Cool but clear, 68F when I went to bed, and I’m expecting the same when I wake this am. Damp, of course. It was 82F in Houston last night, but only 72F on the water. Sunny and hot during the day. I think today will likely be the same.
Yesterday was weird. I was feeling stressed and disconnected all morning. Make several errors that I don’t usually make. Took forever to get out of town, and then there were half a dozen accidents, one serious, on the way to the BOL. Oh, and a grass fire on the freeway right of way too. Heavy traffic in the usual places.
But I finally got here, and it was beautiful. So I cut the grass. Broke the mower. I’ll fix it. There is a bushing on the steering column that keeps the gears in alignment that was so worn the gear stripped a little bit. It wasn’t a problem until it was… No way to lube it, so I’m thinking it normally outlasts the mower. Not in this case. If I can find the part, I can easily replace it. The damaged gear on the column is a bit harder. I can shim it (remove the end play) and use a different part of the gear to contact the rack, if the bushing will hold it in alignment.
If I can’t find the part, it will be easy enough to make a replacement. I’ll clean up the gear as best I can, and run with that. It’s always something. Worst case, I buy a new mower. This one came with the house (we did buy it, but at a pretty good discount. I would like to get some more use from it if possible.)
We did have a fire and roast s’mores. Conditions were variable low clouds, so no observing. Maybe tonight. Shortwave had a lot of fading and noise. Still nice to sit by the fire and listen to rock and roll oldies.
X1 is with us for the weekend and seems to be coming out of her shell a bit. She wasn’t shy but there was a reserve. She seems more natural this weekend. Hope it’s helping. Kids and wife were all in the water and out on the kayaks, so that was nice. I can’t imagine we’ll get too many more weekends that aren’t sticky hot before summer starts in earnest.
My plan for the day is projects. Always projects. And maybe a little fishing.
Stacking up skills. Do something this week you wouldn’t normally do. Especially if it’s fixing something, cooking something, or learning something.
nick
Lot of people here for the long weekend. I hope to meet some more of the neighbors. Meatspace, and meet-space.