Friday, June 10, 2016

On Being Mechanically Inclined .....

It's men's work.  They're good at it ... mostly anyway.  I do mechanical things when I absolutely have to, but I'm always afraid something will blow up or catch fire.  Such was the case yesterday.  Not that it DID blow up ... I couldn't even get it to turn ON.

I started out by sanitizing my rig's water tank.  After doing this for four years, I finally figured out if I take the pressure regulator off the end of the hose and turn the handle to "tank fill", I can get enough water OUT of the hose to allow for almost all of the two cups of bleach required to make the water safe to drink, before attaching to the facet and filling the tank.  Not that I drink the water, because I don't .... I use bottled water.

At any rate, that was a successful venture, in spite of the 6:00 am hour.  Next up, another spider conquest, this one falling a little short.  When outside on my porch, I noticed the spiders have taken over my entryway, along with lots of mud wasps.  Time to drag out my never-used power washer.
One of the reasons it's never been used is that I'm afraid of it.  High pressure anything can hurt you and I just haven't gotten up enough nerve to give it a shot.  After all, this is MAN'S work.  I know most of the time you wish they weren't around, so if you could just send one over to my house for a few hours a month, I'd appreciate it!!
I got the book out to make sure I was hooking it up correctly, thinking I would wear my motorcycle helmet for protection before flipping the switch, but I ran into a little trouble.  I hooked up the first hose to the faucet, but couldn't quite get it to attach to the unit.  When I hooked up the SECOND hose, thinking something was wrong with the first one, I got the same results.  Time to read the directions.  

It said something about tightening the connection with an allen wrench.  At least I knew what that was, so I took the connection off, to discover I had it on backwards, which is why the hose wouldn't work.  It was then I learned how it SHOULD be attached and spent the next two hours looking for an allen wrench.  I know I had some around here somewhere, but they have all disappeared, as tools seem to do.
Time is getting short.  Today I'll head to Harbor Freight so I can get the wrench and wash down the porch.   Maybe I'll pick up some knee pads and body armor, just in case this washer doesn't work according to the directions.  You can never be too careful when you're not mechanically inclined!!

There should be classes you can take to learn about things mechanical for those of us who are handicapped in that area.  Better yet, all those wives who could use a break might corral their husbands once a month for on-call help to us single gals.   I get mechanical help and you get shopping freedom!!  It's a WIN-WIN situation!!  

Next up, cutting a perch long enough for Jonathan's new cage.  Cutting is the easy part ... it's making those slots in each end to fit over the cage wire that's going to be a problem.  More mechanical stuff ... always more mechanical stuff!!





6 comments:

  1. To answer your question it's called rent a husband
    No stop laughing where not worth it
    But they do have rent a husband handyman service
    Check Angie's list it's a proven Internet company
    Check with somebody at the lodge Most retired guys are bored anyways and looking for something to do an are not expensive
    Check with your lawn guy he may know somebody that is an all around handyman that's just starting out and works cheap and hopefully can speak English
    Aren't you glad you don't own a big boat

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    1. Still laughing ... that's funny ... rent a husband. Although not a bad idea!! I'll ask around at the lodge. My lawn guy actually does stuff for me occasionally when I'm here at the same time he is.

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  2. You just use a saw to slot the ends of the perch. Hand saw, table saw, jig saw what ever you have. If you have a clamp to hold the wood steady it would help. Regarding the water tank. Once you sanitize the water tank, you go through two tanks of water for showers and flushing. By the time the second tank is empty, the water is ok to drink, It is actually ok immediately if you don't mind the heavy chlorine taste. We use bottled water for the first several days and then convert to the fresh water tank. A filter on the hose helps make you feel better. Jim M

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    1. Clamps are now on my shopping list Jim. Sure could have used some cutting those slots with a hand saw. Yup ... it's the chlorine taste that gets me. I have great well water ... it's everyone else's I'm trying not to taste! LOL

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  3. Years ago I gave my now late son-in-law a tool kit so that he could learn how to fix things around their apartments. The second year I added to it only to see a funny look on his face. That's where I learned my daughter was the household mechanic because he didn't have a clue. The first part on learning is trying and never give up.
    When we are in our home area we drink directly from the faucet of our RV. When traveling in the U.S. we use Dispensed or Bottled Water. If we don't Kathy gets severe kidney infections.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. I do keep trying and usually get it done, but it's not always pretty!! It seems water is not equal across the US. It's the taste that gets me ... if they have to put that much chlorine in it, then it must be full of something bad!

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