twice on sunday (gas, grass, but no ass version)

it’s been a while since i’ve done one these…

…a two=part bit that you only see after both parts are done. granted, back in the wilder west days of this site, i’d just two bits that day. hell, some days back then had three or four per ME’s demands at the time. but since i “re-launched” in 2008 with the “one bit every forty-eight hours” routine we’ve kept it going, and as that’s now been (gulp) a bit over eighteen years straight, fuck it – let’s keep the routine alive.

i’m currently zero for three on road worthy vehicles, and two of em (grey & m) are wheel and tire related. m’s back right finally cracked to the point of no return apparently, so i’m just biting the bullet and throwing new rims on a credit card and getting that all ordered up tomorrow (only waiting the day because last time i talked to sales people at this place i saved a few hundred over web to give them the sale) but in the interim i think a factory wheel i have on betty will fit her, and as betty’s laid up with a mysterious engine ailment (seriously, i don’t know what the fuck is going on at this stage), i’d be stupid not to “borrow” the wheel from her to get back on the road safely until the new rims arrive, so there’s all that shuffle to do. normally no big deal, but with all current physical issues it’s gonna suck a little.

what’s gonna suck a lot is the yard – it’s almost waist high in some spots, and basically makes our place look like a neglected rental house crossed with a bmw dealership. my house sits on over a third of an acre and most of it is that front yard. walking is not my forte of late, so pushing a mower might be easier (as i have something to steady me) or more difficult (due to uneven terrain, actually having to propel something through space other than me, etc) so we’ll see where this goes.

car things first, yard things second. how well will it go? i’ve been really frustrated with how my physical issues have been limiting my productivity, so i’m gonna try to push through – everything below the line will be the “after” to this “before”…

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(who knew that line had to be that short to fit?)

so, that was a bit more than expected. betty had a “spare tire” from a factory 18″ wheel and a runflat tire that i thought would swap over, but after trying to get the wheel off with a 17mm socket (and then unable to get the lug bolt out of the socket when i did) i realized they were spline key bolts, so i went at them that way just to discover one was of the type that wouldn’t come off grey and betty can’t be driven to a tire place so i reversed course and took one of her nicer lexani wheels off with a goodyear runflat on it, and after some finagling got that on m only to discover while doing so there’s a bubble in the sidewall, so that might get dealt with this week.

once i got the problematic rim off i discovered the weld was almost bubbling out so new wheels will be ordered tomorrow and the FIVE leaking bubble machines spitting out fix-a-flat indicate the tire will also need to be replaced so i just ordered a back pair an hour ago.

the whole experience was physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually grueling and took over two hours in the heat so the yard, needless to say, didn’t get did. all bits are loaded for the week, so we’ll check back in on this come saturday, i suppose…