The Manic Mechanic

After walking Kodi back from the vet (the big crybaby) I headed off to what remains of the Expo Design Center in Columbia to see what I could bring home. I had stopped by the day before and saw a few things I could make use of, but not actually need. Suffice it to say, those had been snapped up. It was a gamble, since the reductions were going from 70% to 80% today, with 90% tomorrow, the last day. The house won the round this time. I managed to find a few things, most notably a pendant light fixture, a satin nickel double towel rod, a nice thick glass shelf with matching satin fixings and an unusual CFL floodlight with nearly perfect halogen color rendering. The latter was a buck, the other three items, if I had paid original price for would have cost over 300 dollars. My bill came to about 50. Yeah, I scored, but it was bittersweet. I found Hot Gary working his last days there, and we sat and talked for a while. He has not found another job yet, and his living situation will be changing as a result. It was nearly heartbreaking as we chatted about the sad economic realities hitting the area. The closing of the Expo will mean the entire section of buildings the store is a part of will be empty. Gary, who always had an air of ease and confidence about him looked ragged and uncertain. It did not help that he had been dealing with warring customers, constant questions, rampant stupidity and other nonsense. But the poor man honestly does not know what to expect in the coming days. I told him we'd help in any way we can, and to come over and hang out if he needs a change of scenery. I wish him only the best.

I stopped by Lowes after that, picking up more supplies, another 18 volt DeWalt battery pack to replace the ones dying on me and a Bosch impact driver. After coming home and having some lunch, I worked some more in the shop before heading outside to deal with a truck filled with firewood. The splitter was in need of repair to fix a worsening hydraulic oil leak. In the midst of doing this, I was interrupted by the phone ringing. it was yet another one of those bogus car warranty scam calls that have increased once again in frequency. I walk back outside just in time to hear a loud bunch of noises as my haphazardly propped stack of parts, valves and drain pan falls to the ground, and about two gallons of hydraulic oil is spewing from the ram cylinder, dousing the tractor and the Dart parked beside my work area with oil. I was livid. I had Jeff help me mop up my instant Superfund site as I wished all manner of evil hell unto those damn scammers. If the call center/boiler room holding these scums were about to be firebombed during Take Your Children To Work Day, and I had a chance to stop it, I'd smile and do nothing. Then I'd get out the marshmallows.

I unloaded and split half the truckload, adding to the pile I started before. There's about a cord and a half in the pile already, and quite a bit left to go. Had I not needed to take the time for the unexpected Exxon Valdez situation, I would have had it all done. There's not enough room in my two wood racks for this, and it looks like time has come to tear those things apart and build a proper covered wood 'crib' that will hold about four cords. I currently have space for about a cord and a half, then it's all piled on pallets and on the ground. Yet another project, albeit one long overdue. Woot. Just what I needed. Not.

I hope to finish up the rest of the unloading/splitting so I can reclaim my truck and clean up the humongous oil stains. To think I was fixing the splitter because it was leaving little drips here and there. What happened today was like some sort of cruel joke. Oh well, it's all tuned up now and leak free.