Saturday, June 1, 2019
Checking the Defore auction in Winfield, I found absolutely nothing that tempted me to stay or to return later. Instead I took advantage of a rainless day to do yard work. That was small tree removal, mowing, and finishing a little brick "patio". It's really just a little pad of street bricks for the barbecue because if it sits on soft ground it will sink in and tip over. I quiot early for another drive to wichita for a movie unlikely ever to play down here in Podunk. A space capsule crashes on a farm, and the farmer and his wife adopt the baby they find inside. Sound familiar? But what if the strange visitor from another planet doesn't embrace truth, justice, and the American way? What if he'd rather become Ruler of the World? That's Brightburn, a very good movie. Jackson A. Dunn is excellent, alternating between normal kid and creepy monster, and there are good performances from the rest of the cast as well. Director David Yarovesky delivers a well-told tale. Comic book movies with super-powered characters usually put me to sleep, but this one passed the stay-awake test with flying colors.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
When I went to town for a grocery run today I stopped at the Chestnut Avenue bridge to take a look at the results of the flood.
 I guessed that the swift
current running across the road would cause con siderable damage. I
guessed right.
|
 Most of the soil under this
tree has moved to Oklahoma.
|
 My, my, my, my, my...What a
mess!
|
The bridge is OK, but I expect
repairs to the road west of it will take awhile.
Monday, June 3, 2019
I was dissatisfied with the accessory panel I made for the touring car because it didn't fit very well, so I made a better one. Then I got started on installing the new wiring harnesses. Those two projects filled my day.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
 Today I finished installing the new wiring harnesses. My only gripe about them is that I had to replace a couple of the eye terminals that were too small to fit. |
 The rusty screw is a longer replacement for one that pulled out. It's a little bit longer but a size smaller than the rest. When we used to have a real hardware store I would have gone to town and bought one of the right size, but I know better than to waste my time trying that now. |
 I
also installed accessory panel 1.1 which I made yesterday. Panel 1.0
didn't fit very well. On the left side is the switched 12 volt outlet
with phone charger. The switch on the right side is for a speedometer
light. |
 While I had the timer off to hook up the new wires I hit it with a 60 grit sandpaper disk to flatten the contacts. |
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Looking at my truck stuck in the mud, I find I may be able to extricate it sooner than I thought. The ground is drying out, with no pools of standing water, so I may be able to give it a go next week. The forecast looks good, with mostly dry days. Meanwhile, today my 1923 touring car achieved a postive change and a negative change. The positive is that I installed a voltage regulator. I've had the regulator for over a year, and I finally got it in the car. Installing the thing requires adjusting the generator third brush, which can be maddening. You have to loosen a nut, move the brush, and tighten the nut. The tough part is tightening the nut without moving the brush out of adjustment. It was a struggle, but I finally did it. I also hooked up and lubricated the horn, so folks can hear me coming. The negative change was that the speedometer died. The screen went totally blank, so I suspect it just needs a new battery. I can't buy just one, of course. They're sold only in pairs, so you use one until it dies and by then the second one is dead too, so you have to buy two more.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
D-Day was travel day. I headed east at 10:40 AM and drove all aftrnoon and into the evening without any "events" until I got to Indiana. There I ran over some kind of road hazard that ruined my right rear tire. When I set about putting on the spare tire I found that there was no jack in the car! I had to call my insurance company for road service. By the time the tow guy arrived and put the spare on the car it was after midnight. I drove back to Terre Haute and camped in the Walmart parking lot, waiting for the tire shop to open in the morning.
Friday, June 7, and Saturday, June 8, 2019
When the tire shop opened I had a new tire put on, and drove on to Richmond with no further trouble until I got there. The trouble I had in Richmond was a little problem with McDonald's free wi-fi, which this time was worth exactly what I paid for it. On some websites I kept getting error messages about them being unsecure, and I wasn't able to upload web pages or photos. Fortunately the museum wi-fi worked OK, so I was able to get a little done there. As usual, the museum homecoming was a swell event, and I had a good time. Photos are here.
