Not Pumped

It has probably been mentioned here before that The Fuzz and His Sweetie have a routine of taking turns at spending one night a week back over at the Old Place.

They find that it is conducive to maintaining their sanity since The Fuzz's retirement.

This week it was The Fuzz's turn.

When he got there, he made a quick test of the kitchen sink.  The water came on fine -

But then slowly lost pressure and quit.

Needless to say, this was not a good thing.

While he could not hear the pump (which is under the kitchen) running, he did hear a hum somewhere down there.

It was time to take a look.

It was kinda dark down there.

But Our Fuzz had no trouble detecting the source of the sound.

The motor was not turning.

So was the problem the motor - or pump?

Either way, the thing was broke!

Here's a better look.

These things don't last forever of course.

Some years ago, The Fuzz had replaced the pump.  And to be honest about it, he did not get the High-Dollar-Top-Of-The-Line one.

(He's kinda cheap like that)

And then, a couple of years ago, he had to replace the tank.

(Which is why it is all shiny and new looking)

Well, it looks like it's time for another new pump!

But that project will have to wait for now.

So for the time being, it's back to the old Bucket & Rope!

Getting Back to "Normal"

Getting Back to "Normal"

And just what is this "normal" stuff anyway?

I believe it was Junie B. Jones☺︎ who once said-

"Nobody in my family is normal."

Be that as it may, with the bathroom fully functional, it is time for The Fuzz to move on to other things.

And of course there is no shortage of other things.

Today, it seems that indoor things would be appropriate.

Even the Kitties agree.

The Fuzz's Sweetie saw an idea for mounting various bits of art on the wall and The Fuzz thought it was something he could handle.

In fact he had already done something like this-

although on a smaller scale.

To do it right, he would want to use the table saw of course.

But now there appeared to be a problem.

Whilst he was cutting a few chunks of firewood into smaller boards the other day, the saw quit.

(Well actually, it wouldn't start back up after he had shut it off)

It would just buzz and act like it wasn't getting enough power.
And there was that disquieting bit of smoke.

The Fuzz quickly determined that there was nothing wrong with the blade and bearings.

The trouble was the motor.

Bummer.

So it was time to take the thing apart.

In this first shot, the motor has already been removed.

But of course even that turned into a bit of a project.

In order to do this the drive pulley needed to be removed.

So he backed off on the set screw.

Unfortunately, the pulley still did not want to slip off of the shaft.

Step 2

So he got a rubber mallet and tried tapping on the shaft to loosen it.

Step 3

Tapping while while prying on the pulley.

(Which didn't work either)

Step 4

It was time to get out the gear puller.

Or what was left of it.

The Fuzz has this tendency to pick up cheap tools at- for example, Big Lots.

Sometimes this works out...

And sometimes not.

And...

The Fuzz has a tendency to push these cheap tools just a little too hard.

And that was what had happened to the gear puller.

If one closely examines this pix, one will see that the shaft of this precision tool is just a little bent!

This does make it a bit more difficult to use.

 But in this case ti did the trick-

The pulley was pulled-

And the motor is at the Electric Motor Doctor's.

The Fuzz should probably be using this time to clean up the mess in the shop.

But instead he is playing around here on the computer!

Well, there'll be time enough for that later.

The Tattoo Archive

The Fuzz was recently privileged to visit the Tattoo Archive in Winston-Salem.

This time as an observer!
This was much less painful.

Here's a look at a bit of the actual Archive itself.

These two might be here for more than the "Archives" themselves.

In that case they'll be headed here.
As was already mentioned, The Fuzz was just going to sit this one out.
That saved him the embarrassment of passing out.
(This seems to be a re-occurring problem for The Macho Fuzz)
But the ladies seem to do fine!

While they were occupied he slipped off for a cold one at the nearby Foot Hills Brewery.
He thought he was keeping up with the time, but suddenly realized that he was about 5min late on the parking meter.
And that was all it took.
When he went out to feed the meter-

Some guy was already writing the ticket.
He must have been waiting for the time to run out.

Oh well...
Some days are just like that. 

Oh Well...

It has been mentioned that The Fuzz and His Sweetie have a system worked out to help preserve their sanity, (if you can call it that) in which they take turns spending one night a week at the Old Place.  This is good for them, and helps to keep up with the house and grounds.
Well, while The Fuzz's Sweetie was there a couple of weeks ago, it was discovered that the water pump was no longer functioning.  On investigation, they discovered that the pressure tank had given out, apparently rusting through.

