Neanderpundit

I was the designated driver for last night’s activities, so I drove the wife’s Escape for the first time in a while. And noticed it was pulling right.

I’ve also had a leak in the diff on the Sploder for a little while now. It started small but it got bigger. So today was the day.

Thankfully to God, I had Partner to help me with both jobs; he puilled the back diff cover off while I replaced the pinion seal.

I know, now, that it’s a pinion seal, because if you ask for a DIFFERENTIAL SEAL, you won’t get one. Took Partner noticing “Pinion seal” on the screen to find the right part. Apparently, if the pinnacle of your career is to work at Autozone, being able to look up parts isn’t a big goal.

The pinion seal isn’t an easy change, but it seemed to go well. You have to make sure everything goes back together the same way it came apart, the tail end of the driveshaft will vibrate itself senseless if you don’t. Seems to be fine after a few short trips.

I had the seal changed under warranty in 01, but it’s apparently got a lifespan of about ten years.

The Escape turned out to have lost a drivers’ lower balljoint. Having done the Sploder several times the Escape was relatively simple, and it restored the steering peoperly. Still.

No bleeding. Either I’ve gotten better at this or I’m out of blood.

Went tothe Valpo funshow with Partner and Ed. Good show, a couple very nice guns. I assume Obama gets a nice fat check from the major mfrs every time he makes noises about magazine bans etc. because the shows are nuts when he does.

There were several Krags, which Partner is a collector of; including one genuine carbine that had had the FRONT SIGHT HACKED OFF AND THE RECEIVER DRILLED AND TAPPED FOR A SCOPE. Some people should just be beaten.

There was an Arisaka that had been sporterized extremely well. I was impressed.

Nothing I could afford, of course. Nothing I wanted so badly I would work at saving the dough for. I keep thinking about buying a lower and having my very own AR. Nothing reached out and grabbed me.

Afterwards Partner, Ed and I went for a bite of lunch and spent an hour and change listening to the worst music ever.

It’s good enough that I’m savoring it, I only allow myself about ten pages a night.
The Kindle edition doesn’t have McCutcheons original cartoons in it, which is a shame, but the text is still wonderful. Apparently the Project Gutenberg content has the images, whcih I’m going to have to try to get.

Some of the book involves his experiences hunting with Teddy Roosevelt, including conversations with the (at that time) former President.

One of the most enjoyable chapters has them coming upon a wanderobo dog, who accompanies the hunting party for a while. His description of the dog, for dog lovers, is reason to read the book all by itself.

The amount of free books for the kindle is amazing- and the fact that the “Free” list is wall-to-wall packed with gems like this…. I will NEVER catch up on my reading.