Photo: A new dawn, a new day can bring new hope, new faith - if you choose to look for it.
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As you might imagine, that Saturday night was a quiet one. Mark was intensely mulling over the Ram's likely new differential problem and I was content to stare out the window in a deep funk, occasionally drooling down the front of my shirt. Don't ever let anyone tell you that your emotional state cannot effect your physical well-being. The effects of the antibiotics seemed to vanish and the malady returned with greater vigor than ever. So here we were suddenly retro'd back to primitive camping in the Rat and I was not the classic happy camper.
I never imagined that I would be into a Part Five of this tale so I will cut to the chase with a day by day accounting of it:
Thursday: The Honda generator dies. Some triage performed, no cigar. Sun is dropping behind the mesa. Sit in relative misery until bedtime - which comes early with no light, no computers alive and well.
Friday: Fiddle-fart around for most of the day with possible fixes. Call Red for more ideas. Fiddle-fart around some more, still no cigar. Generator dealer administers Last Rites to generator by phone.
Evening drill: Sweat profusely. Assume glum faces, retire at dusk. Sweat profusely. Wake up at 3:00AM because you are not used to this much sleep (but the cats, being nocturnal kind of guys, think this is just great!). Sit around staring at walls and sweating by kerosene light until sunlight returns. This would become a standard routine henceforth.
Sunday: Mark spends day largely avoiding 'management'. No power, all Rat projects come to a halt. Long reading aloud sessions develop and become daily entertainment - I certainly can't complain.
Monday: Generator dealer closed - we sure love prolonging this agony. Mark does get hold of Dick, top mechanic in town who has seen everything which could happen to a vehicle out here in the oil patch. His observation: DO NOT drive it to town like that. Gives Mark some pointers on next wise step to take.
Tuesday: Profuse sweating still de riguer. Since the evap. cooler is now on a separate wire and plug, I get bright idea to power the cooler with the mil-surplus Kawasaki (no, it cannot be used to power the Rat's main electric panel for a number of reasons but only an electro geek could possibly explain why clearly). We fire it up and plug in the cooler. YES! YES! Relief from the swelter! Dance around and do cartwheels. Repeat for 1.5 hours until ... the big Kawa dies. Emit wails of lament loudly, assume the standard evening routine previously noted.
Wednesday: Mark follows Dick's advice and finds contacts willing to bring out replacement fluids for differential from town. Dick sends fluids out without requiring payment up front (and this stuff is PRICEY). Faith in humanity escalates.
Thursday: The guy who maintains the wells one section over from us is able to deliver the fluids (now one of several new brownie points accumulating for humanity). Don't forget to insert the routine daily and evening misery here though.
Friday: Mark takes my Dakota down to the creek, wades across, masters the technique of loosening diff cover, drains out sludge and adds new fluid. All dressed up now and no place to go since appointment for complete diff cleaning is not until Monday. While he is scrubbing around in sand under the Ram, pipeline hand drives up to creek and admits that HE was the one who created the humongous sink-hole in the channel, the one which Mark's Ram slid off to the left into before he could climb the far bank. Nothing like a big dually to excavate mud. Mark offers sarcastic gratitude and the kid offers a big poop-eating grin before dropping into the channel again, pausing long enough to dig out some more mud.
Saturday and Sunday: Complete write-off on progress but misery still not optional. We do sun dances to ward off another creek run. Slim becomes concerned that any attempt on our part at rain cessation will brown out his reviving grazing grass. We futilely fart around with the dead Kaw although we now know that we need a smaller main jet which may or may not be available any more - Kawa dealer offers minus enthusiasm and support to that end.
Monday: I run Mark down to the creek at 0:dark-early. Dick makes the world right again with the Ram. But .... Honda dealer is closed. Mark gets to stay overnight in town at motel with real, unlimited hot water, real porcelain flushing toilet, air-conditioning and dine-out food. I am out here grinding teeth in the relentless swelter, thinking that this mini-vacation is a curious reward for his initial short-sightedness. Mind you, he does get to do a LOT more errands than time normally permits.