Well one of the advantages of the Old Place is an Old School Well.  It is possible to swing open the cover and draw water up with a bucket.  In fact this has been done many times, for example, during power outages.  So a bucket and rope are kept handy at the well, just for this purpose.
Well, with the cold weather and all, they decided to just hold off on replacing the tank, and use the bucket for the time being.  After all, pipes without water can't freeze.  One person spending the night does not require all that much water anyway.
Well, the next week was Our Fuzz's turn.  So after lighting the fire to warm up the house, he decided to pull up some water for his stay.  The first bucket went fine.  But as he raised the next, the rope broke, and the bucket sank to the bottom.
This was not good.  But The Resourceful Fuzz remembered that he had a grappling hook stashed somewhere.  
Now, he had tied a plastic bucket onto the rope and managed to use it to fill the water tubs in the house.  So now he tied the grapple onto the rope.  He snagged the bucket at the bottom on his second try.  Flushed with success, he pulled it to the surface- only to have the treacherous rope break* again!  So now the bucket was gone, and so was his grapple.
Today he went over to give it another try.

He made a new hook, and brought a brand new rope and bucket**.  It took a while, but he did finally manage to snag the bucket.  And was pleasantly surprised to find his first grapple still hooked to it when he pulled it up!
The down side was that the new bucket*** was a bit larger than the old one, and once it was full of water it was a bit much for The Fuzz's Sweetie to handle.  But on his way home, The Fuzz stopped at the Old School Hardware Store, and found a perfect replacement.

*His Sweetie wondered why he even attempted to use this obviously defective rope for this attempt.  (She had a point)

**The old bucket was leaking anyway,so they decided to replace it.

***The only one they had at the Big Home Improvement Store

Alas, Poor Art Blooms

In some previous posts, The Fuzz has mentioned activities he and His Sweetie have been involved with at the Art Blooms Studio.  There was a Henna Night, and the recent Book Boiling Event.
Well, it looks like the good times may be coming to an end.  Due to some problems with the building, and some other circumstances, the place will have to close down.

Over the weekend, The Fuzz and His Sweetie took the Not So Young Anymore Daughter over for the last chance to paint some "pottery".  They spent most of the day there and had finn.
The place and people will be missed.

Global Wine Shortage!

From the BBC

"World faces global wine shortage"

The Fuzz says this could be serious.

"Global wine production peaked in 2004, and is continuing to fall, the report says."

"The world is facing a wine shortage, with global consumer demand already significantly outstripping supply, a report has warned."

"They say this could be partly explained by "plummeting production" in Europe due to "ongoing vine pull and poor weather".

Rats.

Poison

Earlier this year, the power company sent huge machines to clear under the power lines.  The Fuzz didn't like this much, but there was nothing he could do about it.

This time they came though one morning spraying poison on everything.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie (mostly) had planted a hedge up along the road where they had cut everything down earlier.  Fortunately, the spray guys figured out that all those little trees in a neat row were something intentionally planted.  But they did get the privet at the edge of the woods.

The Fuzz has a problem with folks spraying poison on things.  Admittedly, there are times when it seems necessary, like when wasps have moved into one's doorbell.  

But something just seems wrong about poisoning the ground.  Here's a look at the ugly mess left behind.

But there is hope.  This morning The Fuzz found these young shoots struggling up from the roots of the privet bushes.

The Fuzz used to grow a lot of tomatoes each year.  They would be canned in jars, sometimes with a bit of okra.  But it got so that His Sweetie could no longer eat them.  And so he cut that back to a couple of plants.  Last year he didn't even plant any.

 But this year, he thought he'd give it another shot.  But here's what happened!

Oh well.

Rescued!

The latest addition

It's just a little thing.  Young Daughter brought her (?) home from the schoolhouse the other day.  It seems that some sadistic students, had run mamma off, and were preparing to do in the little ones.  But she and a few others, managed to pull off a rescue.

 Cute thing, ain't it.

The Story Behind It

Toward the end of last year, The Fuzz heard the sound of machinery in the woods across the creek.

When he checked it out he found this.
This part of the woods had been logged off.
Now the speculation began. Why did they do this? Was it just for the money? Or was there something more sinister going on.
Of course there were rumors.
Chicken "Farming" is big business these days.  So here is the sad reality behind our latest Mystery Pix.

Those things were some of the huge fans used to keep these poor things from suffocating.
And here's a look at the New View from the same approximate location as above.

Fortunately for The Fuzz and His Sweetie, This operation is downwind.

End of the Stick Shift?

Whist checking out what's going on in the world out side our Home in the Woods, The Fuzz came upon this.

End of the manual transmission?

This is disturbing.
The Fuzz has often thought that one that can't drive a stick, can't really drive! But here's what they're saying. (From The Detroit News)

"...like the powerful V-8, the stick shift — or manual transmission, common to beloved muscle cars and older vehicles — is fading into the annals of automotive history..."

