Slinko Memorial

 

 

Chewy sent me this memorial rock for Slinko.   For those who might not know, Chewy is an online pet supply store.   They have great customer service.

I had listed him on their site as one of my kitties then changed his status after he died.   It's so strange to get a card and gift from a corporation.  I didn't get a call from anyone.  I dare not expect any understanding from brothers.   One of them said once when I lost a cat "well that's one less".   The way now of the world is a quick text or comment, nothing personal.  It's so cold, our world. At least my world is.  So this token from Chewy kind of broke my heart open.

We're supposed to get rain end of week that lasts a week I think.   It may rain quite a lot I think I heard on the news.

May I Pull On Your Axles?

It's not a pick up line.   Not really.

I just want to feel your axles.  I want to pull them back and forth to see how much play is normal.

That's it.  May I?

So far no takers.   That old man didn't have to tell me to get out of here, and take your medication.  That was not nice.

Just kidding. No, I haven't asked anyone yet.   Tomorrow maybe.

I do want to feel some axles.

Simmering distrust over that mechanic's job made me pull on my own axles, especially the latest to be reinstalled.  There was some in and out play.   No way I thought.  I went to the other side, only installed once at least, and pulled back and forth on it---same amount of play.

I turned to reddit, then a toyota forum and found out I am not the only one who has experienced such issues, with mechanics fouling up an axle job, doing it again and then people wondering if its been done right.   One fella went to a new car lot and laid down and pulled back and forth on those new car axles to check how much play might be normal.  Some is, thank goodness.

But still, the underneath of my car is spattered in gear oil.  Is it leaking?  I don't know.   I have to clean off the mess he may have left first before I can tell much.  I'll do that tomorrow.  And because my distrust has only grown, I will take off the dust cover on the motor and pull off that hose over the pcv valve and make sure that was actually changed.   

Ok enough of my embarrassment, and that's what it is, over getting taken to the cleaners so to speak.

I'll get over it and hopefully learn a lesson.

Other frustrations:  I finally get all the figures added up to submit the yearly financials to the OR DOJ (justice department) for my nonprofit, fill in the info on their online portal and click submit and pay, only to have my submission rejected.   Suddenly I noticed I had clicked the circle in front of the federal form filed for HCC, when I should have clicked the circle after it.   Now, the online submission, didn't want to accept me changing it to clicking the circle after the right form.   I tried three times to submit and it said I now could not submit my data until I contacted the DOJ.  Uh oh, I thought, I'm in trouble.

One little slip of a click apparently messed me up good.

Isn't that the way life is now?

So I sent the doj an email and asked how to proceed.  It's a simple form and I've submitted it online for years without any trouble.  

Another frustration:   for years the pharmacy has had me on auto refill for my one prescription.  Suddenly I did not get an alert that it was time to refill.   I called them, they said I could come that day to get it.  I asked why I'm suddenly not on auto refill, but got no reply.  And I only got a few pills.  I asked why.  They said the doctor has to order a refill.   I said should I do anything.  They said no, they'd already contacted my doctors office.  And yet, by now, a week later, I have a weeks' left and I've not been contacted by the doctor's office or by the pharmacy to come get the full refill.   So tomorrow I have to deal with that also.

It's Back

 The car is back.   Allegedly its fixed.

It was the inner passenger side axle that wasn't seated correctly.   And leaking.  It was literally moving in and out of its rightful place.   That's the ticking sound I heard too.  I had hoped that sound was a rock in the tire or hubcap, something like that.  But it was that sound that prompted me to get real on getting it resolved.  

I'd only tried to find the source of gear oil leak on the drivers side, largely because my car is such a low rider its very difficult to get under it or look under it.   I have a jack but its one of those flimsey wobbley door jacks, meant only for quickly changing out a flat tire.

I'm hoping this is the end of it.   I read lots of online posts of people who had their axles changed at shops only to then leak afterwards.

I took it over this morning to the mechanic, to Lebanon and he gave me a ride home.  He'd got his roller board after jacking it up and looked under it quickly after I showed him video of the leak and then a photo of brown sludge and told him that sure looked like axle grease.   He came back out fast and said he wasn't expecting to see what he saw, and then told me it was the passenger side inner axle not seated into the transmission correctly and leaking.

Actually he said it was "out" and I envisioned that whole end flopping down and up, completely out of the transmission.   

