There was a point in time when I had a car. It was great to drive and go to yard sales and get into little parking spaces and used lots less fuel and blew cold A/C. It had issues when we bought it and we knew that, but instead of doing anything, we just kept adding oil. Most the time. And then there was this one day where I heard weird metallic-y noises and after several miles I called Blake. Would you believe it but he told me to stop and he would bring me oil?!
That was when I learned what a motor sounds like when it runs on no oil. I was told in great detail that not much longer later it probably would have locked up. (Amazingly that car drove out of this driveway for the final time a couple weeks ago, and we still never had done any work to it!)
Vehicles driven by Blake and I are constantly changing, mostly due to the fact that we buy cheap rides with the intent to fix them. I hear that the shoemaker's son doesn't have any shoes. Apparently the mechanic doesn't have time to work on his own vehicles either. Well, this truck we are driving now-and have been for several weeks- is one we bought because it needs a new motor badly and the previous owner didn't care to put the money into it.
This morning I decided to go home quickly to get something I forgot. A cool song was playing on the radio and I had hardly headed down the road when I noticed that the song had some music I hadn't noticed before. It sounded sort of like metal on metal. Thinking I really wanted to hear the song, but knowing I'd better do the wise thing, I turned the radio off. And yep, the noise was still there. Metal. on. metal. I turned around and drove the quarter mile back.
Blake was disgusted that we'd run the truck out of oil, but headed out to get the jug of oil on the back of the truck- the one that apparently was waiting there for just such a time.
That was when he called me to come over. He had a smirk to his voice and I knew I'd done something wrong. That was when I saw the log chain. It had slid out from under the tail gate and... was dragging on the road. Metal on metal? Yeah, my diagnostic skills, wrong once again!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
We, the Crazy Sleep Deprived People:
Were not horribly sleep deprived at one point. That was before the phone call. And the 30 hrs of adventure.
Logan had left with the tractor* and made it five hours down the road before they decided the head gasket was officially blown. He had tried changing different parts all day and it would drive fine for a while. The tractor had to get to the Deutz tractor dealer in the middle of Pennsylvania and then Logan had agreed to pick up a car that was bought on ebay by a family friend in Connecticut. Then there was a vacuum packager that his dad had bought in Philadelphia and he was going to make a loop down through there and head home.
After I took my lovely walk home on Saturday night thinking my long week had come to an end, Blake called and suggested I get ready. He'd come through and pick me up, and hoped I could have a clean change of clothes ready for him since we really needed to get moving. Blake, once again, to the rescue!
We left about six but got distracted less than 10 miles out when we came upon this scene:
After running back to the shop to get a scan tool, and then diagnosing it to be injectors for sure, Blake made arrangements for Andrew to go change a couple injectors that night. Another guy who stopped to help, towed this New Jersey car hauler's truck to the shop. We moved on out quickly.
We finally started thinking this over. I had packed a bag so we could possibly just find a place to spend the night and haul the truck home on Sunday after we delivered the tractor. I had forgotten about the car, but Blake hadn't. Logan had made arrangements to pick the car up Sunday morning instead of Saturday night.
Unfortunately Logan's phone had died at this point. We hoped the address he'd given us was correct!
By midnight we arrived at the parking lot where Logan and Joe, a friend who went along for the ride, were sound asleep. Everything went well. Logan unhooked the one truck, Blake backed up and hooked to the truck we drove out in. Logan parked the farm truck, Blake checked the lights. Everything was great, and so we headed to get into the truck. All the sudden the second truck died! Since I was the only one in the truck they of course all looked at me, but I hadn't done anything. In typical Blake fashion, he sat down and had a really good laugh out of it! Then they set to work figuring out what was wrong. Apparently the chip on the truck caused some sort of problems so when they unhooked that, we were good to go. Whew! Talk about a relief! I had sat there imagining having to call for another truck to now come pick up two of our rigs.
About 2:30 a.m. we arrived at what I called a Deutz tractor junk yard. I had heard it was a Deutz tractor dealer. It was dark, but Blake and I walked up around back while they unloaded and loaded up a few other tractor parts. I have never seen so many tractors sitting on one hillside, all in various stages of tear-down. I wished it was light so I could see better!