"...Sales of vehicles with manual transmissions have hovered around 4 percent the past two years..."

But take heart. There are still a few of us left.

"People who drive a stick demand to participate in the driving and control the car's movement to the absolute greatest degree possible..."

"...With a stick shift, the car "becomes less an appliance and more an experience..."

Of course, the shameful truth is, that even Our Fuzz, drives an automatic at work. But of course no one pretends that that is for fun.

Let's just hope this doesn't happen to Motorcycles!

They Got Us Again

One thing that was (still is) nice about our Home in the Woods, was that we were back a ways from the road. Granted, it is only a dead end dirt road, but The Fuzz still likes having a few trees between it and the trailer.
The Power Co got us like this when we lived near town*. And now, they got us again.
Here's a look at our new road frontage.
Fortunately, there were plenty of trees left. But there was nothing left for it, but to start working these ones up for firewood.

*It was a bit of a bummer.

Food Movies

We watched Food, Inc. the other night. It was a bit of a bummer. The Fuzz wasn't really surprised by the meat industry, having seen this stuff before. We have raised goats, geese and chickens ourselves, and know it's not necessary to treat them this bad.
What got The Fuzz the most, was how the corporations were hounding and suing the little people to get a monopoly. That, and the apparent collusion by the government in all this.

Giant Muffler!

Here it is, The Giant Muffler!

Yup, that's one big muffler.
Every so often they crank that sucker up for a test flight. That muffler is pretty impressive, but there's no question when that thing is on line.
It's back-up power for the water plant.
The Fuzz was just a bit lazy, and this is all he gave us to work with tonight. We think he's a little PO'd about the time change again.
He was wondering just where all this daylight we're saving is going.
He's thinking it's just some new kind of tax, some way those congressmen are getting our daylight.
Well, we'll just have to take it I guess.

Givin' Up

It has been said that "When you are beat, meet defeat". Well, that seems to be the situation here with The Fuzz and his little truck. This has gone on far too long. Indicators point to at least 2 possible causes for this frustrating case of equipment failure, And neither can be verified for certain. Both are expensive to replace. And both have been replaced in the past. Considering the age of the truck, and the improbability of success, The Fuzz refuses to continue this pointless pursuit. He confesses that he is not happy about this, but we have been managing to get by with out the sorry little thing anyway.
We have this little automobile, it is capable of pulling our little trailer, and as The Fuzz would say, "It don't use much gas". When it's not raining, The Fuzz rides the motorcycle in to work. If it is, we can all ride together in the car. And so, life goes on.
The Fuzz had toyed with the idea of pulling the engine, and replacing it with some simple, non-computerized sort of engine, like we used to have back in the days. But it seems that the legalities involved in this would send him to jail. He does not like jail. But we should look at all this as another oportunity to simplify, I suppose. And that can be a good thing.

And How About This?

Ain't technology great?

This just in!

"Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent"

"A Saudi Arabian inventor has filed for a patent on a potentially lethal science fiction-style human tracking microchip, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) told The Local on Friday."

But, not to worry-

"...the macabre innovation that enables remote killing will likely be denied copyright protection."

This is, certainly a big relief.

As can be seen from this detailed diagram, this involves tracking by satellites, implanted chips and stuff like that. The future is looking better all the time.

Fuzzy News, we report, you decide.

Deja Vu, All Over Again

Here we go again.
My loyal readers will remember how The Fuzz destroyed a chainsaw a while back. Well, it would seem that he did it again. What you see here is what is left of his Brand New Little Green Chainsaw.
This time as the pitiless tree fell, it snatched the saw right out of his hands and pinned it to the ground. This is the result.
Now he has not one, but two ruined guide bars. But on the plus side, this time only the bar and chain were ruined. So after another trip to the Home Improvement Store, I'm happy to report thet he is back in business.

We'll Miss Ya, Puddin'

My loyal readers will of course remember Puddin', the Cat that thinks he's a People. This is a Dark day for us all, alas, Puddin' is no more.

His Foster Mommy found his furry little carcase in the yard this morning. He had been sick, but seemed to have pretty much recovered. We don't suspect Foul Play. But it is sad.

The Fuzz buried him this morning while the Young Daughter looked on and wept.

We take comfort in knowing that he had a good cat life (if short) and was loved and knew it.

You can follow his story by searching "Puddin'" on this blog.

The End is Near

"The end of the internet is nigh - and in less than three years, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). "

Is this Goodbye ?

And in the News

And in the News, check out this, "Ice from airplane potty crashes through Calgary roof" for a bummer. I always try to wear a hat when I'm around a lot of birds, like maybe seagulls or something. But what can you do about this ? I always wondered about those Airplanes.