Any enterprise in life comes with challenges, but ordinarily, they aren't more than you can handle. And when they are, there's generally something to be gained by letting go of the goals that are so supremely challenging to achieve...
That's what I'm telling myself, anyway :D
Most of my life's challenges are simple, pretty straightforward. I planned it that way. If I had plenty of money, I could easily fix them...and then I'd have to face even bigger challenges!
If you read my last post, you know I'm dealing with mechanical challenges. Those are the small ones, right now. For example, I've been working on the water pump in my Chevy Tahoe. I had my mechanic replace the booster in my brake system when I realized my tools were not up to bleeding the brakes; I needed a torch, perhaps, and a lift would have been helpful. Best case, I needed to replace those frozen nuts, because they were breaking when I tried to remove them. But the water pump should have been easier. I started repairing cars right out of high school; many of my tools are older than the kids I work with on my day job.
I got the old one out easily enough. A new pump was only $30, so that wasn't even a strain to my budget. But the new one wanted parts from the old pump, and the new pump had a plug which needed a tool I didn't have. Okay, I hopped in my Honda and took the pump back to the store, where they kindly removed the offending plug. While there, I got new spark plugs for the Honda, and back home, decided it would be a quick job to pop out the old spark plugs and put the new ones in.
Ugh, perhaps the plugs were the originals...one of them snapped off, deep inside the engine. (A later chat with the Honda's previous owner revealed that they were indeed ancient, as the owners were getting on in years, and unable to attend to minor maintenance. Perhaps the main reason they had sold the car so cheaply.) Anyway, not having an extractor handy, I called my mechanic, and he assured me he could get it out for me. I hopped in the Honda and putt-putted like an old jalopy to the mechanic, with an old plug in the wire laying in the intake manifold, to keep from stressing the electronic spark system too much.
He didn't use an extractor. His...technique damaged the head. It took three hours, between visits from other customers, so it was dark by the time we discovered he didn't have what he needed to repair the damage he'd done. I'm wondering what the bill is going to be...
So I went home to put the water pump in the Tahoe, while I hoped my Honda would be ready in the morning. (It wasn't.) All bolted in, serpentine belt routed, adding water...wait, there's a leak! Sigh, it's dark, cold, I'll finish this later.
Later, I discovered that one of the gaskets had torn like the soggy piece of cardboard that it was. I applied red gasket-maker compound, and shoved it back in, letting it sit overnight for the compound to cure properly. Tightening all the bolts the next day, putting all the parts back in, starting the engine...looks good, sounds good, let's go to my day job! Grab my stuff, hop in the driver's seat...whoa, the water temperature is over 300°? CUT!
Good thing I have a bicycle, even though the cold front has temps down to 22°F, and with a brisk breeze to keep me cool. :D
Today's job is to see if the intake water hose has collapsed internally. It's pretty old, and I was planning to replace it anyway, along with its hose clamp and the serpentine belt. That will probably have to wait, depending on what the Honda's adventure is going to cost me.
My more serious challenges are about love and the lives of others. When I moved out of my apartment in October to save money so I could build an RV, I had a place lined up that was to have cost me about half of what I'd been spending on my two-bedroom apartment. It would be easy to move into one room: I lived in one room, using only a portion of that space, with visits to the kitchen and bathroom. I never really grew into that two-bedroom space. But the place I was supposed to move to, backed out at the last minute. Failure to communicate, is my best guess. So I wrangled another place, which, frankly, is a disaster. Instead of saving money on rent and utilities, my savings are gone. My roommate, it turns out, has no income other than me, and what he can beg from his other (remaining) friends. He's not bright, may be entering dementia--but I believe it's more a case of spoiled rich kid that never learned to make a living. We don't communicate well, either, but I hate to leave him high and dry, even if that is what he richly deserves. (If I got all that I deserved, I'd probably be in an asylum lol)
Another challenge is that I have animals. When I moved here, I had two cats and a dog. The cats had NEVER been outside since I got them as kittens. I rescued one from under a trash compactor where she had been abandoned before she was weaned; the other was given to me as soon as he was weaned. He has been missing for several weeks now, and the other kind of said he wouldn't be coming back. My roommate--no surprise, really--decided to let them outside, and they loved the adventure. Maybe the coyotes loved them, too? Well, I still have Cleo, and I'm hoping she won't follow Tobi.
Thing is, my next planned step is to move into my car. I can't afford my roommate lol! The dog, Biscuit, won't be much trouble in the car, at least during Winter. (I'll NEED an RV before Summer, though.) But Cleo, now craving the outdoors, and knowing nothing of wild animals or snakes or traffic or other such hazards, is sure to be more challenging.
My favorite space so far, has been the 31' Airstream that I first moved into in 1998. It was a great choice, and I had the money at the time. It should have been, could have been, marvelous. It had a nice living room and kitchen on one end, with those awesome windows with panoramic views, a bigger-than-I-needed bedroom at the other end with matching windows, and a huge closet and full bath--yes, with a tub!--walling the corridor between. I promptly converted most of the closet to a computer room/office, where I could log in to my work office and remotely control the four PCs there, monitoring the activities at the Dell Factory Outlet's repair and distribution center.
But shortly after moving in to the Airstream, a series of events led to marriage, and as part of the inevitable compromises that one thinks one should make for a marriage, I traded my lovely Airstream for an S.O.B.: Some Other Brand. I promptly ripped out most of the furniture, built custom cabinetry, and added substantial insulation. I needed to accommodate eight cats and a couple of large dogs, one of them over 100 pounds.
Maybe I should continue this story in another post...but before I go, if you have an Airstream, KEEP IT! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment