This is the time I’m proud to live on the same planet as the magnificent Olympians from all over the world. Yesterday I caught some gymnastics, soccer, bicycling, archery, skateboarding and more. What a joy to watch people who have put all they are into their sport, trying to be the best they can be. I will try to catch more today, but we’ve been busy this morning. So far –
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My husband is out in the shop, trying to get the Vette back together. He SAYS it will be easier, but it looks like a lot of struggling to me. My fingers – and all my other parts are crossed that he is successful, without TOO many more ‘ouchies’ to add to his collection.
I have the last load of laundry in the dryer, and will put clean sheets on the bed soon.
I have gathered ripe tomatoes.
I have cleaned “Mama” and “baby” snail yard critters and the first coat of the ‘re-paint’ is drying.
I have vacuumed the tiled areas of our first floor (pantry, kitchen, dining area, 2 half baths, foyer, and utility room.)
Pinterest
Not sure what the rest of the day will hold. We have a nice, though very hot day, with a heat index of 100+. Thank GOODNESS for good a/c. :0)
I brought out the second finished shovel bird and put him in place last night before dark. He is at one edge of the top of our driveway, ready to greet all comers.
It feels good to be getting our yard critters cleaned up and re-painted. Things were beginning to look at bit sad around here.
I just finished adding some new mini-purses to my Etsy website HandmadeHavenByLinda
They are 5″ x 7″, hand-painted one-of-a-kind designs on canvas. The purses have zipper closures, so your valuables remain secure while your hands remain free.
You can hang them from your shoulder, wear them cross-body, or tie them to your belt, or the belt loop on your jeans.
Fun to use, make your life easier, and just might make you smile.
Please come visit my shop and see these, plus some other things. :0)
“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?”
etsy.com
“He respects Owl, because you can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right.” A.A. Milne – Winnie the Pooh
todolwen.ca
“The owl,” he was saying, “is one of the most curious creatures. A bird that stays awake when the rest of the world sleeps. They can see in the dark. I find that so interesting, to be mired in reality when the rest of the world is dreaming. What does he see and what does he know that the rest of the world is missing?” ~M.J. Rose
Yesterday my husband triumphed over the problem we were having with the Vette. (The Service Department at the Chevrolet place had quoted a price of $450 plus tax for the new part and then $500 for the labor of putting it in. THEN they told us, after keeping the Vette there for two weeks, they couldn’t get the part. It had been discontinued.)
My husband found the part we needed on the net, if we needed to order it, and bookmarked the page. He also found a video, with lots of positive comments, on how to get the part out, rewire it, and fix the problem. He has worked all day for three days, ending up with two hands and one arm totally bruised, bashed, gouged, and a bit swollen, plus really sore ribs from trying to hang over one side of the Vette and work to try to remove 6 screws holding the part in. Once the part was finally out, the factory had sealed it. He finally was able to pry the top off and clean up the inside. He soldered the 4 wires, put the part back together temporarily, installed it in the Vette (NO problem going back IN) and tested. IT WORKED!!!!!!
Now that he is over the hump on the problem, (knowing it is solved, and for a total of $10,) my husband can relax a bit from his “do it or die” mode of the past 3 days. I convinced him to take today off and REST. He is so sore that he seems happy to do that. He’s in the living room, drinking coffee and watching TV now. :0)
He will need to get the part out, seal the box again, then reinstall it. He’ll need to reconnect the things he had to disconnect to get to the part. But none of this will be the pressure-filled, impossible position, HARD work he’s been doing. Then he’ll be able to move the Vette from the shop to our garage.
He told me again how much he loves that car. (We bought it years ago when finances were really tight. I really wanted him to have his dream car. The smile on his face made it worth whatever we had to do to get it.) He’s still smiling. :0)
I’m managing to do a bit of exercising while also running out to the shop several times a day to check on my husband as he works on his beloved ‘Vette, armed with bottles of water, bandaids, etc.
I’m happy to be able to tell you that he has finished the hardest part of the project. He has the part out, after making no progress at all the first day. The part is out now. He will pry off the top (the manufacturers didn’t intend for someone to take it out and actually try to fix it) solder 4 wires, put it back in (he says this won’t be difficult) and test it. If it doesn’t work, he’ll order the replacement part he found on the net. If it works, he’ll zip things up and we’ll celebrate.
Service dept – two weeks – one call – if they could get the part – $1000+. They told us the part had been discontinued and they couldn’t get it. So we paid them $85.00 for them looking and the information.
My husband – three days. Either $0 or $148 plus shipping and tax. Quite a difference.
The only downside – my husband’s ‘fix it or die’ attitude, no matter what he promises. He is going to Lunch Bunch with me in about an hour. Both of his hands and one arm are really bruised, scraped, gouged, and pinched from his hard work to get the part out. It looks like he was in a bad accident or ran into spousal abuse. I’m glad we’re almost to the end of this.
Meanwhile, to maintain sanity, I have managed to do a session of yoga each day. I didn’t do my weights. I’ll pick them up again on Monday and see if I can do the exercises I found Monday, Wednesday, and Friday along with the yoga.
You would THINK that after living with my husband for over 52 YEARS now, I would learn.
My husband promised me that he would take the ‘working on the Vette’ project as a PROJECT – with no time limit, no pressure, a little bit of work each day until the problem was solved. He promised me he would stay hydrated, make things as comfortable as possible in the shop, with a/c, etc. That he would take breaks and not work himself to exhaustion. He lied.
There’s no way to soften it. He got into the ‘fix-it-or-die’ mode yesterday. I went to check on him, taking a bottle of water. He didn’t have one out there, of course. He DID have the a/c on, but he just moved the mower out of the way, further into the shop, instead of moving it out and THEN the ‘Vette in – so mowing the lawn will just have to wait until the ‘Vette is running again – causing him to put pressure on himself even more than he usually does.
I went out at noon to insist that he take a break and eat some lunch. He did, but got right back out there when he finished eating. (At least I got him to eat a bit and drink some iced tea.)
I spent time out there yesterday afternoon to keep him company, plus get him to at least to sit down a few minutes and drink some water. He had scraped his arm badly, so I went back inside to get a cloth, water, and bandages to fix him up.
When I finished cleaning the shovel bird and had painted a bit, I convinced him that he had spent enough time out there and to call it a day. Happily, he did. He then fell asleep in his chair under a throw at dinner time. I did the prep, fed our animals, but waited to fix our meal until he woke up again.
He woke early this morning and was already out in the shop when our alarm went off. He has watched the video again and thinks he saw something that might be causing his problems.
I’ll get the mail, shop for some frozen dinners at Real Food, and then insist he come in and eat some lunch soon.
Several years ago my husband bought our 2003 Corvette on eBay. Yeah, that’s right. Nuts, huh?
He flew to Kansas City with a cashier’s check, a letter from the lady at the bank, and her phone number, in case it was needed. He drove it home.
He has smiled ever since.
He LOVES this car.
Recently, we started having messages pop up on the dash, indicating all kinds of problems, including “check engine,” for which we called, made an appointment for the Chevrolet Service Department in Fort Smith to look at it. Two weeks later, they finally called, said we needed a new ‘whatever module,’ and it would be $450 plus labor, but they couldn’t get one. The part had been discontinued.
We brought the Vette back home yesterday. My husband got on the net and was able to FIND the part we needed – $148.00 – but even BETTER – found a video by a guy who showed how to FIX the module we had! My husband had the tools needed, and he decided he would try to follow the video. There were about 100 comments from people thanking the man for making such a good video and helping them fix the problem.
So the Vette is in our shop now. This is a fix that does NOT require the whole front end be taken off, but my husband said it may take some time. I made him PROMISE to take lots of breaks, drink water, plus come in and rest from time to time.
Even with that promise, having lived with the man for 52 years now (and loving him longer than that) I know he’ll decide to act like he’s still in his 20’s working himself into exhaustion unless I play bad guy.
I will go out and keep checking on him. I’ve taken him a bottle of water this morning and watched as he turned on the a/c in the shop. I will check on him again in about an hour before I leave to get a haircut, and then I’ll insist he come in for lunch and a rest. Then I’ll go out there with him and start cleaning another yard critter.
I’ve told him that he gets no rewards for how quickly he finishes the job. HOPEFULLY, he will do this fix as if it were a hobby, rather than a matter of life and death…
He bought several Chevrolet manuals when he bought the car, but they weren’t much help this time. We’re grateful that he found the part, if needed, and hopefully a way to fix the problem – thanks to the wonderful man on the Internet.
I’ve been playing a bit in my art room in-between cleaning up and re-painting yard critters. I painted 4 purses lately – one as a replacement for one a customer bought that closed with a snap that was almost impossible to open – and 3 others, all with zippers.
I think these mini-purses are a fun idea. They’re small (5″x7″) light-weight canvas with a long cord. They can be hung on your shoulder, worn cross body, or tied to your belt. They are large enough to hold your cellphone and other valuables, leaving your hands free for shopping, taking care of your dog on a walk, dancing with your husband, etc. The one above is called, “Abstract.”
“Fantasy”
“Abstract” and “Fantasy” are painted on one side. “Purple and White Delight” (below), is painted on both sides.