Keystone State Thread

Well, after 5 long months, I finally received my truck!
VooDoo Blue, TRD Sport, fully loaded with the Toyota dealer installed lift kit!
All ready have all the mods or order. And since I was able to find Blue decal to cover up the red on the 17" TRD Pro Matte Black Wheels (PTR20-35110-BK) below, I decided to go with all black and blue setup. Till then, here is the truck currently.

 

Made it back safe n sound. About a 12 hr drive. Averaged 18.5 mpg. It was great seeing our daughter and spending time with her. Fortunately or unfortunately she accepted a job with the hospital so I see more trips in the future. But funny thing now when I back up and wheels cut , I'm hitting the front little splash guard . From all the driving and wind hitting it did it get bent backwards towards the tire ? I do have 1 size larger tires. P265 75R16.

 

Wow thats a sharp looking truck. I've always liked that color. Lift looks good, not to much and none to little. Enjoy.

 

I would just remove the guard. That's what I plan on doing.

 

Nice John! Hope all is going well and the family is enjoying the new place

 

What a day it was. Worked until 2. Went to see grandma And dad. She be 90 tomorrow. Then off to Gail’s place my tree people, owed Gail and John 200.00 for trimming and grinding up my magnolia tree branches.
Stopped at another buddy’s place, Rick Nelson who I haven’t seen in ages. An old family friend. Boy did he lose weight. Hope all is well with him. He’s a machinist whose somewhat retired and is trying to enjoy life. He now enjoys photography and hiking into places to take his pictures. He says he’s lost so much weight due to the amount of hiking that he does to take his pictures.
Then it was time to head home. Christian mowed the back yard, I did the front. Finished working on a weed whacker and blower for a customer. Whacker good to go and I thought the blower was also. Ran for 10 minutes while I was tuning it in and then stalled… looked closer and found the head gasket leaking fuel! If I had known That, I wouldn’t of installed new fuel line or rebuilt the carb…. But it didn’t run, so ya gotta start somewhere.
We then returned another customers mower back to a customer. They purchased a used mower which had a huge oil leak between the lower oil sump and the block which they were not aware of….I accepted the job. So Christian removed the engine, I showed him how to disassemble the lower portion of the engine. Cleaned gasket off and the mating surface. Used black silicone to reseal it and reassembled and installed engine one night after work. Mowed grass with it the next day and all seems fine. She asked how much. I says… this one is on us. They’re in there mid to late 60’s taking care of 4 foster kids and I just felt the need to help out. Don’t know these people but god bless them for doing what they can with these kids! (I was raised by grandparents) so I kinda know how much energy it takes to do this. Plus it was a great learning project for Christian . Win win In my book.
Oh yea, one more event happened on the way home from dropping the mower off… is it’s like 8:30 and I haven’t eaten anyting since 10:30 this morning. Older fella like 80 standing in his driveway looking for help…. I had already drove passed him seeing that someone had already stopped but drove away when I looked in my rear view…. Looked at the wife and said…. Something about helping people makes me feel good…. She rolls her eyes at me. Christian and I get out and he says thank you for stopping” Can you help me jump start my car with my other car”. Sure thing I says. 85 years old, nobody to help him in times like this…. So another good deed tonight …I left my phone number in case he needs help to get a battery tomorrow. He left the key in the “on” position for while he says. You boys have a great night

 

Price tag? We're in our final stages of getting quotes for a new tanker. Pretty sure all of them are going to be over 750k. Pricing for these trucks is ridiculous.

 

Wow Dave great story , love hearing this stuff , there is still great people out there.

 

Sweet looking truck!! My second favorite color!! Congrats!!

 

Sounds like a great day all around. You are The Man, Dave!

 

Good morning fellow Pennsyltuckyvanians!!

We have our 13 year old twin granddaughters visiting for 9 days - they spent the morning helping Lynn prepare a lunch for Lynn's mom and a friend who was visiting and then 3 hours in the pool in the afternoon. I finished up painting the mower garage - finally done painting. We all crewed a hot air balloon flight last evening and then we took the girls to our local dairy for ice cream. It was a good first full day here for them.

I need to cut grass at our house and down around the rest of the farm - a 3 hour tour. Not sure the weather is going to cooperate, though. Looks like another few days of rain and thunderstorms ahead.

Enjoy the day and stay safe!

 

Morning Pennsylvania

 

Two photos from last night's flight prep.

Me at the end of the crown line waiting for the hot air inflation to begin so I can control how rapidly the balloon lifts into place.




And, a look from the crown end as we use the fan to begin the inflation process - that's Lynn in the center holding the mouth of the balloon open.

 

Good morning! Great shots mark! Got some nice weather for it, just gotta watch them quick storms that role through… I’m sure they know how to watch the weather patterns!! Laying in bed trying to wake up. Not sure what’s on the agenda today. Gotta look at a house with the mother in-law at 1:30 today, maybe return some other customers work as well. Would like to hang out with brother joe and family but not sure if I’ll have time for that today. Have a great day mark

 

Good morning - and seems like a great day to spend some extra time in bed Dave!!

One of the things that initially got us to fly with the pilots we crew for, and what has kept us crewing for them is their attention to safety. They don't take chances and routinely will cancel flights for weather concerns. Unlike some others we've seen/heard about, they won't take risks just to make money on a flight. That sometimes is hard to explain to passengers who look at the local conditions and question a cancellation/reschedule...and sometimes the weather turns out to have changed for the better after a flight was cancelled. But, safety is the #1 concern.

Looks like we will be weathered out all day today....and my grass cutting will be rained out, too.

 

That is a great company to work with/for! I look at things as I get older and try to keep the money part out of it….. I don’t have a lot of it but making decisions to keep people from getting hurt, especially in your field of hot air ballooning… money should not become a factor on safety for others. I think we may have a pop up shower or storm today but should be nothing crazy. Stay dry mark

 

Good morning PA TW. Gonna try to get my mowing done sometime today, if not got a few of the neighbors handguns he wants me to clean to keep me busy indoors. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

 

You are a good man Dave! Our world needs more people like you! Thanks for doing these good deeds!

 

The older I get the more I want to or feel the need to help others. It’s not about the money even if I don’t have much BUT it’s about just doing for others. Whatever it maybe the little things make a big difference such as just talking with people makes them smile. It reminds them that there are good people out there hope we all have a great Sunday!