Can't says that I've done that, but this morning I did have a panic attack because I let my dog out in the back yard since she can "supposedly" be back there unsupervised now that I finally got that new fence. I come to GSpot to check the posts and suddenly hear what sounds like a geyser in the back yard and the dog barking like she's just killed something only to find out that she's knocked the water fawcett off the pvc pipe that it was on. (She is named Vixen for a reason. ;) )
Water is shooting up four feet into the air and it's right against the wall of the Florida Room so I'm worried about the water coming into the room. I can't find the shut off valve for the water so, in my jammies I'm running down the street to the one neighbor I know knows how to turn the water off and she's not home. I knock on two more doors and no one is home. Finally found a neighbor home who knows absolutely nothing about turning the water off to the house, "You can do that??" and he's still in his jammies too, so I rush back home trying to figure out what to do. My next door neighbor is outside getting his newspaper and talking on his cell phone, so I yell and ask him if HE knows how to turn the water off to my house. He kindly gets off the phone and laughs at the gushing geyser in my back yard and the now growing pond around the water feature. He can't find the shut off valve either, but we DID find the one to the inside of the house (I have two separate water systems).
I go inside and call the water company who says they can't repair it but can come turn the water off - well 'DUH' that's all I need right now. Please send someone over! "He's on another call, but I'll let him know to come there when he gets done." Thank you! I'm impatient and it's gonna need to be repaired anyway, right? I start calling the "emergency" sprinkler repair places in the yellow pages - voice mail or "it'll be over an hour before we can get there."
"Did I mention, ma'am, that my back yard is FLOODING??? I don't HAVE an hour to wait!"
Another unsuspecting neighbor across the street comes out....
"Nevin, do you have two water systems?" She does! Yeah!
"Do you know how to turn your water off to the irrigation system?"
Ummmm.......they showed me when they put it in, but....well, actually, NO, I don't know how to turn it off....
Great. Well, thanks anyway....
Poor kid comes out from the house across the street. His dad works till the wee hours of the morning, so I figured he was probably asleep, but try anyway, "Josh, is your daddy up yet?"
"Naw, he didn't get home till 7am - he's dead to the world. Want me to wake him up?"
Nope - please don't wake him up.
Call the friends who used to live next door to me....voicemail.
Call Daddy - he's in KY and not much of a handyman, but hey - I'm desperate. He laughs and tells me that it should be around the meter. The meter - which one is the inside and which one is the outside? They're both covered in about three feet of sand/dirt. (I'm wondering about those water meters and how they determine my bills now, but no time for that)
Get a call from one of the emergency services....the poor lady tries to tell me that legally there is supposed to be some kind of backflow valve right under my irrigation system timer. I can't find anything. I tell her where I live and she tries to get in touch with her husband to see how close he is to me.
While she does that I chop the Azalea Bush under the irrigation timer to shreds in case it's hiding the backflow valve this woman has told me about.....no dice.
I'm about to really panic because the pond is now growing to a small lake and the water is still gushing four feet into the air!
FINALLY, a huge Seminole County Water & Sewer truck pulls up. They guy looks for the legally required backflow valve and can't find it. So, it's to digging around the meter and he pulls out some long rod and turns it a few times. That's it - no more water gushing. He shows me on my neighbor's house what I'm SUPPOSED to have and goes on his merry way.
So, no, I can't says I've had any problems with U-joints, but the fact that you even know something about how to fix things is HIGHLY RESPECTABLE in my eyes! I'll bet you would have been able to help me with my problem, too. I hope those sandy u-joints exceed your expectations! :D If nothing else, hopefully my morning helps make you feel better.
Ron, I'm trying to feel your pain, but I have to stop laughing first, I guess. You poor kid. It slays me how you got it together just in the knick of time. I pray you made it to the Scout Meeting and back without incident. I'd have been freaked out to drive after all that.
Belle - It's stuff like that that kept me from buying a house on my own for years as a divorced woman. Now thankfully, I have a retired mechanic for a next door neighbor and he fixes my stuff for "something to do." He and his wife have sorta adopted the princess as another granddaughter, so I guess me and my broken stuff comes along. Their son does my lawn and my landscaping and they built the playset and teeter totter for her birthday this year, as well as made me a fabulous patio and stone grill!!!