Sunday, June 8, 2019
I arrived home a little after ten this morning. After unloading, I posted pictures on the MTFCA website. Then I went out for an inpsection tour. I found .7" in the rain gauge. I had hoped that recent dry days would have solidified the ground enough for me to get the truck unstuck. There's no longer standing water in the ruts and low places around it, but the ground is still awfully wet and soft. Tomrrow and Tuesday are supposed to be dry and sunny, so maybe I can attempt an extrication Tuesday afternoon. When I walked down to the wood lot I found much of the road still swampy and nowhere near ready for me to try driving on it. I'm afraid I may not be able to drive there until July or August.
Monday, June 10, 2019
What did I do today? Not much. I did tighten a couple of nuts and install new cotter pins on the touring, I reset the speedometer which had unaccountably quit working, and shorty and I went to town in the touring for her heartworm checkup and for groceries. I don't know how I spent a whole day getting so little done.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
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Wednesday, June 12, 2019
The war on weeds continued, with more spraying. I'll do more tomorrow, too. While mixing weed killer I had a hose break. Actually it was one of the fittings holding two hoses together. Apparently it was made of pot metal and had corroded until it came apart. So I was off to town to buy new fittings and a few other things. One problem with a 96-year-old Ford is that with no fuel gauge it's easy to run out of gas, which I did on Summit Street. Fortunately I always carry gas cans on the running board, so I was on my way in a few minutes. Those cans have saved me a long walk more than once.
Thursday, June 13, 20l9
Today I drove the touring up to the courthouse in Winfield to renew the registration on the Camry. Shorty rode along, and I shot this little video. The car ran poorly, awfully gutless for a fresh engine. When I got home I tried putting in a differfent set of coils. That didn't help it a bit. Something else is the problem.
Friday, June 14, 2019
This morning I put a different carburetor on the touring. All carburetors are different and this one requires a little more choking than the other one to get started. I took the car for a test drive and it seemed a little better, but still not right. When I got home I was checking the spark plug wires to be sure all of them were tight, and found that the collar holding the #4 plug together was loose. Compression was leaking out through the plug. Voila. I tightened the collar and the car ran much better. It will do that when all cylinders are firing. Now that I have that mystery solved I guess I'll go back the the other carburetor, as it's the one with an air filter on it.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Best laid plans. I was going to check out the auction in Winfield this morning but I never made it there. A flat tire stopped me just down the road from the house. By the time I got to town, and had a new tire installed, and gassed up the car, it was 1:40 PM. I decided to stay home and get some work done. In this case the work was house cleaning. Spring will end in a few days, so I guess I need to get spring cleaning done.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
On a lazy Sunday I got up late and didn't do much. A fellow Model T guy stopped for a visit on his way to Nebraska and we chewed the fat for a couple of hours. I was showing him the 1923 Fordor which is under the shed on the north side of the shop, and found that the plastic bag over the engine had leaked, and so had the shed, and the cylinders have water in them. It's been that way long enough for the engine to be stuck, so I'll have more work to do on that one than I expected. In the afternoon Shorty and I went to town in the touring car for bananas and apples, then I finished the day with a little more house cleaning.
Monday, June 17, 2019
House cleaning was at the top of today's agenda. In fact, it was the agenda. Most likely tomorrow will be the same, and maybe even part of Wednesday. It's been a long time coming, so there's a lot to do.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
More of the same. I finished cleaning the living room and the front hall and got a good start on the kitchen. I should finish up the kitchen and the bathroom tomorrow. Then I'll mow.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Done. Kitchen and bathroom finished by 2:00 PM, then I mowed. Tomorrow will be laundry, more mowing, and some other yard work.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Did the wash, ordered some eats for Saturday, got a little yard work done. This evening little brother Mike arrived for the family reunion.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Today Mike and I went shopping for tonight's back yard cookout, and I believe we overdid it. Nobody will go hungry, and I'll probably be using up leftover groceries for several weeks. We went in the 23 touring, and on the way home it ran like crap. I'll try a different carburetor and see if that cures it.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Parker family reunion day. In the mornng I changed the carburetor on the touring and the car ran OK all day. As usual, there were Model T rides for all who cared to go. This year there were only about a dozen of us, but I enjoyed visiting, overeating (includng homemade ice cream), and going up to the cemetery to visit the old timers.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Mostly a decompression day. After the overnight rainfall softened the ground I did do some weed pulling, and I put away some of the stuff that was out for the reunion, but I did an awful lot of just sitting around.