Well all's well that ends well I hope. He had to go get another new axle, but it was under warranty, and he had to replace that rubber seal.  And refill the gear box oil.   It should have cost me nothing but it did cost me.  I paid up and we're going to break up as mechanic and customer.  Maybe.  I like him, but....

I am still ahead of what the same repairs would have cost me elsewhere however.

I had a last few appointments Monday but last day I could cancel was today and I was not sure I'd get the car back today.   I hate to see appointments wasted so I cancelled them.  That's life, things happen.  Now I am taking it out for a drive.  No ticking sounds I hope, no drips afterwards, I hope.

Darn Car

 After the axle changes, the car had dripped gear oil.  The mechanic thought it was just from where he spilled some when he refilled the differential after he put in the new axle.   However its still dripping and I may even be seeing some brown sludge, like axle grease. 

I tried to see where it was leaking from but I can't.  It's probably the seal or something, I don't know.  The mechanic said he could look at it tomorrow.  I'm not worried about it, since the differential holds 2 quarts and I don't think it could be low yet with such a small leak. There's no dipstick on gear oil and the fill bolt is in an extremely difficult place to get to.   So there's not a lot I can do about it.  The mechanic is quite good about fixing things fast.  

I'm OCD and don't like the thought of anything leaking but I'll manage my OCDness.  I like a clean undercarraige and don't give me shit over that one. I find it easier to detect problems if its clean to begin with.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.   It's so nice and mild weathered last two days, its hard to be upset about anything really.

Photo is of Gear oil drips taken from underneath car.  Just above the drips, is both the gear drain plug and also the inner axle where it seats into the transmission.  But I don't think its coming from the gear box drain plug.  

There are lots of bad things happening in the world.   I am dreaming only of Waldo Lake, Crescent Lake day use area, Cascade Lakes along Cascade Lakes highway, Uno Beach and its kayak estuary into it....etc etc.  I have lots of dreams lately, good ones.  Just need the car to work ok.   I could possibly do without it all winter.  But not summer.

The New Toy

 My water toy is not exactly new.   I was gifted it last November in fact.  But I couldn't use it til summer.

It's an inflatible kayak, but its really short, about 8 feet long and a paddlable water toy really.  It's like a short inflatible surf board almost.  No hull so cannot be called a kayak.  Super short paddle board with seat?  Only its too little to stand up on it like a paddle board.   The seat back doesn't stay in place.    I pumped it up tight and you attach it to some hooks at your side.  There's nothing to sit on but the board but you can lean back against that ultra air padded back.  But anytime I wasn't leaning against that air padded seat back, it fell forward, against my back.  I finally let it fall completely forward flat to the board, and sat atop it.  I liked sitting up higher.  

I can pump it up in minutes with a hand pump.  It weighs only 15 pounds, which is why I love it. I don't need a boat ramp with it.  Which is really nice given the bad attitudes of some motor boaters to kayakers and paddle boarders using the ramp to launch.

I was really quite shocked it would hold me up, being so short.  It's got no hull but it does have placements on the bottom for two skegs.  For its maiden voyage I used both, but after having difficulty beaching it with that front skeg in place, I ditched the front one and found it almost as good tracking across the water with only the rear skeg.  I've never seen an inflatible board with two skegs.

With two skegs clipped underneath, it runs a straight line like you can't imagine, when paddling.  I can move fast, across the water paddling it too, which also surprised me.

It's not a paddle board.  It's not a kayak.  I will have to think of a name for it.  An inflatible.  A fun inflatible I can paddle that is lightweight.

I watched some people parked beside me blow up about four paddle boards.  It was a family.  They were all at ease upright paddling them.  Two people were on one of the paddle boards.  People navigate on those with with such grace, getting up and down, moving around on them, like its nothing to balance on them.   Those have to really improve people's balance.  The family even had a small lawn type chair attached middle of one, for sitting down.  These were much larger longer boards than whatever it is I was on and I still don't know.

I had a grand time today!

I took a nap here on the rocks.  I was very sleepy.  I put down my little boogie board, to lay on and used my life jacket as a pillow.  Soon I woke to noises behind me, looked, and it was a mom Canada Goose with three older babies.

The blue square raised thing in middle?  That's the seat back, but since it wouldn't stay upright, I let it lay down flat and sat on top of it.

It may be short, but its very pretty!  And it can move fast across the water!

