Classic Hifi Care

Tomorrow, weather permitting, my other sailboat, the local one, goes in the water. The diver replaced the chain on my mooring so the boat will be secure, and the yard guy has an empty time slot, so in we go. My after-work project tonight was getting everything ready and in place. I took the auger anchor that I use to secure the dinghy with a chain on shore and twisted it into the ground where the dinghy will live. Then I continued to the boat and put the Windex(the mast is lying on the boat) on the top of the mast. No, not the stuff to clean glass. This is a clever little wind vane. You can see one here:

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/davis-in ... CUQAvD_BwE

Walk down a dock of sailboat slips and almost every boat will have one of these, even the ones with fancy electronic devices. One manufacturer makes and sells all of 'em. It's a simple, superior, and universal instrument.

In any event, the shaft it sits on secures to the mast fitting with a set screw. The plan was to grab a screwdriver from the shop, but at my advanced age memory can be frail. There's a little tool set under the truck's seat but then I thought "Granny's screwdriver is in the glove box." More than 60 years ago I had a birthday or some occasion and Granny sent me the screwdriver. It's one of those little things with a brass handle, a screw cap at the end, and a couple nesting screwdrivers in the handle. I'm sure everybody has seen one, and probably has one in the kitchen junk drawer.

Every time I use it or see one like it, I think of Granny. After she and Grandaddy raised 6 kids during the Depression and sent each one through college, she reached the later years without much money. She took a few jobs as a live-in "housemother" for wealthy families with kids and then rented out her big house and lived in the room she had formerly rented to others. The little screwdriver wasn't the most expensive gift I ever received, but it's treasured and valuable. What's the dollar value of an object that reminds me of a sweet lady who loved her family, never ever complained, and tolerated kids who were young and stupid?

Me, I think it's OK to like stuff that has memories attached to it. I don't live in the past but it's OK to visit there from time to time. It's where we can consider our values. And, let's add, our mistakes. My Chevy reminds me of my Dad, but also of escaping out the back door of the bar when it was raided so I could bail my brother, who did not escape, out of the county jail. The Chevy was my conveyance.... a story for another time. Granny would not have approved.

Chris Campbell

That's a cool story, Chris, thanks for sharing. I think we all have stories like that, I know I do. And your advanced age, I'm younger than you, and I can't remember squat either.

Bill

When I frequently don't remember things I should, my wife reminds me that I'm one step closer to the old folks' home.......

My dad died in March and I live with him and my mom in the house they bought because of me...

About the only tools I ever bought were for him. I still have my grandfather's craftsman drill and Sabre saw and even some tools left by the Krotto's who they bought the house from.

I was ok with his passing as he had a couple tough years, losing almost all his sight and 92 years old. What hit me was going down the basement to get stuff to fix the leaking tub 3 days after the funeral.

He always said this house would kill him... well, it didn't but it's definitely trying my patience... I can't pick up a tool without remembering being taught how to use it. Or looking for a screw in an old baby food jar that he had everything separated in. Wood screws, metal screws, rivets, washers... its all there...

Thanks, Dad!

That's the whole idea of memory-jogging stuff. We can reflect on those who went before and, if the influence was positive, we can make an effort to improve our own performance in life accordingly. Some of us have lots of room for improvement.

Even the bad ones can teach us. When I was doing utility regulatory work there was one older (younger than me now) lawyer representing a gas company who was an extreme SOB. Eventually I decided that my goal in life was to perplex him to the point that he would have a fit of apoplexy (love that word) and die on the spot. I actually felt a bit sad that he got cancer instead and I could not take credit for his demise.

Now I need to reflect on Granny and her principles. She would not have approved of such evil thoughts.

Chris Campbell

Well, also being a funeral director, I can say that death isn't the worst thing that can happen to someone. The journey there, however...

I've had more than my fair share of those SOB "bosses". One was the reason I went back to college at 30 for an IT degree when the funeral corporation went belly up 20+ years ago. While I have no passion for the IT career, it has been stable and profitable. If nothing else, I was able to do far more for my family when it mattered so I really have no regrets. My dad supported me going into the funeral business and was my road trip buddy... but when it was time to move on, he supported that, too...

BTW: I think everyone has a $#!+ list... and we're probably all on one!

My first truck driving job was for a lady named Mildred. She had the reputation of being hard to work for. Her problem was that she was in a "man's" profession in the 1960's and felt she would get run over if she was nice and acted like a lady. She had the foulest mouth of any human being I ever knew. She would fire a driver because he left a cigarette butt on the floor of his truck. But, I found her soft spot. She was a sucker for little fuzzy animals. I picked up a stray kitten when I was hauling grain and brought it to her. I could do no wrong after that. She was one of the best bosses I ever had and taught me so much I'll never be able to repay her. She is gone now and her son, same age as me, runs her trucking company. Still hauls grain. They still have the old B-75 I started driving in 1968. Sometimes, we receive our richest blessings from the oddest sources.....