Connecticut saw us about 7:00 a.m. The trailer was high and the car was low and although the bewildered seller thought we were crazy, we realized that a car this small,
really could be loaded onto a trailer this high.
They unhooked and raised up the front end of the trailer with jacks and cinder blocks. Then we all helped lift up the bumper so nothing scraped and that little car went right on. We told the seller that we had to fit the truck on this 30 ' trailer too and the car was 16 '- a little longer than we had imagined. He just was shaking his head in amazement at us. He also said that up there they don't have trucks with tail pipes that you can stick your whole head into either. He was referring to the 5" exhaust tip on the truck.
As we left, he told us that if our friend Daniel ever wonders how brave we are, to just have Daniel call him up.
I had never been to New York City before, but we drove through some pretty crazy sections of road and Blake and I agreed that it's not natural for people to pile up on top of each other. We were glad to get back to some country where you could see whole fields! There were a couple of neat bridges that we drove over, this being one of them.
Then the vacuum packager was in a residential section in Philadelphia, but was fairly simple loading up and strapping down. And that was where my husband explained to me that if I set my cell phone with higher pixel settings, you can see the pictures better. Wow- what a novel idea! So now my pictures are clearer. :)
We hadn't taken the time to stop for a full meal of food up till then but I selected a Wendy's a mile down the road. I do so like to eat! Logan had tried eating some dry raisin bran that just happened to be in the truck, but I had declined.
Instead of being able to head directly home, we had to then swing north to that little parking lot where we had left the truck with this note:
When we got there at 5 p.m. though, we had to face the fact that our trailer was six inches too short. :(
Joe and Blake studying the situation:
After discussing all kinds of ideas for a long time, they finally agreed that taking the bumper off the truck was good to try. Logan decided that for good measure, he'd take the grill off too.
Since Blake had chosen to do all the driving up to this point, he went and took a 1/2 hr nap. When he woke up, this was what he saw.
All loaded and ready to go! I called this success! (It really truly was success when we got it home.) Yes, the trailer was bowing. Daniel's car still has all the paint. We even taped a blanket to the front of the trailer to ensure safety for the front bumper. The vacuum packager and tractor parts are on the back of the white truck.
Logan drove the rest of the way home. He told us when we were almost back that the bummer is that he has to drive a work crew back right back to PA in a couple hours. I felt bad for him, but he seemed quite chipper about it! Let's just say I would not have been chipper about getting out of my bed two hours after we got back home!
Home never seemed quite as cozy as when we got back at midnight. Ahhh the things we do for the people we love!
Here's a map of where we went. It says 1,195 miles, 22 hours 47 minutes.
*referring to an earlier post...
Logan had left with the tractor* and made it five hours down the road before they decided the head gasket was officially blown. He had tried changing different parts all day and it would drive fine for a while. The tractor had to get to the Deutz tractor dealer in the middle of Pennsylvania and then Logan had agreed to pick up a car that was bought on ebay by a family friend in Connecticut. Then there was a vacuum packager that his dad had bought in Philadelphia and he was going to make a loop down through there and head home.
After I took my lovely walk home on Saturday night thinking my long week had come to an end, Blake called and suggested I get ready. He'd come through and pick me up, and hoped I could have a clean change of clothes ready for him since we really needed to get moving. Blake, once again, to the rescue!
We left about six but got distracted less than 10 miles out when we came upon this scene:
We finally started thinking this over. I had packed a bag so we could possibly just find a place to spend the night and haul the truck home on Sunday after we delivered the tractor. I had forgotten about the car, but Blake hadn't. Logan had made arrangements to pick the car up Sunday morning instead of Saturday night.
Unfortunately Logan's phone had died at this point. We hoped the address he'd given us was correct!
By midnight we arrived at the parking lot where Logan and Joe, a friend who went along for the ride, were sound asleep. Everything went well. Logan unhooked the one truck, Blake backed up and hooked to the truck we drove out in. Logan parked the farm truck, Blake checked the lights. Everything was great, and so we headed to get into the truck. All the sudden the second truck died! Since I was the only one in the truck they of course all looked at me, but I hadn't done anything. In typical Blake fashion, he sat down and had a really good laugh out of it! Then they set to work figuring out what was wrong. Apparently the chip on the truck caused some sort of problems so when they unhooked that, we were good to go. Whew! Talk about a relief! I had sat there imagining having to call for another truck to now come pick up two of our rigs.
