Perhaps many folks have never heard the old slogan "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream," which may have been part of an add at one time many years ago. If they haven't, it would create some strange reactions to Rita's posting.

They would have to all land stiff-legged, too.

Expansion and contraction is still an issue, with welded joints being pulled apart, or rails getting out of alignment due to either one, but it is apparently easier to deal with than all the damage caused by the rolling stock hitting the expansion joints, both to the rails and the trains running on them.

It looks great! What did you end up using for finish? (You can use a clamp with cauls for a fret press, but the "word" is that hammering the frets tempers them and makes them more durable.)

The IRS never calls; any call will be a scam. If you have a problem with the IRS, you will be contacted some other way.

If you are planning to go with French Polish, it is highly recommended that you put in some time practicing on something other than the uke.

There is a learning curve, but there is a lot of information on sites like mandolincafe. A very popular finish for musical instruments which is far easier is Tru-oil, which was originally created for gunstocks. Lots of information about using it on mandolincafe as well.

Thanks! I've been lurking for a year or two, reading about all the equipment that I struggle to convince myself that I don't need, so far, successfully. :)

There are three photos that appear to have some center pivots with what are sometimes referred to as "corner catchers", including the last photo. They appear more like a square with rounded corners. That unit is the last section of the pivot, and its wheels are steered and controlled by GPS, (The latest ones)along with the water flow. When it approaches a corner, it swings out and the water is metered into it. They also will have a large "gun" on the end that will squirt several hundred feet, depending on the amount of water and pressure available. As the pivot moves out of the corner, that end unit will swing back to where it is aligned with the end of the main pivot and it will quit sprinkling. That single span costs almost the same amount as the rest of the pivot. Those green fields that you see that are irregularly shaped or perfectly square are using some other means of irrigation for the remainder of the parcel.

They do make side rolls that look very much like a center pivot, but they have to pull the water and power supply with them. so they have limited range. They are developing new designs to address that issue. One actually can automatically disconnect and connect to new water supply stations as it moves across a parcel. The corners missed by a standard center pivot on a square parcel amount to about 20% of the parcel. The one additional section which can cover much of the 20% costs almost the same as a standard center pivot.