First, my normal blah blah blah type of stuff, and then at the end, I have a bonus item for all of you.
It wa
s a mixed type of week. My son wa
s successful in getting his motorcycle licence. BUT, nothing is that simple. The night before he was to take his test, he came to me in a panic saying that the bike was dead and would not start. In fact, it would not do anything - no horn, no lights, no nothing! You cannot cancel a test within 48 hours - so he would forfeit the $75 fee that my wife paid for him to take the test if the bike could not be fixed in time. I was just about to have my fiesta after work which is a bad habit but one I like. So I climbed out of bed and went down to the garage and tried the key. Nothing. I am no mechanic by far. My dad always said that I had to either learn to be able to fix things, or get a good job. Fortunately for me, I was able to get a good job. I fumbled with the battery and got a big spark. Thus there must of been lots of power in the battery. I then thought that it might be a fuse. I got the owner's manual out and it said that the master fuse was under the gas tank and you had to disassemble half of the bike to get at it, and there were secondary fuses behind a metal housing cover on the bottom of the engine. I was pretty sure that it was the master fuse, but since it was simpler to get at the secondary fuses, I tried these first. They were all okay. Darn. I proceeded to tear the motorbike apart. I am good at taking things apart. I have very little success in putting them back together. Usually what happens is that after I get the bike pulled apart, I end up loading it up in the back of my truck and driving it two hours to my brother's house to get him to fix it and re-assemble it. The last time I started working on my bike, my neighbour came running over to stop me before I took it apart - knowing that I would just have to load it back in my truck if I continued. But this time my neighbour was on vacation in the States so there was no one to stop me. I got it apart and tested the master fuse. Double darn. The fuse was fine so I torn it apart for nothing and now I had to put it back together. I actually got it back together and I had no left over parts which even my brother usually has left over parts! I continued to fumble around with the bike, looking for clues as to what might be wrong. I wound up removing the home made connection for the GPS unit. Turned the key and bike started right up. Awesome! Apparently the home made connection, although it had worked fine for a year, was shorting out the electrical system. And incredible that I was able to fix the bike on my own.
s a mixed type of week. My son wa
s successful in getting his motorcycle licence. BUT, nothing is that simple. The night before he was to take his test, he came to me in a panic saying that the bike was dead and would not start. In fact, it would not do anything - no horn, no lights, no nothing! You cannot cancel a test within 48 hours - so he would forfeit the $75 fee that my wife paid for him to take the test if the bike could not be fixed in time. I was just about to have my fiesta after work which is a bad habit but one I like. So I climbed out of bed and went down to the garage and tried the key. Nothing. I am no mechanic by far. My dad always said that I had to either learn to be able to fix things, or get a good job. Fortunately for me, I was able to get a good job. I fumbled with the battery and got a big spark. Thus there must of been lots of power in the battery. I then thought that it might be a fuse. I got the owner's manual out and it said that the master fuse was under the gas tank and you had to disassemble half of the bike to get at it, and there were secondary fuses behind a metal housing cover on the bottom of the engine. I was pretty sure that it was the master fuse, but since it was simpler to get at the secondary fuses, I tried these first. They were all okay. Darn. I proceeded to tear the motorbike apart. I am good at taking things apart. I have very little success in putting them back together. Usually what happens is that after I get the bike pulled apart, I end up loading it up in the back of my truck and driving it two hours to my brother's house to get him to fix it and re-assemble it. The last time I started working on my bike, my neighbour came running over to stop me before I took it apart - knowing that I would just have to load it back in my truck if I continued. But this time my neighbour was on vacation in the States so there was no one to stop me. I got it apart and tested the master fuse. Double darn. The fuse was fine so I torn it apart for nothing and now I had to put it back together. I actually got it back together and I had no left over parts which even my brother usually has left over parts! I continued to fumble around with the bike, looking for clues as to what might be wrong. I wound up removing the home made connection for the GPS unit. Turned the key and bike started right up. Awesome! Apparently the home made connection, although it had worked fine for a year, was shorting out the electrical system. And incredible that I was able to fix the bike on my own.
Other news: My other brother bought a car that is identical to a police car so now cars will move over for him in heavy traffic. My wife has began jogging again so the two of us are using a trail that was made from an abandoned train track. She prefers this trail as there are lots of dogs on the back roads that I normally walk. My back has been really bugging me. It hurt before I left for the Camino, it hurt real bad on the Camino, and is hurting some more. So bad that I had to take two days off of work last week - my first two sick days of the year. I tried walking today - only two miles - the back was not too bad but my knee really hurt for the last mile. Lastly, my colleague at work sent me an e-mail saying BANG! because I mentioned that I might attempt to walk the Camino again next May and I had asked readers on an earlier blog that if I ever say that again, to please shoot me! She really made me lol when my back was really hurting. A lot will depend on whether I am able to walk next year - mainly my body and things like my back and my knee will need to cooperate a lot more than they are now.
Now that I have forced you to read my blah blah blah, here is what I think is a real treat. There have been many rumours over the past several months of sightings of Martin Sheen on the Camino. It turns out he was making a movie in which his son attempted to walk the trail and died in the attempt, so Martin drops what he was doing, flies to Europe, collects his son's ashes, and walks the Camino himself, finishing what his son started, and sprinkling his ashes along the trail. Now if I could only get my sons to walk the trail for me so that I can stay home and watch TV! I am attaching the link to the movie trailer, which Cecelia sent me and I thank her very much.
Over and out, Tim.
Hello Tim!
ReplyDeleteYou have already made new plans for next year! That's great! You see, the idea will not let you go! Keep walking and your back and knees will cooperate! One day at a time. Enjoy Life!
Godd bless.
Hedwig.
From a very quiet Holland without all those planes!