The Google Voice service transcribes voice mail messages ( by machine ) which can be somewhat off:
“This is James a catholic area calling let you know that your car needs 8 number is that it is not opening and closing properly parts and labor to your place with them. That is about 481. Give me a call back. 555-2036. Thank you.”
I get the gist. Thankfully Google has a Play Message Back link with the real deal.
22 in tips throwing bags yesterday. 20 for co-pay at the Chiropractor’s today 😉
From Old Town take a right. The bike trail follows the Sacramento River to the confluence of the American River at Discovery Park and continues for miles and miles. Sampling a small portion on foot I passed through arid land sustained by the River. There are Elder Trees, and impressive 90 foot Cottonwood Trees draped with cascading wild grape vines. Stick to the lush North side of the American River to maximize scenery and shade.
Paved black top with dirt shoulders.
These old relics are barely visible from Front St. which challenged me for a closer look. The tracks are behind chain link fencing and not intended for public access but I probed and found a homeless (hobo?) dirt path between snarling thorny berry vines.There were two locomotives that belong to the museum down track in Old Town Sacramento. They would be candidates for cosmetic restoration and static display some day. They are retired now but I did find an 8mm film clip from a train buff showing this very engine, in action, circa 1956: Pacing 5021
Shade tree mechanic(s) wrestle with a faulty radiator coolant expansion tank: The reservoir was split which allowed weepage and seepage which eventually became leakage. None of these symptoms were visible from the engine compartment topside, except for the occasional adding of coolant. The sickening sweet smell from the slippery glycol mixture dripping from the underbelly was also noted. A new unit was ordered. The challenging bit was the removal of the original hoses and clamps. They were hard to access due to obscure placement and confined space. Luckily we prevailed with the uttering of only a few choice curse words and NO skinned knuckles. We took step by step photos detailing the procedure. Once the new piece was in place we followed the procedure to refill and bleed the system.
There must be a way to avoid the annoyance. You can’t see but you sure can feel the web as it brushes across your face. A walking stick swung in an arc while proceeding between trees on the narrow parts? I was on a 5 mile loop but wondering how hikers on a longer hike fare. Perhaps they just tough it out. I think I’d end of talking to myself by the end of the day. I kept thinking that every encounter was a score for some little devious spider tick critter.The New Hope Trail is well marked and mapped by the Division of Parks and Recreation but I had Trails software [opens iTunes] on my GPS device to try, and despite tree canopy interference it worked well.
There was another creature that I came across. After we sized each other up I decided to politely acquiesce.
The railing had developed an ominous lean from warping of this baseboard over time. $50 dollars in lumber and new fasteners plus some sweat (free) put it right again. A photo sequence details the task. 4 inch deck screws were used for the repair in place of the original nails. This should help to prevent a re-occurrence. There were two challenges; Hauling the new boards and manhandling the HEAVY Radial Arm saw. Needed: One of these. The lumber yard refused to cut our 12 foot boards into a manageable transport length citing hazmat from the Ammoniacal Copper Quaternary in the treated wood. A family sedan was not purposed for this. What to do with the old boards… a planter box?
The Driving: A serious challenge and will whip any lazy (brain dead) USA motorist into a focused attentive driver pretty darn quick. The country roads are ultra narrow. Add bicyclists, motorcyclists, farm tractors, pedestrians, equestrians to the mix and there is no chance for bad habits like fumbling with the CD changer or blabbing on the cellular.
The Laws: Roadway Signage is excellent — until you get to a traffic circle round-a-bout that is; then all bets are off. Stop Light Signals, when RED, change next to YELLOW and then GREEN drag race staging style. Lane discipline on the motorways is something to see. No left lane, er uh, right-lane bandits ever.
The Cars: 80% are subcompact Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fords, Citroen all silly looking and fugly. Some of these towing caravans(!). Surprised at how many MINIs there are. They blend in (fit) really well. If I change my residence, then I would have one of those. Trucks have safety side bumpers to prevent small cars from wedging underneath. “Well Driven? +44 0555-1212”. A scarcity of American cars. Only saw a half dozen or so and most of them were the Chrysler minivan. Spotted 1 Corvette and 1 Ford Lightning PU. The medium|high priced car in the UK is, in order of popularity, Audi (by far), BMW, Mercedes. Our “hire car” was a Land Rover Freelander 2 which was either a curse or a blessing. Thankful for the extra room / comfort but we were now the biggest and widest thing (the British relative equivalent to a Ford Excursion) on those aforementioned skinny country lanes.
Navigation: Thank gawd for the in-dash NAV system. Off the beaten path exploration would have been a PITA impossible without it. The Brits use miles and MPH (?!)
With plenty of daylight after a light supper at the country Inn we ventured for a walk onto the Glen. The hillsides were once wooded but are now green grass and devoid of trees; grazed for years by sheep. The area, beginning at the River Devon, is now protected and is undergoing a re-creation by the Woodland Trust Scotland. After a short distance but with moderate rise over run we had a commanding view of surrounding farms, hillsides, and the Castlehill Reservoir below. We chose not to linger long as there was a chill with a strong breeze and fading sun.
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A helpful repair forum suggested removing the oxygen sensor from underneath the car by first removing the catalytic converter at the exhaust manifold. Another poster thought access could be made from under hood above after removing the wiper assembly and other bolt on pieces. The former sounded like a can of worms with possible rusted or frozen manifold nuts so I went in from the top side. I found it unnecessary to remove anything. You can snake your arm between the cowl and engine cover to put the special 22mm slotted socket and ratchet wrench onto the plug by feel. The photo shows what is hidden to the eye behind the transverse mounted engine. (I had to guess at the camera angle with several attempts to frame the shot.) Luckily the plug threads release without a cheater bar or skinned knuckles. The sensor’s cabling follows the head shield to under the car and abeam the catalytic converter where the end plug is located. There is a universal part which replaces the original but it requires identifying and splicing wires. The cost is a bit higher but do yourself the favor and purchase an OEM style part with the correct wire length and connector. There is a second sensor positioned after the converter which is easier to get to but that one only monitors catalytic converter health and is likely not the one needing changed. That figures, right? Total time to R & R the forward O2 sensor: 100 minutes. |
