Hello All!
Well my adventures have continued. I got home on Saturday and honestly I didn’t do a damn thing but nurse my hangover.
Sunday wasn’t much more eventful… I worked on a moped that hasn’t run in years (I thought I had fixed it, but the puddle of oil under the tailpipe indicates otherwise), I fixed the drive train on my lawn mower (this one was actually a success), and I unpacked my bags for the first time in 2 years…
Unpacking was a lot more emotional than I had expected. I mean, I knew emptying the bags that I have been living out of for the majority of the Tiny Terrorists life was going to be bitter sweet at best. I was not prepared for the smallest things to trigger an emotional response. Hard hat, “Worlds, Okayist Boss” placard, the sock that lost it’s match so I’ve been using it as a oven glove when cooking in my hotel rooms… So many memories are tied to every single item I’ve been carrying all over the world. It all has a purpose, a role in my life if you will and that role is now gone, just like my job and the entire industry I work in… I mean yes, we as humans tend to get attached to the strangest things, but when everything you need fits into two 35ish pound roller cases… You really get attached to things and taking them out of the suitcases, away from their home if you will… it was rough.
Monday was the first day I really decided to work on the house. The first thing on my hit list is the home gym. The room it’s self was mostly done, all it needs is the rubber flooring to be put down and then baseboards, a door, and some trim work around the door. So I went out and got the rubber flooring pieces that I needed for the project… ok, actually I bought Menards out of the panels and still came up short, but progress was made. The Tiny Terrorist even decided to pull out his hard hat and operate the rubber mallet for me. Pretty lady told us to be careful, and for the most part we were, but… The good news is that I don’t think I’ll be loosing the finger nail he hit with the damn mallet, but yes there was some bleeding… we really need to work on his hand-eye coordination.
After we ran out of materials, I headed out to pick up my father at work and we decided to do a grocery run. Well the governor issued a shelter in place order this afternoon and to say people went a little nuts is an understatement. Folks, the grocery stores are staying open, you can still come and go as you please (you’re just encouraged to not unless it’s “essential”), there is no martial law being enacted, and why the hell did you panic buyers buy all the pasta but leave the pasta sauces?
I mean seriously people, yes there is a pandemic going on, yes, this is how all the zombie movies start (complete with ignoring scientists who were warning us before it got bad), but at the end of the day, the vast majority of us will not catch the Corona, if you do catch it you have over a 99% chance of survival as long as the system isn’t over run… That’s right folks, the stay at home order is about flattening the curve so our joke of a healthcare system doesn’t get over run like they did in Italy. So, please enjoy eating nothing but pasta with no sauce for the next 6 months, if you have me over for dinner, I promise I won’t make fun of you for freaking out… well to your face atleast…
Post grocery run, Dad and I finally embarked on resurecting Jeff. We were joined by our friend Bob, who actually knows what the hell he’s doing under the hood.
As some of you may remember, Jeff (my jeep) blew a head gasket right after my road trip in 2018. He was parked and has not run since then. The oil and antifreeze have comingled to become the same concoction, the mice have moved into my air filter, and instead of pulling the jeep into my shop, where I know where everything is, my father dragged it into the shop on the farm.
So we commenced to taking the engine apart, taking frequent breaks to find the right tool. “If we were in my shop I know where everything is” was frequently uttered by myself… but we persisted and in under 3 hours we had removed the head from the motor.
As you can see in the above photo, three of my 6 cylinders were full of fluid. but, upon close inspection, it looks like I will get away with just cleaning the cylinders, getting the head machined, and replacing the head gasket. So Jeff will be on the road again sooner rather than later!
Days Unemployed: 3
Unemployed adventure points earned on this update: 2 points for getting the lawnmower up and running, 2 points for Tiny Terrorist going to time out (1 each), 1 point for tiny terrorist being told to be careful with the rubber mallet, 2 points for getting hurt because tiny terrorist wasn’t careful. To see the full list of how I can earn points, check out: http://amanajeepnorealplan.com/tylers-coronavirus-unemployment-adventure-point-system/
This Update’s total points: 7
Total to date: 7
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