Friday, June 01, 2012

Funny, and not so funny


6/1/12 Friday
          It’s hard to believe we are in June already. Almost halfway through another year and I am always so far behind on things. The gout remains active. Got my foot in my boot yesterday but getting the boot off was quite a chore after walking in it much of the day. I got the foot in the boot again this morning and already know there will be a price to pay but there are chores to be done and they will get done to the best of my ability. I also need to go work on that 1929 Ford truck today, as I said I would and try hard to be a man of my word.

          Had an experience yesterday, working on Cherie’s truck turn signal. This turn signal in the rear has been a consistent problem, as was the one on the other side was too. I guess this is a common issue with Chevy pickups around the years it is as the auto parts places stock replacement boards on the shelf.

          We know when the turn signal stops working because the light blinks much more rapidly than normal. Once again I removed the entire rear taillight assembly and took the board holding 4 bulbs off. I left the turn signal on in order to see when it started working again. Pulled the bulb in question out and it was still good, so I put it back in, jiggling it around in case the connection was bad. No luck. Played with the board more, unplugged the connection from the truck and put it back on, and then it started working. “Hallelujah” I thought as I put the assembly back together and reinstalled the taillight, all the while it was still blinking away like it should. I gathered my tools, closed the rear tailgate, and headed back to the garage when it stopped working again.

          “Nuts!” I exclaimed (or something similar to that) and headed back to the taillight. Once again I took it apart, once again I played with it, and this time I put some little pieces of aluminum foil in the contacts where the plug attaches. No luck on anything no matter how much or how I manipulated it so I gave up, deciding I will need to buy a new board for it. So I start to put it back together and suddenly the bulb starts blinking. Don’t know what caused that but am glad so keep on putting the taillight assembly back on the truck as it blinks away. As soon as I screw one of the retaining screws in tight the light stops working. By this time the sun has gone down and I am in no mood to start this process over again so finish putting it on. Then I once again gather my tools and when I close the tailgate the light once again starts working.

          I have no confidence it will keep on working and plan to buy another replacement board for it. When I told Cherie this story she laughed so hard it almost brought tears to her eyes as she apologized for laughing. I wasn’t laughing at all but am glad to make her laugh so that made things better.

          I am not looking forward to seeing how much more damage the rabbits have done to my cantaloupe this morning. It is frustrating to not be able to spend the time working on that issue I need. I plan on putting the fertilizer feed device in operation on the tomato plants, where I will not only add fertilizer through the drip irrigation but some of that bacteria I got that helps fight the salt in the water. Then I must rush to Midland and work on that model A Ford.

          Yesterday I had another reminder of the problems that come with having so much of my brain no longer operating. A week or so ago I went to Odessa to mow one of the lawns for that company we are not happy with. I had to remove the spark plug from the mower and clean it so had my entire set of tools out. Unfortunately I forgot to put the tool set back in the truck when I packed things up after the job. I didn’t realize it till I started looking for the tools to work on something. I called Cherie and she helped me remember where I had used them last. We made the 95 mile drive to see if the tools were still where I left them but they were long gone, picked up by whoever came by and saw the set sitting on the porch of the house. Sometimes being me is frustrating. I keep telling myself this is part of the price of being alive but it doesn’t always help me feel better about getting so lost so easily and losing so much because of it. It is similar to what some experience when they get up there in age, or similar to a child who is so easily distracted in their early years but for me, who once ran multiple companies, just plain frustrating.

          Well I have work to do and because of the foot it takes me much longer to even walk to where I am going. I shuffle along at about 12 inches a step, carefully placing the left foot down each time to reduce the pain. That company has more lawns it wants me to mow but that will have to wait. Remember that God is and God does care about you. Bye now.

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