Monday 12 July 2010

Awake: 6:43am    Temp 64    sleep 6+30    overcast    overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting, Kathy & I exercised for about ½ of our normal time; Debbie came in a little later & exercised with us until our specified time was up.

My goal today was to get our grass mowing done before the rain moved in. I even skipped brunch & got right into the mowing. During my mowing time, Kathy did another load of laundry. Then she volunteered to do some of the mowing while I pulled some tall weeds out of our circular drive.

I started @ 11:00am....then Kathy had to leave @ 12:50pm. Dark clouds were everywhere & then some precipitation began to fall; I was using Chuck's wheelbarrow & figured I might as well return that before it got too wet. I pushed my luck & continued mowing a little more & slowly, ever so slowly, the clouds began to break up & go their separate way.

By golly, I was able to finish the rest of the mowing by 1:30pm. It rained very little here in Nicktown, but we've heard later that Ebensburg got quite a downpour.

Then I ate my late brunch. Shortly after finishing, our doorbell rang. It was Chuck & Jim. Jim told me the Grizzly had a problem once more...& asked if I could help. "We think the carburetor is messed up again because it's dumping fuel & now the starter solenoid is locked as well, he said." "Oh my gosh, I'll get some tools & be over in a few minutes" I told them.

Walking across the lawn I was reminded that this carburetor has been opened up (3) times that I know of; twice I found contamination & the other time was when I left a few parts out. Plus, this carburetor had signs of being operated on before me. I think what this machine desperately needs is A FUEL FILTER.

It takes a good (30) min to remove parts to get into the carburetor, & like clockwork, when I opened that carb, right inside a passageway was a piece of contamination blocking the fuel movement.....plus there were signs of contamination in other areas.

So, using Q-tips, wire & needles to check those small passages, that carb was finished in about (45) min. We checked the starter solenoid with the Fluke meter & sure enough, it was shot!

So, Chuck & Jim agreed wholeheartedly to buy a fuel filter & a new starter solenoid tomorrow. My job on the Grizzly today was done. We will continue on this project until the Grizzly is a healthy bear.

Chuck said he would mow the alley way for us tomorrow....since I've been helping him on the Quad-runner.

Dinner: Stuffed peppers, leftover beans, leftover fruit salad, fresh cantaloupe, Bing cherries & a peach.

Lights out: 12:01am.