Now that it is officially winter it gets kind of cold down in the grouch cave , I have a reddy heater i use to take the chill off if I am fooling around with something .Well the heater started acting wonky. It would run ok at first , then start smoking and cut out. Last week when I was at the Big Box lumber store I grabbed a filter kit and tore it apart and replaced the air and fuel filters and cleaned out the orifice . Put it all back together and ...  No Bueno no fire no smoke no heat nothing . Hmmmm  well it was more than kinda chilly down there at that point , my fingers were numb and I was tired and crabby. I declared a temporary stalemate and retreated to warmer climes to regroup. I went down today refreshed and determined to find a solution )(Especially after researching the price of a replacement unit) I dug out the workmate so I did not have to stand on my head to work on it, redissembled it and found I had not gotten the fuel nozzle put back together tight . I snugged the whole mess down and put everything back where it belonged and lo and behold   ... lovely warm air !!  BWAHA HA HA VICTORY IS MINE !! Feels like I saved a few hundred bucks not having to buy a new one.

 

 

                                                       Job satisfaction at an all time high ! 

 

 

      It's Christmas eve. When I was a kid Christmas was a time of high hopes and grim realities . Christmas time was always hard times. It was always miserable and cold ,cash was always short , things would be freezing and breaking down and limited resources . It was a struggle keeping the house warm .We would go the Christmas gathering at the Grandparents farm , and inevitably there would be some form of conflict which would result  in Mom deciding to pack it up and storm out and go home. Then it was the short but uncomfortable ride home , to have snacks and go to sleep . Glad that's over. now I am like an old badger ,holed up in my den enjoying the quiet. Maybe I will celebrate the season with a wee dram .

       Well it is nearly Christmas , It's a little different this year with Mom being gone . I get to work day shift the next couple weeks which is kinda nice. No production over the holidays, so we can get some of the major P.Ms done . I get to work 7am to 3pm rather than my usual 1 pm to 11 pm shift. 

  I got a bunch of stuff through the fall  employee tool sale , with extra discounts over and above the regular employee discount. One of the items is a jump starter /battery booster box. It takes an 18 volt battery and boosts it up to start an engine. That might be a handy thing to have in these latitudes, if it saves me fooling with jumper cables or dragging out a battery charger and 100 feet of extension cord it'll be worth it.