STILL Sore and Aching...
I would have posted last night, but by the time I got home from work I was so sore, tired, and aching that I just wanted to call it a night. That, and last night was the season finale of Canada's Worst Handyman, and I wanted to see who "won" the title. It was a neck-and-neck race beween Simon and Deen, and Deen "won" because he was a walking disaster area, dangerous to himself and others (but mostly himself) whereas Simon was merely totally inept. In any case, that's why I didn't update last night.
The reason for all the aches and pains was simple; all the work on Sunday of putting down the hardwood flooring caught up to me on Monday. It's interesting how you never seem to feel the pain while you're doing the things that cause it, but only afterwards, sometimes a day or two later. The worst part of course, is that there's still plenty of flooring left to be done! There's a couple feet of flooring left to lay in the living room, then it's on to the baby's room, and then our master bedroom, the Kidling's room, and the hallway. Oy vey...
Yesterday was a hot and dry day, and at work I once again used my leaf-blower to clear off the cement pad in front of the store. My boss and my co-workers were OK with the idea, but I had been wondering what The Boss (Don) would think of the idea given that it does make quite a lot of noise, and some people might see it as a bad idea. I found out yesterday afternoon when Don came in for gas. "I see you've got a new toy," he said. "Great idea! I've been telling Blaine for years he should get a blower or use the air-compressor to clear the pad!" So, not only a relief that he didn't mind my using it, but I got major Kudos for doing so! I explained, of course, that I didn't use it when customers' cars were on the pad, as I didn't want to sand-blast anyone's car. It's always nice to get Kudos from the Very Top, and to know that they actually notice when you do something right as well as when you mess up. ;)
I also got a good look at the Sear's garden tractor that I'm working on for a client. It's a good thing that I waited until I had a better look at the machine before ordering new belts, because the belt that I thought was all chewed up wasn't chewed up at all; It was the main drive belt, which had snapped and then wound itself around the other one! That resulted in a slow and somewhat painful task of prying the fragments of belt out of the system of pulleys and parts that it had wrapped around. Belts are not covered under warranty, so the customer may or may not be on the hook for this job; If it turns out that the transaxle is actually buggered, then he may have a legit claim as the failed transaxle would have caused the belt to break. Reading through the owner's manual however, I'm finding all the symptoms that he's complaining about. The manual is quite clear on how to resolve the problems, and it's looking more and more like this is a case of someone who didn't RTFM and may be facing a large service bill as a result. At the very least, he could have saved himself $45 worth of labour had he removed the mower-deck before having me collect the machine. I'm also tempted to tack on an extra few $$ because he ran over some piles of doggy-doo, and there's nothing quite like having to come face-to-face with that stuff ground into the tire-treads when you're working on the machine. :P In any case, once the new belts arrive, I can at least get the machine back to its original state, then find out where the problem really is. Again, methinks it's a case of "Didn't RTFM" and thus creating unneccessary problems.
Another customer dropped off two more mowers today, one in the morning and the other in the evening. I'll have to look at them tomorrow, and see what I can find out. The one that they dropped off in the morning is a Canadian Tire Master-Craft machine, and at first glace it looks like it has a Tecumseh engine on it. I won't know for sure until I get the air-shroud off the engine and get a closer look at it. That one, they suspect they shattered the flywheel key when the mower stuck an old harrow-shovel buried in the high grass. If that's the case, and if it's a Tecumseh engine, it would actually help as I already have another Tecumseh with that very problem and I need to order the parts for it too. I guess I'll order about a dozen of those keys, and a fly-wheel puller. The other machine is a John-Deere mower, and I assume it has a Briggs & Stratton engine on it. I haven't seen the machine yet as they dropped it off when I was still at the Co-op, and Trixstir put it away in the shop before I got home.
Today was also Trixstir's appointment in Swift Current; It had been scheduled for 12:15pm, so we had planned to get there earlier to get some shopping done, do the appointment, and then get back to town before I was too late for tonight's shift. We got a call from the clinic saying "The Doctor won't be here after noon, so you need to get here right away so we can get you in this morning before she leaves!" Good thing we were still at home when they called, and not already out the door! Why couldn't they have told us this yesterday?! In any case, we dropped everything and dashed off to the clinic. Only to sit in the waiting-room for nearly two hours, and actually wound up waiting past the time of our original appointment! When the doctor finally sees Trixstir, she tells us that she's going on vacation for a month, but she'll be back on July 19th (one day before the baby is due!) and in the meantime we can see so-and-so the Mid-Wife, and that the receptionist at the front desk will set that all up. Except that the receptionist tells us that so-and-so the Mid-Wife isn't taking any more clients! Gaaaahhhh... It seems that the doctor and the office-staff are not in sync with each other, and this is creating all kinds of uneccessary stress!
At least lunch was good; We went to Joey's Only, a seafood restaurant that has pretty good fish & chips, and on Tuesdays it's All You Can Eat. As usual, I think I had a bit too much, but it was very good fish. Not as good as Cod or Halibut, but good just the same (I think it was Alaskan Pollock.)
With all the nonsense, it was 5pm before I got to work! So I only got a half-shift in today, but they had a full staff so it didn't cause any problems. This flexibility is one of the best things about working for the Co-op, and something I must keep in mind as I look at other employment opportunities. The drive back from Swift-Current was long and tedious, and I really don't enjoy these trips much anymore. I'll be glad when this stuff is all over. The work-shift went over pretty well, and at least it stopped raining. But not before we found out that the roof leaks in the kitchen at the house, so now I've got more issues to deal with. I can see where some shingles are missing, so somehow I've got to deal with that too. And of course, it's forecast to rain all week. Dangit....