What I did on my summer vacation, day 4

Today I vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathrooms and made supper. I repotted a plant.

We went for a walk after supper. I watched three episodes of Voyager.

We made rags. For years (decades?) I've been throwing old clothing into bags in the basement for future use as rags. I use them now and then, but not as fast as they accumulate. We even lost a bunch of them in last year's flood. So Cindy gathered them all up, washed them, and cut them into usable-sized pieces. Most of them are in a box on the floor in the pantry. Reusable rags should cut down on the amount of paper towel we go through. I just finished cutting up the denim, which I'll use for shop rags in the basement.

day 5

Thwarted. I cannot get the blades off the tractor. I was thinking, for some reason, that the bolts were reverse-threaded, but I called the dealer to ask, and he said they were regular threads. I had previously worked on the blade on the right side, and apparently tightened it some more. So I tried the blade on the left, which I hadn't worked on before. I could not get it loose I decided to try torching it, to see if the heating and cooling would cause something to break loose. So I went to the hardware store for a propane canister, came back and couldn't get it lit! WTF! How can you not light propane with a match! Anyway, I got back on it with the wrench... and bent it. The wrench.

I'm done. I'll just finish out the year with blades that are not optimally sharp, then have it taken in for service in the Spring.

To get under the mower deck, I got a jack and lifted up the front end and put it on blocks. I realized all I have to do is stick a 2x2 under the axle as a lever, and lift it up that way, kicking the block under the wheels.

While at the hardware store, I remembered to grab a couple of fittings to fix my garden hoses. I had two with leaks that I had been ignoring. And I got a new spray nozzle.

Coming out of the hardware store, I noticed the oil change place across the street. There was no line, so I got my oil changed.

I took the front doorknob apart and sprayed silicone in it, so now the latch latches again.
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stupid comet

I never did see the comet Neowise. I looked a couple of nights. Several other nights (like tonight), we had clear skies but I forgot to look. I bet I won't see it.

I usually miss these events. I saw Hale-Bopp kinda by accident. I saw it out of the corner of my eye while I was driving. I think I saw Kohoutek when I was small. I have a memory of being outside with my dad when he saw it. It was a bright star in the sky. Totally missed Halley (1986, very difficult to see). I don't even remember hearing about Comet Hyakutake (1996). Not to mention Bennett (1970) and West (1976).

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