70F and wet this am. We got around 3 inches of rain yesterday and last night. Icy cold rain at one point. I was sure we were going to get hail. Green skies and cold winds…
Today NOAA has us in a little pocket of ‘not raining’ surrounded by storms. We’ll see how that plays out.
I did manage a couple of other preps last week, besides lame-o attempts at gardening. I got 9 five gallon water jugs for $11 total. I bought (and overpaid) a CB radio and psu, and antennas. It looked like there were 3 radios in the lot, but there was only one, and 2 empty boxes. I’ve been disappointed by this auction company before, and I think I’ll avoid them in the future.
I picked up a nice mountain bike for $45 that fits me better than the cheap one I already own. Maybe if I’m more comfortable, I’ll ride more. Gotta do something.
And I’ve got stuff to do….
n
59º and sunny today. Rode the bike in. Should be raining tomorrow, and I’ll ride again.
My truck is broken down & is beyond my ability (and comfort level) to fix in the driveway. In this case, getting a pro to diagnose & fix is better than me doing it and being wrong. (The fuel pump, which I believe to be the problem, does not match expectations. I want it done RIGHT.)
Wife’s car needed brakes, so I did those yesterday. Not terribly difficult, except that the one caliper bracket pin was seized, and I needed to beg a ride to pick up a replacement. Most of this stuff isn’t terribly difficult to do. It’s a matter of having the confidence and the equipment to get it done right. I feel better knowing she can stop when she needs to.
A lot has to do with having the correct equipment. I tried bleeding the brakes on my boat trailer. Simple. Pump the actuator in the hitch and get the air out of the lines. Nope. Went through a bottle of brake fluid with no success. Took it to a boat service place and was informed the brakes are impossible to bleed unless you have a machine. There are two axles with disc brakes on both axles. I needed some other work such as the trailer bunks replaced and the steering cable replaced the boat and the $150.00 they charged for the brakes was a small part of the bill.
Part of the reason I collect tools is to have the right tool for the job, even if it’s a job I don’t know I’ll be doing 🙂
I don’t have to change my own brake pads, and don’t really want to ‘learn on the job’ with brakes, but I have the tools.
My current ‘rather not do it, but it’s simple and I have the stuff’ is oil changes for both trucks. I even have the filter wrenches, but I just don’t want to crawl under the dang vehicles.
n
I do my own oil changes, and most car maintenance/repairs. I pay for the jobs I don’t want to do, or are beyond my skill set. For example, I don’t do press in wheel bearings – even though I have a press. Just too much of a pain for me.
I enjoy changing the oil. Besides, It gives me the opportunity to inspect everything. You know, like finding that torn cv joint boot before water and dirt gets in. Or that strut that has fluid running out of it, which will not only cause bad handling and ride, but excessive tire wear.
RE: Brake Jobs at home
Many years ago I read a story by Spider Robinson, can’t remember the title or the plot but ONE thing has stuck in my memory these many decades. The protagonist was suicidal because he did a home brake job on his wifes car and neglected / overlooked an item causing the brakes to fail killing his wife and young son. That short bit of ficton left a lasting impression. I NEVER AGAIN did a brake job on a family car. My mortorcycles, no problem, but not on anything my wife or family might drive. I am not a handyman to begin with and the thought of screwing that up has horrified me ever since.
As for prepping. I am going on a long delayed camping trip with my son over the coming weekend on the Buffalo river near Jasper Arkansas. I will be using this as a way to test many of the items I have loaded in my GetHomeBags over the years. Things like the Sawyer filtation straw, the tiny propane stove, pack hammock, Mountin Home meals, and all the various FLASHLIGHTS (and lanterns) I pack. I want to see what’s good and what’s not so I can provision accordingly. Haven’t been camping with my boy for 30 years. It’s long past time to do it again.
My maternal grandfather never threw away a tool and attended every farm auction he could to buy more tools and the occasional piece of farm equipment, sometimes just for the parts. Somehow he knew where everything was in that mess of a “tool shed” (actually a big 100-year old barn).
