Monthly Archives: June 2019
Happy Father’s Day . . .
To all the Fathers out there.
Jan and I headed for Sugarland about 10:30 to meet up with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon for a Father’s Day Lunch at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood there. Originally we had planned on meeting at the Sugarland Ice Rink for Landon’s skating lesson, but the lesson is only 30 minutes, so Brandi said that they’d just meet us at the restaurant.
Landon’s not doing Hockey this summer but he still wants to take the lessons because they’ve really improved his skating, and thus his hockey playing in the fall.
By the way Landon has his own YouTube channel, that he set up and programs himself. Called Mr. Pug, shortened from the original Mr. Pug Morrison for some reason, he’s now got 15 subscribers, and could probably use a few dozen, or a few hundred more. So check it out and at least give him a Like or 2 on his 12 videos.
Thanks.
Landon’s also taking coding classes this summer at one of the Code Ninjas facilities near his house. I think they start out with the Roblox concept where you drag and drop modules, building games and programming robots. Sounds like it’ll be right up his alley.
Readers will remember that before we left on our trip I signed up for a VPN service called ExpressVPN. It worked great and was a lot safer whenever I was doing financial stuff aboard ship and in hotels.
And I found that if I wasn’t using it, sometimes when I accessed US sites, I was told that I couldn’t because I was not located in the right area. When that happen I would just connect to an ExpressVPN server in Dallas (they don’t have a server in Houston), and suddenly I was in the right area.
Well, yesterday I did the reverse. I was trying to find digital copy of a book that wasn’t available on Amazon, or in the US, either. But I did located a copy on the Project Gutenberg site in Australia. However, when I tried to download it, I was told that the download was not available in my area.
So a couple of clicks on my ExpressVPN app and a Chrome refresh, and suddenly I was in Amsterdam. And the download worked just fine.
When our son Chris called today to wish me a Happy Father’s Day, (I, of course, wished him one back, I told him I could have really used his help yesterday. And when he asked what for, I told him the trials and tribulations of my brake job yesterday, and that the biggest problem was lifting the 85# tire up and getting it on the lugs.
He got real quiet for a few seconds and then said, “Yeah, it’s gotten a lot harder for me lately too.” I told him to just give it another 20 years and see how it feels.
It’s hell getting old. But it sure beats the alternative.
Thought for the Day:
Every time you get dressed, remember. If you die, that’s your ghost outfit forever.
dghg
I’m Pooped, But It’s Done . . .
After leisurely coffee, I went outside about 11:30 to tackle my Dodge Dakota’s front brake pad replacement.
Like most projects, prep work is key, and sometimes takes longer than the actual project.
I knew my floor jack wasn’t going to go high enough to lift the truck so I borrowed a concrete block from the trash pile across from the dumpster to lift things up a bit.
Then after putting the jack stand in place to hold things up in case the floor jack failed, and with the tire off, I was able to get to the caliper/pad assembly.
And removing two bolts and a little prying with a big screwdriver to push the calipers back in a little, I was able to slide the assembly off and lay it up on top of the housing. You don’t want to let it hang loose.
Then the pads themselves just pop right out. I then took a close look at the rotor surface and it looked fine. No grooves, scratches, or raised edges.
I normally replace the rotors every other time I replace the pads, and they were changed out last time so I was expecting them to still be in good shape.
Next up I used one of the old pads and a caliper spreader to push them back in completely flush with the housing so they will fit over the new, now thicker, pads.
Normally I would just use a big C clamp, but I couldn’t find mine, and when I went to buy a new one, I found the spreader was actually cheaper than a big clamp.
I then replaced the silver pad retaining clips with the new ones that came with the pads.
And here’s what it looked like with the pads in place on the clips.
Finally I put Anti-Seize lube on everything that isn’t suppose to seize, and then it was just a matter of sliding the caliper assembly back on the rotor, installing the two bolts, and tightening them down.
And I was done.
With the easy part.
Next comes the hardest part, at least for me. And that’s to lift the 80# wheel/tire combo and get it up on the lugs.
But with a lot of fussing, cussing, and tussling, I got it in place, and tightened down. Then after removing the jack stand, and lowering the truck, I did a final tightening of the lug nuts.
And I was done.
With the driver’s side.
And since it was getting hot now, I decided to wait until about 5pm to do the passenger side since it would be in the shade by them.
Then by around 6:30, I was done, had done a test drive, and was in a hot shower, after taking some Advil.
So that’s how I spent my Saturday.
How did you spend yours?
Thought for the Day:
When you drop something when you’re young, you just pick it up.
When you drop something when you’re old, you stare at it a while, deciding it you really need it anymore.
asdf
