Ground Control to Major Lloyd!!!!!

Manofconstantsorrow

Good you at least know where it is, funny they ship goods freely all over the world but make tough to near impossible to ship anything in. So much for the global free market place coming to China anytime some. Well my project should wrap up tomorrow and fly home Sunday. Just got word it's looking like I may be spending most of June in China. Not sure when I going to get around to build my new still, all the parts but two items are at home awaiting.

punkin

Imagine where the Chinese economy would be if the rest of the world started pulling those stunts.

olddog

Just let me know what you need Lloyd

Lloyd

I should be in OK shape now. I have lots of links that OD sent to help clear up any questions that the "middle company" may have.
Grease a few palms and wait a couple of weeks and everything should turn out just fine. (That's the plan, anyway).

cunnyfunt

But how do the check the internet's for prices when it is so censored?

Should have slipped them a fifty and gone home with your controller?

Philter

@cunnyfunt said: Should have slipped them a fifty and gone home with your controller?

I agree. Just ask them "if there is an express price to prioritise the paperwork".

That really is ludicrous though....

Lloyd

@cunnyfunt said: But how do the check the internet's for prices when it is so censored?

Should have slipped them a fifty and gone home with your controller?

It's not as censored here as you might think. There are very few websites that are blocked. The big ones that are blocked are YouTube, Twitter and Facebook but VPN can get around that. I don't have a VPN now because all that I tried are so slow that YouTube won't load anyway.
China has its own social networking sites and search engines but Google is accessible to me although it can be slow at times.
For quite some time I couldn't access SD.com directly but I can now and I'm at a loss as to why it was blocked and why it's now not blocked.
There are sites that simply do not allow my IP address. AD chat is one, for example. They say it is because they received so many spammers from China - well, that's what they say. I asked them to unblock me but I haven't been back in a long while to see if I have access or not.

I was looking for any sign to slip a little under the table but dammit I was up against an honest official. I was hoping he would ask for a private chat so he 'could explain the finer points of importing' but that opportunity did not present itself.
There is a huge movement going on here to wipe out corruption at every level from the tigers (high ranking officials) to the flies (common folks like parking lot attendants that coerce or extort extra 'fees' that goes directly into their pockets).

I used to have a problem with paying bribes but it's just part of doing business in every country that I've ever lived in. In USA I bought 4 acres of very expensive commercial land to build my big welding/machine shop. I had to choose between digging a two acre detention pond, installing extremely expensive pumps and maintaining the pond and pumps OR slip $5,000 cash into an envelope so the county engineer could determine that the detention pond was not necessary. The land, at that time, was worth about $100,000 an acre and the pond construction and pumps was going to cost at least $50,000. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what I decided to do.

Let's just say it's a skill that takes time to get right. Not that I would know, of course, but I hear the best approach for small and fast bribes is to palm some cash and looking directly into the guy's eye you shake hands while saying something like, "This is for taking such good care of me, I really do appreciate it".
It's not just about the money - it is also very much about paying respect. More times than not they are providing a valuable service at a very deep discount to going through proper channels. Like the USA property, paying $50K plus to destroy $200K of land and costing perhaps $10K a year to maintain vs a one-time bribe of $5K.

Big boys with really big toys would know much more than me about such things.

And if you travel a lot it is best to keep a few bucks handy. I find $50USD (or $20 per bag) to be about right to get me through Manila, Philippines airport security without "extra security check" that would cause me to miss my flight.

I don't personally have most of these problems here because I have Tan. She will totally unleash on anyone that tries to rip me. I usually just step back during the blood-letting and remain silent. Had I had her in USA I'm sure the detention pond bribe would have been much less than $5K.

cunnyfunt

Not really ludicrous in some countries. I just wasn't sure if it is the done thing in china. I assume it is. I wish Australia was more open with its cash for favours. But traditionally only unions do that :(|)

punkin

The official currency here in Oz is the carton and used properly it will get you most things from serivce people and tradies.

cunnyfunt

I would like to see more cops accepting cartons

Seacliff man Nathan Vincent creates app to allow people to swap unwanted items for beer

cunnyfunt

@Lloyd. Cheers for the info. It's always good to know

jonno

@Lloyd Mate your overpaying to get through manila lol. 500 pesos usually keeps them pretty happy

Lloyd

You are so right @jonno. The last time I went through I accidentally had too much cash on me (I was over the $10,000 USD limit) and they could have made things hard on me.
Slipping some cash was better than re-booking my flight, getting a hotel room and wiring myself some money to get under the limit.
I miss the Philippines sometimes, so many happy and beautiful people. Simple but tasty foods and out in "the province" the air is fresh and clean.
I could have retired there except there is so little to do. Feed the pigs and chickens, cut some bananas - spend the rest of the day drinking rhum. It's OK for a few months.

jonno

Your to right @Lloyd

I keep telling myself I'm going to retire there but what would I do? Even speaking the lingo doesn't help gaga

Lloyd

Wendy and Tan went to Nanjing customs today to try to get the @olddog controller.
I got a text a few minutes ago "we got it".
Yippee!

