"One fifth of the people are against everything all the time." - Robert Kennedy

Today I finally got the carb done, with the new linkage piece installed. Before I put the carb back on the engine I followed Larry's advice and had Pam hold a glass jar under the disconnected fuel line and cranked the engine over. Good news; the fuel in the jar was clean, meaning the sediment in the carb has now cleared the system. I'll still change the fuel filter pretty often for awhile.
After that check I installed the carb and...she started right up! YAY. I didn't have time to get it warmed up so mixture and idle speed adjustments will have to wait, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
I do have a tiny leak where the fuel line enters the carb but I think that should be an easy fix.
Should be.

My running is going well. Today was a short day, only 2 miles, but the hills I run are getting easier, I don't come back exhausted, and when I make my distance increase each week I don't feel like death.

President-elect Trump had a phone conversation with the recently elected president of Taiwan in which they exchanged greetings and congratulations.. Almost everyone in D.C. is freaking out over that serious breach of international protocol, predicting very dire consequences.

China considers Taiwan theirs, refusing to accept it as an independent country, and insists all countries agree with them as a condition of official relations. It's called the "one China" policy.
In 1979 we decided we wanted to have diplomatic relations with China, in large part to open up trade with them, so we agreed to abide by their condition. No U.S. President has spoken to a leader from Taiwan since 1979, hasn't been there, or hosted a govt. official from there. This despite the fact Taiwan is a democracy and friendly to the west. In any other setting we'd be eager to be BFFs with them, but China says our govt. can't have anything to do with them.

Now the D.C. professionals are saying this serious breach of international protocol will put us at serious risk of retaliation from China. This is from the same group of people who a week ago were saying that Trump's business enterprises in China created ethical conflicts as his dual business and presidential interests clashed.

My opinion? China is a bully, Taiwan is a well behaved tiny island with a democratic govt. and a thriving free enterprise system that gives its people all the basic freedoms Chinese citizens can't dream of.
So, China, get over it.