I can imagine your morning happening to me. No doubt my neighborhood would become a ghost-town instantly and I'd be stuck. But back in FL, I did know where to shut off the water in the front yard. It was a pain in the hiney to do, but I could and did do it when necessary. I definitely FELT your pain as I read your account there. Bless your heart.
Well Ron, not exactly that but pretty close--- thanks for the memories, I now remember clearly why I dont do my own u joints anymore, Whenever I had to deal with those little stupid pin bearings I came closer and closer to believing that there was a personal devil who had designed them---I think I would rather wrestle with a rabid animal than wrestle with those again. I don't think I ever got one quite right after a bunch of attempts...and then that unmistakable grinding sound would eventually return--I have since passed this joy onto others to do.
Lets us know how the sand experiment turns out --maybe we should start a "How long will Rons ujoints last"pool.. 10 bucks gets you in -closest guess gets the pot
Ron ......... you seem to be a tremendous father ............ your boy has got to love ya dearly. All that in the nick of time to get him to his meeting.
I did U-joints only once (meebe 15 years ago), with the help of someone who knew how to do it.
He did most of the work and cussed a lot, and the little I had to do left me cussin too.
I can't hardly even change plugs in a car now. Bifocal glasses have the *high end* of visual perception on the bottom of the glasses, and to put it plainly ---
that won't work, when yer looking down at an engine. :(
Plus, the fact that engine technology has advanced and outstripped (by leaps and bounds) anything I ever knew way back when. I pay someone else (these days) to do the work.
I do have a *crunch-time* story though -----
Saturday -- December 27, 1975 -- I was getting married that day, and my brother decided the 1966 Volkswagen bug I was driving, needed a new muffler. Myself and my intended were headed up here to Minney-soda for the honeymoon (in the Quetico/BWCA area), a remote area north of Grand Marais, Mn., way past the end of the Gunflint trail) about 80 miles north from any semblence of civilization.
Eveyone thought we were nuts, cause we had a free cabin down in Florida available to us as well, but we chose the frozen tundra instead. Well -- my brother (Evan) decided that whichever direction we were going, we NEEDED that muffler. :D
Without checking into any local part stores (if they had one in stock), he got the old one off, trashed it, and then went shopping for a new one. Suffice it to say, we spent the better part of the day looking for a muffler, cause the shops that shoulda had it, didn't. We finally found one that did, and got it installed.
Woops -- here is the *crunch time* part of the story. This was all done the day of the wedding. JAL (yes -- you know who I mean) was doing the *officiating* for the ceremony, and he wanted to do a practice rehersal right before the actual event, instead of a day or so earlier.
So, here my brother and I show up at Beck Chapel (Indiana University), with some-what grease stained hands (he was my *best man*), wearing our suits, and feeling smug cause we got that muffler installed (finally) and I received *rebuke and admonitiion* from JAL about our looks, (not too bad) and got Holy Hell from my intended (which was worse -- btw!!).
We did the practice of the ceremony feeling like a coupla mechanics from the local garage, and then managed to clean up properly before the actual ceremony began a coupla hours later.
You go to change the U-joints in your truck, and you think it will be a quick job because you've done it before, and your son has a Scout meeting in a few hours but you will still make it on time because u-joints only take an hour, so you yank out the axles (yes, both of them... you were under there anyway, right?) and you smack out the old u-joints, then when you are putting the new ones in you cant rememeber exactly how you clamp them so that the little needle bearings dont fall sideways in the cap, so you take it apart and dig out needle bearing with a filthy smashed finger tip, then you re-hearse the assembly in your mind, then try again and it almost works, but the other bearing cap fell off of your kneecap where you had carefully balanced it, and it didn't fall someplace clean, but instead it fell in the only patch of dry sand still in existance in Northern Arkansas at this time of year, so you are really ....ed off now, and you pick up your sugar-cookie bearing cap, and slam it in place with one mighty hammer blow, and quickly do the same with all the other bearing caps, because your twelve year old just entered the garage so you know you only have ten seconds left to get anything done, and ultimately you try to tell yourself you are experimenting to see how long sandy u-joints will last?
You missed the part where 90 weight gear grease pours into your crotch after you accidently pull out the pilot shaft.
Can't says that I've done that, but this morning I did have a panic attack because I let my dog out in the back yard since she can "supposedly" be back there unsupervised now that I finally got that new fence. I come to GSpot to check the posts and suddenly hear what sounds like a geyser in the back yard and the dog barking like she's just killed something only to find out that she's knocked the water fawcett off the pvc pipe that it was on. (She is named Vixen for a reason. wink.gif
Yup.
