Perfection Smokeless Oil Heater Restoration

I have a model 530, Patent year 1918, Perfection Smokeless oil heater that i am restoring.  So far, i have mostly taken it apart, starting with unlatching the top from the bottom, taking out the hinge screws so that it is two main pieces, then taking out the bolts holding the lid to the top piece, and taking off the one bolt that holds the latch which i have sanded.  i also have sanded the piece i will hereby refer to as the shield as im not sure of its exact purpose. its the round piece between the top and bottom.  i have began sanding the top cylinder part, using 320 grit sandpaper.  im not sure of what the original colors were, but im thinking of painting the lid, shield and the 2nd shield at the bottom, as well as the legs silver, and the cylinder parts black.  the kerosene resevoir simply lifts out of the bottom piece, and im thinking of painting its outside black as well.  i havent taken that part apart, so i dont know its particular anatomy, but it might need a new wick.  basically the heater will be a show piece/decorative, but i want it to be complete and as far as i have researched the wicks are still widely available.  Its a tedious project to be doing by hand and makes me wish i had a sandblaster...

distracted driving.... stop. think. save lives.

It only takes a moment.  your life and/or the lives of others, can be drastically altered, or even ended.  You get a text, a phone call, you reach in the backseat for that bottle of soda rolling around on the floor, you check yourself in the mirror, you drop a quarter, your foot itches, you need a smoke, your friend tells a joke, you try to change the radio stations..... try to change the radio station.  that was the reason i had to borrow a vehicle for the rest of that summer.  Just ten minutes before that, I got home from vacation, changed into my work clothes in my laundry room, put my phone in my back pocket, left for work.  It was an ordinary day, i wasnt late, i was driving speed limit, wearing my seatbelt as always.  County road 12, barren stretch of tar between nowhere and a ghosttown.  There is a small creek that county rd 12 has to cross over, its not really a bridge persay, just a little strip of guardrail on each side, ten feet above water, if that.  Well, i didnt like the song that was playing, and in my mitsubishi, the tuner button was on the passenger side of the radio display.  I couldnt tell you, if the radio station ever changed, because the only thing i heard was metal on metal grinding coming from the passenger side of my car.  I looked back up, over corrected and lost control.  hitting the brakes did nothing and i slid helplessly straight down the embankment.  somewhere in those terror moments, my car turned sideways and started into a barrel roll.  There isnt a whole lot that goes through your mind after that, other than god please no im too young to die, and what do i do.  The only thing i could do was hold onto the wheel and wait.  when i felt it start to tip, i had thought ok maybe ill be lucky and just tip it on its side and stop.  and then i saw my windshield crack, heard my back window shatter behind me, and the sick sound of roof crushing inward.  I dont remember the rest, but my car came to rest on the passenger side, with my drivers side up in the air.  I remember just sitting there for a few seconds.  Then i thought, am i actuallly alive?  did i really just survive that?  that was the scariest thing ive ever encountered!  I walked away from that accident, my first car accident, and hopefully last, completely unscathed. which is amazing due to the fact of flying shattered glass, my xbox was rolling around in the backseat, easily couldve hit me, my door was bent so drastically that it was cutting sod and feeding it into the car.    I wasnt cut, i wasnt bruised, I wasnt even sore, besides my hips which only hurt bcuz with all the tension on my locked seatbelt, i couldnt push the button to get it off, and if i had, i wouldve fallen to the other side of the car, onto glass.  I cant help but think that god let me off with a warning that day... and i am so grateful.  My car however, my baby, my pride and joy, the galant didnt make it.   the tires were popped, the axles were bent the mirrors were gone, gascap ripped off, the entire sides of the body were crushed around the frame, the trunk was smashed, the roof was caved, my sliding sunroof was untouched somehow, and my front hood only took minor damage, and a busted bumper.  Unfortunately the only pictures i had of it are gone bcuz i broke my phone that they were on, but i dont need a picture, i have a horrific memory, just a remminder and a warning to drive carefully.  I havent been in fault of any other accidents so far, other than running over a walmart shopping cart due to low visibility in front of my truck.  Its been three years, and i still feel that day as if it was yesterday, i dont think that will ever change.  I was incredibly lucky, i couldve been injured or dead.  But even tho i was lucky, doesnt mean that u will be, and i wish that i could let others live the memory i have, to show them the danger iin driving distracted, but all i can do is tell them my story and hope it sticks with them, and they make good choices. 