Tuesday: Mark picks up the perishable groceries, stuffs them in the cooler with plenty of ice. Then he picks up the dead Honda generator at Dick's, drops it off at the dealer and loads the new one waiting to come home. Even though these things are gut-busting heavy, you don't want to leave one in the back of a pick-up in a motel parking lot or any where else for long so he had to very carefully choreograph the order of his stops. He returns absolutely beat in the late afternoon. Just enough time before dusk for me to replace the cooler motor with the new one he also brought home. Resume sullen evening routine in darkness.
Wednesday: We unload the new generator and hook it up. It works! Electricity, night time lighting! Best of all, computers again! Life was again worth living! I now stand outside on the porch again and let each brilliant new dawn and the shooting stars at night fill me with renewed energy and joy and I begin the process of healing once more. We were finally back to our original Nirvana.
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News of the Week:
Red, This BUF's For You!
There is a double entendre in the header above considering the news story but this is really meant for our old friend, Red, not the Rooskies.
Rich Russian tries to buy U.S. bomber at airshow
I came across this story last week but Buck over at Exile in Portales beat me to it. It's about some newly rich Russian, surrounded by his personal Guido guards, wanting to buy a B-52 at an air show there. The U.S. personnel seemed taken aback and possibly a little affronted.
Out here at the Rat where we have plenty of time to think and behave like bad kids, we have come up with our own ideas on the matter:
You know, given that we are supposed to be the grand poobah nation of evil capitalism, maybe we shouldn't have farted off this big buck Russian so quickly. Hey, the BUF (a loving, familiar name for the venerable old craft, standing for 'Big Ugly ... uhm ... Fella) has been around for a awhile, probably written off long ago in the books so why did we pass up this willing $500 million bite? We got to brainstorming a little and considered some parallel marketing ploys by the U.S. auto makers. Hey ... how about something like those popular schmancy Eddie Bauer Limited Edition models? The Pentagon is missing a big opp here, I mean B-I-G! They could produce a very limited Slim Pickens Edition, personally endorsed by his estate (God love and rest him). I think them Rooskies do have a great sense of humor and would love it. I bet even pectoral Putin would have to chuckle.
Next post: I need to sincerely thank some blogger friends who have enjoyed and supported our journal entries beyond the call.
34 comments:
Hilarious. Russians actin' like the Beverly Hillbillys. That's a GREAT picture. Love it. Hope everything works out there babe. Sounds like the gods are throwin' rocks at ya all the time.
Wow lins creek, where generators go to die. I'm glad its all starting to come good again though.
I don't think I'd have the fortitude to live like you do, Lin. In other words, the minute I couldn't use my computer, I'd be bawling like a baby.
Wow, Lin...you and Mark are made of MUCH sterner stuff than I. I think just one of the week's travails would have sent me around the bend, let alone the sum total of all y'all's experiences, as related. My hat is off to you, and I'm glad you're back to normal.
Apropos of nothing...the first thing that came to my mind after I finished reading this installment was the name of an old satirical British TeeVee show I used to watch in the way-back: "That Was the Week That Was," or TW3, for short. Your most recent week was certainly a TW3 kinda week!
Hi Lin
Nice photos. What camera do you use?
I also liked the caption you left on YesBut's Images - pardon me was that a fart I heard?
FHB, if you think the photo is great, you ought to see the real thing. The ranch matron next door said that she never got tired of the scenery in over 50 years. I now fully believe it.
Pope T, you're right - the generators carcasses are starting to elbow out those the critters around here. Good news is that some of the generators can be resurrected, UNLIKE the bony critters I come across during hikes. They just don't look as good tacked to the barn wall when they bleach out.
