April 01-06 2013

[madgravity]

 

Welcome to the month of April!

Dang windy today with temps in the low 70s.

I did my stretches.

A recap on Sunday: I spent all day replacing the fuel pump in the Cougar. I started the car and the engine worked just fine, but there was a hissing noise coming from where the the fuel pump was. I looked and noticed that it was spraying gas and quickly turned off the engine and disconnected the battery. What had happened was that the fuel line somehow had gotten a small nick where I cut the metal to get at the fuel pump and was spraying gas everywhere. I won’t go into detail of all the cuts, scrapes, and bumps to my head installing the pump.

Today: I took Mac’s little car to Autozone in Twentynine Palms to get a union, a long brass fitting with ribs, and use it to connect two ends and splices them together.

I did as the instructions said and soaked the two cut ends of the fuel line in hot water to soften the plastic tubing, then put the union inside each half and pushed until I got them as far up on the union as I could. I connected the battery back up and started the engine...no leak, Yay for me!!!!

I took Mac’s little car back to him and picked up my truck that I had left there and drove it back home.

I remembered I needed to install the new fuel filter and got under the car to do that, but when I disconnected the fuel line from the old filter, it sprayed gas all over me; I’m glad I quite smoking decades ago :)

With all that done, I drove the Cougar to pick up my mail and she ran very well.

Later in the evening I drove over to Kelly’s home for a short spell...

I watched season 2 episodes 19 and 20 of “Numb3rs: Guns and Roses, and Rampage.

Tuesday 02- still a windy day but not as bad as yesterday.

I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, core trainer, and punched the heavybag for five minutes. I had to stick around waiting for the Honda dealership to call about the lemon scooter, so I didn’t go for a run... I need to go for a run soon.

One of the dove eggs hatched! Earlier in the day I heard a noise of loud flapping by the nest and found that a quail had sat on top of a trash can that had a hinged top and fell inside when it opened. I let the poor creature out; it was okay and I fed it some seed. The mother dove flew away at that time and I checked on its nest and found that one of the eggs had a small crack in it. I checked a few hours later and discovered the baby dove.

The Honda dealer Rocky called and we seem to have come up with a plan.

Wednesday 03- a very nice day with temps in the low 80s.

I did my stretches.

I left early around 9am to take the trip to Yucca Valley to the Honda Dealer to finalize the demise of the Lemon Honda and the birth of the new Yamaha Zuma 5occ scooter. Rocky was very helpful and we agreed that the deal was a fair one. I am now the owner of a Yamaha Zuma; the bike I should have bought in the first place. After all the problems I had and the time and frustrations trying to get it working I can truly say I will never buy a Honda again. Austin will deliver it on friday.

After I got back I took a nap and spent a few hours reading the Zuma’s owner’s manual.

I checked up on the dove nest and the mother and dad were both there at the nest and decided not to disturb them.

I watched season 5 episode 19 of “Castle: The Lives of the Others”: a very big surprise at the ending!

Thursday 04- a little windy and temps in the low 80s.

I did my stretches.

I had to get the Cougar washed and ready to drive Kelly down to her doctor’s appointment in Palm Desert at 1pm.

I picked her up at noon and we were driving down the road from her house when the car started acting like the engine was hesitating. Kelly thought it might have air in the fuel line or the injectors were clogged. We made it all the way to Yucca Valley where I pulled into the parking lot at WalMart to get some injector cleaner when the engine stalled completely and wouldn’t start. I checked everything that may have been wrong and all I could think of is that the new fuel pump I installed on Sunday was defective. I had to have Kelly made the call to AAA and arranged for the tow, that’s how truly upset I was, not in a mean way, but in a confused kinda way trying to think things through. We went to Subway to get sandwiches and did a little shopping at WalMart as we waited for the tow truck to take us back home. I could tell that Kelly was in lots of pain and had the tow truck driver drop her off at her house first since it was on the way. Once we had the Cougar in my driveway I transferred Kelly’s groceries into my truck and drove to her house to mellow out for a spell watching Star Trek Next Generation. She fell asleep and I read from my laptop I had brought with me that I was supposed to use while waiting at the doctor’s office we never made it to.

Friday 05- it was a really nice day, but a bit breezy!

