Where's My Mechanics Hat??

When you're single, you have to wear lots of hats.  Cowboy hats would be my choice, but dog groomer hat, maid hat, chef hat and gardener hat (including the dreaded sprinkler adjustments) are just a few.  My most disliked hat to wear is Mechanic.  I'm not very good at that one ... yes, even worse than the Chef hat!!

I cringe when I see parts missing from my rig, because I know I will have to figure out how to replace them.  Here's a missing piece that looks like it was glued on with something strong enough to rip the paint off when it went flying.  Where in the world am I going to find something in my little corner of the world to fix THAT!!  

It took four pictures and many emails to Tiffin to discover it is a #28667 weep hole cover drain slot driver forward 1".  Who knew??  I wondered why I heard that wind noise going down the freeway.  Hopefully in another two weeks, I'll get the part to replace the lost one.  I just don't have any idea how I'm going to attach it!!

In the meantime, my Mechanics Hat is getting tighter as my head is exploding with another problem!!  That fender-like thingy shouldn't be sticking out further than the door on the left.  This is what I found flapping in the breeze when I dumped the tanks this week.

Upon further investigation, I discovered this screw was missing.  When I pulled the fender out to see why, I discovered the screw had sheared off in the metal bracket that it WAS attached to.  Hmmmm this is a problem!!!

Here's a screw like the missing one.  At least I know what to ask for, that is if I can figure out how to get the old broken one out of the hole.  

You have to really look close here to see the half inch long end of the screw sticking out of the back.  It's difficult to see, let alone reach, since it was covered with a ton of road sealant from Alaska!!  The only thing I can think of is to grab it with a pair of pliers and try to unscrew it.  That didn't happen ..... I'm ready to throw in the hat.  Maybe I can duck tape it enough to hold until I get to Oregon in July.  Just kidding ...... it's a challenge now!!  I finally threw my mechanics hat in the dirt after an hour and called my Expert-At-Everything, Mr. Dan Chance to ask for resolutions.  

His advice was to get a new rig!!  Or maybe that was MY thought!!  At any rate, I'm going to try the vise grips again today, along with a can of WD40 to see if I can loosen it at all.  Maybe a hammer would work!!!  Worst case, I'll go to Home Depot and ask for a drill bit that hopefully will drill through the screw.  The result will be a larger hole, which I will fill with a larger BOLT that won't shear off.

Frustrated by that problem, I decided to don my Chefs hat for something yummy to alleviate the pain of the Mechanics hat.  How about a key lime tart???  I don't have sour cream or a graham cracker crust, so I rushed to the store for a few groceries.  Key limes are little ... VERY little ... and it takes a LOT of them to make 3/4 cup of juice.  I vaguely remember one little seed at the bottom of the cup which I failed to remove.  Uh Oh!!!  Better keep an eye out for that!

Since I wanted to use up the Nilla Wafer cookies I had, I substituted those for the graham crackers.  BAD IDEA!!!  How could something so easy be so wrong!!  The crust came out of the oven like a rock!!!   The filling however was wonderful!!!  Who knew key limes made such a difference in the flavor!!  Not quite a disaster, at least I can eat the filling .... and it was YUMMY!!  I didn't eat the whole thing, I hacked through the crust with a hatchet to make individual pieces and stuck it in the freezer.  I imagine the entire thing will be gone by the time I get that screw replaced!!!

Time to go for a run ... I can't eat that much pie without SOME exercise!!!  Maybe running will shrink my head so the mechanics hat will fit again!!