About 2:30 a.m. we arrived at what I called a Deutz tractor junk yard. I had heard it was a Deutz tractor dealer. It was dark, but Blake and I walked up around back while they unloaded and loaded up a few other tractor parts. I have never seen so many tractors sitting on one hillside, all in various stages of tear-down. I wished it was light so I could see better!
Connecticut saw us about 7:00 a.m. The trailer was high and the car was low and although the bewildered seller thought we were crazy, we realized that a car this small,
As we left, he told us that if our friend Daniel ever wonders how brave we are, to just have Daniel call him up.
I had never been to New York City before, but we drove through some pretty crazy sections of road and Blake and I agreed that it's not natural for people to pile up on top of each other. We were glad to get back to some country where you could see whole fields! There were a couple of neat bridges that we drove over, this being one of them.
Then the vacuum packager was in a residential section in Philadelphia, but was fairly simple loading up and strapping down. And that was where my husband explained to me that if I set my cell phone with higher pixel settings, you can see the pictures better. Wow- what a novel idea! So now my pictures are clearer. :)
Joe and Blake studying the situation:
After discussing all kinds of ideas for a long time, they finally agreed that taking the bumper off the truck was good to try. Logan decided that for good measure, he'd take the grill off too.
Logan drove the rest of the way home. He told us when we were almost back that the bummer is that he has to drive a work crew back right back to PA in a couple hours. I felt bad for him, but he seemed quite chipper about it! Let's just say I would not have been chipper about getting out of my bed two hours after we got back home!
Home never seemed quite as cozy as when we got back at midnight. Ahhh the things we do for the people we love!
Here's a map of where we went. It says 1,195 miles, 22 hours 47 minutes.
*referring to an earlier post...
Saturday, March 17, 2012
After two years of using Quickbooks for our business software, I finally decided to take a class for it. After eight hours of sitting in that class, I was tired but thankful I had done it because I really did learn from it! I figured it would be fine to take a day off work to take that class, but when I got back, I found that my office/floor looked like this:
You can see the nice line around the counter for the color that it is supposed to be. Today I found out that the guys were a bit sheepish and thought maybe they shouldn't come back to work on Monday so they wouldn't have to tell me the story of how it happened.
Last night though I assumed it was because the shop floor was extra greasy, so... Instead of cleaning the office, I decided I'd better start out in the shop. When I got to work this morning the two hours of pressure washing had really paid off out there! I love clean floors. Getting them there is a little harder to love.
Blake's brother Logan was here late last night as well, getting their trailer ready to haul this tractor to PA to it's new owner.
This was one of Blake's favorite tractors back in his days of farming, but most of it's useful life was over so his dad decided it was time to send it on down the road. It's also the tractor I pictured in a quilt.
My week is almost over and I am going to celebrate by walking the three and a half miles home!
Last night though I assumed it was because the shop floor was extra greasy, so... Instead of cleaning the office, I decided I'd better start out in the shop. When I got to work this morning the two hours of pressure washing had really paid off out there! I love clean floors. Getting them there is a little harder to love.
 |
| Doesn't it look so clean?! |
My week is almost over and I am going to celebrate by walking the three and a half miles home!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Aunt Barbara
Today I was thinking about my aunt. She is my dad's youngest sister. Our most common feature- barely hitting the five foot height mark- makes it easy for people to mistake one of us for the other. Do you see any family resemblance?
She is a peacemaker and a prayer warrior, always seeming to know the right thing to say. She inspires me.
Even though she lives a day's drive away from me, I still would say that she has been one of the most influential examples for me since I have been married. I am thankful that she is not only willing to pray, but also to show by example what a wife is supposed to be.
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." Titus 2:3-5
Even though she lives a day's drive away from me, I still would say that she has been one of the most influential examples for me since I have been married. I am thankful that she is not only willing to pray, but also to show by example what a wife is supposed to be.
