Cabin Fever...

[Volpone]

It fucking snowed on us here in Portland again. :evil:

Yesterday I actually got out of the house to interact with other humans.

Of course driving there the chains on the tires of my new car made all kinds of fun noises that made me think they'd come lose and were tearing the shit out of my fenders. And when I got home I could clearly smell rubber, so they aren't doing the tires any favors.

But the bottom line is that yesterday it was in the mid 30s (F) most of the day, with some rain before turning to another couple inches of snow this morning. And today temperatures hovered on the high side of freezing. So the foot or so of snow out on the street in front of the house (because Portland doesn't have enough fucking plows) is now an 8" deep soupy mess. And even if it wasn't, I'm not exactly sure what there is to do in town on Christmas Day during a "weather emergency".

So here I sit. Paralyzed (metaphorically). I've been reading a bit and did a bit of exercise. I'd go for a run but I don't want to twist an ankle in this slop. Or break my tailbone or skull in a fall. I've read a little. And for the past few Christmases a friend has been giving me seasons of "Stargate: SG-1" that I've finally gotten around to watching. But that's getting old. I haven't done the "Star Trek" films since leaving for Hawaii. It may be time to go through them again.

Otherwise it is either do professional development crap or go look for old people to shovel out their driveways.

 

[eloisel]

Shovelling out the drives is an awesome thing to do if you are up to it. That is something people can appreciate - I know I would.

 

[Volpone]

Well, in my ongoing efforts to break and fuck things up that belong to my landlord/roommate, I think I fucked up her shovel.

Because it never really snows in Portland, no one has proper snow shovels. And because it DID snow (like a motherfucker) none of the stores had them. So I wound up using a gardening shovel--which wasn't as bad as you'd think it would be, once you figure out how to work past its shortfalls. But last night I was working on widening the road out a bit and realized that there was a sizable divot in the end of the shovel. You know how a gardening shovel is sort of shaped like a "U" (if the tip is pointing down)? This one now has a smaller "u", pointing up so it looks more like a "W". I don't remember how it looked when I got it out of the shed, but I'm pretty sure I ground away the tip by scraping it against the asphalt and concrete.

When I was moving in I knocked down a picture frame and had to glue it back together. When I was taking out an A/C unit that had been put in place with 15 GALLONS OF SILICONE CAULK I broke: a window pane, fucked up the tracks for the window, and the handle on a kitchen knife.

On the other hand, I cleaned the shit out of her white Berber carpets. She's got a dog, so her living room and the hallway looked...well, they looked like white carpets in a place with a muddy back yard and a golden retriever. I spent about 3-4 hours with a Rug Doctor, going over maybe 360 square feet of carpet. I used up a whole bottle of shampoo and went over the carpets 6-12 times. They're still not "Better Homes & Gardens", but they look nice.

 

[eloisel]

So you are a blessing AND a disaster all in one.

 

[Volpone]

:lol: Sometimes I'm too smart for my own good and it gets me into trouble.

Or maybe I'm just stupid like everyone else.

The motorcycle showed up just before the big blizzard. When I went on vacation for three weeks back in August, the bike wouldn't start when I got back. At first it would turn over but not catch. But I could kickstart it. Eventually it wouldn't even do that. I figured it was an old battery and the spark plug was definitely due to be replaced. I took care of that and didn't have any more problems...until the bike sat on a boat for three weeks. I got it off the delivery van and--same deal--it wouldn't start. Only this time it wouldn't even turn over and efforts to kickstart it were fruitless.

Today it was finally nice enough to actually give it another shot but still, no joy. So tonight I was going over my shop manual, reviewing the starter system:
1) Ignition switch
2) Engine stop switch
...
9) Battery
10) Main fuse/starter relay switch
11) Side stand switch
12) Neutral sw--Side stand switch!?:doh:

So I threw on my helmet and leathers and muscled the bike out away from the building and started it right up. If you have the kickstand down, you have to have the bike in neutral or it won't start. :doh:

So sometimes letting the bike sit for awhile doesn't so much let a short drain the battery as it lets the user forget how to operate it.

 

[Ramen]

:lol: