Ron, do you ever get bored?

 

Of course. I usually drive across the desert or write long-winded forum posts when I do, lol. Maybe I should ask you after post #25093? I expect we could both use a life, lol.

 

Lol, you sure do accumulate many "unique" experiences. Enjoyable reads when they turn out well!

My question was simply to say that you seem to have "plenty of life experiences" as it is ................... doesn't seem there would be enough time in a day to get bored.

 

I've always been able to drive or drag home a vehicle from the road, coming up with some way. It's rare.

Yeah, she was shaken. Four-lane road, no shoulder, she called the police, too, to make sure she wasn't hit. I got there first, no parts under or thrown; I started it up, and it sounded fine. We switched cars, and I drove it home. You could hear grinding when the A/C turned on, so I switched off the A/C and got it home.

Looking towards the A/C compressor, everything looks fine; the drive belt works correctly. Then, I noticed an 8-groove pulley leaning into the A/C compressor clutch. But the drive belt is fine. Where did this come from?

This 2.0L engine has a habit of shearing off the rubber-mounted crankshaft pulley mounted to the crankshaft harmonic balancer. When that happened, the pulley banged around between the front of the engine, passenger frame, and inner fender, the bang. It's a pain in the a** to change because the gear for the cams is not locked by keyway to the crankshaft; it's compression held by the harmonic balancer. So when removing and installing, the crank and cams have to be held in place, along with the harmonic damper, since that has the crankshaft position toothed gear. The single retaining bolt is like on the Honda engines, with very high torque.

This was a few days before I was going to replace the turbo behind the engine, so both required some of the same work. Although, unlike the Ford trucks, the forums do not have many DIY people, and the Ford service manual is lacking. It took me a lot of time to do this, and a unique holding tool for one person to do this in the driveway on jackstands. To get that bolt to 90º rotation, it took 283lb-ft. There is little room or leverage to do that with the car on stands. Luckily, I have a long-handled Snap-On wrench.

It won't take so long if either happens again, now that I've done it. But I worked until 11 p.m. on two nights. I work slowly in high heat and humidity so I wouldn't be working at all in Texas.

The Dorman parts were actual Ford parts that the dealers say are discontinued. I might be buying a second set just for the shelf.

 

Well, honesty, I do find it boring now, and much harder. Losing Brody took all the wind out of my sails. WE accumulated a lot of unique experiences, our "adventures," and they were always fun no matter how they turned out. No obstacle was too great to overcome, because he was there.

Now, I break at the slightest frustration. That trip to Andrews was scary, driving across the desert by myself in a 20-year old econo car. Just living in my crime-ridden part of town is now scary. Some of it's the heat - hard to get motivated to do anything - but most of it's not. Just been a huge, complete change of life, and I'm not sure what the next one is going to be. The only thing I know is that I gotta get all this work done - all these cars fixed and gone, then all my house gutted and restored. Then, I can die. And that's about all that keeps me going right now.

But, things change. So, hopefully, my outlook will too. He was just so important to me.

 

You need another dog.

 

Well I certainly didn't intend to take you to those memories. Simply put, I just wanted to verbalize that many of us are impressed with what you "take on".

Time can work wonders with your outlook. Best way I have found to get on that path is to focus on helping others ......... and at a minimum, you do that here. Easy to say, not so easy to do. Anyway, just remember - your contributions are appreciated.

Just to share - our (my son and I) 10 yr old Golden died this year also - bone cancer. What a great companion and a dove retrieving machine. I certainly understand the feelings.

 

I think most people do, but yeah, me too. And the list of people I know who haven't told me that is getting pretty short. I'm sure I'll get another dog, but I expect the shrinks would say that what I really need is another human. Without a human, a dog? Sure, or a hamster, or as Tom Hanks demonstrated, a volleyball named Wilson.

All my Wilsons have always floated away, just like his. Except Brody, and he sunk. I expect some more flotsam will float by that I can humanize and attach myself to, but I really just need to get off this raft and back on dry ground. It's just hard. People have been a disappointment to me. I'd rather be on our raft with Brody.

 

Truth. After my divorce I started that. Volunteer of the Year for one charity and then, when my mom got Alzheimer's, I became a regional spokesperson for AA. And a dozen others. I got away from that when I moved to Houston to take care of her, and I need to get back to it, just like I need another dog. I kinda used by truck driving for the same purpose - helping folks by hauling their stuff cheap. Me and Brody met a lot of neat people.

I just got to get this work done. This house is so filthy - mom was a hoarder and then Brody's hair coated it all. It's not fit to live in, for me or a dog. Been waiting for my property taxes to freeze before fixing it, and right when that happened, interest rates rose and I don't want to borrow the money (big project). But, I gotta get rid of all these vehicles first anyway to have room to work on the house.

Then, I can slow down, get me a dog, maybe a woman, volunteer again. It's just hard.

 

Sad to hear about Brody - first I've learned about it and I'm sorry for your loss. Please take care of yourself and try not to get overwhelmed, ok?

 

Thank you, everyone. I don't mean to go on about Brody, and no, Mark, you don't bring back memories - I have them every day. But they're fading, which makes me even sadder. I'm not telling anyone anything new...except, maybe, don't put all your relationship eggs in one basket.

Do you have another bird dog, Mark? I ask because my step-bro has a great hunting ranch in STx I can get you on. They're all about deer and have some of the biggest racks in the state. Can't get you in for that, lol, that's high-dollar game, but it's pretty vacant for dove and turkey season. However, he doesn't plant and maintain for dove, not like the places that mow and till, then plant sunflower fields. You can find your doves in those fields, but a dog would be a big help finding birds in the grass on his ranch. What is also fun is running pigs with dogs at night. Dogs hold it down while you kill it with a knife. Kinda a cross between Blair Witch Project and Lord of the Flies.

La Parrilla

 

That looks like an OUTSTANDING ranch!

I do not have another dog yet. This one was also a family pet, and one my wife was particularly fond of - very smart and obedient. My deaf son would use her as a service dog at times, she would carry his shopping bag when he would go shopping (more of his sense of humor than a "need"). Anyway, the wife says it is too early for another dog, so maybe next year.

With my back trying to heal from surgery, probably not much hunting this year unless I can get some help - I do have a lease not more than 50 miles from the ranch you linked to.

I GREATLY appreciate the offer on the bird hunting!

 

It's a nice place. He's done well. One of his deer won the Muy Grande Contest two years ago. He's also got a fish camp on Laguna Madre. My other step-bro guides from there.

 

You should check out Boerboels, aka, South African Mastiffs. This is our second one. Smart, easy to train, social, great companions. And they can also be trained to hunt and take-down feral pigs, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

Yep, I like mastiffs, and other big strong dogs. However, I'm so tired of dog hair. It's still on everything I own. I'd prolly get one that doesn't shed.

But, I got other issues to think through. I'm 66, there's a decent chance a puppy would outlive me and, right now, I got no one to care for him after that. And, honestly, I'm concerned with myself, whether I should have another dog. Brody didn't have to die. I messed up and trusted vets to guide me in his care, with the result that his last days were horrible. That is why his death is tearing me up - my best friend, who would do anything for me, and I wasn't there for him. The imagery of him dying in my arms, choking on mucus, is burned into my brain; the first thing I see when I wake, the last thing I see as I try to fall asleep.

Y'all see how much I screw stuff up. The same stupidity and carelessness killed Brody, and I don't want to do that to another dog, or to myself. I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm thinking that dumping all my baggage on some naive woman is the best bet.