Years ago I got the lawnmower out to cut the grass. With the first pull of the starter rope, it broke and whizzed back inside the engine. Oh well, I got my tools, let the terrier out and started to fix it. I got the cover off of the engine and unfastened the starter rope reel and went inside to get another tool. When I got back, I couldn't find the neat pile of screws and nuts that held the cover on. The dog had grabbed them in his mouth and scattered them all over the yard...
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GeorgeStGeorge
If I only had a nickel for every time that's happened to me!!
George
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Belle
Can't says that I've done that, but this morning I did have a panic attack because I let my dog out in the back yard since she can "supposedly" be back there unsupervised now that I finally got that new fence. I come to GSpot to check the posts and suddenly hear what sounds like a geyser in the back yard and the dog barking like she's just killed something only to find out that she's knocked the water fawcett off the pvc pipe that it was on. (She is named Vixen for a reason. ;) )
Water is shooting up four feet into the air and it's right against the wall of the Florida Room so I'm worried about the water coming into the room. I can't find the shut off valve for the water so, in my jammies I'm running down the street to the one neighbor I know knows how to turn the water off and she's not home. I knock on two more doors and no one is home. Finally found a neighbor home who knows absolutely nothing about turning the water off to the house, "You can do that??" and he's still in his jammies too, so I rush back home trying to figure out what to do. My next door neighbor is outside getting his newspaper and talking on his cell phone, so I yell and ask him if HE knows how to turn the water off to my house. He kindly gets off the phone and laughs at the gushing geyser in my back yard and the now growing pond around the water feature. He can't find the shut off valve either, but we DID find the one to the inside of the house (I have two separate water systems).
I go inside and call the water company who says they can't repair it but can come turn the water off - well 'DUH' that's all I need right now. Please send someone over! "He's on another call, but I'll let him know to come there when he gets done." Thank you! I'm impatient and it's gonna need to be repaired anyway, right? I start calling the "emergency" sprinkler repair places in the yellow pages - voice mail or "it'll be over an hour before we can get there."
"Did I mention, ma'am, that my back yard is FLOODING??? I don't HAVE an hour to wait!"
Another unsuspecting neighbor across the street comes out....
"Nevin, do you have two water systems?" She does! Yeah!
"Do you know how to turn your water off to the irrigation system?"
Ummmm.......they showed me when they put it in, but....well, actually, NO, I don't know how to turn it off....
Great. Well, thanks anyway....
Poor kid comes out from the house across the street. His dad works till the wee hours of the morning, so I figured he was probably asleep, but try anyway, "Josh, is your daddy up yet?"
"Naw, he didn't get home till 7am - he's dead to the world. Want me to wake him up?"
Nope - please don't wake him up.
Call the friends who used to live next door to me....voicemail.
Call Daddy - he's in KY and not much of a handyman, but hey - I'm desperate. He laughs and tells me that it should be around the meter. The meter - which one is the inside and which one is the outside? They're both covered in about three feet of sand/dirt. (I'm wondering about those water meters and how they determine my bills now, but no time for that)
Get a call from one of the emergency services....the poor lady tries to tell me that legally there is supposed to be some kind of backflow valve right under my irrigation system timer. I can't find anything. I tell her where I live and she tries to get in touch with her husband to see how close he is to me.
While she does that I chop the Azalea Bush under the irrigation timer to shreds in case it's hiding the backflow valve this woman has told me about.....no dice.
I'm about to really panic because the pond is now growing to a small lake and the water is still gushing four feet into the air!
FINALLY, a huge Seminole County Water & Sewer truck pulls up. They guy looks for the legally required backflow valve and can't find it. So, it's to digging around the meter and he pulls out some long rod and turns it a few times. That's it - no more water gushing. He shows me on my neighbor's house what I'm SUPPOSED to have and goes on his merry way.
So, no, I can't says I've had any problems with U-joints, but the fact that you even know something about how to fix things is HIGHLY RESPECTABLE in my eyes! I'll bet you would have been able to help me with my problem, too. I hope those sandy u-joints exceed your expectations! :D If nothing else, hopefully my morning helps make you feel better.