I've never had much trouble with people who are "hard to work for" as long as they were clear about expectations and reliable. You just follow the rules and get the job done. If you get a reputation for competence and reliability you can make mistake and be forgiven. Maybe I've been really lucky but I've had almost no bad bosses. I did get fired from a summer job once. I called a customer a fool (loudly). He was aghast and complained to my manager, who fired me on the spot. But I was lucky. One of the owners happened to be on-premises that day and had seen the fool. He agreed with me. I was rehired on the spot. And I outlasted that manager. And with age I have learned to abide fools when appropriate.

Chris Campbell

I always knew what she expected. After I got her confidence, I would get new steering tires when the nubs wore off the new ones she just put on my truck. I didn't have to run Bandag caps on the trailer, I got used steering tires on my trailer. She always took the best care of her equipment I ever saw in my life. She didn't want to run junk, but expected me to show a little pride in what I did. No acting stupid, no getting a ticket. No running a tire flat. I had to wash my truck every week, except when it was really cold out. You got your loads, treated the customer with respect, but she didn't quarter you taking any crap from anybody. She called her drivers "the boys". We were all her sons. She would blow and bluster when you took off in the morning, then had cookies and hot cocoa when you got in. An amazing lady.

Bandag tires... do they still do that? When I was a poor college student summer of 1970 I worked on a blueberry farm, that job was so much better than the previous summer of '69 when I worked at CaroIina Steel as a "fitter" (riveting and welding flanges onto structural steel in a dirt-floored factory with no a/c in Greensboro NC, the money was good but the job was pure "deleted"). I remember that I needed 2 tires for my '63 Ford wagon and having little money I bought 2 recaps for the rear, I think for about $10 each? They were lousy in rain and wore out in about 8k miles but served their purpose at the time. Haven't seen recaps for cars for sale for eons, can you still buy them?

I think you can still run Bandags on the drive axles and on the trailer. I knew guys who ran them on the steering, but I never was that brave. I saw a Bandag retread laying along the road not long ago. In fairness, Bandag was about the only successful retread available for a semi. I used them on trailers and got along fine. The secret was tire pressure. If you let the pressure get low, the tire ran hot, which would hurl the retread. Bandag would retread a tire twice if the carcus was still good. I got maybe 50,000 miles out of a Bandag retread. Firestone and Kelly-Springfield made the best retread carcusses when I was trucking.

Back when I was driving ... the summer time was the worst for blowouts correct tire pressures are a must , I remember one time a guy was passing me on the right on the highway and one of my trailer tires went off like a bomb ... poor guy ended up in the field because it startled him so bad..

When they were building Interstate 465 around Indianapolis in the 1970's there was a big bump where the two levels of pavement went together in a construction zone. There was a semi pulling a flatbed that lost its spare tire in that bump. The spare trailer tire when thru the windshield of an almost new Olds Cutlass Supreme. Amazingly, the driver saw the tire coming at her and hit the deck. The tire flattened the steering column down to the seat. Other than needing a new Oldsmobile, the driver wasn't hurt.

Does anyone still make retreads for cars? I haven't heard of them for decades. Bet the lawyers killed 'em off.

Firedome wrote: ↑Fri Jun 17, 2022 1:53 pm Haven't seen recaps for cars for sale for eons, can you still buy them?

I was wondering the same thing the other day. I knew I had achieved financial stability when I no longer even considered buying recaps.

Chris Campbell

I haven't heard of retreads for cars for a LONG time.

The Asian tires are now so cheap yet pretty decent that the need for retreads no longer exists I'd guess. I've put Hankook and Kumho (sp?) on several cars with excellent results, the Hankook 215/75/R14s on my '69 Cutlass were a bit over $50 each (!) and I had P/225/75/15s on the '79 Electra I sold 3 yrs ago, and had very good luck with them, for the sedate way I drive they are good value for money. In 1970 dollars $50 is probably not all that much more than I paid for retreads, but we didn't have such cheap yet good tire options then. Dad almost always bought "Atlas" tires (remember them?) from the ESSO station back when he had the oil changed and a lube job in the Ford every 1000 miles! lol I don't know who actually made those.

As I mentioned in my truck rim rant ... the feds or the states place a limit on what age tire can be installed by a licensed shop ... as a owner you can put a 20 year old tire on your vehicle if you desire , but I would think you would be opening yourself up to liability if one of those tires causes a accident or injury to someone else ...

Great point! Discount tire won't even inflate a tire more than ten years old. They wouldn't inflate the tires on my two-wheel moving dolly. I had to find a neighbor with an air compressor.

Exactly why I have a 5 hp compressor at each house, now with battery powered everything I no longer use many air tolls but you always need to inflate stuff, tires and toys.