RowdyRebel

The best people for the job don't want the job because they value their good name & reputation more than whatever power may come with the office. The people who actively seek the office know full well their name & reputation will be trashed and they view it as a small price to pay in pursuit of the power of the office they seek. That right there is the problem with politics.

The freezer has an automatic ice maker, but I think a line broke. If the fridge is closed too hard, the freezer door pops open a little...and if it's packed too full, the magnetic closer doesn't pull the door closed again. Don't know if it was one of the kids, the mother-in-law, wife...SOMEBODY left the freezer cracked open and things started thawing...then I got home from work, got pissed off, and closed it. Wife got home from work a few hours later and it was frozen inside again...but a big puddle on the kitchen floor. Ice maker had flooded the freezer, fridge, and was pouring out onto the floor. I shut the water off going to the fridge, and after we got it all cleaned up, we turned the water back on and it started leaking again so the water got shut off again and we cleaned up a much smaller mess. I haven't had a chance to look at it & see what exactly isn't working like it should...to see if it's a busted line or fitting, stuck valve, etc...just that it leaks water all over the place if we try to use it. We had the trays, so we've just been using them for now. Someday I'll come across one of those elusive round tuits and get the automatic ice maker fixed again. Until then, I guess I'll keep making ice the old fashioned way.

Doesn't seem to matter if they're on the shelf, on top of other food boxes, or what else happens to be beneath them. It's just odd, and I was hoping there'd be some scienetifical answer that'd make it make sense. The stuck & broken cubes don't bother me near as much as wondering WHY if 2 trays are stacked, the bottom tray never comes out cleanly. It just seems wierd...so best I can figure, the trays are somehow related to my wife.🤷‍♂️

...that when you're making ice cubes (the old fashioned way, with trays, not the automatic ice maker in the freezer), if the tray is sitting there solo, the ice cubes come out nice & clean. If you stack 2 trays one on top of the other, the ice cubes come out of the top tray nice & clean, but they break & stick in the bottom tray. Doesn't matter which tray is in which position...we've got 3, and it's always the same. The solo tray & top tray always come out clean. The bottom tray the just doesn't like to let go of the cubes. I could understand if it was always the same tray sticking...but that tray in a different position comes out clean, and the tray that just gave you nice cleanly released cubes the last time when it was solo or on top, sticks like a SOB if it' on the bottom the next go-round. Happens the same in either freezer...big upright deep freezer or the one above the fridge. If there's another tray stacked on top of it, it'll stick. If not, whether there's another tray below it or not, it releases the cubes clean. Anyone know why that is?🤔

It was a pair of sweat pants on the clearance rack at Walmart. I guess as far as Walmartians go, maybe 3XL is considered slim.🤷‍♂️

WTF is this world coming to...🤦‍♂️

Hell, I slept until just before 11:00...super rare, but it was 5am before I made it to bed (after being up since 4am Monday). I was on my way home from work when a good friend called. They were about an hour out from my place (still another 1/2 past my place to get them home) and had an inner dual blow out on their pickup while driving back from a horse show in KY. He didn't realize the previous owner had put adapters on the rims to run semi-truck hub size rims & lugs (despite NOT having actual semi-truck rims...22" , not 22.5's) and rubber band tires (IIRC they're 285/50R22). Anyway, everyplace he could go to possibly get what he needed was closed (after 9pm). I asked if he could limp it here & he said he'd try...so onward they limped. I ran by his place & grabbed a tire he had for it (not on a rim, just a tire) and headed home. Got things ready for them & they pulled in just after 11. Had to use my shorty 20T jack as the 20T air jack wouldn't quite fit...but as soon as I had it raised enough to get that one under there, we used air. (Note to self: buy an air-powered shorty 20T jack). 33mm nuts on the adapter.🙄. Got the wheels off pretty easy with a 3/4" impact (had my 1" on standby just in case)...then the fight began. Had to get the old tire off the rim. While I'm pretty damn accurate with my 12# sledge (he says I swing it more accurately than any human ought to be able to), there wasn't much to swing at with those silly rubberband tires...so we opted for the cut-off wheel to make a hole, and cable cutters to snip the bead. New tire went on easy enough, aired it up, and put the wheels back on the truck & they were on their way again. Got everything cleaned up & went inside a little after 2 am. Shower, supper, and then sat up for a while winding down. Anyway, plans for today include running into town for some treats to snack on during the fireworks. Then I'll hook up to the camper, load up the kids & drop that off at the dealer so they can work on it Thursday, and head over to have dinner with momma who had to work today. Not sure if we'll head over to the municipal fireworks display (last time we went there, we had a front-row seat while a homeless guy went for a swim in the lake & never came up) or come home & shoot a few off with my neighbor. We'll be camping out at my buddy's farm Saturday (as long as we get our camper back) & shoot a few off there, too...he usually buys some pretty good ones. Last year we had them over here & almost had the cops called on us because they were THAT good (and they're kind of illegal on this side of the river). Anyway, happy Independence fellas.

Funny thing is, though, while it's easy to find pretty much anything you could ever want or need available on Amazon, often times I can find it cheaper elsewhere. Might take a little more effort, but it doesn't put my $$$ into Bozos pocket, either.

I can't buy anything on Amazon. Can't remember my password. They won't reset it. Can't open a new account unless I get another email address, which I have no interest in doing. I typically use partselect.com...last time I needed a part (agitator cogs for the washer) they suggested an app... https://www.fix.com/app/how-it-works It seems be pretty handy. Enter in all of your appliance model #'s and serial #'s and it'll save them & give you access to parts, repair manuals & videos, and I guess it could double as a record of what you've got for insurance purposes. Pretty handy app once you've got everything entered in. Always sucks when the wife calls & says "the washer broke" and I can't do anything until I get home & look up the model number even if I have a pretty good idea what broke based on what she's telling me isn't working right. Anyway, rain quit...kids getting rambunxious. Time to get out of the car.

😬

The shop is only open M-F, but the sales people are there on Saturdays and can pull the trailer inside their gates to have it somewhat secured while they're closed. Where do you live that there's an appliance parts warehouse local to you? I didn't know those sorts of places existed outside of the interwebs.😂 Any time I need a part for anything...washer, dryer, etc...I've got to go online & pay $15 to ship a $2 part that could've fit in a $5 "if it fits, it ships" box with the USPS. Must be nice to just drive across town & pick up what you need...although for most of my vehicles (especially if I have to take the kids), the $15 shipping is less than gas would cost running into town.🤦‍♂️

So on our trip out west, there were a couple minor issues that we need to take the trailer back to the dealer so they can be corrected. They scheduled us to drop the trailer off today so they can work on it Thursday. I get it hooked up, kids loaded up, and take off down there...arrive to see the place all locked up. Usually they're open until 3 on Saturdays, and it wasn't even 11. Sign on the door says they'd be closed through Tuesday for the holiday, reopening on Wednesday. Sorry, but I'm not leaving the trailer there outside their gate from Saturday through Wednesday morning unattended. I'll be off Tuesday. I'll drop it off Tuesday night. From there, I headed north back into town. Budweiser Clydesdales were supposed to be at the VFW in support of Folds of Honor from 10 until noon. Got there at a quarter til noon and the horses were already loaded up & they were pulling out before I had a chance to even think about getting the kids out. Luckily, I hadn't told the kids what we were going to see there, so they didn't get their hopes up & I didn't have to listen to a couple of disappointed crying kids. Am I wrong to be pissed off that the main attraction split the scene early? So then I pull out of there and the Suburban is acting up...stalling out like it did last year when the oil pressure switch went bad. Turn the key on & it fills the carb bowls, but as soon as the engine fires, the oil pressure switch tells the computer to kill the fuel pump. Bowls run empty & it dies again. Rinse & repeat. Pulled into Auto Zone & bought another new switch (despite the one that's in there acting up having a lifetime warranty...gotta have it out to swap it free)...then limped it home because it was too damn hot to do the job there in the parking lot with the kids. Got home & let 'er cool down a bit, and headed out to swap the switch out for the new one. Busted the damn lock tab off the plug, so I HOPE it doesn't fall out going down the road. Going to have to see if I can find a replacement plug to swap in. Seems to be working now...fires up & maintains good fuel pressure while running. Head inside to watch the Cubs game on TV...they're NEVER on TV around here, so when they are I try to catch the game. Rain delay. Wouldn't have lasted olong, anyway, because there was a tornado down around Land Between the Lakes so they broke in with that coverage. Funny thing is, big 'ol storm front moved through here...wind kicked up and everything, and not a drop. We haven't seen rain in a month of Sundays and could really use some...seems everyone around us is getting some, but nothing here. Oh well. Maybe the weekend will get better. I was going to pick up some fireworks to shoot off with the kids while we were in town today, but between dragging the camper around behind us (not really that big of a deal...I've pulled bigger rigs into/around/through tighter places before) and the Suburban acting stupid (biggest reason I didn't want to drive around town any longer than necessary), we just headed for home. Firework stands will still be there after church tomorrow. Like they say, if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. On days like today, I'd prefer the no luck at all option.

I dunno...swimmin' pool at my house is an 8' stock tank with a couple hoses to/from a pump/filter. Kids love it. Great for cool-down soak at the end of the day for the adults, too. ...and unless that's the natural foliage growing up wild around your pool, it looks too much like work...planting, mulching, weeding, watering, trimming, etc...😰

Only vehicle I've ever owned that I don't still have was my 1st motorcycle...'95 Suzuki GS500E that I bought new (leftover) in '97...senior year of high school. Being a broke college kid at the time, I traded it in 2 years & >20K miles later for my '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100 because I was wearing it out & desperately needed something bigger. Still got the ZRX. Didn't even own a 4-wheeled vehicle until my dad gave me the title for the '86 Ranger (1st vehicle he'd ever bought 'new') as a graduation gift from college. That's the truck I learned to drive in, and it's still in my garage, too.

If your buddy runs his truck out of gas in the back 40, and you find an empty gas can, empty 16 oz aluminum beer bottle, a bungee cord, and a can of WD-40 in the bed of the truck and use it to get the truck running again just long enough to drive back to the barn where the cars are parked... Yup. Did it. An old High Boy F250. Used the WD-40 to rinse out the beer bottle, and had to remove the spout to get the last little splash (MAYBE 10 ounces at most...) into the beer bottle...then bungee corded it to the side of the motor close enough we could take the rubber suction line from the fuel pump & stick it down into the can. I have pics somewhere, but they're too big to post. I'm down to 24.41 MB that it'll allow me to upload. Come to think of it, I might not want to post them. Happened to be a Bud Light bottle (back when Bud Light was just plain old trash, not the queer trash it is today). That's the only embarrassing part of the whole story. Why he had an empty Bud Light bottle is beyond me, but we were kinda glad it was there.

Holy crap...have you seen the weather reports from yesterday & today from the Denver area? We bugged outta there just in the knick of time. Golf ball size hail at the Red Rocks Amphitheater...which was only a mile or two from the campground we were staying at. We hiked up (quite literally UP...2000 foot elevation change in 1.7 miles) a trail that overlooked Red Rocks & Denver. Today, tornados again not far from where we were. The wind our 2nd night was bad enough...older brother tied his cabin tent off to his truck & I parked the Suburban to help block the wind. Older of my 2 little brothers works at a hotel & gets pretty good rates, so he bugged out to a hotel for the rest of the week when his dome tents collapsed in the wind. Baby brother, my parents, and my family all had our own travel trailers and were fine...except baby bro didn't get his awning rolled up in time & the wind took it for a ride. Other than that & a little rain, we had an enjoyable stay. Golfball size hail would've ruined that, though. https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/red-rocks-amphitheater-hail-storm-injures-nearly-100-ahead-of-planned-louis-tomlinson-concert/article_19d54ee4-1105-11ee-8a6f-4bc8fe9d47d3.html

Holy crap that was long. Sorry, didn't intend to write a novel.🤦‍♂️

My F250 is a 460/5 speed 4x4 with manual hubs & t-case...none of that electronic crap. I put it in gear, it's in gear. Both of my Rangers are also 5-speeds. The '86 is a 4-banger (have a 289 from '66 Mustang to build for it) & my "daily driver" is a '92 with a V6. They're both 2wd, although that'll probably change for the '86 when I get a round tuit...them things are dang hard to come by. Hell, even the 1st semi tractor I looked at was a '97 LTL9000 daycab...it just needed too much work to make it road-worthy. Not mechanical work, either...electrical. Next truck I looked at was the '01 CH parked in my driveway. The Suburban was parked at the farm where our horses are boarded. It was his brother's, who sold it to his son, who tried making a mud truck out of it & parked it for 9 years. It had a 6" lift (springs in front, blocks in the rear) & 35's. Exhaust was a set of long tube headers & ended right there. Rear 14-bolt axle was missing all of the parking brake components & seems to be from a 70's era truck...'90 brake drums wouldn't fit. Had to weld a piece of angle iron onto the backing plate with a 1/2" hole drilled in it to run the cables and find the other parts & pieces to put the inside of the drum back together so everything would work. Put new springs on all of the way around...3/4-ton front +2" over stock, and 1-ton in the rear +2" over stock...then because I hate that GM squatty look, added 1-1/2" blocks to level the ride. Built an exhaust from scratch...magnaflow 3" cat, Flowmaster 70 series muffler (that's since rotted out & been replaced with a 50), and a 3" tailpipe. Couldn't keep gaskets on the collectors, so ended up replacing the headers with manifolds. TH400 started slipping, so put in a GM performance crate 4L85E in...voided the warranty converting it from 2wd to 4wd, but went from 9.25 mpg up to 11.25 mpg. Then the 190hp 350 started knocking, so replaced it with a GM performance crate 260hp Vortec...voided the warranty on that, too, throwing a cam at it before I installed it. TBI wouldn't run, so had a chip made. They missed. Down to 7 mpg & it couldn't get out of its own way. Tried a bigger throttle body. Got me a LITTLE more, but not enough to write home about & was still in the low 7's. Scrapped the entire intake & ignition system and went mechanical with an HEI distributor and a Quadrajet. Dumb me went with the stage 2 from Jet...still had the headers at the time and the cam was borderline between stage 1 & 2. Should've gone stage 1. Anyway, picked up a ton of power, but still runs rich. It's averaging a little better than 10, but not quite 11 mpg...I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be able to hit at least 12- if I could just get the carburetor tuned right. Finally got a wide-band O2 sensor & air/fuel ratio gauge and installed it before the trip out west, so at least I'll have an idea what needs adjusting & by how much. Runs around 11.5 (14.7 is ideal)...but was seeing 8's & 9's at the higher elevations. It wasn't happy. Need to open it up & see what jets are in there to downsize a bit & lean things out. Also put new shocks (long overdue...they were still the same +6" shocks) & steering stabilizer on before the trip, as well as a rear sway bar. It had one up front, but not in the rear. Also replaced the ball joints on both sides & the power steering pump before the trip...only to find the power steering gearbox also leaking. Should've gone with my gut & replaced the steering box with a manual box from a 2wd and picked up a few extra hp by removing the power steering altogether. Since I just spent the money on the pump, though, I'll probably just get another power steering box. I've done a lot to it over the years. Really didn't do TOO bad on the trip...5-1/4 mpg on the way out & 6-1/2 mpg coming back. Not bad considering my F250 only got 4-1/2 pulling a 2-horse bumper pull trailer with 2 horses inside up from Texas when I moved the wife up here...although pulling the gooseneck it'll get 7-1/2. Problem is, F250 only seats 3...so to use it pulling the camper I'd have to either leave the wife or one of the kids (2 & 5) behind...so that's not really an option. We've been looking at 4-door trucks. I won't even consider one if it isn't manual transmission, 4x4 (manual shift t-case...hubs I can change if they aren't already manual locks), and has an 8' bed. Wife insists upon the 4-doors, which is fine as long as it's got a pair of shifters poking through the floor and an 8' bed. Don't care if it has a big-block gas motor or a diesel...both have their pros & cons, although being as long as it'd be the pros of a diesel probably outweigh the fun that can be had in a gasser...besides, my 250 ain't going away. We're not trading anything away, just adding to the fleet.

Ain't no bowties on that truck...it's a GMC. It's for us literate folks who can read instead of needing a fancy logo to know what we're looking at. All my other trucks are Fords. And all my other trucks put together haven't cost me as much over the years as this one. But this one can haul 8 people, where all my Fords are 3-seaters. That's why we bought it. At the time, we needed at least 7 seats. Paid $3k for it. Probably $40k deep into it. Sad, too, because the cancer is getting her. Need to either do a ton of body work to get her right again, or find a clean shell to swap over onto my chassis...preferably one with a roof rack, but I don't want one without the clearance lights...kinda like those. And I like the barn doors rather than the tailgate, too... Funny thing is, though, I've FINALLY got the wife on board swapping out the 4L85E I put in there when the turbo 400 took a crap for a manual transmission. Damn thing wouldn't hold 1st gear when I needed it to & we ended up stalling out on a pretty steep hill on a 2-lane road just a couple miles before the camp ground we'd be staying at. Got her fired up again, put the t-case in 4-lo, drove to the top of the hill, and pissed off everyone behind me again when I stopped to put it back in high range.😂 Would've pulled the hill just fine in 1st @ 3000-3500 RPM, but kept deciding it didn't want to stay in 1st and would shift itself into 2nd...lose speed...and I'd have to move the shifter up to 2nd & back to 1st to get it to drop back into 1st...repeat...losing speed every time until it just stalled. Probably just a setting I can adjust on the transmission controller...but don't tell my wife that. I hate automatics, and only put the 4L85E in there because I was building it for her. She never drives it, though, so now I'll build it for me.😎

Speaking of trucks... What does it say about you when the age of your truck exceeds the age + length of the travel trailer you pulled 2200 miles round trip up into the mountains on your family vacation? 🤔

If I'm drinking beer, it's Shiner Bock.

My grandpa never talked about the war, other than to express frustrations about being in an anti-aircraft division & hearing enemy planes, KNOWING where they were going, but being unable to fire upon them until it went up the chain of command & orders to fire came back...but by then the planes were long gone. That and his frustrations with the Red Cross, who would charge soldiers for donuts & coffee (USO tent they were free). As such, upon returning home grandpa never gave a dime to the Red Cross, and supported the USO every chance he got. It wasn't until after he died that we learned he had only spent a brief moment in anti-aircraft before being transferred to a bridge carpentry unit (makes sense, given he was a carpenter upon returning home right up until his heart attack...and he continued to be a woodworker making various crafts for the church, family, friends, and just as a hobby). He also earned 4 bronze stars (which we never knew about) during his time in Europe. He was very adamant about one thing...he did NOT want "full military honors" at his funeral. No flag-draped casket. No Taps. No 21-gun salute. He didn't feel as though he'd earned that right BECAUSE he came home, and thought it would diminish the meaning of those honors for the boys who returned home in boxes. We honored that requestm although the VFW did provide my grandma with a burial flag, it was not draped over his casket. The more I learned after his death, the more curious I was about what exactly he saw & did over there. Whatever it was, he took those memories to his grave.

I seem to recall an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard where the Duke boys had a trailer hooked up behind the General Lee. Now I'm gonna have to break out the DVD's & have a marathon binge-watching session to try to find the episode...🤦‍♂️

LOL! The '92 Ranger was parked after the main line to the rear brakes burst. It was already lacking a brake line to the front right (drove it 10 or so years like that waiting for a round tuit to come my way), so after crimping that line off I was down to 1 brake...decided I had other vehicles I could be driving, pulled it around back, and shut it off. Anyway, fast forward a couple years and I'm commuting 100 miles per day...and at 10 mpg in the F250 or Suburban, the fuel bill was killing me. So, I did the work & got the brakes working again, new tires, etc...and started driving it, moss and all. Used to joke about needing to get one of those Mossy Oak stickers for the top of the windshield & crossing out the Oak. Then my wife borrowed it one day & the 1st thing she did was run it through a car wash. 😒 Hell, if my Mack sits much longer I'll have to use the chainsaw before I can move it. Damn maple trees around here grow like weeds.🤦‍♂️ Also have the F250 right in front of the Mack that's waiting for me to replace the timing cover gasket. Have everything I need except time. At least the '86 Ranger is in the garage...buried in the back corner...all it's collecting is dust.