Upside down, right before I left, with just the rear skeg still in place. 

The lake is a little low but doable.  I saw blooms of algae not far up the South Santiam today.  A USGS research boat loaded with people was at the dock.  I was swimming then.  I swam over and asked what they were researching this time, and received a chilly vague answer so I swam away.  Don't want the national guard called up, lol, over a simple question.  Got to watch out for all the feds now.  

Some friends didn't need this gate and asked if I could use it.  I set up the two pieces outside the garage door, so I could have the door open and keep Gigi in still.   She likes to look out on the world.  She's old, fat and not athletic so little chance of her attempting to climb over it.

I am thrilled with this 15 lb water toy.  So easy to carry, set up and paddle around.   It's not even long enough to be considered a boat and require the $19 permit the state requires.  Another plus.

I may collect a few more water toys over the summer.  You never know what people might not want.  This summer I hope to give away two I don't use.  Maybe three.

Hot

 Today it was 88 degrees high here.   

Tomorrow and Monday it will be mid 90's.

Wednesday and Thursday it should be near perfect, in the mid 70's, then it drops down into the low 70's for awhile.

I don't even try to go to the lake on the weekends, especially when its nice.  And now school is out, so it was likely very crowded, tomorrow too.

Besides, when the temps are high enough you can burn in 20 minutes, I'll  pass, although I have been at the lake in the 90's, even in the 100's without burning.  I use the zinc sunscreen.  Nothing seems to get through that.

Very quiet day here.   Did yard work before the heat came on, then just house chores.  My yard debris is full so I can't do anymore yardwork, which is nice.  I hate yardwork.

I lost a couple of yard tools.   I probably left them out in the yard and they may have been lifted but more than likely I'll find them at some point.  It's a little bit frustrating, as they're the ones I use most.  

I finally got the old useless uncomfortable futon torn apart, to await space in garbage.  It was garbage, from the start.   The padding is so thin my cats would not like it unless I added something to it. I could not tolerate sitting on it, let alone using it as a spare bed or couch.  Sometimes cheap is just that---pure garbage.   Its been awaiting this fate for years in the garage.  Finally....out of the garage.

Here's what is left of that futon, now awaiting further reduction and a garbage day.

I was going through old photos and found this one of a line of sock flower "pots" I made once.

The cat yard needs major work.  Most of the shelves (cat runs) are in stages of falling apart from rot and age.   I also need a new board in the back of my car but I don't know anyone anymore with a big enough car to haul home a piece of wood to cut it from.   The board inside now really stinks to high heaven from too many cats in traps sitting on it.  

Here's another old photo, was beginning of covid years I think.  I saw a cat crossing the field in Waterloo Park and thought for sure it was one missing a long time.  I started to back up, to get a better view, also using my binoculars and turning.   I went slightly off the gravel when turning and unfortunately wedged up over a big rock just off the gravel road.  I had to get a friend to come up with his hydraulic jack on wheels, which made it easy to get it off.  I was embarrassed.  No real damage was done at least.

Yet another old photo.  this used to be my chair, in my living room.  It was a reclining lawn chair.  It cracked and broke at some point, injuring me with sharp broken pieces as I went down.  It was very old and I'd gotten it used to begin with.   That lamp is long gone too. Actually both lamps are gone.  The little hanging one held a fake candle, that even fake flickered.  But the yellow paint is still there.  I have a new color in mind as the entire interior needs repainted, but haven't got to it yet.

Tomorrow, mid 90's.   Probably you can expect another of these old photo posts since I can't do a lot in the heat, not even make cat run shelves for the cat yard in the garage, as it gets hotter than it is outside even.

Very Sad

 Linn County Parks made an announcement today stating the Whitcomb Creek Campground boat ramp is now closed for the season due to low reservoir levels at Green Peter.  Thistle Creek low water boat ramp still open.  I wonder if they'll have to refund campers money, who made Whitcomb Creek camping reservations believing they could put their boats in at the campground boat ramp.   

That explains how they brought Foster Reservoir back up to near full pool.  But it won't stay there if Green Peter is that low already.  This problem is a direct result of the fish group lawsuits to require the extreme draw downs combined with not allowing reservoirs to fill til mid May.  It's tragic for those of us who love the water.   Also a terrible blow to Sweet Home economy.   Those folks who sued don't even live around here though and don't care what they do to Linn County.