Monday, June 24, 2019
More weed pulling was first on today's agenda. Wally came over to talk about making some new windows for the living room. I mentioned to him at the reunion that some of the old ones are falling apart, and I'd like to get new ones in before winter. We examined the old ones to see how they were installed, and did some measuring. After Wally left I went ahead and removed the first window, and nailed up some plastic sheeting over the hole. While the wood in the windows is rotten and falling apart, the frames holding them seem to be in surprisingly good shape.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Back to the weed wars. I mixed up five gallons of my MED (Magic Elixir of Death) and sprayed johnson grass and other weeds across the road. I was going to take that falling-apart living room window to Wally, but the battery in the Suburban was down. So I put a charger on it, and I'll take the window tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Working in the morning cool before much wind came up, I mixed another five gallons of MED and continued the weed war. I'll wait a few days to see what dies, then I'll attack the survivors. In the afternoon I took that old window to town and left it with Wally, then went to the lumber yard and asked of they could get some 2x cedar. The answer was no, so I'll have to ask other lumber dealers. Maybe somebody in Wichita will have it.
Thursday June 27, 2019
Recently I received a letter from the IRS asking for more forms, so I spent the morning preparing and sending those. In the afternoon I changed the carburetor on the touring car. The one that was on it was too hard starting to suit me, and seemed to starve for fuel on hills. The one I installed doesn't look like I've ever worked on it, but it works better, both starting and running. I tried it out in the evening with my usual Thursday in June routine. Shorty and I went to the band concert in Wilson Park. The Arkansas City Municipal Band is now in its 148th year, but most of the players look younger than that. I read the paper and do the cryptoquote and crossword while the music plays, then after the concert I walk across the street to Braum's and have a double cone. It's a very pleasant way to spend an evening.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Happy Birthday to me, and Valentin Maldonado of Radio Lobo, and my cousin Bella. We all have the same birthday. I am 78 now, Vale is thirty-something, and Bella is 17. Serious laziness has overtaken me. 80º F is not really hot, but it brings enough humidity with it to drain my ambition. I just want to sit in front of a fan and do nothing. But I did muster up enough gumption to do a little putting-away in the shop and some reassembly on the runabout, getting it ready to reinstall the engine/transmission. I have another work day in Tulsa scheduled Monday, and I hope to have the car back together and running sometime in the next month.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
The auction just five files away had nothing to make me stick around, but the Defore auction in Winfield this time included enough good items to keep me there. I bought a Dremel kit for $1. If the motor doesn't work I don't care. I was buying the attachments. I paid $4 for a set of nine Craftsman crowfoot wrenches, $1 for an air tank, and gambled 25¢ on a clock that may or may not work. The big expense of the day was a couple of NOS yard hydrants for $22.50 each. That's a quarter of the retail price they would cost in a store. My Saturday night out included enchiladas supremas and frijoles refritos at La Fiesta, this time serenaded by mariachis who were there for the restaurant's eleventh anniversary. The movie after dinner was Danny Boyle's Yesterday, which I loved. I will probably go see it again.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Sunday morning laziness is customary. I got up late and spent the morning catching up on email, Facebook, the Model T forum, and blog posts. In the afternoon I put a hardware store discount card in my pocket and went to town in the Suburban to bring home some half inch black pipe. Of course the store was totally out of half inch black pipe. As the card was to expire today, I decided to use it for a can of lacquer. But the card I had put in my pocket was no longer there. I have no clue what became of it. Losing stuff like this absolutely drives me nuts. I'd worry about it being the start of Alzheimer's, but it's nothing new. I've always been this way.
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