New years!

happy new years, you have arrived in 2011.  Do you feel different? do you feel older? do you feel accomplished?  Have you made a resolution?  will you keep it? are you lying to yourself?  How did you bring in the new year?  did you float in gently like a feather and land softly in the security of knowing youve survived another year on our mother earth?  Or maybe, like me, you skidded in sideways, acheived maximum rugburn potential, and rolled to your feet ready to fight any dilemma that gets in the way of you having a good time.  Are you going to work harder to better your life this year, or is your plan to just lay back and slide? barely getting by is still getting by, right?       I took on a rather extensive resolution, but like anything, it will be done bcuz i actually want to do it.  Im going to get better grades this year in college if it kills me, plus to keep up my muscles from working on the farm, im going to start doing strength training, I dont have any weights yet, but there are ways of using your body.  along with that idea, im going to eat healthier, not so much out of boxes and cans anymore.  actual food.  and ive already been fighting my soda addiction, thats ok tho cuz i can drink tea.  i love tea. (rainforest red by goodearth is my fave)  and ill down some vitamins once in a while.  getting a job would also be ideal, but thats pretty much based on luck. 

my .....anti-religion??

To start off, and kind of as a disclaimer, i must say that although i have my own beliefs, i do not look down upon anyone with beliefs that differ from my own, and i will NeveR push my beliefs on anyone.  I dont really like to argue, my point is to explain what i do and do not believe in, you can believe it or not, and while i may say some derogatory things about other religions, i do not intend to insult anyone personally, and i would hope that everyone can respect that and be as fair to me.

That said, I will begin to explain.

-I do not believe in the established religions that most of the world is faithful to.
-my feelings are that most religions, are just cults. dont take that wrongly, im not saying they do anything bad,
but they build temples, synagogs, churches, and such, give you a system of beliefs to follow, have established meeting times that you are usually looked down upon for missing or being late, and you are supposed to donate money for the upkeep.  also, my thoughts on the reasons people are religious, is because people are scared.  of a lot of things, and most usually, scared of death.  why?  because these are things nobody can explain.  nobody has been there and back that we know of, its not something that any scientist can determine a solid answer to.  these religions are made up so that people have something to believe in, to comfort them, from what they dont understand. 
-I believe that everyone should have a choice of whether or not they want to be religious and if so, should be able to choose what they want to follow.  I do not like or believe in children being "born into" a religion, I do not like baptism at a young age. Just because you have your faith and belief system, does not neccesarily mean that that is what your child wants to believe in.
-I do not believe in god, jesus,mary, joseph, the apostles, the diciples, the three wise men,  etc.
-I do believe in angels and saints, and i have mixed opinions about the devil, I believe not so much in the devil himself, but in his manifestations in humans.  everybody has probably been tempted to do bad things at some point, and that is the devil in them.  maybe, everyone has a bit of evil nature in them, its just their ability to control it?
-What i believe in and am faithful to is a lady called Mother Nature. and her forces. she made life, and she takes life away. she gives us the basic neccesities, our natural resources. she gives us the ability to facilitate some of them, such as giving us sun and rain for our crops, but some she has left for us to discover and figure out ourselves.
- I believe in ghosts and spirits, reincarnation, and to some extent i believe in some type of afterlife.
- I also believe in spirit guides, mine being the red tailed hawk whom i see very very often, i believe that spirit guides are there to teach you, to warn you of upcoming events, to protect you to an extent, to help you heal, and to be your companion.
-I do not however, believe in evil ghosts or spirits.  just ones that are more frustrated than others for whatever reason.  i believe they are trying to contact us, some looking for help.
- I believe in psychics and mediums, as i definitely am able to sense certain auras in places as well as in people, and sometimes am able to guess a persons name or what they are going to say, or the type of person they are. in other words, i read people. and places with auras give me feelings, whether it be sad, or a good afeeling, or a get the hell out of here type of feeling. and have had a few paranormal experiences.
- i dont know if other religions have the belief that god is fair and kind and forgiving to everyone, but i know the catholic religion does, (i was "born" a catholic, baptised as an infant) if god is so nice, and you believe that he is your maker and he will bring your soul to heaven, if he is that kinda guy, why is he so unfair.  why are some people homeless and others live in mansions?  why are some people dying of disease when others are healthy and alive until they are 109? if he is so forgiving, why do you suffer so many consequences for your misdeeds? 

