Wednesday 18 July 2012

Shipping and Handling


How far will you go for a deal?
I drove over one-thousand kilometers today to buy a used welding machine.
My Dad went with me for company and driving relief.





I know that many of you drive a lot, whether it is for work, or family, or shopping.
We try not to go too far, so the fourteen hours of driving was pretty long for me.
Especially having to drive on the 401 highway from the 115 to Windsor and back.





Fortunately, everything went smoothly and the traffic was reasonable.
It was not much of a sight-seeing trip but the wind farms around Leamington are very dramatic.
The turbines are gigantic and must number in the thousands.





For welding, I prefer a TIG welder.
It is the most versatile platform for my welding needs.
Once I left my last career, I also lost the use of a TIG.
My antique AC arc welder works great for what it was intended for,
but to do everything I need, it hasn't been enough.
So I found a TIG for sale, used, online.
Only it was in Windsor.


If it works out well,
the long road trip will have been worth it.
A new machine like this is beyond my budget comfort zone.
And though still not cheap, this machine was half the price of a new one.
Once it's up and running, which will take some time,
I'll do a welding post,
and show you what a TIG machine is capable of.



2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new machine.

    This post was interesting to me, because I live in Windsor - for another week, and then we are moving to our new farm which is in Lakeshore. We are in view of the 401 and surrounded by those wind turbines you saw.

    My husband likes the turbines, he thinks they are impressive and graceful. I would rather have more natural scenery, but you take what you get. We were happy to find a fixer-upper 3 acre property at a price we could afford.

    This will be our first time homesteading, wish us luck. :)

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  2. Hi Laura Jeanne!
    Congratulations on homesteading!
    You'll have deep soil, plenty of light, and a long season.
    Property is much cheaper in these parts, but work is scarce.
    There is a trade off to get natural scenery.
    I know there is a great deal of controversy surrounding those wind farms,
    but they struck me with awe.
    They are indeed impressive and graceful.

    ReplyDelete