Quick hitter

Here is a quick recap.

Saturday was a bust ass day.  My neighbor gave me some scrap metal and some bonding putty to use to try to fix the hole in the mower deck.  I cut the scrap metal to size, pounded it into the hole to roughly shape and contour it and then mixed up some of the putty and rolled it out between my hands until it was a long snake.  Then I laid the bead around the hole and pressed the scrap metal on to it.  It appeared to be adhering pretty well until I got the bright idea to push on it from underneath the mower deck, just to be sure.  My doing so popped the scrap metal loose and at that point the putty had set enough that I wasn’t able to get the metal to adhere again.  I cursed myself out loud for my stupidity.

So I got a putty knife out to scrape off the half hardened putty from the mower deck and the scrap metal.  I didn’t have enough of the putty my neighbor gave me to try again so I headed out to the hardware store to see if they had something equivalent.  They had the stuff that comes in two tubes.  You basically squirt the contents of the two tubes out, mix it up and then goop it on.  It wasn’t as easy to work with as the putty but I had no choice.  I pushed out the contents on to an old piece of shelving and mixed it up quickly again with a putty knife.  Then I scooped the results up and slapped it all around the hole in the mower deck as generously as I could.  I slam the scrap metal on top and lean on it with a hammer to hold it in place.  The goop sets up quick and within 5 minutes it was hard to the touch.  There were a few small gaps that I went back and filled with silicone caulk just for fun. 

While I was letting my repair harden up I took the blades off and sharpened them with the small grinding bit I have for my drill.  It is far less than an ideal way to sharpen the blades.  A table grinder would do a much better job. ( Christmas idea!)  So after I was done grinding away I put the blades back on and reattached the deck to the tractor.  At first I had ideas of letting the epoxy harden overnight just to be safe.  I couldn’t wait. I did a short test run as I was driving back to the shed and everything seemed fine.  Later in the afternoon Ali went crazy and mowed everything, including the back yard.  The repair held up.  Here’s hoping I bought us another year or so of tractor life.  Cost of the repair, less than $5.

Saturday night we did something different and went out to eat at a fancy place where my one gym buddy bar tends.  I had a gift card to the place and he had asked me to come down a few times.  It was in downtown Naples on third street.  We ate outside on the patio, right by the sidewalk.  It was really nice and relaxing.  Thanks to the gift card and my buddy hooking Ali up with a complimentary wine or two our bill was more Carrabas like.  After dinner we walked around a bit and then headed home.  It was well deserved after busting ass all day.

Sunday is a very simple to recap cause I didn’t do much.  Besides sweeping the house and setting the Scooba loose in the kitchen, the rest of my day was just lazy.  I alternated between playing WoW, watching Battlestar Galactica Season 2 and 2.5 episodes and watching the Eagles.

Speaking of the Eagles, it was another great game that was a direct contrast to the offensive explosion the week before.  Instead this was a defensive struggle.  The Eagles beat the hell out of the Steelers, sacking their QB nine times, causing fumbles, getting interceptions and just causing general chaos.  The Eagles offense started strong but after Brian Westbrook went out with an injury things slowed way down.  It was a great win but the injury to McNabb and Westbrook does not bode well for the team next week. 

Ya know I find myself being REALLY annoyed by DeShaun Jackson.  Yea he is a very talented receiver but he also is a dumb ass.  His f up last week, dropping the ball before crossing the goal line was a legendary act of stupidity.  This week towards the end of the game when the Eagles were in clock chewing mode he catches a pass and runs it out of bounds, a cardinal sin and inexcusable if you have your head in the game.  I heard the announcers excuse it by saying “rookie mistake”.  Eh that’s bullshit.  If your IQ is high double digits you should be able to figure that one out.  Plus it seems like EVERY time the guy gets his hands on the ball his first move is always BACKWARDS.  For some reason he loves to run backwards to try to elude defenders.  It’s only a matter of time until at a crucial juncture of a game he is going to have the first down and then lose it by running backwards.  I just don’t have a good feeling about the kid.

Almost all of the standing water at our house has dried up, yay.

A big congrats to Jeremy and his wife Mandy whom delivered their first child this weekend.  Way to go!