Goddess, who said I DIDN'T bawl like a baby when the computer went AWOL? Okay, so maybe not one of those classic sobfests that freak men out but it was a great inner deluge with a whole lot of silent "Waaaaahhhhh" to it.
Buck, you'd be surprised what you are capable of putting up with ... especially when you don't have much choice at the time. And when times are good here, they are the best of times. As long as we remember that, we seem to manage.
That old TW3 program sounds awfully familiar for some reason. Hopefully that WAS the week that was for us, at least for a little while.
YesBut, I have been using an older Nikon CoolPix 900 digital. Although I have had my share of fights with it, especially as far as electronic connections and continuity, it is holding up well. My other problems with it largely stem from being unable to see well enough to read the LCD screen or judge focus and being Luddite enough to NOT read the manual unless all else fails. Can't blame it for that though. Mostly I luck out and have plenty of incredible photo opps.
I presume your caption photo fodder is your own work - they are truly wonderful in their own right. Note to others - go view these photos and leave a caption - it's just plain fun! And the more, the merrier, of course.
Was very happy to see you back again today, you should have come out to the deck and rocked a spell......
I promise tomorrow is the last Vietnam post for a while........
"ditto" on the scenery, you're making me homesick. I worked at WSMR, NM, for 21 1/2 years and fell in love with everything about the "real" Soutwest---most importantly this type of scenery (and the lack of humidity!!). Is you friend who is Choctaw/Irish by any chance originally from St. Louis, now living in Las Cruces and does she have JMc as initials??? If so, we may have another friend in common. This is Mushy's cousin and FHB's friend in Central TX. I love your "blog" and I couldn't afford all the replacement stuff you guys have to buy. I definitely envy you your lifestyle and environs (for the most part).
So glad to you are back to your normal sane safe life.Hpe you are feeling better. Anything from our friend in Ottawa lately.
Sarge, thanks for the set awhile invite. So tired that if I would have stopped to rock, I'd still be there sawing wood.
Hey, hey - don't stop the Nam stories - I love em!!!
Belle, you freaked me out when you asked if she was from St. Louis but then the initials were different. She's been in ABQ for over 20 years now, I bet. A genuine character!
Good to meet you - if FHB decides to head out this way, have him bring you along! You might just have him leave you behind or he might even decide
to stay for good, too. It must have been awful hard to leave NM behind.
Moose, I'm just going to touch wood here and not say anything except "So far, so good." Cringe, duck - touch, touch, touch.
No word yet and just hoping our boy hasn't fallen into the canal.
I do come back "home" to NM every few years. My friends whom I knew in Germany in the 70's a building a log cabin "out of town" in Chama where they'll have their own well, solar, etc., as the 10 acres is in undeveloped area (bordered by a wild life reguge, the reservation and the narrow gauge railroad which goes to Colorado. He has been working for Mobil Oil and she an English teacher in OK since their return in mid 70's from Germany. They're originally from Vermonth. Talk about views!! They've been sending me pictures of their "cabin in progress". It will have a full basement "the train room". They are part of the group that keeps the narrow gauge running. I can't wait for my next visit to them.
I also used to spend a lot of time in Reserve, NM, as my ex-husband's parents sold the "old trailer that is as old as I" to some of my best friends who were still in the Army in those years. I had the privilege and responsibility to visit it and keep it in running order. Silver City, Reserve, Luna, and Arizona hold "pieces of my heart as well" as does Las Cruces (which is getting too big and too expensive for me to return to). Enjoy!
Darn! What happened to that comment I left (sigh)?
Poor you, honey, it's just not fair, you've had more than enough crap thrown your way as of late, haven't you? I sure hope things lighten up soon. I don't know how you do it, you just keep on going AND still find some humour in it, together with the wit to record it. You are one hell of trooper, bonny lass! ((hugs))
Hi Lin - a couple of the commenters mentioned photos on this post but I can't see any.
There are a number of entries throughout the post that look like this !--[endif]--
Does that indicate a picture that I can't see for some reason?
