Clutch Entertainment

One can't be too sure about these things, but I believe this is the third clutch since May, 2017.

I started on it yesterday when I determined there was no more adjustment on the clutch cable. Thinking to create more pull, I crafted a bushing from a cane tip. It didn't work.

I went into 4wd-lo got up onto the stump which gave easy access....but not good for sleeping. By yanking on the shift lever we achieved nuetral and rolled to level.

Today it's all up to the jack and maybe digging out a pit. I have an idea I've yet to try...plenty of food and water. I am, for the moment, taking my time.

LUNCH

Canned mixed vegetables -- carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, green beans, celery, lima beans -- dolmas (canned) with sardine paté on cracker. Mixed vegetables seasoned with salt & pepper and they & sardines got a dollop of mayonnaise.

All chased with a small sip or two of wine.

After Lunch

I did some light machining on the clutch adjustment nut to help it turm more easily. That isn't the problem, but it's something that needed doing.

2:04pm -- SUCCESS!! The bushing ended up working; it just needed to seat better. It then enabled further adjustment.

It's gonna need additional work, but I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed we can make it to the hardware store. 

Afternoon Light

Phoebe In Upper Right

Swimmingly

A most sensual of activities.

Around 3:20, the sunlight comes below the cover.

It's a combo - crawl with side-stroke legs...sort of

This was my first encounter with a scale. I got off thinking I weighed 325. A little doubtful I button-holed Mike, the program coordinator. He went with me to check the scale. He weighed 147....about what I'd like to weigh. He was about my height so I got to see what I'd look like...sort of....if I were 35 years younger. He said I was looking at kilograms. 243 was still pretty upsetting. But it was better than the 250 I hit a few years ago. Onward!

I left the pool at 4:30 and immediatly discovered rush hour. I made it to the grocery....along with everyone else. It's WILD to see people rushing. I was astonished at how polite everyone is.

Back on the freeway, Phoebe hit 72 mph and merged just like any other. We skimmed along until the pack thinned then dropped down to 65. Finally got off. 

We may do it again tomorrow.

Mornings - Coffee & Wine

I was 17 - Fresh from a Boulder, Colorado school for dropouts - I'd barely finished the ninth grade. I'd read about Sylvan Hart, The Last of the Mountain Men, and set out with a boy-scout backpack to find him.

Eschewing maps, I wandered the Salmon River Wilderness -- as it was known in them days. At the end of the road, before it turned up French Creek and wound up the mountain to Burgdorf, lived a tall, ninety-year-old string bean who started his day with a shot of whiskey.

I met him when I followed the road past the turnoff to see what there was. I walked in those days and, as now, was something of an anomoly -- just like everybody else in that part of the world. 

On Friday and Saturday nights around 10pm or so, I'd see his truck go by. The road was a narrow lane cut into the steep mountainside. There were sheer dropoffs into the river where folks dumped their unwanted cars and a few who missed the turn came to their end.

Accordion, Cup o' Wine & Boiled 'Taters

I start the day, after breakfast, with a bite of coffee. Wine in the evening causes reflux so I decided to copy the old man. And it facilitates accordion practice and cooking. 50+ years later, I toast his memory with a couple of sips -- on a fine day somewhat like then, for wandering.

It's 1:30 or later by the time I'm ready to roll. The wine, 

incompatible with the heart meds, has LONG since worn off. 

The Hazards of Piddling

I'm 4.5 miles south of I-8 and the road, all along the way, is CAMPED UP! Everyone has 1,000 acres, but every space is taken.

It was almost dark when I got to a BLM road. I fired up tge GPS to note the location on the laptop. Climbing back into the cab, I noticed a light. I couldn't guage the distance, but drove ahead, thinking to find a place beyond them. 

Almost imnediately I disxovered they were only a few hundred feet ahead. Iwent past them but after about 1,000 feet, there was an impassable wash. Fortunately, the road took a sharp dip just before. By now it was completely dark and I was exhausted. I made camp. I'm too close for proper etiquette, but can't see each other...I just hope they don't have a dog.

Sheesh! Two years ago no one was out here. 

I got going at 4:00 pm,  so had an hour and a half to drive which, for me, translates to 45 minutes. I stopped in Gila Bend to get water and drove the remaining half hour (with the sun above the horizon) to the exit. I drove into four possible sites before finally settling here. The first two were still too noisy and the others were taken....with vehicles hidden by vegetation until I got close.

In one of Michael Pollan's books he interviews an Idaho potato farmer. The family had a garden where they grew theirs. The farmer said they wouldn't eat the ones grown for commercial sale...too many chemicals 

I was surprised by how much cleaner the organics were. The rinse water for the regulars was muddy, but the water for these was so clean I used it to rinse dishes.

Buckeye, Arizona

A fruitful stop. I had a slow leak in the port side aft. A bolt, he said.

After the tire I went across the street & picked up a new battery from Walmart. Phoebe's is due to poop out any day. Price dropped $40.00. Last one was $100.00. This one $57.00. Same kind.

Nice supper of canned peas & porkchops with popcorn for dessert. Now, 8pm, kicked back with Yogi Egyptian Licorice tea...a recent introduction thanks to She-of-the-Capri.

This Spot Taken

It's dawg eat dawg out here in the West. I GOTZ to git me uh new hat! In the meantime ah dun peed on several creosote bushes. 

I'ma gonna try drinking coffee again. It's been almozt two years.

I needed a measuring cup. It does double-duty as a filter holder. 

I keep the katsup handy in case somebody stops by with some fries.

Wickenburg Bluegrass Festival

 

The Arizona Wildflowers