Today I woke up early, so wisely I rolled over, after the necessary trip to make myself more comfortable, and went back to sleep. I think that was the last wise thing I did today. Awakening at a more civilized hour, I went down stairs and my wonderful wife, apparently recovering well made me a breakfast of eggs, bacons and toast. Ahhhh! That might have be the last good thing of the day.
After a couple of quick chores for Doreen, I descended the bowels of the earth otherwise known as the old garage beneath my office to remove the snow blade from my garden tractor. That didn’t go too badly, not much blood was lost or swearing done and its pieces are now nicely laying alongside one wall for the next winter; I’m making a wild assumption that it won’t snow again this year.
With that under my belt I think began to tackle putting on the mower for the garden tractor. First, I had to remove the old blades which were in remarkably good shape considering all the things I smack with them over the course of the mowing season. That was when I started feeling my age and waning strength, the damned things would loosen then tighten up again. The problem turned out to be all the hardened crap on the ends of the bolts binding up. Ah, time for WD-40, of which I could not find but one little can in all the billions and billions of places I keep such things. Put that on with a little ascetone as Doreen had thrown away my mineral spirits. The Rule on the river here is if it’s not Doreen’s and she doesn’t know what it is, it gets thrown away or at least hidden in a new location known only to God. After walking up and down stairs to find things that I can’t remember; a distance equal to several marathons and gut busting straining on bolts (size 15 mm [all do-it-yourselfers know that that and the 17 mm socket are the ones always missing from metric socket sets and the only ones you really need.]) Finally, new blades installed I slide the mower under the tractor….backwards. I looked at it several more times, ran a few more marathons to find the damned manuals that the gremlins had hidden away, and finally pulled it out and put in back in the correct position. Bear in mind I have a B.A. (my college just called me to remind me of that and that they would like money from me), and an M Div. along with many advanced training programs. Ah, well, Einstein flunked math. Pins were pulled, bolts bolted, pins replaced, belts put in place, etc., etc., etc., and then I looked for the all important front draft rod.
I have a long history with the front draft rod as it is prone to getting bent up, and likes to hide. I am especially aware of its proclivities and make a marked effort to put it in a prominent place each year when I remove the mower so It cannot possible run away again. .. Yeah, the damned gremlins did it again; more marathons runs, truck drivers looked up in dismay and covered their ears as they heard me while they drove by. The devil’s minions had been hard at work. I called the nearest John Deere dealer in a small country in Europe and sure enough they had one. I disembarked to this place called Arcadia and purchased, one more time, the blasted front draft rod.
I am now home, the front draft rod is in an appropriate place, only missing a washer that will like cause the whole thing to explode in the middle of summer. I still need to change the oil and see if it runs. But I am too tired, and too old for all these shenanigans.
Wait…golf league starts tonight… gotta run.
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