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!





Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Back to Jr John Deere
Having been given some solid input on the oil plug I went back to it. A few times the last week I've attempted to turn it but quickly get frustrated and walk away. Then, being a typical ADHDer I began looking at the trees and bushes around the house. HM, bet I can trim EVERYTHING. And also being a typical ADHDer...I'll get back to telling about that later. Because while slaying wood and repairing chain~saw, on one of my forays over for yet another try at the oil plug, I got it closed. I had finally sat down next to the Jr JD after a few successful turns and noticed I could see through the drain hole...but only partially Could that be significant? So reaching in and getting a hold of the knob I turned and saw a rod move inside the drain hole. AH HA! Keeping an eye on the hole I turned the knob, of course opening it further. OK, turning it the other way I saw the rod move past the hole until all I saw was rod....NO HOLE. Could it be closed? Only one way to find out......

I stood up and twisted off the oil cap and then took the cap off the gallon of oil-or what remained of it after pouring it in/out/in/out/in......of the Jr JD days ago. I poured and it didn't come out. After a bit of happy dancing I got enough oil in to register on the dip stick and then slowly got it to the 'full' spot. Score: Susan 2. Battery and Oil. Turned the key and cranking away but didn't start.

Next step was the spark plug. A friend visited that day who had happened to just change her spark plug on a mulcher. And said she had to purchase the tool to do the job. Now, my Dad-in my view-had enough tools to repair Boston. So in we went to search. But it seems as I recall that my brother had taken a large portion of the ratchet side of the wrench world. Gobel and I searched a while but no spark plug piece, although some handles which would fit in the tight space. When she went home that night she called and told me she would run her tool over the next morning in case it fit.

Going up to the house the next morning I hunted again. And I found a circular fitting about 2 inches long-so it would fit far enough into the spark plug shaft and when I looked at it, it actually said 'SPARK PLUG'. Duh!!!! Then I selected a handle which I could slide the fitting end to end in the tiny space. Popped it on and....step back Fred!!....it fit! Within seconds I had the spark plug sitting in my greasy hand. Cleaned it, went in and read the manual which told me how to test it. Out I go. Hm, maybe I should stick the end of it back in that little rubber cover before I hold it again a bolt attached to the engine and turn the key. YA THINK? Got a spark, reinstalled, turned the key, cranked away and didn't start.

Next the manual said to change the fuel filter. A bit more challenging got it off but somehow the fuel knob is exactly opposite what it said in the manual. After spilling quite a bit of fuel while fumbling about I turned the knob back onto the 'ON' position per the manual....closed. After I looked at all the fuel filters in Walmart and seeing none 'exactly' but 'looks like that MIGHT fit' picked up a Fram G12. Wrestled it on, knob to 'OFF' per book but on for my Jr JD.....turned key, cranked away but didn't start.

Next the manual told me to go to a John Deere repairman. Wanna bet???? Next I'm going to the carburetor!!!!
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)