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I'm walking around out there in the rain. My feet felt wet.
I've learned my lesson, the hard way, repeatedly over the years. I am not too bright. Dad told me a long time ago, do not buy cheap shoes. I thought he meant "cheap", as in low cost. Not all cheap shoes are "cheap". Effin' Timberland! These were not low cost. For what they charge, I could have bought real shoes, held together with stitches. Not a shoe held together by glue.
The stitching is a fake welt. Only there to make the shoe look like a better shoe. There was extra foam padding on only 1 shoe. The shanks are plastic. The shoelace eyelets were already falling off. The best part of the shoe was the insole padding. Timberland are very soft on your feet and every step is cushioned. Useless when the glue fails.
Luckily, I was able to simply go home and get another pair of shoes. I can't even imagine what it would be like if someone was out working on the side of the road in the middle of a storm.
I only own two pair of shoes. One pair of slippers from Amazon which I wear 90% of the time, and a pair of dress shoes provided me by the VA. I have no clue who makes them. I wear them to church, or on really cold nights. The slippers last about 2 years, and then I buy another pair. They are cheap, $19.95 with free Amazon Prime shipping.
Crocs seem to be all the rage among the kids at church. That is when the weather is warmer. LOL. They like them because they are easy to slip on and off. I don't see how they can be warm though with all those holes. Next time I am due for a change I will try them out.
We did not have any forecast of rain, but during the 3-hour stint as security for the church last night it rained 5 minutes. And as it was raining the forecast changed to rain for an hour starting at 7pm. So funny. Still no rain in the forecast for the next 7 days. Cold and windy is predicted today.
Well then the kids seem to like the ones without as I am always seeing their feet, unless they wear socks, but they usually do that now, with it being colder outside.
WWe only got up to 53* here today with some “scattered” rain showers.
I did get excused from jury duty though. Three asthma attacks in three hours, one on the high side of moderate triggered by other people’s cologne did it. Kind of a bummer, because I was looking forward to going through the selection process. I was going to have some truthful fun with the Judge’s questions.😂
I drove the Bronco yesterday and today because it is easier to park in the juror’s lot near the courthouse. Hopefully I’m recovered enough to work tomorrow. It’s amazing how much something like this takes out of you as you age.
59 degrees is a heatwave, eh? LOL.
The last time I had jury duty I did not pass the selection phase because the defendant's attorney stated his client was going to plead the fifth, and asked anyone of us potential jurors if they had a problem with that. I told him I think anyone who pleads the fifth is guilty. His response was that his defendant did not have to testify as it was the prosecuting attorney's job to prove his guilt. Next day I was cut from the selection.
I stopped by the repair shop on the way home from my noon Bible study, and they had a vehicle they wanted to show me. It was a 2003 Hyundia Santa Fe. Black in color with a black leather interior. V6 automatic. He started it up and it ran fine. However, it did not have a tow hitch on the back bumper to put my scooter lift on, and I tried to get into it, and even with the seat pushed all the way back, it was impossible. I noticed also that it had tags that were 3 years behind. (sounds familiar, eh?) I told them if I was just looking for a transportation vehicle it would be fine if I could fit inside, but I need a pickup truck. He said the owner was asking $1,200 but would sell it to me for $800 because of my situation. I appreciate the effort they are going through to get me into a vehicle, but I told them I need a pickup.
I then told him to put the oil pump I bought on my engine and stick it back in. He replied that I should at least buy a timing chain set for it, and recommended Amazon. I told him I found a set on Rockauto.com for $560, but he said check Amazon. So, I did. And found two different sets. Both were complete with everything I need except one came with the oil pump and not the water pump, the other one was just the opposite with the water pump and no oil pump. Since I already have the high-volume oil pump, I chose the set with the water pump. Since you have to remove the water pump to do the job it seems a good idea to replace it. Also, since the engine is already out of the truck, replacing everything on it is a lot easier. Everything was $212 out the door. I just ordered it from Amazon, and it will get here anywhere from December 14th to the 21st. Maybe, just maybe, the truck will be back together sometime in January, and I can get it smog tested and passed. Since it will be so close to needing registration in March, maybe they will let me pay that for the 2025 tags after it passes smog.
The oven was not turning on. Every time I pressed the buttons on the panel, I heard a beep, so I figured that the display and switch panel was okay. With zero science or diagnostics, I decided that it was the ignition. If the oven does not ignite, it can't heat up. How did i know that it was the ignition device and not something else? I didn't.
