So this is the way it started...My baby Johnny, lost a bolt that holds his decking onto his frame and of course they had to order it. The bolt came in along with the steel cotter pin to hold it in place.
Like an idiot I asked Tim to help me. He has NO patience for anything resembling or sounding like "repair work."
I thought I could do it myself except that Johnny weighs at least 400 pounds and the bolt had to be put on his tender underside. I got the bolt in but for the life of me couldn't find the hole for the cotter pin. I got out my compact mirror that I use to sop up grease on my face between double shifts and shimmied my way under Johnny looking for the hole to insert the cotter pin.
Unfortunately I asked Tim to help...Problem #1.
He gets frustrated so easily as whereas I get pumped up thinking "I KNOW I can do this."
Problem #2 Mr. "Slow" Lee gets involved.
After thirty minutes he told me to go next door and ask our neighbor Mr. 'Slow' Lee to come help. I didn't want to but I wanted that cotter pin in so badly I gave in and asked him to come over. After about six tries he said "I'll be right back." I am assuming he went back next door to pound down another Budweiser and then he came back with a five inch piece of a wire coat hanger.
He said we had the bolt in and he could just twist the piece of coat hanger through the hole and pinch it off.
Seems to me if you could secure the bolt with a piece of wire why would they bother to include a STEEL cotter pin to hold it in place... But who am I to bitch?
DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT...(Tim already did.)
I just felt uneasy about taking a short cut...I had already spent about $100.00 on a new tire, air filter and blade and we were talking about short cutting the entire decking that holds the whole cutting part together.
If it had been THAT easy, the guy at the JD store would have said "Here's your bolt, just put it in and snip off a piece of a wire coat hanger and thread it through the hole and you're good to go!"
I just let it go.
I decided to cut my own lawn first since I know every nook and cranny of it. I moved on to Mr. "Slow" Lee's yard as he gawked over the back of his truck bed at me as if to say "See little gal...I'm a smart one."
I am taking my mower over to the OTHER side of my house tomorrow to my next door husband and beg him to help me put the cotter pin in.
Picked Massey up from school between cuts and asked Zach to take her to practice at 5:00 so I could cut our back yard.
I DO NOT let him back out of or pull into the garage. The first day he got his learner's permit I let him attempt to pull in the garage and he gave my Passat the only dent it has. He scraped the whole side and bent the frame on my garage. I was on the mower today when he jumped in the car and said he could back out.
I jumped off and said I would back the car out. He was in the driver's seat and assured me he could do it. I told him my car was the last running vehicle we had and I was going to back it out.
Zach already had the car in reverse and simply pulled up the emergency brake and got out. I used my freaked out voice and said "PUT THE CAR IN PARK !"
He acted like it was no big deal and said "I have the emergency brake on."
I jumped in the car and put it in park, immediately letting the car rev down from trying to back up with the parking brake on.
How am I supposed to deal with people trying to short cut my JD, tear my car up and give me a stroke all at the same time??? YOU TELL ME.
Johnny made the cut (I'll have him fixed right tomorrow) Zach made it back in my car with no visible dents and I managed to cook them all a home cooked dinner. Smoked pork chops, home made macaroni and cheese, baked beans and deviled eggs.
After dinner I HAD to vacuum. When you have three dogs, it is like living in a dust (Fur) bowl. Thank the Lord they are all short haired. My vacuum cleaner broke it's belt and I didn't have the right one, but acting like Mr. "Slow" Lee I made one fit that I had from my old vacuum and cleaned the heck out of the first floor of the house. I vacuumed corners and crevices, vents and walls. I think I saw a line of bed bugs leaving through the cracks of the downstairs door holding signs saying "Thanks a lot, Biotch...we were happy here."
I pretty much stay downstairs because the kitchen, laundry room and my computer are there. I thought I would start with my own domain and move on to the rest of the house tomorrow. It smells so great down here, so fresh and clean. My teens don't mind living in filth but I did go the extra mile and clean their bathroom.
I don't have to work until tomorrow at 4:30 so I am going to cut the front of the sub division and vacuum the rest of the house. If we aren't a living ad for Clairiton we must be an ad for SOMETHING!
I went to Kroger to buy groceries and gas tonight and the young girl in front of me at the gas station had her debit card denied. She asked the girl to run it for $10 and it got declined. She asked for her to run it for $8 and it was declined.
My heart went out to this young girl. She was just trying to buy gas.
If I hadn't just kited a check for ten dollars for cleaning supplies I would have helped her.
Instead I will say a prayer for her.
It's been a tough few years for a LOT of people and I am just one of many.
But I got my yard cut, my part of the house clean and my family fed.
Going to watch a little TV, paint my nails and get on my knees again. I have had it rough although I have had it rougher...but if my teens don't kill me and the vacuum cleaner holds up, it will be a good day.
Surprising how the little things can be such a huge part of your day.
Count your blessings...name them one by one.
A Grateful...a blessed and a CRAZY Cotton...(The crazy part helps me through)
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