OK so it WAS really hard not to pull an April Fools ruse of some sort but I restrained myself. Rita has finally taught me something I guess.
The gout has not been a problem; a few days I actually logged my 10,000 steps at least 2 maybe 3 days in the past week.
I have been busy with all the projects I have piled up around here. I mentioned on March 30 that the generator was all lacquered up as the fuel went bad. A friend of mine named Richard M fixes everything small engine related. I posed the question to him about putting an old Tecumseh style drain on a newer machine. Richard said he had thought about that on occasion but never actually tried it. I looked online and finally found one on ebay for $5 so i ordered one. It hasn’t yet arrived but Richard brought one to the shop Friday morning as he was out picking up or delivering a job so I had what i needed to try it
I had the bowl off the Briggs engine from the generator but as I learned in the past, if you drop the bowl on this puppy the pieces go everywhere and I had to turn it upside down to get everything to stay in place so I just turned the generator upside down to begin with. After drilling the bowl I reassembled the drain into the Briggs bowl.
There was a plastic cowling that was going to be covering access to the carb after reassembly and thus it would need to be trimmed
But plastic cuts easily and the problem was solved.
Upon starting the generator it smoked a bit from being turned upside down but it started right up and no gas leaked from the new drain so hopefully I can call this an investment in time. I’m hoping I don’t need it but should I ever need to drain the carburetor again it will be fast and easy.
I still have to get the 4 wheeler going again and have been working on Dad’s truck too. I think I stated before that I bought it back from the insurance company. Anyways I am tinkering with it as well. I took the grill header off and am getting ready to load up the new grill header with lights etc and put it back in place. I had to consult Butch for some guidance. It reminds me of that Disney movie with the old truck in it.
Besides the generator and the truck I was able to fix 3 drawers for Rita’s mom; it is hard to buy quality furniture these days. I also got a bunch of branches cleaned up from Beulah’s yard and brought them home here to burn. Raked up a huge pile of leaves and got them all into the fire pit. Did you know that raking leaves can really amp up your heart rate? I was reminded that it can but Dr L said as long as I keep it under 170 so no worries there. I know “Don’t push too hard” but I have to tell you after getting very little accomplished for so long it feels awesome to be able to contribute. I have always been the guy that likes to look at how it was then how it is after i fixed it, mowed it, etc
I have some other concurrent projects too but I have likely reached my limit for today; and the limit of what anyone else cares to read about.
Rita did come home and tell me a portion of a conversation she had with a dear friend. There was talk of taking a more stressful job with the idea of advancing the career. Although everyone wants to excel, climb the ladder, do better, whatever you want to call it, I can tell you first hand that I’d recommend reducing stress and doing things to make life more enjoyable. Stress causes accelerated aging and a list of other maladies. If you lose your health you have lost everything. My illness was not caused by stress and I thank God He has given me “more time” to see what it is that He has for me to do in this life but I ask you. How much can they pay you to work longer hours, get more stressed and strain the relationships in your life? I hope there’s not enough money in the world
Blessings
Sam