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The Fixer archives

trombone hangers

The best advice serious professional trombone players give regarding storing your horns goes something like this:

I have never seen a trombone damaged by falling from inside its case.

In other words, the finest trombone stands on the market today are less safe than putting your horn away whenever you are not holding it.

But, I play them a lot less if I have to open the case, put them together, then reverse the process when I’m done tootin’ around.

Here is my compromise.

They are there for ready access and reasonably secure. Yeah, a 9.2 earthquake would […]

our new car

We just completed a round trip to Helena to fetch an attractive model of the car at the top of my list. I really didn’t expect to find one in good condition, but there it was. These have spectacular efficiency and longevity. With mechanical fuel injection, almost nothing can stop them if you take care of basic maintenance. 1982 Mercedes Benz 240D

4 Speed manual

mid-size type : sedan drive : rwd fuel : diesel transmission : manual cylinders : 4 cylinders

condition: excellent

White, tan MBTex interior, sheep skin seat covers in front. Straight, and rust […]

more re-purposed hardwood floor fun

I continue to enjoy working with the pickup truck full of oak flooring I salvaged out of Missoula for a hundred bucks or so (as I vaguely remember).

I was lucky as all-get-out that I tripped over a great deal on a plastic imitation-snap-together hardwood flooring closeout before I put two months of tedious, dirty labor into making my studio floor out of the real stuff.

I fabricated a metal bar into a fixture to scrape the tongues and grooves back and forth cleaning them up so they would mate together again. I glue, then clamp them together into […]

Stuffed Baby Red Potatoes

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 45 min. Bake: 15 min. MAKES: 24 servings Ingredients 24 small red potatoes (about 2-1/2 pounds) 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided 1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon, divided 2/3 cup sour cream 1 egg, beaten 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon paprika Nutritional Facts

1 stuffed potato equals 82 calories, 4 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 fat, 1/2 starch.

Directions Scrub potatoes; place in a large saucepan and cover […]

book bonanza

I have been making custom bookcases and shelves in our compact cabin home for two years. We finally got to the point we could bring the last load of boxed-up books home … we thought. More on that in a bit.

In honor of the dozen boxes full of books we brought into our home today, we ORGANIZED THEM. Ohmygosh! Can you imagine?

Well, yeah. My economics and political science books are all on the shelving unit by the front door.

My music books are all together in the horizontal filing tray. Upright next to them are my blacksmithing, […]