All posts by cs

transmission tech

Such a small leak, a dollar size pancake, you should hardly notice. That’s what I told B.O.U.R.Girl ’cause I didn’t want her to obsess over the weekend. She’s coming off of a previous relationship with a bad leak. The pink fluid on the garage is either transmission or AWD clutch over-run.

The auto-stick is an improvement over the ‘old’ car. It knows to hold 1st gear after a stop light. Also, you can optionally select 2nd (or even 3rd gear) from a dead stop which would minimize wheel spin when starting on mud / snow / ice.

Hank, from the shop says, it’s a seal and he “hain’t seen that kinda problem yet – better leave it with us overnight.” Gota just stop the bleeding.

da bomb

Sue, across from us was wringing her hands. Her daughter’s old Blazer 4 x 4, now derelict and since replaced by a newer ride, died and has been stationary in the driveway for weeks. The cost to tow and repair said beater would likely exceed its residual worth. She cranked the worn V-6 which sputtered but spewed raw fuel from a split in cracked and rotted fuel hose line. Sue asked if it’s okay to drive and I replied yeah — so long as nobody flicks a cigarette butt your way at an intersection stop light 😉 Do you feel lucky? (said with Clint Eastwood impersonation). I knew it would be an easy fix. But I kept that to myself, not keen on making a parts run to the Pep Boys nor crawling under the belly of the beast for a guaranteed dowsing of fuel. We discussed scenarios and I walked (ran) away.

By the end of the day, however, S’man and I rose to the challenge and had it fixed. It became a father and son project. Conveniently, a section of NOS fuel line from a previous repair was discovered in my garage. My idea was that he’d do the work and I’d supervise. The job required cutting out the old fuel filter with exacto, screw driver, clamps, and a flash light. A third hand (mine) was used to plug the dike while splicing in two new hose sections. Very low hassle factor, as it turns out, but I was right about the other. We both totally reek of gas.

No mind. The fumes will dissipate in a few days. Sue and her daughter loaded us up with praise, gratitude, admiration, and some leftover baked lasagna dinner.

waiting for the other shoe

Now he’s gone and done it. Normally mild mannered and self tending he’s in a heap of trouble. Dawg got himself a piece of another dog that passed too close to his property line. Its owner was unamused and called us on it. Rather than risk being sued I apologetically offered to satisfy the vet bill. Uh oh. Dog’s owner rushed him to emergency surgery where they put the dog out and stitched him up. Probably had to keep him overnight for ‘observation’. The victim has to wear one of those odd funnel cone neck collars for 10 days. Do you suppose expensive antibiotic prescriptions and a follow up visit or two? Grit teeth. I’m not going to think about it. We love(d) our pet but his fate is on the bubble.

quick turn

My company has been trying to emulate the success model of a particular airline with the initials SW. Known for the ability to turn a flight on a dime we strive to match their efficiency. Our initiative is called a Goal 25. It used to be a Goal 20 but nobody could ever achieve that one so they made it a Goal 25. The idea is that from the time that the aircraft pulls into the blocks – disgorges passengers, bags unloaded, serviced, re-fueled, provisioned to when the door is again closed and ready to depart with a new load of people – that no more than 25 minutes elapses. Hustle.

sending signals

We lost our FA. Well, we knew it was coming. She’d been saying how that pesky cold was coming on and her ears were bothering her during the climbs and descents. In fact she relayed an amusing story. The FA jumpseat (she rides backwards) faces the first class pax. She watches them and they watch her (when they aren’t otherwise absorbed in their newspapers). I guess during an episode of trying to equalize she suffered some discomfort resulting in watering of the eyes. A front row pax saw the tears and assuming the worst asked her sheepishly, “Are WE okaayyyy?” No telling how they must have agonized over what horribly onerous piece of information that the FA certainly MUST know but was keeping within. No folks, if there is something wrong with the airplane the FA’s job is to brief and prepare everyone, not internalize. This morning she bailed out.

rollin’ on

The actor that portrayed the Pete Nolan character has passed on. Pete Nolan, the trail scout? You do remember Wishbone and Mushy. Gil Favor? Okay, Rowdy Yates, then? (well, never mind. browse to the next post). His actual name was Sheb Wooley. He was also a song writer — “Purple People Eater” (1958) and also the theme for the “Hee Haw” TV series. I did not know this.

Lemons

It began with so much delight and excitement. We were careful to select one (6 miles on the odo) that had not been demonstrated or hot rodded by lot boyz. Since the selling dealer was over a hundred miles away, we took the train — a rare adventure happening in itself. We picked up our new wheels and we were tickled. We gave it the TLC.

Now the bloom has blown off and, sad to say, soon it will be split city. Over the months we’ve uncovered it’s defective nature. Hero to zero in 41 months. The factory attempted numerous fixes but never found permanent remedy. Each occurrence resulted in spectacular failure with emergency calls for roadside assist. It is for the courts to decide now, but when it’s all been said and done we will miss the badboy. Every time I hear a train whistle during the still morning hours, I will remember our fun.

Frisbee Comp

There are two dogs in the article. This ringer is a hard act to follow. The background dawg (ours) is not distracted by this performance however. He is on the bubble and, as you can see, concentrating and totally focused on the task at hand. Observe the disc lying there on the grass in front. Soon it will get tossed skyward and he will be ready to nab it!

painted lady

The FA giggled and was wiggling her polished toes. No, this is not a hot tub story while on layover. She was right behind me at 5:30 am in the sreening line retrieving her removed shoes. I saw two of them poking through the hole in her hose. She was actually proud to display them and not embarrassed. I should have glanced up at the TSA watching the diversion to see if he was amused (or not).