one's pants leg but no skin. I was unloading firewood from my truck and the dog eventually saw me and came at me again. I had a hoe handy i was using to pull firewood out of the bed of my truck. I new better to not let the dog get behind me.
I was going to use the hoe when grandma showed up. She got the dog on a lead. I had told her before she has a problem with that dog. This time i told her i would hurt the dog if he bit me. She said she understood.
Most recent episode was a couple days ago when i was mowing my grass. had to stop mowing twice to deal with the dog. I grabbed an old mower blade I use to clean out from under my mower the first time. Second time I got a knife from my boat and was ready to use it when grandma showed up. When she got control of the dog i asked her to let me try something.
I went and got a dog biscuit I keep around to give to another neighbors good dog. On the lead the dog would back off so i broke off a piece of the biscuit and tossed it on the ground. The dog eventually ate it. I fed the dog four pieces that way. Figured maybe i could make friends but do not count on it. Told the woman i did not want to kill her dog and wanted to have peace in the neighborhood. Have been friends with them 14 years.

The woman tries to use a leash but the man just lets the dog out expecting nothing to happen.

I do not understand the dog. I have never done anything to it. There is a leash law in TN so I figure not so much legal trouble if i hurt or kill it. Thing is i do not want to hurt the dog, but will not be attacked in my own yard without doing something.

Thoughts???

While I have little experience with dogs, I think the best course of action for when the dog attacks is to get pepper spray to spray in the dogs eyes. That is the least harmful, but best repellent to keep the dog away. Also I've heard that standing up and being "big" to the dog and being the "pack boss" towards that dog usually makes the dog listen to you since you are promoting your dominance over the dog (idk if that makes sense or not lol). I think that dog needs some authority since it sounds like the owners are not being that authority.

Otherwise, if the problem doesn't die down, visit your neighbors, talk to them directly one on one and make clear boundaries. Especially since there have been children involved, that dog is dangerous. Some boundaries you could make: keep the dog behind a fence and make sure the dog can't escape from the fence: or, if they can't keep control of their dog, then get rid of it and get something less dangerous. The consequences of their irresponsibility are that you seriously harm or kill the dog in order to protect yourself and your family/other people nearby. Don't just casually tell them this in the middle of the road, have a one-on-one conversation with them about this, because it is a serious issue. I know you have talked to them before about it, but you need to make your boundaries clear, and on top of that, go through with what you say you will do. Don't be lenient anymore.

Our neighbors had a similar-ish problem with their dogs, the dog frequently escaped from the lady owner. She finally got control over them, but the dogs still bark every time someone passes by (its very annoying). So I understand the situation at hand. I hope this helps!

 

[skjl47]

talk to them directly one on one and make clear boundaries.

Don't just casually tell them this in the middle of the road, have a one-on-one conversation with them about this, because it is a serious issue.

Hello; So far mostly had a talk with the woman. If my going after the dog with a large knife in my hand did not get the message across, not sure what will. I ramped up my language over time. First i told them (Man & woman the first incident) they have a serious problem. The woman has had to come get the dog from my yard several times now. Last two times i went from telling her I will hurt the dog to i will kill it if i have to. I can run it off by facing it and yelling at it but it come back in moments. It becomes a standoff as long as I keep it in front of me. The dog stays a few feet away growling and barking, then tries to get behind me, so i turn around.

 

[esoxlucius]

Our dog is called Tess, but a more apt name for her would be ten men, because that's exactly what she thinks she is! When there's a knock at the door she goes berserk, heckles up, growling, barking, but on opening the door, even to a stranger, she'll sheepishly sniff at them, tail wagging.

And when it starts raining she cowers under my fibreglass fish tank! She's all mouth and no trousers. A lot of dogs are like this. I'm 100% certain that she'd never nip, let alone bite another human being.

In your case this dog may be just full of bravado, like our dog, but it seems to me that this dog is a lot closer to giving you a nip/bite than our dog ever would be! It's sailing close to the wind, and you've forewarned the owners of your intentions should it cross the line, and rightly so.

I think the problem you have though is a delicate one. Do you actually wait for the dog to bite, and then act, which is too late in my book, or do you act now, scare the bejesus out of it, so it cowers away from you in future.

 

[skjl47]

Our dog is called Tess, but a more apt name for her would be ten men, because that's exactly what she thinks she is! When there's a knock at the door she goes berserk, heckles up, growling, barking, but on opening the door, even to a stranger, she'll sheepishly sniff at them, tail wagging.

And when it starts raining she cowers under my fibreglass fish tank! She's all mouth and no trousers. A lot of dogs are like this. I'm 100% certain that she'd never nip, let alone bite another human being.

In your case this dog may be just full of bravado, like our dog, but it seems to me that this dog is a lot closer to giving you a nip/bite than our dog ever would be! It's sailing close to the wind, and you've forewarned the owners of your intentions should it cross the line, and rightly so.

I think the problem you have though is a delicate one. Do you actually wait for the dog to bite, and then act, which is too late in my book, or do you act now, scare the bejesus out of it, so it cowers away from you in future.

Hello; I cannot figure the dog's intentions. It keeps a distance if I can spin around so as to keep it from behind me. If I approach it, it backs away constantly growling and barking. The fact that it bit the trouser leg of the lawn mower guy means to me that he was just lucky. I do believe it will bite flesh and just happened to miss him.
Another neighbor has three young children and are were already afraid of a previous renters dog. The youngest child is 6.

Theidea that the dog is only acting like it will bite does not fly with me. It acts like it will bite so i am not going to wait for an actual bite. If they do not keep it out of my yard I figure to do something if i can get a hold of it. I figure it must be some sort of herding type dog.

 

[skjl47]

course of action for when the dog attacks is to get pepper spray to spray in the dogs eyes.

Hello; back a few decades when i could still run there showed up a German Shephard along my route. I hit it with pepper spray. It backed off for a bit but came back at me again and got a second dose. After that I carried a more substantial deterrent. If my hand was empty the dog got close. When i got my deterrent out it backed off. I wound up having that in my hand when i ran past that yard.

 

[Ulu]

I rewound the transformer for my diy 36v battery charger twice, but it works great now.


Here is my test rig, charging the boat.

it will crank nearly 50 volts at only 2.6 amp draw, from 120vac. It hasn’t quite stabilized in the photo.

I am using a full-wave rectifier from the power supply of a 9.6 v Skil drill motor. I thought it would blow, but it was great. The diodes got very warm, but not hot. You could still hold them.

 

[krichardson]

Interesting Facebook find.