The Days Run In To Weeks...

Things around here are... quiet really... There's plenty of work to do, yet, I feel no urgency. Any time I start to feel that outside pressure to perform, to produce... to be what I'm expected to be...

... It's like a mother-in-laws put down... it just offends me and pushes me away. Truth be known, the more pressure I feel to produce and be "Useful"... by some other's description and valuation of what that is... the less inclined I feel to co-operate and be "useful" in their grand scheme.

Not a terribly popular way to be. ;)

But... you know what? ... the sunrises still come...

The music still plays on the stereo... and my bike still waits on me over in the shop.

I'm nearing the end of that project... this past week I got the pipes put back on, with some little difficulty. It's a two man job to hold and jockey them around, the way they need to go.

Of course, there was nobody around but me... 

But then, that's how it's most always been so I've learned how to do two man jobs alone.

So... eight studs... eight nuts... three quarters of a day... ;)

This one was the big obstructor. The way things lay, it had to be lined up first... trying to balance five foot long pipes on my knee while torquing them into position with one hand...

... and trying to get the nut onto the stud concealed behind the pipe I'm sliding into position... with the other hand.

A hand equipped with fingers two sizes too big for the space allowed... and the nut is dropped and falls into that black hole below the exhaust port...

So... a run had to be made to acquire a supply of replacement nuts...

... and then it happens again with a replacement nut! arrrrgggghhhhh...

I was about to make the third and successful attempt when the idea niggled my brain pan that leaving a couple of nuts floating around somewhere inside the engine... even if they were still technically outside the case... was not a good idea.

So, a half hour was consumed fishing with a piece of tie wire... for nuts that couldn't be seen... down in a little black hole you can't even see into. ;)

But... I got it done.

*Refinished exhaust pipes reinstalled on the Raider*

Somewhere along in there the parts house called and advised me the obsolete blades I'd ordered for that mohawk leaving riding mower were in... so I went and got them and put them on too.

Watcha think? Did all the good get squeezed out of those old mower blades? I'm not sure what was being mowed in my absence... I expect it resembled rocks...

In the quiet times between the chores, an occasional visitor drops by...

Now... that out house itself is a bit of a problem. It hails from the days so long ago, that this old farm lacked indoor plumbing. Yes sir... that is one OLD out house. Thing is, it must have been built for awfully little people.

The problem comes up when you're swingin' past with the push mower...trying to cut close and concentratin' on not hitting the battens on the back wall. The owner of the place would take offense at things being busted up mowing the grass!

So... your eyes are focused on the mower... NOT that low hangin' eave... which just so happens is about four inches shorter than the top of my head...

The consequence being you wake up laying on the ground saying... owwwwwwww!

Well... the weather which went from snow storms to thundering rain storms finally allowed me to get the saddle bags re-repainted yesterday. Re Repainting was necessitated by the paint being way different between cans... resulting in an unwanted two tone finish...

The weeks wait required before that paint could receive another coat is the sort of thing that creates ever more difficulty for one who thinks up fresh difficulties if he's left with the ability to ponder too long...

And I did... decided to remodel the bags... since I was having to re-repaint anyway... 

so while waiting on paint and weather and parts... I removed the old tail lights...

fiberglassed over the holes... and prepped for the repainting...

Now... the finish paint is actually done... but the one time I've not got a pic! :) I've got to wait a couple days for that to cure up well before I go to handling them much for the reinstall.

That's ok... I've got to wait on some parts anyway... new turn signals... so that should maybe give me an opening for some more word whittling... and the wondering where the road is gonna lead in the coming months...

... there ain't no way in hell I'm wintering this far north! uh oh... that pondering thing again...

Brian