e-clip installed on a metal shaft for my home gym, leg extension. Photo01 by Don Tai
My metal needs are quite simple and one-off. I needed to cut a single slot into a metal rod to insert an e-clip. This DIY slot cutter is quite simple, using 2 ball bearing drawer hinges, some scrap wood I had in my garage, and my rotary cutting tool. The slots it cuts are acceptable for an amateur like myself. It works.
Strength training weight stack pin with an additional ring, photo 1 by Don Tai
This is a strength training machine weight stack pin from a city gym that needed some alterations. I enlarged the hole on the handle to add a ring. The steel of the ring was from a garage door spring, so is high strength steel. I then bent the ring to allow the pin head to be threaded, bent the ring back into alignment, and then welded it shut. I used SMAW 6013 at 40 amps, but should have used 70amps.
The ring is 1/4″ 6mm thick and is not easily bent. I cut the garage door spring lengthwise, resulting in many rings, but they are slightly twisted. These then need to be bent into alignment. My welding is a work in progress, meaning I need a lot of improvement. Welding rings is interesting because you cannot get an angle grinder into the middle of the ring.
It is apparently very common for people who do strength training using lifting straps, to have wrist pain if not done properly. The wrist is not designed to carry your body weight. The tendons in your wrist and within your carpal tunnel can become inflamed causing tenderness and pain. I experienced this for 2 days and had a significant loss of hand strength. Thankfully with rest this has subsided.
Some things get you so mad. I’m trying to do my part for recycling and attended the L’Amoreaux Community Centre “Environment Day” in the City of Toronto, 2024 July 06. Environment Day should be a day to celebrate not wasting resources, to be light on Mother Earth, to do your part and recycle. Today was so not like this. Here is my note to the local city councillor:
That was the worst planned environment day ever at L’Amoreaux Community Center today 2024 Jul 06. At 10:10am over 60 cars idling for 30 minutes before I could deposit my recyclables. The actual deposit of recyclables took less than 30 seconds.
I want to try to extend my Weider home gym so I can do some exercises a little easier. It involves designing an extension to my Weider home gym and will need some welding and fitting. I was unsure what metal can be used, so I took a trip to Metal Supermarket in Scarborough.
The store is not really a traditional retail store. There are 3 guys at a desk out front on computers and talking on the phone to customers. I suppose most customers know what they want and just call their order in, but not I. There was one guy at the back using a huge metal saw to do custom cuts.
Bird Muskoka folding bicycle, right side, made in China, Photo01 by Don Tai
A neighbour discarded this Bird Muskoka folding bicycle with 20″ wheels 7 speed, so I picked it up for review and tune up. I enjoy anything about bicycles and love to see how they are manufactured and how they ride. This is a Bird Muskoka folding bicycle, the paint job, including the Canadian flag, seemingly tailored to the Canadian market. Even more fitting is that I did most of the repairs on 2024 July 01, Canada Day. Fitting.
Libodun baby fence: cute baby standing up. Made in China
My neighbour left a mess of long parts in a bag curbside, so out of curiosity I took it to try to figure out what it was and if I could use it for something else. The bag had metal tubes, metal brackets, padded baby blue metal bars and some plastic corner pieces. It looked like it had something to do with babies or small kids. It turned out to be a couple of sets of Libodun baby fence, used when a baby is small and prevents the kid from rolling off the edge of the bed.
The City of Toronto has some specific rules as to what you can put out to the curb as garbage. If your waste does not comply they will not pick it up. Many newcomers to Toronto do not know many of these rules, so when the garbage guys are nice, they leave this type of notice.
If you are expecting a bunch of guys to be lifting up and throwing you trash bins into the back of their truck, those days are long gone. The trucks are now single driver and operate an automated arm. Trash bins are Toronto-specific and issued to be compatible with their trucks. Bins are lifted up and dumped from the top. Trash bin locks seem to unlock when upside down.
Weight loss, from a conceptual viewpoint is actually quite simple, but there are so many nuances that make it quite difficult to achieve and maintain an ideal weight. Your body is designed by evolution, with vestiges from long-past times. Your body will do all it can to not allow you to diet down and die because you ran out of energy. To understand how this mechanism works will help you reduce down to a healthy weight.
In my quest for nutrition information I have researched a lot. Mario Kratz, Phd, has a Youtube channel that I watch called “NourishedByScience”. He has published some really convincing arguments for understanding weight gain and how to reverse it. One of his theories is that we will naturally eat until we no longer feel hungry. Different meals can vary in the number of calories consumed, which has a direct bearing on weight gain. A meal can be satiating, where we stop early, and therefore consume less calories. Another meal can take a lot more food to make us feel full, therefore increasing calorie consumption and therefore gain weight. This is what he calls the satiety index
