Saturday, June 4, 2011

Surprise

Dawn gave me one of those talking birthday cards recently.  Marveling at the  technology of miniaturization, I open the card trying to figure out where the on/off switch is located.  How does the card know when to shut down the recording and begin at the start point?  Remember, I am technically challenged.  This afternoon I spent two and a half hours replacing a pipe from the engine to the muffler on Ted, my riding mower.

I laughed when Mountain Man Johann took a hammer to the previous pipe after the Amish patriarch re-welded the break.  Johann is a motor head who got kicked out of eight grade.  His teacher gave him the answers to the proficiency test so he could graduate. He can fix anything, especially if there a promise of of nooky with a girl friend or beer or both.

The basics of the repair scenario are that the two bolts from the engine holding the exhaust pipe in place didn't match up with the flange on the exhaust pipe.  I walk back and forth from my garage workshop to the barn where Ted is looking forlorn and in pieces.  First, I try to re-bore the holes on the pipe flange. Next I whack the pipe with a hammer to flatten a bend that comes in contact with the frame. When all else fails, I bring the hammer out to the barn and low and behold, a swift tap on the pipe sets it in place. Zowee.

Most of the time, my blue heeler puppy lays in the dirt on the concrete floor watching me.  Tomorrow is her birthday. The talking card Dawn gave me for my birthday last week excites her.  She's puzzled by the voices and when I show her the Hoops and Yo-Yo "surprise" card, she chews on the the outside edge.

We'll go for a ride on this day for which she hasn't a clue.  She'll hang her head out the car window, feet propped on the armrest.  I'll tell her how much I love her( I do this daily to Dawn's chagrin) and spoil her with cat treats. I'll wrassle with her on the lawn and she'll nip at my feet right before she races behind me and leaps up at me, catching me by surprise,when she slobbers on my arm.

Happy birthday babe.

   

2 comments:

T. Roger Thomas said...

Sounds like a great dog!

Gavrillo said...

In the cool light of early morning, I see her heading down the road that is our driveway. She stops, looks back at me. I'm watering baby spinach and watch her movements. She trots a few paces and turns back again, waiting for me to say something, anything.I just watch to see what she'll do. She takes a few more steps and looks back."Hey, is it all right?" she'd say if she could talk.When she disappears, I whistle. Pooch, the cat comes bounding. Cat in arms, I walk to the neighbors. "But you didn't say anything," her eyes tell me. I call her back and she follows me back down the road. She is a great dog.