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All you need is a screwdriver

All you need is a screwdriver

vwjettalites.docThe guy we bought Kati’s Jetta off of was nice enough to give us a DVD with a 1874 pags repair manual for it.  I hope I will never need it, but it will come in handy if we do!  I was looking through it tonight and since there is a front turn signal burned out, I figured I would look and see what I was in for.  It isn’t going to be any big deal to change, but I did notice quickly that nearly every thing in this book begins with the line “pry (off) open” with a screwdriver.  This would be one big difference between US manufacturing and German engineering.  A US automaker would have started off with, “must use tool  # xyz only available from your dealer.

Kati has really enjoyed her new car.  The a/c wasn’t working again yesterday and I had a chance to take a look at it early this morning.  Thinking it was low on freon, I hooked up the gauge to check the pressure and it not only pegged out the gauge, but it actually cracked the fitting on the hose where it hooks to the freon can.  Whoa buddy, I had some of the freon removed and the a/c began once again to cool.  We probably pulled out a little too much, so after running to O’Reilys autoparts in Bville, I will add a little back and see how that works.  It only cooled down to about 48 degrees so I figure it is a little low.

Got L.P.?

Got  L.P.?

Okay, while “cleaning”up the garage the other night, I tipped over the shelf that has my stack of 33 1/3 rpm Records.  Now, if you are over 50, like some of us, you know what a record is.  Those under 50 probably think of the newspaper public kind of record, but no, it was long before CD’s, cassettes and even 8-tracks.

Anyway, back to my story.  Debbie bought me a turntable that I can plug into my laptop and convert the LP’s to digital music.  If you really want to remaster, you can, but hey, I know the words to nearly every song on these albums and where they skip and how to sing it that way.  There are songs that I didn’t know had some words in them since my old LP always skipped.

With Deb moving some of her glass supplies down to the old Swim-Rite store I have decided to take over one of the spare offices for my stuff.  I am going to now try to get all my LPs converted to Digital, skips and all!  I have done a couple (see picture above) andI do like listening to them on my iPod.

So, if you have any old LP’s you want to save, just give me a holler.

Jim

What a Day……

What a Day......

Yesterday late afternoon we discovered a water leak at the back door of the office.  We had a leak there a few years ago and figured our repair sleeve had come off, so decided to dig it out this morning.  Well, after finding out that we couldn’t completely shut off the water and pumping, pumping and more pumping they finally found that our repair was holding, that there is a hole in a 90 degree elbow going into the building.  It appears that because we had to hire and electrician to check out our electrical system and he grounded the iron gas pipe to the galvanized water pipe that through electrolysis, it ate a hole in the water pipe.

A temporary fix finally let us turn the water back on later in the afternoon so we could at least take care of some business in the offices, but then all of a sudden half the power went off.  Of course the computers shut down, so no orders could be entered and the phone system is down. 

I figured out pretty quick that we had one leg of our 240 volt line down.  I could see the line from the transformer hanging loose and when I opened the electrical disconnect the fuse literally fell out in two pieces. Debbie F contacted PSO and within 10 minutes they showed up and confirmed that they had a leg down. 

Now, being a Friday at 4:45 I figured there was no way to get this done, but I called our local electrician, who I had worked with back in high school and he came right out.  Between him and the PSO guy, they got the power back to where we thought we could turn it back on.  B Roberts stayed at Keystone so I could pick up a couple of 200 amp fuses and I ran back out to get everything back up.  Unfortunately, the wire in the disconnect had burned out and the lug for the fuse had broken completely out of the box.  Deciding we could move it over to another lug, we began that fix, but again, too short of wire foiled that fix attempt.  So finally around 6 o’clock we made the decision to just leave it off. I will head to Locke Supply in the morning and see about picking up a new panel and the other items we will need to fix it. 

Jerry called me with a list of items to pick up and is going to meet me out there in the morning.  This is why I love a small town.  Sure, in the “city” you probably could get this same thing done, but I don’t think you would be able to consider all the guys helping you, your friends.  Rick from PSO was headed home already and turned around and came back and stayed until we decided what to do, Jerry, who is not feeling well due to an illness, still agreed to come out and see what he could do, and is willing to come back out tomorrow and guide me in getting it fixed.

I love Nowata…..

Jim

Car Shopping……

Car Shopping......

We have spent the past couple of weeks searching for a good used car for Kati to drive to OSU.  Lots of cars out there, but she has her heart set on a VW.  At first a beetle bug, but after test driving one in Broken Arrow, decided on looking for Jetta’s.  I am sure that her older sisters Jetta had a little influence on this decision.  Of course, probably not going for the heated seats and rains sensing windsheild wipers on Kati’s. 

We have drove this one located in Edmond and she really likes the car.  We arrived at an agreed upon price, but the speedometer didn’t work so he is trying to fix that before we make the final deal.  Hopefully it won’t be too much and we can try to get  back down there this weekend sometime. 

It’s times like this that I really miss my dear friend Gene Fair.  He was the owner of Sooner Motors, a Ford dealership in Nowata for years and if you bought any car off of Gene, be it new or a 1977 Mercury with over 100,000 miles on it, you knew that you were going to be taken care of.  Lots of my Saturday mornings were spent sitting in the showroom with Gene, Bryan Lee, Barney Wall, Bruce Dewitt and some Saturdays Joe Stewart would even take time off from work, or whatever it is that Joe really does, and come down to help us try to solve the worlds problems.  Even Cass would come along sometimes and Gene would “pay” her to sweep the floors.  Usually a Pepsi.

At noon, Gene would run us all off and lots of times, Debbie would meet me at Bakers and we would have lunch.  They made the best Nachos I’ve ever had.  They were loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and all the other good stuff.  I don’t know what Russell did different, but no where have I ever come close to the goodness of his.

Well, it is late, so I’m headed to watch a little of Letterman and try to get some sleep. 

Later………….

Senior 2009?

Senior 2009?

It is really hard for me to believe that this picture wasn’t taken just a year or two ago, but as you can see, Bell’s is no longer around and Kati and her friend are a lot younger than today.  The picture was actually taken back in 2003, but it really does seem like just “the other day”.

Just thought you all might like a quick run down memory lane. 

Jim

Yes, I am still alive…..

Bids, reports, farming, dentists, birthdays, graduation, more bids.

This seems to be my life right now.  Both my girls had Birthdays this past couple of weeks.  My Mom’s was the end of last month, and if you have me as a friend on Facebook, you knew that we took her to Jamils for dinner for her Birthday.

Kati and Cassie were taken care of by their mom.  I don’t do a very good job of figureing out what to buy them, so I just follow her lead.  I think they both enjoyed their gifts.  Kati got the better deal, since we combined Birthday with her Graduation gift.

It is bid season at work.  Seems like everyday a new request comes in.  With the crazy chemical prices right now, it is very difficult to figure out what price to bid.  If they want it firm for a year (which most do), you have to look into your crystal ball and guess what the future holds for supply and demand.  I am about at 50/50 right now.  I have lost about as many as I have won.  Not too good in my books, but I’ll keep trying.  Can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket!

Farm Town takes most of my evenings.  I am hooked on this crazy game.  It’s Cassie’s fault, she talked me into trying it.  If you haven’t checked it out, you should, but beware, it is addictive.  I have “harvested” crops for people in Australia, England and a bunch of the U.S. People like to visit about where they are from and what they do.  I have chatted with Medical Students, Grandmas, Dads and just all sorts of people.  It is fun.

The dentist is a new one.  We finally quit going to the one here in town. Since he didn’t accept our insurance, every time we went it cost us a bunch out of pocket.  We decided that since we pay for insurance, we should get something for it, so we looked around.  Found a new Dentist in Collinsville and so far have really liked the change.  I went and got the broken front tooth done that I have needed to have done for the past 4 or 5 years.  Found out after the first time I went, that our friends in Church, CRB and Merrilynn, go to this dentist also and they really like her too.

Well, farming for the evening is done, kati is probably typing away on her new MacBook, Debbie is wondering why we pay $50 a month of Direct TV (good question) and we all need to be headed to bed, so g’night.

Jim

I love my wife (and presents)

I love my wife (and presents)

Debbie had some running around in T-Town the other day and wandered by a new store on memorial called The Savory Chef and found these neat little meat thermometers to use when grilling.  I love to grill and have tried numerous different gadgets for the perfectly cooked meat.  I have a “meat fork” thermometer, a wireless gadget to carry around that will beep when your meat hits the right temperature and even some sticks that change color when your hit the right doneness.  I think these will work really well, since the wireless ones don’t ever seem to make it through the winter (should of brought it in), the batteries are always dead, or the wire that you have to run into the grill and out to the transmitter seems to always end up getting broke.  Can’t wait to try the new ones.

Debbie got the garden planted this morning.  I have been telling her all week that I would be here for sure to help her get everything in today, then last night while we were out eating at Hammet House in Claremore, I got a call from Randy saying that the load of product that we sent to #4 Rogers wasn’t working right and so I ended up having to go into the plant this morning, loading up four drums of product, and taking it down to Oologah and helping Greg and Melvin pump it off into a tote so they could keep the plant running.  Needless to say, by the time I got back to the house, she was done.  I promise, I didn’t do it on purpose!

Mowing time, yard work, tree trimming and just cleaning up around the patio and lots is on the agenda.  It looks like rain this afternoon, but maybe I can get some things done before hand.  I ordered a new canopy for our Gazebo that we bought at Target couple of summers ago and am anxious to get it put on also.

Anyway, till later,

Jim

Farming made Easy!

Farming made Easy!

I wish that farming in real life was as easy as it is on Farm Town in Facebook.  I’ve been farming about a week now and have what I think is a pretty nice spread.  I’ve got a couple of horses, some sheep, cows, bales of hay, a cart and even a wooden barrel.  You don’t really need all that stuff, but I think it helps build up your experience level.  You really ought to check out Facebook and Farmtown, it is a really good time killer.

With all that seed planting and field plowing done, I figured that I should go out and really do some work.  I tilled up about half of the new garden area again, but the other half was still too wet to do, so Debbie and I cleared out the “shade” garden under the elder tree and mowed it down.  We aren’t real sure what we are going to do there now, but no more flower garden for now anyway.

Went and got the Toyota serviced today.  Wow, it was over $40 for an oil change.  I may have to check to see how much we could just do it ourselves at the office.  Not too long ago, I swear it was only $22 for the basic change.  They sweep out the front floorboards and check all the fluids, but believe me, I could do that myself also. 

Kati went to Collinsville and picked up a friend and they went to a movie in Owasso.  She should be home in a while.  Debbie fixed a quick dinner of pork chops, noodles and a salad, too bad kati, you missed it.

I’m going to see if I can convience Debbie that we should go to Sonic for an ice cream cone or some other nice treat.  I had a root canal done on my front tooth the other day (a rework actually), and haven’t  had the guts to try the coldness of ice cream yet, but I think I can handle it now.  We’ll see.

Jim

March 2009, full of exciting days

March 2009, full of exciting days

Okay, quick post, bored with nothing else to do does strange things to your mind.

 pi day>>>>>>>>>>>>March 14  (3.14)

Square root day>>>>>>March 3, 09 (3*3=9)

And the all  famous

Goezintu day>>>>>>>>March 27, 09  (3 goes into 27, 9 times)

Hope everyone had a nice day.

Jim

For Sale by Owner!

For Sale by Owner!

I recently bought my lovely wife a new iPod Touch.  I had bought her the Palm Zire 31 (see picture) a few years back and she really liked it.  It had a few games, a contact (address) book, a calendar and a few other niceties.  Well, for Christmas I bought my youngest an iTouch.  It is really neat, and Debbie seemed to really like it, so hey, I got her one for my Birthday.

My Birthday you say?  Well, I like giving presents as much as I like to get them, sometimes even more, but underneath all this “wow, what a guy” is an underlying motive. 

Once Debbie got hooked on the new “toy” and I kept bothering her to borrow it so I could play with it, “we” decided I needed to just buy one of my own.  Needless to say, a couple of evenings on eBay was all I needed to come up with a refurbished unit (have I ever mentioned I’m cheap?) to buy, and I anxiously awaited by the mail box for it to arrive. 

It got here Monday afternoon, but due to our Church League bowling night, I was unable to spend much time checking it out.  Kati finally figured out why I wasn’t able to get iTunes to work on it though while we were gone, so that was a plus.

Anyway, all said, I have spent the past couple of hours on the hotel wi-fi downloading free apps to my new “toy”. 

I am going to list my old PDA on eBay this weekend and with any luck, it will bring at least half of what I gave for the new iTouch.  We’ll see.

Jim

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