What's the tightest thing that you regularly do in your steam hobby?

[komet163b]

I'm guilty of reusing old t-shirts and socks for rags.
Sometimes, checking the recycling bins in my neighborhood
yields items I can strip springs, nuts-n-bolts, any brass,
or anything that might be useful in a project.  Clean boiler
water, for sure.   

And....Bounty paper towels.  With a 16year old Jack Russel
named Buster in the house I reuse dried paper towels to
clean up after him.  I also reuse the plastic bags newspapers
are delivered in to help keep the cooties off.  Same thing with the
other two dearly departed JRT's, Jackie his mom and Dixie his sister.
Litle quiet around here these days.   

Gil, I agree, something changed with Bounty paper towels.
I think they are a bit stiffer and rougher than they used
to be.  Still the best.

Wayne

[Nick]

Gil and Wayne, look for Viva brand paper towels and give them a try, I haven’t used Bounty in over 10 years.

[Nick]

Gil and Wayne, look for Viva brand paper towels and give them a try, I haven’t used Bounty in over 10 years.

I don’t know how to describe them any better than the package… they are far more “cloth-like”, absorbent and much more “re-useable” 

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[Adirondack Jack]

You guys are killing me.  Over on the petrol side of things, I’m running $40/gallon synthetic racing fuel in hit n miss engines, and $20/ liter 190 proof booze in stirling engines indoors.
But I did save the box with a handle on it my Dutch oven came in,  just in case I need to pack away some engines.

[parallelmotion]

True story: myself and a few friends drove about 4 hours through 3 states to an engine show. One guy in particular (let's call him Jimmie which is his real name) was known for being 'tight'. We stopped often at McDonalds for breakfast, coffee, bathroom breaks, etc. At breakfast (1st stop) he bought a "senior coffee" which was $0.50 or half off regular price. Unknown to us at the time, he saved his cup. So at the next two stops he gets free coffee refills using the same cup--coffee in three states for fifty cents.

[Adirondack Jack]

Around here we call that theft.  Young ghetto kids do it, and end up in handcuffs.

[parallelmotion]

Wasn't condoning his behavior, just telling the story.

[RedRyder]

Goodness YES, shrinkflation is rampant in nearly everything we buy & use these days. my darling granddaughters are avid girl scout members & of course we are obligated (Mamaw & Papaw) to buy more than a few Girl scout cookie boxes....there's a lot less than there used to be in a box & the price is growing nearly every year, I figured out Samoas ,13 cookies @ $5.00 , Wow $038.44 ea.

Did somebody say Samoas?

By far my favorite of the GS line-up.

[RedRyder]

This shrinkflation has been going on for quite a while. Mom's been gone for 2 1/2 years and I
can remember 4 years before that hearing about it from her. "Those dirty buggers, tuna, 5.5 oz.
per can. Used to be 6 oz. Recipes call for 6, now I have to open another can, bastards." 
Poor old mom couldn't deviate from what was written down.

Yes has been for a while. Coffee still comes in 1 pound sized cans that say 11 oz on them. They are only about 3/4 full right off the shelf.

[RedRyder]

Gil and Wayne, look for Viva brand paper towels and give them a try, I haven’t used Bounty in over 10 years.

I don’t know how to describe them any better than the package… they are far more “cloth-like”, absorbent and much more “re-useable” 

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Thanks, Nick.
We will give Viva a try.

Gil

[St Paul Steam]

Around here we call that theft.  Young ghetto kids do it, and end up in handcuffs.

pretty tuff cops you have there ,following young ghetto kids across a 3 state trek to arrest them for refilling a cup of coffee.

[parallelmotion]

I didn't even know they had ghettos in the Adirondacks.

[Adirondack Jack]

Har, har! I’ve actually had to quit the mountains for the city as I can no longer drive with my vision.  But I happened to see a group of middle school kids get caught using cups they’d brought with them in their backpacks, refilling them with soda.  The manager called the law, complaining he gets hit every day.  It’s a shifty thing to do if you’re able to afford a lousy discount coffee.  It stinks because no, a seventy year old pale face won’t get arrested, but a thirteen year old named Lamar might.  I actually don’t think is funny at all when people who obviously can afford nice toys steal.  It’s not the values I wanna uphold.

[parallelmotion]

Like I said, not condoning his behavior or "upholding his values", just a funny story of how tight my friend is. By the way, did you know "Hawkeye Hawkinson"? Lived in the Adirondacks and had a hoard of rare antique cars stashed away in barns there, not to mention a couple hot air engines. This one ended up in my garage:

[Adirondack Jack]

I did not know that.  Nice engine