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Thursday, October 13, 2022

Last Good Day



I have garage envy. One of the things my house lacks is a decent garage -or any sort of garage at all. It sure would make storing the boat or working on cars a lot easier. 


Wednesday was a beautiful day, sunny, in the high 60’s at the peak of foliage season. It would have been the perfect day to take the scooter down back roads. Alas, it was not to be. The long range forecast  shows rain for the foreseeable future. There’s even a chance of snow next week. 


We have several days of flood warning. I’m not too concerned about flooding out here in the hills. It can cut us off from town now and then. That’s one reason why we have a well stocked pantry. 


With that in mind I set the scooter keys down and picked up the toolbox. In the morning I winterized the sailboat. It’s currently sitting under a well tied down humongous tarp. The boat is ready for snow. 


In the afternoon I changed the front brake pads on my lovely wife’s car. My regular mechanic retired so I was forced to go somewhere else. The car needed its yearly inspection during the month of June. It passed, but the mechanic said the front brakes were getting thin and would need replacement. He quoted me a rather hefty price to do the job. 


With that in mind I went down to the auto parts store and picked up brake pads. So there I was, four months later, finally changing the pads. Turns out I could have waiting a lot longer. The pads were only about half worn. Since I already had the new pads I changed them anyway. 


It took all afternoon to change the pads. The job wasn’t that hard, but since it was such a nice day everyone was out for a walk. I spent as much time visiting as working. One bicycle rider, who I’ve never met before, stopped and asked if I needed help. That was real friendly of him but I politely refused his assistance.


Eventually it all got done. By then I was too beat and it was too late go go play. Oh well. Sometimes even I have to adult.


-Sixbears


8 comments:

  1. Couldn't live without a garage. But in the absence of one a nice 10x12 shed is nice...and a lot cheaper than a garage to build.

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  2. One of my coworkers has a scooter as a back-up vehicle in case of car failure. As he has been caught in some 'rain events', he does advise that scooter travel in those circumstances does have some disadvantages. He has learned that a stored rain suit for those times is well worth keeping close at hand.

    Covered work areas are nice to work in. Would a hoop frame with temporary tarp cover work ? Not insulated of course, but would help with preventing snow getting in the way.

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    1. Scooters are great on a gas and worth the occasional wet ride. I've been tempted to do the hoop frame thing. A couple of times I've used tarps and heater work in winter weather.

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  3. 6 bears what kind of sailboat do you have? I used to have a Potter 19 that our local boy scouts used several weeks a year. Those kids always returned it in Bristol fashion.

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  4. I too have shed / workshop envy. But, after joking about being high and dry last week, I just got bit. Went to the doctors yesterday morning, normally a 1.5 hour round trip. Then the heavens unleashed and it's taken me 25 hours in total to get home. Forded multiple torrents (dumb but necessary), dragged and cut 20-30 trees off the road. Twice got hemmed in by several falling front and rear. 60+mph winds, 80' of rain in a couple of hours. Gave up @ dark and found a neighbour with a couch to crash on. I came within 2km of our house last night but just couldn't get through. Anyway, home safe and sound now ... with a raft of wild stories to tell!

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    1. Holy crap, that was an adventure! Glad you made it home safe. We forget how far we can get from home in a hour or two. Clear roads can turn into an disaster in a short period of time.

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    2. Doesn't take much to disrupt even well prepared people. As ever, I adapted and made do.

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