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." Titus 2:3-5
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Nine Notes for Now
1) Blake and I both made it to work early and every time I think about it, I smile. It made very me happy! What do I mean by early? Well the shop opens at nine, so we normally arrive no earlier than five minutes of nine. This morning though, Blake decided to come to work early. He got here at seven, I got here around eight. Blake is not a morning person, so I'm proud of him for his determination!
2) My best friend is getting married in June. My sister is getting married in August. Two weddings, 800 miles away. Two bridal showers, two friends asking my opinions (which I do so love to give!:) ), two trips to Vermont this summer... Helping them plan is such fun. I'm so excited!
3) Forgiveness: what does it really look like? I listened to an excellent message on it yesterday and then had an opportunity to put it into practice, but resisted strongly. Forgiveness is a cancellation of debt. It is a releasing of one's right to ever use that against the person again. Ever. God has showed the ultimate example of forgiveness. If we choose to not forgive, we are saying that we are better than God because, although He can forgive, we are too good for that.
4) Four different parts trucks have been getting at least partly torn down this past week. I love it when they get dismantled but then shelving parts is a job for me. I have a pile of stuff that I can not label and do not know where it goes. I'm musing on what to do with it. Blake will have to help me.
5) Yesterday was beautiful and about 60 degrees. Today is rainy, but that is ok. It's spring and I love it!
6) I got my flip flops out yesterday!!!
7) There are couple big projects in the shop that must get finished this week. They are taking way too long. One is an automatic to six speed swap in a Ford Cummins. Another one is a Duramax engine rebuild.
8) Meals are a Must! This week I'm trying really hard to eat good- for- me foods. I spend a lot of hours in my day at work and it gets so easy to just pop snacky-lacking-in-nutrition foods in my mouth quickly when I'm hungry. It's mostly lack of discipline. So this week I decided that I must do better about what I eat and I must make myself make meals. So, I tried and succeeded in making a few meals this week that were not really what my husband desired to eat. My new motto? Meals for my man are a must! I made Italian Wedding Soup one night... it had spinach, carrots, meatballs... yes, it was yummy, but he did not approve of drowned meatballs. :(
9) What is a good friend? What does it take to be one? How do you know when to overlook in order to be a friend and how do you know when to say something? I want to learn to be a better friend and would love your thoughts on this!
2) My best friend is getting married in June. My sister is getting married in August. Two weddings, 800 miles away. Two bridal showers, two friends asking my opinions (which I do so love to give!:) ), two trips to Vermont this summer... Helping them plan is such fun. I'm so excited!
3) Forgiveness: what does it really look like? I listened to an excellent message on it yesterday and then had an opportunity to put it into practice, but resisted strongly. Forgiveness is a cancellation of debt. It is a releasing of one's right to ever use that against the person again. Ever. God has showed the ultimate example of forgiveness. If we choose to not forgive, we are saying that we are better than God because, although He can forgive, we are too good for that.
4) Four different parts trucks have been getting at least partly torn down this past week. I love it when they get dismantled but then shelving parts is a job for me. I have a pile of stuff that I can not label and do not know where it goes. I'm musing on what to do with it. Blake will have to help me.
5) Yesterday was beautiful and about 60 degrees. Today is rainy, but that is ok. It's spring and I love it!
6) I got my flip flops out yesterday!!!
7) There are couple big projects in the shop that must get finished this week. They are taking way too long. One is an automatic to six speed swap in a Ford Cummins. Another one is a Duramax engine rebuild.
8) Meals are a Must! This week I'm trying really hard to eat good- for- me foods. I spend a lot of hours in my day at work and it gets so easy to just pop snacky-lacking-in-nutrition foods in my mouth quickly when I'm hungry. It's mostly lack of discipline. So this week I decided that I must do better about what I eat and I must make myself make meals. So, I tried and succeeded in making a few meals this week that were not really what my husband desired to eat. My new motto? Meals for my man are a must! I made Italian Wedding Soup one night... it had spinach, carrots, meatballs... yes, it was yummy, but he did not approve of drowned meatballs. :(
9) What is a good friend? What does it take to be one? How do you know when to overlook in order to be a friend and how do you know when to say something? I want to learn to be a better friend and would love your thoughts on this!
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