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bowtwi
Ron, I'm trying to feel your pain, but I have to stop laughing first, I guess. You poor kid. It slays me how you got it together just in the knick of time. I pray you made it to the Scout Meeting and back without incident. I'd have been freaked out to drive after all that.
Belle - It's stuff like that that kept me from buying a house on my own for years as a divorced woman. Now thankfully, I have a retired mechanic for a next door neighbor and he fixes my stuff for "something to do." He and his wife have sorta adopted the princess as another granddaughter, so I guess me and my broken stuff comes along. Their son does my lawn and my landscaping and they built the playset and teeter totter for her birthday this year, as well as made me a fabulous patio and stone grill!!!
I can imagine your morning happening to me. No doubt my neighborhood would become a ghost-town instantly and I'd be stuck. But back in FL, I did know where to shut off the water in the front yard. It was a pain in the hiney to do, but I could and did do it when necessary. I definitely FELT your pain as I read your account there. Bless your heart.
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mstar1
Well Ron, not exactly that but pretty close--- thanks for the memories, I now remember clearly why I dont do my own u joints anymore, Whenever I had to deal with those little stupid pin bearings I came closer and closer to believing that there was a personal devil who had designed them---I think I would rather wrestle with a rabid animal than wrestle with those again. I don't think I ever got one quite right after a bunch of attempts...and then that unmistakable grinding sound would eventually return--I have since passed this joy onto others to do.
Lets us know how the sand experiment turns out --maybe we should start a "How long will Rons ujoints last"pool.. 10 bucks gets you in -closest guess gets the pot
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Digitalis
Ron ......... you seem to be a tremendous father ............ your boy has got to love ya dearly. All that in the nick of time to get him to his meeting.
My hat goes of to you,
Digi
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sharon
U joints, are they like the thingamajig that broke on my old station wagon that made the wheels wobble?
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Ron G.
Bad U joints wouldn't make the wheels wobble as they're part of the drive shaft, but bad ball joints or tie rod ends could.
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dmiller
I did U-joints only once (meebe 15 years ago), with the help of someone who knew how to do it.
He did most of the work and cussed a lot, and the little I had to do left me cussin too.
I can't hardly even change plugs in a car now. Bifocal glasses have the *high end* of visual perception on the bottom of the glasses, and to put it plainly ---
that won't work, when yer looking down at an engine. :(
Plus, the fact that engine technology has advanced and outstripped (by leaps and bounds) anything I ever knew way back when. I pay someone else (these days) to do the work.
I do have a *crunch-time* story though -----
Saturday -- December 27, 1975 -- I was getting married that day, and my brother decided the 1966 Volkswagen bug I was driving, needed a new muffler. Myself and my intended were headed up here to Minney-soda for the honeymoon (in the Quetico/BWCA area), a remote area north of Grand Marais, Mn., way past the end of the Gunflint trail) about 80 miles north from any semblence of civilization.
Eveyone thought we were nuts, cause we had a free cabin down in Florida available to us as well, but we chose the frozen tundra instead. Well -- my brother (Evan) decided that whichever direction we were going, we NEEDED that muffler. :D
Without checking into any local part stores (if they had one in stock), he got the old one off, trashed it, and then went shopping for a new one. Suffice it to say, we spent the better part of the day looking for a muffler, cause the shops that shoulda had it, didn't. We finally found one that did, and got it installed.
Woops -- here is the *crunch time* part of the story. This was all done the day of the wedding. JAL (yes -- you know who I mean) was doing the *officiating* for the ceremony, and he wanted to do a practice rehersal right before the actual event, instead of a day or so earlier.
So, here my brother and I show up at Beck Chapel (Indiana University), with some-what grease stained hands (he was my *best man*), wearing our suits, and feeling smug cause we got that muffler installed (finally) and I received *rebuke and admonitiion* from JAL about our looks, (not too bad) and got Holy Hell from my intended (which was worse -- btw!!).
We did the practice of the ceremony feeling like a coupla mechanics from the local garage, and then managed to clean up properly before the actual ceremony began a coupla hours later.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Jim
Yup.
Years ago I got the lawnmower out to cut the grass. With the first pull of the starter rope, it broke and whizzed back inside the engine. Oh well, I got my tools, let the terrier out and started to fix it. I got the cover off of the engine and unfastened the starter rope reel and went inside to get another tool. When I got back, I couldn't find the neat pile of screws and nuts that held the cover on. The dog had grabbed them in his mouth and scattered them all over the yard...
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