What a great shot. Sorry to ehar the triage didn't work.
Not often a Honda falters, is it!
Belle ... MAKE SURE you let me know when you are coming back to NM next time (FHB has our e-mail address). I bet you will love this region, too. We were pretty much priced out of most of the places you mentioned, too, so we decided to go for more land for less buck in the boonies and take our chances - so far, so good! We would have loved Chama or Cloudcroft if it had been in the budget.
Re-mem-ber ... don't came back without letting us know!!!
Hey Shrinky, I've had the same thing happen to my blog comments so not to worry. Blogger has trashed some of my comments even after I finally got past those hideous password squigglies after the fourth try.
Things are pretty quiet on the front for the moment so we are enjoying the lull while we can. Everything quiet on the Isle of Man lately ... I hope?
Babzy, there should be one photo to go along with this post. When you get there, try hitting 'refresh' and let me know if you still don't see any image. Maybe I could tweak a little in 'Edit' then to see if it helps.
I bet the other strange characters that you see are format bits from Word that shouldn't be there. I write in Word and then copy and paste each paragraph over to Blogger but, if I am not careful to do it exactly, some of this strangeness appears. Unfortunately I can't see it on my screen to correct it either. This is terribly frustrating for a complete Luddite.
Hi David! If you haven't been to the southwest yet, you NEED to ... and bring 85 rolls of film or 35 spare flash cards, I am not kidding you.
I need to do a status update on the Honda. Like many other instances I have seen, it appears that possibly man failed the machine and not the other way around. Sigh sigh sigh
Wow! Slim Pickens edition? A guaranteed instant classic. I lurve it!
wow - that dually driver guy? What a dickhead!
Anyway, through all the slings and arrows, I'm glad y'all finally got a grip on the whole situation. That photo is stunning. :)
Thanks, Phlegmmy, - we were certainly proud of our little marketing idea. Picture one with a big set of Texas longhorns over the nose ... cool or what!?
As for the dually guy ... ya got me there. We're thinking he was more of a young stun-puppy than anything else. If you know any hard-working, intelligent young men like Virgil, send 'em out here. The patch could sure use them (and pay VERY well).
I don't think I could live off a generator like you do. Too many toys to be played with (PS2, TV equipped with plenty of Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs, etc).
BUT, I'll be off the grid (somewhat) this weekend. Our annual Labor Day camping trip to the Sangre de Christo Mountains for our family reunion, north of Las Vegas, NM about 40 miles. Always fun. campers, 4-wheelers, campfires, and lots and lots of FOOD!
thanks Lin. I do see the one photo (beautiful). i thought the other things were photos too. I hate to miss anything. :)
Jenny, you just hit on the hardest part about this - getting used to not having electricity on demand 24/7. A quick morning vacuuming, nope. Get the egg beater out - nope. Switch on the lights when you get up in the middle of the night - nope. The situation will improve drastically better when we get a bit of solar hooked up but that's a ways down the road yet.
Sangre de Christo? WONDERFUL choice for your getaway (and probably a LOT cooler for sleeping, too). This sounds like a great time in store for everyone.
Babzy, sorry about all that html weirdness - yes, I can see where you would wonder if something wasn't showing up that should. Here I thought I had learned how to work around all that techno strangeness. Please do let me know when more of that nonsense shows up on your screen again, okay?
Hi Sweety. Do you think we could sell the Russian directions to a BUFF I left in VN very close to Hanoi? It'll probably need a bit of re-building, but we really don't have to tell him that, do we?
We're (the Chockaw/Irish chick) and I are REALLY looking forward to getting out to Bumf*#k, NM to see you guys. Also doing some shooting with Mark. love, Red
Hey Red, it's certainly worth a try! Then again, over 30 some-odd years later, what's left might be truly 'slim pickings'.
C'mon out when you're ready! The range is open for business 24/7.
Luv ya!
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