Oh my poor damned neighbors.

[SeaCat]

This morning I got out of bed and looked foreward to today. There were several things I had on the list and I was ready.

I fixed the bedroom door. (The screws for the top hinge had pulled out.) I just replaced the door.

I put up the new Towel Bars and Toilet Paper holders in the Master Bathroom. I also replaced the Toilet Seat.

I fixed the hand sprayer in the Kitchen Sink.

I fired up the Smoker and when it was going turned the heat down low and slipped a Large Beef Roast into it. (I had injected and marinated the Roast with a mix of Garlic, Onion, Chipotle Pepper, Olive Oil, Pineapple Juice and a touch of Sea Salt. It had marinated for 24 hours.)

I went out to the bike to try and figure out what the battery wasn't charging. (Irritating that.) I opened the side panel and found the line coming off the rectifier had been changed. The previous owner had pulled the fuse from the fuse block and wired in an inline holder for ease of changing. Unfortunately he had done so in a makeshift manner with cheap parts. I liked the idea but not the way he had done it. I removed his work and replaced it an inline fuse holder of my own. His had cheap wire and was pig tailed around the fuse hold down screws. Mine was a heavier gauge wire and had Ring Terminals soldered to the ends of the wires. I also cleaned up the contact points then coated everything in a thin layer of conductive Grease. When I hooked the Multi-meter up to the bike I found my battery was charging correctly.

I went inside and put away my tools. I checked the to-do list and found that it was finished. My wife was busy playing on the computer. I looked out the window and the sun was shining. My wife looked at me and smiled as she pointed at my helmet, she knew what I was thinking.

I fired up the bike and headed out. I had a rough idea of where I was going but nothing in concrete. I headed a bit west and picked up a lower speed Highway. (Lower speed means it's posted at 50 MPH and not 70 MPH.) I got on the highway and opened the throttle until I was cruising along. I passed the occasional car but that was rare. The sun was shining and warm even aas the air was a nice cool 70 degrees. I ended up opening the top of my jacket to get a bit of a cooling breeze through it. Before I knew it I had reached the end of the highway and was at Lake O. I glanced at my Trip Odometer and saw it was coming up on time to get some go juice in the bike. I kept my eyes open and finally saw a station in the type of small town you saw in Easy Rider. I tanked up and putted down the street to a small diner.

I wwent inside and after shucking my coat ordered a large glass of water, a cup of coffee and a House Special. (Country Fried Steak.) As I sat there eating several other riders came strolling in. Seeing me they pulled up chairs at the counter next to me and we chatted as we ate. All of them had H.O.G. Patches and they asked if the bike out front was mine. (Well duh?) When I admitted that it was they asked about it. They seemed intrigued by the design and liked my plans for it.

When I was done I asked for and received another glass of water. Swallowing that I paid and strolled back out to the bike. Pulling on my gear I was happy when the bike fired right up. Checking for traffic I slipped it into gear and did a U-Turn from where I was sitting and headed off down the street. I finally made it back home at about 1600. (I had left a little before noon.) I parked the bike to the wonderful smell of woodsmoke in the air. My next door neighbors watched me climb off the bike and take off my helmet. They watched as this long haired Biker went tromping inside.

Dinner was that slow smoked roast, Bisquits and mixed veggies washed down with Sweet Tea.

After dinner we sat on the Patio for a bit, she with a glass of wine and me with a glass of Tequila and a cigar. We talked as I Saddle Soaped my leathers.

The bike is now locked up and put away for the next few days. Oh it does have an extra 130 miles on the odometer.

Cat

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Sounds idyllic. Oh, and will you give my husband lessons on that "to do list" thing? I can't seem to explain it to him in a way that makes him follow one.

 

[SeaCat]

Sounds idyllic. Oh, and will you give my husband lessons on that "to do list" thing? I can't seem to explain it to him in a way that makes him follow one.

LOLOL

Does he know what end of a screwdriver mates with a screw?

Honestly I don't know how not to work. I can't sit still, I enjoy working with my hands.

Then again I own my own place and I'm working hard on fixing it up and improving it.

I enjoy cooking and playing with food. I enjoy making things. I truly love my bike, it doesn't have a computer so it makes it easier to work on. Oh and I love my wife, making her happy is a good thing in my book.

Too many people I know can't do a damned thing. They don't have a clue and just don't seem interested in learning. I have a co-worker who called in a Plumber because her faucet leaked, then she complained about how much it cost. (When I told her I had just replaced my Hot Water Heater she just looked at me in shock.)

If I can't do it then I learn how to.

That doesn't mean I don't like to sleep in or sit on my ass. I do believe me. I truly love to sleep in and relax, but I refuse to pay money for something I can do.

Cat

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Oh, honestly I'm too hard on the poor guy. I need to learn to do more of this stuff myself because he doesn't have a tremendous amount of free time for DIYing our house. He's pretty handy with a screwdriver. And a cutting torch. And a torque wrench. And all sorts of tools I couldn't put a name to if my life depended on it. Farmers pretty much fix most of their own equipment themselves so they learn to be pretty handy.

It's just that when the weather's good he's out working pretty much sunup to well past sundown and when he gets home or gets a day off he's just not keen on doing all my nifty projects like fixing the broken seal on the toilet and replacing the wooden subfloor that's warped because of the toilet leak all the way to the tiled walls or replacing the tiled over faucet in the bathtub that you can't just screw off like a normal faucet. And a lot of them aren't projects I have the knowledge or physical ability to do myself.

BTW, I'm borrowing your injection/marinade. I had some ribeyes in the fridge thawing that were just begging for it.

 

[SeaCat]

Oh, honestly I'm too hard on the poor guy. I need to learn to do more of this stuff myself because he doesn't have a tremendous amount of free time for DIYing our house. He's pretty handy with a screwdriver. And a cutting torch. And a torque wrench. And all sorts of tools I couldn't put a name to if my life depended on it. Farmers pretty much fix most of their own equipment themselves so they learn to be pretty handy.

It's just that when the weather's good he's out working pretty much sunup to well past sundown and when he gets home or gets a day off he's just not keen on doing all my nifty projects like fixing the broken seal on the toilet and replacing the wooden subfloor that's warped because of the toilet leak all the way to the tiled walls or replacing the tiled over faucet in the bathtub that you can't just screw off like a normal faucet. And a lot of them aren't projects I have the knowledge or physical ability to do myself.

BTW, I'm borrowing your injection/marinade. I had some ribeyes in the fridge thawing that were just begging for it.

Ask him to teach you.

As for Rib Eyes, Look on the web for a Jamaican Jerk. Replace the Scotch Bonnets with Jalepenos and add a couple of spoons of either Honey or Brown Sugar. Inject and Marinade for 24 hours before grilling. It will rock your socks. (As long as you like Spicy.)

Cat

 

[SlickTony]

It's nice if you're just naturally handy, which it sounds like you are. I do what I can; for instance, I cobbled an old waterbed frame into an etagiere which we've got the TV set, the cable box, the VCR (which hasn't been used in YEARS) and the DVD player on. My husband hates it. But it only cost about $27 to make, and that's because I had to run down to the hardware store for a few tools and parts I didn't have.

However, it's more often the case that any project we get up to tends to involve more time, more scraped knucklesn and more trips to the hardware store than we ever anticipated.

That reminds me--we've got a bathtub faucet that leaks. Well, we'd be a hell of a lot more willing to tackle it if we could turn off the water for the BATHTUB. You used to be able to do this. When I was coming up the house I lived in had a little door to the right of the toilet, and behind that door were the valves to the bathtub. The fact that you don't see this anymore is just another one of the chintzy little corner-cutting dodges that obtain in building, like windows that don't have screens. We've replaced sinks before. We've replaced bathroom sinks and kitchen and bathroom faucets. We've replaced the garbage disposal. The sinks had their own valves that we could turn off, and if we needed water we went to the OTHER bathroom or the kitchen. I just know that if we tackle the leaky faucet for the bathtub, it'll take longer than we want it to, and in the meantime, the entire water supply for the HOUSE will have to be off.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

That reminds me--we've got a bathtub faucet that leaks. Well, we'd be a hell of a lot more willing to tackle it if we could turn off the water for the BATHTUB. You used to be able to do this. When I was coming up the house I lived in had a little door to the right of the toilet, and behind that door were the valves to the bathtub. The fact that you don't see this anymore is just another one of the chintzy little corner-cutting dodges that obtain in building, like windows that don't have screens.

The downside of older houses that have neat things like the access door to turn off water to just the bathtub (like mine) is that they tend to have equal downsides in other areas. Doing electric work on our house is a nightmare because the electric system is very much cobbled together. One circuit might be the closet lights in one bedroom, the wall switch and outlets in the living room, and the refrigerator. Another might be 3/4 of the lights in the house. In newer construction they started putting a little more thought into the wiring.

Oh, and Cat - I live in Texas. Spicy is my middle name.

 

[SlickTony]

I know all about that--in Baton Rouge, we rented a house that was built, I think, during the Coolidge administration. You could not run the TV and the VCR, or the microwave and the toaster, at the same time without tripping a breaker. At least we didn't have to dick around with fuses.

 

[keeblercrumb]

Cat man....

Thanks for reminding us of the beauty and pleasure to be found in the simple things of life.

It's easy to forget sometimes....

Thanks again...

-KC

 

[SeaCat]

It's nice if you're just naturally handy, which it sounds like you are. I do what I can; for instance, I cobbled an old waterbed frame into an etagiere which we've got the TV set, the cable box, the VCR (which hasn't been used in YEARS) and the DVD player on. My husband hates it. But it only cost about $27 to make, and that's because I had to run down to the hardware store for a few tools and parts I didn't have.

However, it's more often the case that any project we get up to tends to involve more time, more scraped knucklesn and more trips to the hardware store than we ever anticipated.

That reminds me--we've got a bathtub faucet that leaks. Well, we'd be a hell of a lot more willing to tackle it if we could turn off the water for the BATHTUB. You used to be able to do this. When I was coming up the house I lived in had a little door to the right of the toilet, and behind that door were the valves to the bathtub. The fact that you don't see this anymore is just another one of the chintzy little corner-cutting dodges that obtain in building, like windows that don't have screens. We've replaced sinks before. We've replaced bathroom sinks and kitchen and bathroom faucets. We've replaced the garbage disposal. The sinks had their own valves that we could turn off, and if we needed water we went to the OTHER bathroom or the kitchen. I just know that if we tackle the leaky faucet for the bathtub, it'll take longer than we want it to, and in the meantime, the entire water supply for the HOUSE will have to be off.

Naturaly handy? Possibly but you haven't seen some of the simple projects that turned into major jobs by the time I was done.

As for the chintzy little dodges, I too have dealt with them. Hell I'm dealing with them now.

In my Trailer the Faucet and valves in the tub in the main bathroom leaked like you wouldn't believe. There was no access to them.

I looked and measured and finally figured out where they were in relation to the closet that backs up to the bathroom. I cut a hole through that claset wall and found the piping and valves. Who would have thought it? There were no shut off valves.

I measured and inspected and measured again. Then I visited the local Hardware store and bought what I needed. I shut off the main water valve to the trailer and cut out sections of pipe leading to the shower. On these I installed the new shut off valves I had bought. Now I could turn on the water to the rest of the trailer and not have to worry. Now I could fix the valve assembly in the bathroom at my leisure. (Which I did.) When I was done I simply cut a piece of paneling to fit the hole in the back of the closet, installed some small hinges and a simple latch and put it into place. Now if I have to work on those valves again I can.

The wiring in this trailer is a nightmare. Power is routed through a small Circuit Breaker Box which has a total of 6 Breakers in it. In my fathers shed is a nice shiny new Breaker Box with slots for 20 Breakers. It will be mounted next to the small one. As I re-do the ceiling and walls I will be replacing all of the wiring in this trailer. All of this nice new wiring will be routed into the new box. When I am done I will have nice new, up to code wiring and it will make sense. (Yes I have done this before.) It will have the things like the Clothes Dryer and the Hot Water Heater on their own circuits. The celing fans on their own breakers. No more than two wall sockets on any one breaker. Well you get the picture.

Another project in the near future is to replace the Electric Hot Water Heater with a Propane fired one. I have finished the exhaust venting for it as well as laying of the gas line to it. The next step is to install the Heater itself. (That's going to be a pain in the butt because of where the Heater is.)

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

Cat man....

Thanks for reminding us of the beauty and pleasure to be found in the simple things of life.

It's easy to forget sometimes....

Thanks again...

-KC

Life to me is all about the simple things.

There is joy to be found in so many things we either ignore or take for granted. I try to focus on those things. To me they are so much more important.

Sitting on the patio on a cold morning wrapped in a blanket. Holding a hot cup of coffee and watching the sun rise.

Being met when I come home by the cats, their love is unquestioning.

Waking up in the middle of the night and feeling the warmth of my wife laying next to me.

Taking the time to make something, and then watching the face of the person I give it to.

Climbing in the car with my wife on a rainy day and just heading out with no real destination in mind, and knowing that we'll see something we haven't seen before.

Working all day in the heat and sun, then coming inside and drinking something ice cold, feeling it washing away the dust and the heat and the way you shudder.

Laying in bed at night and watching the lightning flash in the windows and hearing the thunder while knowing you're safe and dry.

Fixing something, no matter how small and knowing you fixed it.

Making a great meal, then sitting down and enjoying it.

Solving a problem.

Surprising the hell out of someone, in a good way.

Doing something most other people would never dream of doing.

I like all of us have a history. I have a couple of reminders of that history sitting in my home. I use them to remind me of what is important in life. To me it is the little things that make life worth living.

Cat