tumbling.

nope, this is not a picture of some alien landscape (even though it DOES look kind of cool).  it's actually a shot of the inside of my tumbler.  i have had issues with it since the winter - the rubber ring that holds the lid on and the water and stainless steel shot inside broke and i couldn't find a replacement for weeks, and shortly after that, all of the items i put in there to tumble would come out oxidized and dull.  i couldn't figure out for the life of me what was causing this.  however, with the help of the power of google, process of elimination and a little common sense, i figured out a solution!  a few tablespoons of baking soda in the water and i ran the empty barrel for a couple of hours and my problem was solved!  (interesting to note, and i should have known this beforehand - this solution causes gases to build up and let's just say, my tumbler was a little bloated when i went to turn it off.  so don't run it too long like i did.)  the stainless steel shot seems to now be clean and we are good to go again.  apparently you can also use flat Coke to clean the shot or some fancy tumbler solution but i'm on a budget, love my diet Coke too much to let it go flat, and the baking soda did just fine.  and here i thought i was losing my mojo.