We still have a neighborhood mom & pop appliance repair shop. I know the guy. Over the years, I've bought quite a few parts from him. I check out the model number online, get a part number, and I call the shop. The shop doesn't have the part in stock. Small shops just can't stock $12 Million Dollars worth of parts, hoping, waiting, and wishing that a buyer will come in the door. Ony large places like Home Depot can stock inventory, and not even care when it's being stolen. Of course, he can order anything from his distributor, and have it in a week. Of course, I can order anything from Amazon, and have it the next day. I don't understand the economics of e-commerce, but somehow you can buy things like this from Amazon for about half the price, and get overnight delivery.
It sounds simple, and it is. Just a part swap. No harder than an oil change. Except that you need to access the rear panel of the stove. Most stoves aren't sitting on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. A lot of kitchens, mine included, have cabinets and countertops built around the stove. Most installations are done with the shortest length of flexible hose possible.
All of this means that I had to first move everything out of the way. Nobody lives in a house with empty cabinets. You can imagine that it's a little bit of work just to get to the gas line to turn it off. After unplugging the electricity, I had to disconnect the natural gas line. The range unit had to be moved all the way out of the space it fit into, and pulled toward the center of the room. Which in a small kitchen, meant that I had to move the kitchen table out of the kitchen.
Remove the door from the front, and take apart the front of the oven to get to the gas flame tube and ignition. Not too bad. The easy part was taking off the rear panel, to unclip the wiring harness. Of course, the new part with the right part number, had a different wiring harness. So I had to cut off the new part's wiring harness connector and splice in the harness from the old part.
Now here is the problem. I just spent a lot of time and labor to remove the stove from its natural habitat (nested between heavy slabs of marble countertop). Now I have to reassemble the stove, and reinstall it, before I can even test it. What if I was wrong, and it still doesn't work? Then I'll have to do everything all over again...... and try to make it work by replacing all of the other replaceable parts which I can find. The thermostat. The gas tube. The heat seal. The switch display panel. The computer control board. Any and all wiring harnesses which are serviceable. While I'm standing here, with the oven in the middle of the kitchen, should I call the appliance repair shop and ask them to order everything, so that I can refurbish the appliance? Then there won't be any guesswork as to what isn't working. Everything will be new and working.
Screw it. I took the chance that I did the job right. I reinstalled the stove. Reconnected the natural gas line and plugged it back into the electrical outlet. I got lucky. It fired right up.
My Dad told me, in all his life, he never had to do a job like that. In the old days, appliances were simple. They turned on and off. There were valves which opened and closed. And there were pilot lights. You could access everything for maintenance and repair from the front of the unit. Lift the top and relight the pilot light. Nobody uninstalled an appliance, to do a 2 minute repair, then reinstalled the appliance.
Dad is from another era. $2 minimum wage, and an appliance guy would charge $10 to make a house call to relight a pilot light. Not too much different than today. Minimum wage at $20 an hour, and nobody will come out to your house for less than $100. $100 for the housecall, where they only troubleshoot to see what isn't working. Then if you want them to fix it, you pay more. According to the old guy at the appliance shop that I get parts from, he would charge $400 for the job. He would have to pay his technician (his son or his brother), parts, and cover overhead costs like owning a repair van, all of the tools, etc. Housecall jobs don't come every day, all day long. They have vans sitting in front of the shop, ready to go. But nobody is calling. Since i am my own labor, and I already have a pickup truck and beer......it only cost me about $25 for the replacement part, from Amazon with overnight delivery. The same part which the shop quoted me $60, with a 1 week lead time.
My first "job" was delivering papers. I had a paper route with between 110 and 120 customers. Worked my **** off, and because it was in Illinois, that included real thunderstorms, real humidity, and real snowstorms. Got up at 3AM, finished delivery around 6AM, 7 days a week. Made less than $10.month. What a sweet deal.
We had a high of 51 yesterday and a low of 42. That's a 9 degree swing from low to high.
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Everything was $212 out the door. I just ordered it from Amazon, and it will get here anywhere from December 14th to the 21st. Maybe, just maybe, the truck will be back together sometime in January, and I can get it smog tested and passed. Since it will be so close to needing registration in March, maybe they will let me pay that for the 2025 tags after it passes smog.
