Tinkering Time

It's Pearl Harbor Memorial Day.  Never forget those who lost their lives protecting our country.  

It was another overcast, foggy, gloomy day here at Buzzard's Roost.  So far this year, the buzzards have not shown up.  As much as I love their photographic qualities, I'm not sad that there is no poo to wash off the surrounding concrete.  They are what they eat, and that's dead rotten stuff.  

I occupied myself all morning long, fussing over where to carry the generator.  I was hoping to figure out a spot in the fifth wheel.  It could go where the barbecue is hiding, but then where do I put the barbecue?  

Maybe the front compartment, underneath the hitch.  That didn't go well at all.  I hit my head three times on the door, making it come loose and catch me in it's mouthy grip.  It took lots of strength to lift up that 48 pounds because I couldn't stand up straight, then try to duck under the door and deposit it almost upside down.  

That's when I noticed the floor of that compartment is very thin metal, as in I could move it up and down with my finger.  I can just see the bottom falling out, along with my generator.  Getting it back OUT of the hole was just as hard as getting it IN there, not to mention that now I had to carry it all the way back to the garage, well over 100 feet.  Oh my aching back!!

Big sigh ... I went back to my original idea of getting it in the toolbox.  I hefted it up on the truck tailgate and went looking for the magic bolt to remove those little feet.  But this time, I'm measuring first.  It's GOT to work ..... so I cut the carpet in two smaller pieces and once again hefted that heavy generator into place right in the middle.  

Very slowly, I lowered the lid and VOILA!!!  IT FIT!!!  I can't believe it.  I did a little happy dance just as my neighbor and Halo showed up.  She looked at me with that look of are you crazy??  Halo and Cooper are best buds and just LOVE running around the yard together.  

With that problem finally solved, I gathered up most of the tools I had stuffed under the back seat of the truck and stuck them in the toolbox too.  I really need some kind of divider in there, so I'm now on a mission to find the perfect sized cardboard box!!

I did a little more packing here and there when I noticed the bottom of the RV door stuck out further then the top.  A little more investigation revealed a weird little piece of plastic about half an inch thick, stuck to the bottom of the door with glue, kind of like a bumper.  What the heck is that for???  Thinking of nothing, I ripped it off.  Amazingly, the door now shuts SO much more easily, latches nicely and is even all the way around.  It's the little things folks!!

Maybe some day I'll find out where that 8 foot long stick of molding laying on the top of the slide belongs.  Back inside, I printed out the "hook up" directions, just as a reminder in case I forget something.  

While walking back and forth carrying the generator, I took a good look at the back forty.  It appears the Weedman's formula is working very well.  The weeds are completely dead.  Now I just need to get someone in there to either mow them down, or disc the place up.  That brought up another problem, there's no way to get a tractor through the gate without cutting the gatepost off.  That's a project for another day, which I'm happy to say will require I purchase another tool!!  Woohoo!

In the meantime, fuel prices continue to rise.  That's $5.10 a gallon for supreme, and $4.89 for diesel.  If I throw cash at them, I can save an entire $5 on one tank that cost $244.00.  

Back to my garage, although I thought I had given away all the gas cans I had, I actually found three of the old variety where you don't have to be a magician to get the gas to exit the can.  Trouble is, they aren't exactly clean inside.  My next trick will be to figure out how to clean them out before filling them up with liquid gold.  I have an engagement coming up ... my truck is scheduled to pull the Hay Ride at the local Christmas Fair and needs the generator to run the Christmas lights.  Won't that be fun!!

AND ... its MAGIC KINGDOM NIGHT!!!  Time to put on my I GAVE YOU A RED TICKET face for the crowds!!