I’ll do the oil changes, brakes, plugs, injectors, and a dozen other things. I know how to do them. I’m qualified to do them. I’ll just do them.
Dropping the fuel tank (without all those jacks) and getting the diagnosis right (I’m pretty sure, but not 100%) gets into the realm of things I should pay someone else to do. A man’s got to know his limitations.
RE: Spider Robinson – I might have read that book. Certainly something like that. Not worried about it.
Of course, I got up this morning and went out to be sure I torqued all the lugnuts again. Can’t torque them in the air – have to put it on the ground. THAT’s the kind of thing I’m likely to screw up.
+1000
I will also say I do much more on my old vette than I do the daily drivers. Funny you mention dropping the gas tank. That is on my list for the vette for a couple reasons.
I’m getting sputtering at WOT. Timing is good. My best guess is that the sock is clogged and not letting enough fuel flow. I’m going to replace the tank while I’m at it. I’m going to get one that has the extra line in place for fuel injection, but plug it off. I may do FI later, and the extra cost is minimal.
The replacement shouldn’t be too bad (yeah, I jinxed myself now), as there is lots of room in the rear and I have a lift, which makes lots of jobs easier.
I remember that Spider Robinson novel, but can’t place the title. Seems to me there was a missing anthropomorphized glue bottle in there somewhere. I enjoyed his Night of Power
Did my own brake pad replacement a couple of times when particularly impoverished. Cheapest pads from the parts store don’t last very long and the parking lot is less than an ideal workspace. OJT is a sucky way to learn and necessity is a mother. That scene from the novel crossed my mind when reassembling the cylinders.
Used to do quite a bit of my own maintenance in the V8 era. Nowadays, not so much. Became acquainted with and have followed an honest mechanic for the last decade or so. He’s due to retire one of these years soon.
@Harold
I remember that story well.
I helped dad replace the engine on my 1986 Honda Civic sedan (after I blew it double checking that yes it really would go 100 mph). Fessed up decades later how the engine blew – he laughed and laughed.
Did my own valve jobs, oil changes, etc, on my old VW Squareback.
Haven’t done any work on my own cars for a long time. I miss it.
I do most of my own work on our 50 year old travel trailer. Mostly that’s been grunt and sweat work rather than anything technical. Hardest project has been dealing with propane and plumbing. Fortunately our local plumber will build the copper stuff for me and all I have to do is crawl around threading the copper lengths into the appropriate areas and turning a wrench.
It’s very satisfying. My kiddo hangs out and passes me tools. That’s the best part.
I need to come up with a plan for summer bicycling with said kiddo. In previous years I could pop her into the iBert carrier. But she’s a bit tall and a bit heavy for that now.
http://www.ibert.bike/
She’s not good enough on her own bike to be safe the places I want to ride with her. Bike trailers are asking for trouble in this town. I’m considering a ‘bike’ that adds on to my bike, but I’m so short my bike seat is at its lowest setting leaving no room on the post. And my bike is a weird wide size on the axles so the bike seats don’t fit.
https://wheelworld.com/m/product/electra-black-betty-3i-womens-180051-1.htm
I’m going to poke around the bike shops this week for ideas.
The Spider Robinson story you’re thinking of is “The Mick of Time”, I believe. Originally published in Analog, later collected in “Callahan’s Secret” (1986). Wherein Jake Stonebender, narrator and demon guitarist, finally discovers the exact cause of the accident that killed his wife and child, and which he had, until then, believed was caused by his faulty brake repairs. “I saved 20 bucks, easy”. This revelation involves time travel (a recurrent theme of the “Callahan’s Place” stories) but not by Jake.
Geoff
Meanwhile, Sweden tells it’s citizens to prepare for WAR
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/21/sweden-distributes-be-prepared-for-war-cyber-terror-attack-leaflet-to-every-home
Jenny, how about you get your kid a pair of roller blades, attach a water skiing rope to your bike, and just tow her around?
@SteveF
-laughing and blowing coffee out my nose-
Something similar had crossed my mind, as did the image of CPS descending to have me arrested.