thats all i can think of at this moment to explain, but if i think of any other points i will add another post on the subject. if youve read all this, thank you for hearing my thoughts and beliefs.    <3 Em

Minnesotan dialect- from a lifelong Minnesotan

If you've ever seen the  movie "Fargo" and you havent ever lived in Minnesota, I can almost guarantee that your head is filled with the common misconceptions.  The movie "New in town"  depicts our dialect and mannerism in a slightly more correct way, but still has a few stereotypes.  I will proceed to clear up the misconceptions and give you the facts and proper information.  First and foremost,  I have never heard anyone use the phrases "Ya you betcha" or "Uff da."   Maybe we do get a little stuck on our O's, like when we say minnesota or boat.... but it's really not as drawn out as everybody else makes it seem.  And so what if we replace the T's in words such as water with more of a D sound?  Yes, we do end our sentences with unnecessary prepostions, like when we say "I'm going to town, d'you wanna come with?"  the word with is not needed, but it makes more sense, now doesnt it?   We're Minnesotans, and damn proud of it!  Now, here's a list of some things you might hear when you come to Minnesota.

In Minnesota, soft drinks are "pop" not "soda"

you will rarely hear someone say "dusk", we use "dark" like.... "meet me at the stopsign on county road 12 at dark"

"Come here once" is a phrase i heard quite often growing up, usually when my dad needed somebody with small fingers to help fix something. 

"leave it go" = let it go, or sometimes is a request to stop argueing with someone,  "you're wasting your time bickering with him, why dont you just leave it go?"

"oh fer geez"= exasperation or frustration at whatever just happened. usually translates to either "g*d dammit" or "oh my g*d"

"damn near" = almost.  "i damn near got t-boned by a snowplow today"

"buy it off..."  your buddy is thinking of getting rid of his old playstation, and you want it, so you ask him, "can i buy it off you?"

"head out"= leave
"wellll... i s'pose"= subtly letting someone know that you would like to leave soon, if they would just shut up

"Itch"= means the opposite of what you would think.  Itch can mean that you have an itch, or you need to itch an itch, we don't scratch our itches.  we itch them.  understand?

"itchin"  means you really can't wait to do something, " I'm itchin to go deer hunting"

"popple"= poplar tree or aspen

"longjohns" are either your thermal long underwear, or long donuts with filling, frosting and sprinkles or nuts

"choppers" the plural form of helicopters, or motorcycles...right?  wrong.  choppers are thick mittens usually made of leather on the outside, and wool on the inside, and they tend to be yellow.

"cuhn't'of" with a long U sound like in "Uff da" (which we dont say) means could'nt have, "that kitten cuhn't'of gotten on the roof by himself!"

"ruff"= roof.  you say ooo we say uh

"lectric" or "letcherc" as my father would say, is really electric

"grodge"=garage

"iddin it"=isn't it.  "iddin it cold out?"  it sure is!

"dint"=didn't

"alla"= all of the

"sirp"= syrup

"mayul"  this is actually how i pronouce "mail" most of the time

"ima" or "i minna"= im going to


and thats the end of my lesson for today lol, hope you learned something!