So started the morning by watering the yard. My folks pump water from the creek that runs behind the house. Dad had run a lot of pipe and set spigots at several spots around the ranch, so there are 5 hoses to manage. It has been so warm recently that everything is drying out quickly. Things are going from green to brown quickly.
Then it was shower day for Dad, then I went and checked the foot valve for the pump that pumps,the water up,to the yard. As the creek level drops the foot valve can get blocked with weeds and mud. It was actually not too bad, but never hurts to check it.
Then I decided to cut the grass. So got that done.
Chad, Cindy and the boys made a trip over to bring Heath’s new (to him) truck over to our friend Kevin Zemple to get new brakes installed. It is a 1997 Ford Ranger pickup. Both Heath and Case have been detailing cars for a couple of years to raise money. This truck became available in their neighborhood because the older gentleman that had it was no longer able to drive (dementia). So Heath and his parents decided to buy it, even though Heath is only 13. He is pretty excited about it even though it will be a couple of years before he can drive it by himself. He has already detailed it and actually removed a Weather pin stripe off the truck. The photo below before Heath removed the weathered pin stripe.
His folks were pretty proud of him as he did that pretty much by himself, with some guidance from a neighbor that also details cars.
Cindy and Chad let the boys drive on the frontage road from the interstate exit to the ranch. So today Heath got to drive his truck no show it to us all. His parents are pretty proud of him and how disciplined with saving his money. Case is going to have to work hard to keep up with older brother. Case has Cadillac taste on a Chevrolet budget syndrome. He has been that way since he was a little guy.
Speaking of being a little guy, I have told him he has to quit growing. The reason is we had to work on Mom and Dad’s clothes dryer. Last weekend it started squeaking. Chad picked up a repair kit (rollers, idler pulley and new belt) last week in Helena and they brought it over today. Now Mom and Dad’s laundry room is small and very cramped. So getting the dryer vent hose and plugging/unplugging the dryer is quite a chore. Thankfully Case can hop into the tight spot and get it done. He inherited the position from Heath who is now too tall to get in the space.
So while the Galbavy’s went to town to drop off Heath’s truck. Colleen and I jumped on getting the dryer repaired so Case could do his vent and electrical plug in work when they got back from town. Now everything was going pretty smooth until we got to the last step of hooking up,the idler pulley. Turns out the belt that was in the kit was like 1/4 inch smaller than the old belt. In our rush to get the job done we did not think to compare the belts. So after I fought it for about 30 minutes we diagnosed the problem. However that meant we had to pretty much disassemble the Dryer again and swap out the belts. Fortunately the old belt was still in good condition. Now as I mentioned the laundry room is cramped. There is nothing funner than working on a dryer in the space that is the size of a phone booth (yes I know I am aging myself, because kids these days don’t have a clue what a phone booth is). Anyway, I was having to contort my fat ass into positions that I used to be able to do easily but not so anymore. I will probably really feel it tomorrow. It sucks to be both old and husky (sounds better than fat).
Anyway we got it done, it was a challenge, sailors were blushing as I cussed how cramped the space was, however I do think I can take one of these dryers apart blindfolded. I did a test run with a load of towels this evening and it worked like it should and no annoying squeaks.
So today was a maintenance day.
For some reason this did not post last night, so you are getting it this morning.
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