Two days ago I learned that the truck's engine block was worn beyond rebuilding by a significant margin.
Today I learned that the engine head is cracked in three (!) places and barely worth its weight in scrap. These things are made of cast iron (today's are typically aluminum), so three cracks is almost newsworthy. And depressing.
Last night Aron helped me get the flywheel off. This morning I started the rest of the disassembly and got stuck very quickly. Three large screws hold the back of the timing gear cover in place and they would NOT come loose. A big screwdriver, a propane torch, a hammer....nothing. And getting that cover off is a necessary step before the crank and pistons can be removed.
Tomorrow I'm taking this engine (with crank and pistons in place) and its head down to the machine shop in hopes that this one can be turned into a good reliable motor. We'll let the professionals figure out how to get those screws loose.
I have no idea what I do if this one is bad, too.
My brain decided 1:30 a.m. was a good time to start on the day's tasks. By the time I made b'fast (4:30) I already had the majority of my sermon done and several other items checked off my to-do list. By 6:30 p.m. no amount of caffeine was going to keep my alert. It's now creeping up on 7:30 and I'm determined to make it one. more. hour.
Yesterday was primary day in AZ and some of the races were almost interesting. We probably have the typical percentage of crooks and crazies in office and some of them lost to challengers, almost restoring my faith in the electorate. Like the incumbent Attorney General who got snagged for leaving the scene of an accident after he hit a parked car and drove off. He didn't stop because he had his mistress in the car. What he didn't know was that he was being followed by the FBI who were investigating him for breaking federal laws, so they saw the whole thing and called it in.
Busted!
And now unemployed.
Or the State Superintendent of Public Schools who had an anonymous blog where he blasted welfare recipients as "lazy pigs," ripped Spanish language media for not using English in the U.S., and comparing the Planned Parenthood founder to the Nazis. Unfortunately that blog wasn't quite as anonymous as he thought.
He's out of a job, too.
With the primary over a lot of the campaign signs are coming down. The winners will leave theirs up heading into the general election but as we drove up the hill for dinner tonight we noticed how many have already disappeared.
That's got to be depressing...going around pulling up your campaign signs.
I'd do it in the middle of the night.
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