The words I will post on this blog? My father passed away 19 Feb 2009 at age 80 years and 4 months. The 'official' cause of death......Renal Failure.....Heart Failure......He stopped eating......he never accepted that the same disease he watched his mother suffer through was also robbing and torturing him. ALZHEIMER'S. Each day since, the fear and anger which defined him at his end, haunts my thoughts. But he is always with me as I struggle through my days. He would be no matter what path my life would take. But since his passing, my mother, at 81 years, lives with me. And an old fieldstone house filled with the possessions of 80 years of their lives, 57 years of their marriage, the last years compounded by that heinous disease, ALZHEIMER'S....has become my responsibility. To clean out, organize, maintain and finally, assist my mother to sell. As I've struggled with all that entails, my father is right beside me. Sometimes saying 'I can fix that'. At times chuckling with an 'AH-HA, you should have listened when I talked about how it worked'. Sometimes a 'HEY, don't throw that out, we may need it'. Frequently a 'No No, not that way, forget it~I'll do it myself '.

Over the din of him talking I routinely hear myself saying HM, BET I CAN FIX THAT. Words that no doubt he is whispering in my ear as I'm faced, once again, with another problem, something broken, or facing a task he always insisted on doing HIMSELF. For my father, for all he was and accomplished and all that was stolen from him in his last years......HM, Bet I Can Fix THAT!





Wednesday, June 22, 2011

And Now a Brief Message from our...

OK, just joking. Sort of. My Jr. John Deere has been elevated to 'no longer can do that tomorrow' status. And since I haven't updated or frankly even BEGUN that absorbing tale, I'll just explain why the alteration in status.

While the step by step toward repair of the Jr John Deere is progressing- it went on life support last October-I have been mowing the lawn with a Briggs & Stratton. Which no doubt has also not been serviced in the last 5 years. My Father was diligent about such things but the last few years it obviously was not done. I've been using the B&S and for the 3rd summer its hanging in there. Well, OK, its running. Fine...
It cuts the grass.....
 
Two of the covers on the engine have dropped off, I STILL HAVE THEM.


And that nifty little safety guard over where the grass blows out, its with the other 2 covers resting nicely in the Little House. Yea yea yea, covers are there for a reason, like maybe safety? But honestly the grass blows out much nicer without that little raise-able piece and I no longer have to take care driving around things. Somehow I was always getting stuck and having to pull it back, no doubt its why it fell off. Now I can make nice close runs right next to everything from trees to wheelbarrows.

Anyway, last week when I mowed the grass and went to refill the gas tank, as I turned the corner to the Little House where the gas can was, it seemed to be a bit difficult to steer. So when I released the bar and it stopped I inspected to see if anything was strange. Any guesses? Took me a moment also. The Briggs & Stratton is a sleek, classy, all black, mean machine, so had to look closely. Ahhhhh.....
My eagle eye detected the problem, METAL STRESS. The left side of the U shaped steering mechanism, otherwise known as the HANDLE broke. Now if I were able to weld and IF I hadn't already bartered away the welder in exchange for moving heavy items and a week keeping my dog-I could weld it. Moving past the obviously impossible, I reviewed my options. Jr John Deere-yea yea should have put more work on that already. Duct Tape? Used the last of it on the 1968 Pool Filter {upcoming post}. Then I landed on the answer. EPOXY. I still had some left from the above mentioned filter so I would epoxy it together. But that took 24 hours to cure and I was half way through the lawn. So, in my best 'if car won't go into reverse always park the car so you can pull forward' method.....I wrestled it back into the bracket and went on mowing. Initially I had to hold the lever down while I 1-armed it back in place a half dozen times. But then I realized it was popping out when I pulled it backwards. Piece of cake, I won't pull it backwards That worked pretty well but sharp turns and at times careful backing still would make it flip out of the bracket. But I got the yard finished. And without once yelling at the mower or threatening it with the sledgehammer. Cool. Before I left that night I epoxied it right good! Next time?
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