Coming Soon...The Millersport Sweetcorn Festival

This Wednesday starts our last major fundraiser at the church. It is the Millersport Sweetcorn festival. In four days we will clean, cook & serve over 100,000 ears of corn. You can read more about it and see pictures from last year if you click here.

The bad thing about it this year is I am scheduled to work 5 AM to 3 PM this week at work. I am also supposed to drive the van down to the festival loaded with folks who had to work regular jobs (Some of our folks take the week of and stay at our church organization's campground which is next door). The van leaves at 4 PM and doesn't get home until somewhere around 10:30.

Our mid-week service is moved to tomorrow instead of Wednesday as normal.

It's going to be a long rest of the week.

Automotive Repair Tip

Here's something I learned the other day. If your car is overheating, don't automatically assume that your thermostat has gone bad.

Friday, I had a doctor's appointment right after picking "The Boy" up from school. My truck was running hot (which started the day before) so I deduced that my thermostat had gone bad. I went to the auto parts store from doctor's office, picked up a new thermostat & gasket, then went home so my truck could cool off enough for me to do the swap out (WARNING- Never try to swap out a thermostat while the engine is hot. You will get burned).

While the truck was cooling off, I mowed the grass and went out to eat with my wife & grandchildren. When we got home, she took the grandkids home while I went about to work on the truck.

My wife advised me to reread the instructions on how to do it in the Haynes Automotive Repair manual that I have for my truck. Hello, I'm a guy. Guys don't read instructions. I decided to anyway. In the book, it says that before you condemn you thermostat, check the trouble shooting page for more reasons your vehicle could be overheating.

When I did that, one of the entries was "You radiator cap may not be sealed properly." I went out to check. Not only was the radiator cap not sealed properly, the seal was almost non-existent. I called my wife and explained what I had found. I also told her that the auto parts store closed in 20 minutes.

She got home & we dashed off to the store. I walked in with four minutes to spare. The same employee who had sold me the thermostat was still there. Looking at the radiator cap, he exclaimed "Wow, I'll bet that there's your problem." I exchanged the thermostat & gasket for the radiator cap and came out $1.29 ahead. When I replaced the cap (and added more coolant) the truck ran like a top.

BTW- on a related note, If your vehicle occasionally won't start after you've driven it, you battery may have a dead cell. I replaced my truck battery on Thursday for that reason. I got good service from that battery, seeing that it was older than my truck. I drive a 1992 Silverado, and the battery was purchased in 1984 (It was in the truck when I bought it).

Flashback Friday # 102

The Sleepover

Welcome back, faithful readers. We again travel back into time to a bygone era that once enveloped me.

In last weeks post, we saw my older brother head off to the Army. Once he left, I made plans to take over his bedroom. World domination (at least the total control of the upstairs of the house). His room had all the amenities that mine didn't (closet, door, bed). I slept on a sleeper sofa before he moved out. He had a roll-away bed. It rapidly became mine.

Once I laid claim to his room, I was told that I couldn't lay claim to his stuff. I piled the closet floor with it. When he can home on leave, he could decide what he wanted & didn't. I rearranged to room to suit me.

After I was settled in, I asked Mom if I could invite a passel of Aunt Shelly's kids over to spend the night. Before time, I could have one of them over at a time. I wanted several over at the same time. She agreed.

I got on the phone and invited five of the cousins closest to me. Pork, Skeeter, Chawly, Munch & Tiny all got to come & spend the night with me. There was my new bed plus my old bed to sleep the six of us. They were used to sleeping many to a bed.

They came over and we played like a pack of Indians until it was time to get ready for bed. Mom shooed us upstairs and told us not to make too much noise. Six boys between the ages of 14 and nine should have no problem keeping quiet. We ate too many snacks & we stayed up until forever.

When we were ready to turn in, Munch took off his shoes & socks. Every eye in the room began to water. I've smelled road kill that smelled better. Remember, Munch was the one who got the bath in the front yard.

All I knew was that I couldn't stand another moment of that smell. I told Munch to open the window and put his shoes & socks on the roof beneath the windowsill. I then told him to close the window so the aroma couldn't waft in.

We all slept like we were in a coma. When we awoke we made quite the discovery. It had rained while we slept. Munch's shoes were soaked. They smelled like wet road kill. His brother told him to stop complaining. He would have to change his socks when he got home (something he didn't do very often).

We had a great time. We had kept the noise down to a quiet roar. My folks had no problems with us, so they agreed that we could do it again.

How about you? Do you have any sleepover stories that you're willing to share?

Money Saving Tip

On the back of the pages of my page-a-day Dilbert calendar are jokes, puzzles, quotes & tips. Here is yesterdays money saving tip. "Take your lunch to work one more day than you normally do."

Since I take my lunch to work every day, that got me thinking, "Why would I want to take my lunch to work on Sunday?"

Have Shear...Will Travel

Here is a gem of a picture that is in my instruction manual for the pneumatic shear that I run at work. I've sent this picture in to a couple sites at the cheezburger network (where I hang out a lot) but I thought my blog homies would like it too.

This is what the blurry text says: "Have Shear...Will Travel. Move this shear from place to place on a fork-lift truck to reduce work handling and keep it busy where it's needed."

The manual was printed in 1960. I have NEVER driven the shear around with a woman sitting on it. Ever.

I wonder what OSHA would have to say about this?

Flashback Friday # 101

Rebel Without a Cause (Part II)


A warm & gracious greeting to those who have stopped by to find out the rest of the story about my not-so-bright brother, Sir Gattabout, and the consternation he caused my parents.

When we left off in last weeks story, he and my parents had just had a long talk (for those just coming in, read Flashback Friday #100 to catch up with the rest of the class).However, the talk didn't go as my parents had hoped. Gattabout was just as obstinate & rebellious (and stupid) as before. Nobody was going to tell him what to do.

To prove this, he went back to school and withdrew. That's a fancy term for dropped out. He felt like he knew it all, and another half year of school wouldn't make him any smarter (he was a Senior at the time). There were too many rules and nobody was going to tell him what to do.

To prove that he was his own boss, he made a major decision that changed his life. He joined The U.S. Army. (Oh yea, Nobody's gonna tell him what to do in there)

When he told Mom & Dad what he had done, they pleaded for him to reconsider. Nope, wasn't happening. He made his decision and he was sticking to it.

When the time came for him to meet the bus to take him to basic training, Dad drove him to Columbus to meet it. He was afraid that it would be too much for Mom. He said Gattabout didn't look back.

The first letter we got from him from his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, sounded like he woke up from the fog that surrounded him. He was homesick, sore and really didn't like his D.I or the Army in general (no pun intended). He did say that no matter how unpleasant it became, he would never shame the family by going A.W.O.L. like my cousin had from the Navy.

My chief tormentor was gone. The one who had blackmailed me for years was several states away now. No more nightly pummelings. Mom & Dad were sad, but I was ecstatic. It didn't take long for me to begin the takeover of his old bedroom (he had a door & a closet, I didn't).

So here you have it. My previous posts were my life B.A. (before Army). Henceforth, I will post of my life A.A. (after Army). It's now the middle of my 8th grade in school and I'm facing the trials & tribulations of a 14 year old. And we all know know that that is a rough time in any one's life.

Cat? I don't think so.

For those of you who do not know, I have glasses that are as thick as the proverbial Coke bottle bottom special. I think the person who made this sign may need to borrow them.