I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the hell out of the heavy bag. I needed to hang around the house and couldn’t go for a run because I was waiting for a call from the Honda dealer to deliver my brand new 2012 Yamaha Zuma 50cc scooter.

While I was waiting I checked out a few more things on the Cougar to see if it’d start; it didn’t. I will work on it tomorrow.

Austin dropped off the scooter around 3pm and it appeared in good shape. I thanked him and then after I called AAA to update my insurance policy, headed on over to Rite Aid to pick up Kelly’s prescriptions she desperately needed. The scooter had plenty of get up and go, and rode on the dirt road without any problem.

I picked up a roasted chicken over at Stater Brothers and shared it with Kelly when I dropped off her prescriptions.

I watched season 1 episode 19 of “Elementary: Snow Angels”: about a guard being shot and killed during the biggest storm to hit New York City.

Saturday 06- pretty windy today, but warm.

I did my stretches.

I went right to work on the Cougar. My thinking was that I didn’t have it screwed into the bottom of the tank all the way; there is a little bracket you twist it into until it locks. I twisted it into the bracket and thought that I fixed the problem because it started right up. So I put all my tools that I might need to repair it again in the trunk and took it for a test spin. It was a good thing I did bring the tools because not more than a mile away it sputtered and died. I was in the middle of a side road and said the hell with it and took the whole unit out dripping gas and all. It seems that the top of the unit came unsnapped, so I took the unit all apart, put everything back in place inside the way it should be, snapped the top back on unit, twisted the unit back into the bracket at the bottom of the gas tank, put the top back on and connected the hose and electric connection. The Cougar fired right up and I drove it home. I will not trust this car until I drive it around for a spell. I will borrow a car from someone to take Kelly to her doctor’s appointment on Tuesday.

I decided to drive my new scooter around for a spell. I stopped by at Mac’s to yap of my tales of woes at him and show off my new scooter.

I got back home before sunset to feed the doves.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the newsletter.

***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******

the FDA scientists are known to look the other way and then get hired by these pharmaceuticals later on; labs and scientists are paid to produce conflicting studies and become spokespersons. I made up my mind last night to finish using up what I have that contains aspartame and buy no more. Same thing with GMOs... they release these alterations of nature into the wild, like the public is some kinda test bed or petri dish, then hope that they can make as much money as they can before their product is found out to be a killer. :(

Good Teachers always pass on a little seed that grows and spreads beyond anything they could ever imagine. Be the harvester of dreams and the dreamer of realms yet discovered.

Lost in a sea of darkness with no light at end, you set your sails and cast lines  to sail away again. The little boat has food to last beyond the crimson pillar gates, the wind is swift and tugs the sail from this evil place.

Those words we never spoken, to those we feel so dear, of hearts that may be broken, by words they’ll never hear. Fear of love is endless, a feat that may be tamed, by those who treat you kindly, and love you all the same. If you fail to ponder, of what the future holds, you may live beyond your time and always live alone.

So listen hard and listen long to what the songbird says, if your life you never seek a truer heart instead. You'll end up on that road alone lost in realms of woe, to travel forth, but hesitate, never to walk this way again.

Surround yourself with interesting people who have the courage to be different, exhibit profound creative ability, and the unpresumptuous audacity to think they can change the world for the better!

Interesting!

I water witched before! I was in Washington state on a friend's property and he was doing it... I didn't believe him and he gave me the rods and said for me to try it. He showed me but it didn't work until he laid his hand on my shoulder and the rods crossed... after that I was able to walk around and find water where the rods crossed. I could back up and down from where I found it and the rods would cross and uncross; I thought that was pretty neat, so I keep an open mind of things I can't explain...

I was visiting a friend's house and there were 5 guys playing cards. They were drinking... I told them I didn't know how to play cards. They said it was easy and showed me. I kept winning... I had to go to work at Mattel Toys and told them I had to quit. they got really mad and said they wanted me to stay so they could have a chance to win their money back...it wasn't very much money about maybe ten bucks, but I was upset that they would be mad at me and very vocal about it. So I pushed my winnings to the middle of the table and said they can have it. They actually fought over the small amount of nickels, dimes, and quarters as I left for work... That's another lesson I learned...

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