MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

(a day late...oh well)

I was at a friend's house the other day when it started to rain - not a light rain but that sort of side-ways, wind-blown tsunami-from-the-sky kind of rain that can beat the paint off a Ford. (Rain in December? - Ayup, welcome to a global-warming Xmas.)

"I hate this kind of rain, I can just hear it pelting the house and seeping behind the siding rotting out everything," Will complained.

Everything rots. 

From the minute we're born we begin to die, so to the things we build, weather (wrong spelling intentionally used for a change) they be our homes, our vehicles or - as we have seen oh-so-much lately - our democracy. 

All this decay just underscores the very transient nature of our lives and our world.

I guess I ought (there's that stubborn normative catchword) to embrace the way of it all. And, I suppose I would if I didn't have a few more lessons to learn during the remainder of my years aboard the SS Earth.

So, that said, when I noticed that my right exhaust pipe was sagging low (listen, this will eventually happen to us all) I decided I was NOT going to age gracefully.

You'll notice the issue in the picture below. The exhaust hanger that in earlier years held that tailpipe pertly to the under-rear of the old Passat wagon rusted off. 

This left the length of the exhaust from midship to tailpipe just hanging-ten and bobbing over every divot, pothole or rut in such a way that it was only a matter of miles before the metal fatigued and split, spewing un-muffled exhaust gasses- with my luck - back into the cabin.  (Point of information: In Vermont there are about ten iterations of the aforementioned road irregularities in any given yard of paved roadway - double for the dirt carriageways.) 

So, what to do? 

Well, I could replace the whole cat-back, dual-pipe system (and after a quick inspection it was determined that would be the RIGHT way to deal with the issue - read as there's SO much rust everywhere!) but given that a new stainless set-up would put me back EIGHT HUNDRED bucks and that it's SEVEN days 'till Xmas it becomes readily obvious that another option is needed. 

No problem. I'll just head down to the local part's place and see what I can find to "fix" things.

Enter the universal exhaust hanger...

(Good eye reader! Why yes, that is a vintage Walden Worcester tee-handle wrench for half-inch sockets.)

This will get things back into place. As for the incipient exhaust leak from that disitegrating weld in front of the resonator. Well, we'll just pack it with JB Weld and hope to make it 'till better weather. Wait, do I hear banjo music?

But, isn't that always the way. String it back together and hope to make it to Spring.

Christmas Bike

A while back, I was awaiting my turn at the dump...and minding my own business....sort of...when the guy ahead of me unloaded a sharp looking bicycle. He was heading toward the scrap metal dumpster when I intercepted him.

Now, my kids are long past this stage, so I have no need for a youth's 24-inch moutain bike but I just couldn't stand by and let it be thrown on the scrap pile to rust away along side a pile of old filing cabinets and discared roofing tin.

Once I got it home I looked it over. The only thing wrong was that the brakes weren't working. It took all of twenty minutes of tinkering to remedy the situation. 

Great! Now to find a home for it. I guess I could have sold it and made a quick buck but that didn't really appeal to me. I wanted this bike to make its way to someone who really needed it.

Last weekend, I heard through an old friend about a family that was having a rough time of it. Their son wanted a bike but there wasn't money for it in their budget.

So arraigments were made.