In other news, KTUU in Anchorage issued a tweet about a theft interrupted at the ACS whorehouse.
That would be “warehouse”… Where’s an editor or spell check when you need ‘em?
Criminus interuptus?
n
Ah, the NOAA forecast got it a bit wrong. After mostly dry day, we did get rain this evening. It was overcast and humid all day.
The yard and gardens need the rain, so I’m not complaining much.
Had a special dinner for my birthday girl tonight, and we’ll have a pool party later in the week for her and her friends. Time flies.
n
Sounds like someone didn’t get ANY beatings as a child.
I used to do my own car maintenance, but stopped with the first car that had fuel injection and lots of electronics. Just not in my comfort zone. Little stuff like oil changes I just let the shop do when they take care of other stuff. Around the house, I’ll do anything but plumbing. Dunno why, but I dislike plumbing.
The clean-up part of closing my wife’s business is moving along. It’s amazing how much stuff a running business accumulates over the course of 20+ years. We have one last person coming to look through glassware and dishes on Thursday. A big load of stuff goes out next Tuesday. After that, a few high-value items are going on the eBay equivalent here (ricardo.ch), and the rest goes to the dump. That should pretty much be the end of the physical part.
Stuff accumulates. Imagine if you are accumulating on purpose how much extra there is…
n
Stuff definitely accumulates.
I have occasionally resorted to the technique of packing stuff in boxes, and writing “if unopened by *year*, discard”. Some times I had indeed gone and dug something out of the box. Most of the time, the year came, and the box was thrown away unopened.
Moving out of this house will be a challenge, when it happens, because any new house will be a fraction of the size. This house was intended for a family with 5 kids and 3 live-in servants. As long as half of it was used by the business, it was about right. Now, we (family of 4) are going to rattle around in it. Which presents huge unwanted opportunities to accumulate even more stuff. Danger, Will Robinson!
I thought the mantra was “He who dies with the most stuff wins.”
Not that I couldn’t use a de-clutter. But, well, stuff.
No, no, no. I believe it is “He who dies with the most toys wins.”
@ ITguy, that was a bit of a non sequitur …
n
I stand corrected. I guess I won’t win now.
Sweden tells it’s citizens to prepare for WAR
There is an English language version.
A quick glance reveals it to be mostly common sense stuff. Common sense to a prepper, that is.
There are a lot of commonalities today with the years before WWII. The whole world is on edge.
Jeez Sweden, page five has the typical swedish family, black wife….
“States and organisations are already using misleading
information in order to try and influence our values and
how we act. The aim may be to reduce our resilience and
willingness to defend ourselves.”
Soros anyone? particularly ironic, since it worked….
n
” everyone who lives here and is between the ages
of 16 and 70 can be called up to assist in various ways in the
event of the threat of war and war. Everyone is obliged to
contribute and everyone is needed.”
hmmmmm
n
Common sense indeed. There is a ‘leave home and go were we can take care of you’ vibe that people here wouldn’t like. It’s a pretty big leap of faith that the shelter will be adequately stocked…
When I was in Norway some years ago, there was debate about removing the requirement for public shelters in every new building. I wonder how that ended, and how they feel about it these days.
It was a bit eerie to walk past the super wide staircases at the mall that led down to the shelter, or to pass the steel bulkhead door in the lower level of the office building.
n
Somehow the link I thought I included, I didn’t. Oh well. It was a link to a story detailing how the parents of a 30 year old, who lives at home, are taking him to court to evict him. Seems he won’t leave.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/05/21/parents-30-year-old-son-new-york-eviction-court/
Common sense indeed. There is a ‘leave home and go were we can take care of you’ vibe that people here wouldn’t like. It’s a pretty big leap of faith that the shelter will be adequately stocked…
I was referring to the lists for food, water, hygiene, etc.
Yep, and they are a starting point for someone.
There are some weird to me choices though. Like soft cheese! Must be a major component of Swedish diets to have cheese listed twice…
n