Biting The Bullet

 I think I may have spent my last morning on the patio for awhile, although the night temps won't be quite as drastic.  In case you were wondering why I go to Arizona in the summer ... it's a balmy 95 there for the next week, with chances of rain.  Surprisingly cooler than California.  Instead of taking a dip in a horse trough, I'll be taking a dip into my savings account to pay for cooling!

Yesterday was get-it-done day before the weekend crowds hit the stores.  First up, return that angle grinder.  As suggested, I think I'll check out Harbor Freight for a cheaper version.  Then it was down the long lonesome aisles looking for sprinkler parts and pieces.

I always feel like such an outsider when cruising Home Depot.  I get "the looks" when I'm in power tools and smiles in the garden section.  It takes some time to find exactly what you want when it comes to sprinkler and drip stuff.  This time I didn't feel quite so bad since there was one other guy standing there staring at the long wall of boxes for the entire time I was looking.  

I think I got everything required to splice the drip and repair the pop-up riser.  I got a few extra pieces just for good measure.  

It had been suggested that maybe I should use this version of a steel post cutter instead of the electrified one.  I already broke my cheapo depo hacksaw, so I decided a new TOUGHER one might work.  It would probably take me a couple hours a day for eight days to get it done, but it's a possibility.  

Hacksaws should definitely come with directions.  Once I finally got the cover off, I discovered the blade was on upside down, I suppose to protect anyone who handles it.  So just HOW do you get the blade off?  I finally discovered the silver thingy on the right turns, loosening the silver thingy on the left.  Those are professional terms by the way.  Too bad it doesn't say "don't turn it too much", because what happens is the little nut holding it all together, falls off.

And just where does that little nut fall?  Why in the garbage can of course.  That lovely enclosed space full of now rotten food, really gross moldy leftovers covered in bird seed and beef juice.  Yes, yes I did dig through every single quarter inch.  Not once, but TWICE trying to find that stupid nut.  Oh I found lots of Jonathans nuts, but no silver one.  

Finally, after doing it for the second time, I found the darn thing, using some lovely words in the process.  I mean really ..... 

I turned the blade around and put it back together.  I do have a question though ... there are blades with different numbers of teeth per inch.  What do I need to cut a steel post?  What about wood, since it does come in handy for cutting up sticks for Jonathan to chew on.  That's a requirement by the way.  If you don't give parrots sticks to chew, their beak will grow until they can't eat.  Just another parrot tip.

So ... on to the next project ... fitting this cell phone holder over my huge truck mirror.  There is no place to put my one and only GPS (my phone) in the truck.  Looking down at the seat has become a problem.  Surprisingly, this cheap little $15 Amazon purchase works like a charm.

Next project please:    I have a yellow notification on my alarm system.  It makes me wonder ... I tried to call them three times and got no answer.  Maybe I should have set off the alarm.  Anyway, my past experience has shown it's usually the battery.  They are not rechargeable.  

When they eventually answer the phone, of course they wanted to sell me an entire new panel.  Big sigh.  Can't you just look at it on your screen and tell me what's wrong?  They have done that in the past.

Nope ... I got nothing ... no suggestions, no idea what's wrong and no help.  It's been five years, I'll just change out the battery.  The amount of wire in this box is epic.  You should see what's ABOVE this box.  It's even worse ... and I have absolutely no idea WHAT it's for.  I'm guessing maybe cable TV?  Although the cable company tells me it's not theirs.  

So I miss the bull riding at the Calgary Stampede (the biggest rodeo in the world) so I can get to the alarm company before 3:45 to pick up a new battery.  It's weird ... that last one I bought was $120.  This new one only $30.  

Once installed, I ran back inside to see the yellow light still blazing away.  Apparently that wasn't the problem.  Now I'm faced with a panel replacement for around $250.00.  I can't seem to win lately, but having an alarm system here is a must, so I suppose I'll bite the bullet.  I mean what can you do when you know nothing about this sort of thing?

In this morning's "cool" I will change out that sprinkler, splice some of the leaky drip lines and otherwise try to make sure everything is getting a drink.  

Then I'm going to watch rodeo ALL DAY LONG hoping nothing else happens that requires some kind of hat I don't own yet!!!  No more bullet biting ... I need all of my teeth!!