It could very possibly be in my hands in only a couple of hours. No idea yet how they did it but Tan says the tax was a little less than $50 USD, much less than we expected (thanks @punkin). Wendy and Tan both researched all the angles and they felt confident that they would get the controller.

Tried to tell you, everything always seems to work out OK (especially if it's handed off to the girls).

Lloyd

The girls sent this image to show their success, nicely strapped to a hand truck (dolly) for easy transport.

Smaug

Hafta make your lips more pouty if you need to get it done.

Lloyd

Thinking you are right, it didn't help one little bit when I went to Nanjing to fetch it =))

olddog

Great news, I hope you enjoy using it.

Lloyd

It ain't over yet. I figure I need to take the girls out to dinner tonight.
My work is just never done! =))

Lloyd

and a small reward for a job well done:

Stone pot shredded pork with spicy potato over rice. Had it delivered as I was both full from my late lunch and about half snockered from early imbibing.

The bowl is placed on an open fire, a little oil is added and the rice is added. Finally topped with some form of meat and veggies the rice forms a tasty and crispy crust. Got to be careful not to burn your mouth because it is searing hot.

The girls rock. They did what a middle company couldn't do for $500 and did it for less than $50 (plus expenses to Nanjing and back - about 60 bucks). I'm happy.

fadge

Drooling over the food and the controller...you are one lucky bastard I say.

btw I had a left over salad sandwich for dinner..

fadge

Lloyd

Look to the right, the bags contain prototypes of new stuff that just arrived. When it's unpacked I'll post some pictures. Edit, pics here.

I AM a lucky bastard.

Lloyd

...and tracking still shows the parcel is at Shanghai customs :))

Chalmer

Maybe @olddog needs to take a week or two trip to my house and build one of those beauty's for me. :D

Lloyd

Spent much of today installing @olddog's controller. Pretty straightforward but naturally I didn't have all the tiny bits (reducing bushings, 3/8" threaded Tees, etc) to do the proper job. Instead, I cobbled together everything using the bits that I had - meaning using 2 nipples, 2 bushings and a coupling instead of just one right-sized threaded bushing. Dang! Missing one 5" clamp to complete the still.
Ordered 50 of them today because I should have already done so. Maybe tomorrow it will be ready to run. Maybe in a couple of weeks I can replace the hodgepodge collection of bushings with a single proper one. Hoping for no water leaks because of the excess of fittings.

I mounted the controller to the wall and completed the wiring to the power point, the element guard on the boiler and connected all of the sensors. Powered up the unit and it looks awesome! Lights, fans, buttons, alarm... Just have to let it all soak in. I feel it's like going from a pot still to bubble plates all over again. A major move up and I hope to prove it out over the next few days.

I must say, @olddog has been fantastic. He has always been quick to respond to my questions and offers advice and insight to questions that I'm going to ask but haven't yet. I'm really hoping that if StillDragon can clone his controller that we can do him proud.

Thanks @olddog.

It's day one on the installation so it's not pretty yet.
To the left is the 5" dephleg sans 5" clamp.

Lloyd

Product condenser is laying on the floor since a 5" clamp is missing.
The clamps should arrive tomorrow and it's possible I can complete this. If they come early enough I hope to do a run tomorrow. If not, maybe the next day.
It's the closest thing that I've ever had to a truly professional setup and it sports the new SD bubble plate innovations so it's in a class all of it's own for now.

It is a 5" Crystal Dragon with enhanced bubble plates, atop a small professional boiler and controlled by cutting edge automation. What's not to like?

I have 3x 2400 watt elements installed and 2x 6000 watt on the shelf but afraid to install them for fear of melting wires. Gonna need to work on that because this still can handle more than 3x 2400 watt elements.

punkin

Looks fantastic mate, and i'm sure you'll be proficient in no time.

I am SO glad you mentioned 5" clamps because i too had overlooked them.

olddog

Got a clear workbench ATM if anyone wants a 240v build

Lloyd

I don't need another controller at the moment, @olddog, but I'll take that clear workbench!