My attempts at clock repair.

File this one under either "Rube Goldberg",   or, "Look Ma,  I'm a Neanderthal!"

I've never actually asked someone who repairs clocks just how they manage to hang a cuckoo clock so the weighs are doing their thing so as to monitor ones progress,  so I came up with this "stick method".

Of course,  I have no bloody idea why the thing actually quits after a very short time except that,  after listening and listening,  I determined that it was labouring at a certain point,  so I tried adding a bit more weight to the drive mechanism,  and that does seem to keep it going.

It's been running for a few hours at this point,  so I changed the clamp (read:weight)  to a smaller one,   and we'll see how that works.

Most of the stuff I see 'on the line'  simply shows replacing the movement.  Well,  not only is that something I'm reluctant to do,  but I don't have a replacement hanging around.

Oh,  and by the way,  this in not OUR  cuckoo clock,  although we have one just like it.  I think this is the "entry level" cuckoo clock,  as I know of at least three in our immediate family.  Well,  the family that came over from Europe that is.
No,  this is my sister-in-law's clock,  that she took down to do some painting,  and then the bugger decided to quit.  The question was asked if we'd take it to one of the clock fixer uppers here in town,  and he wouldn't even look at it. 

It went something like,  "I didn't work on cuckoo clocks back in Germany, and I won't work on them here."   (insert appropriate German accent)

If this seems to be the ticket,  I'll sort through some of my lead weights to see if I can come up with something a little more elegant,  with the knowledge that adding more weight to the mechanism might very well mean that it'll wear out in a few years.   C'est la vie.

I also noticed that one of the bellows for the "cuckoo" sound is kinda pooched,  so I might go so far as to try and fix that.  We'll see.

Meanwhile,  it's been a summer of the usual sailing/golfing etc.   With a ever so brief couple visits to a cottage up in Wasaga where the main activity has been building a shed for their bikes and tools.

I have photo evidence.

But first,  I should put in this one that was from July.   I could call this one,  "Old man with spectacles",  but it looks more like I'm having some digestive issues.

Anyway,  the first photo is from last weekend (oh wait,  that was July too,  wasn't it?)  But,  it's a little more done at this point,  and the openings at the top there are ready for some corrugated Plexiglas type stuff to let in some light.
On the wall immediately below those openings,  there will be a cedar shake detail to add some interest. 

 I had some left over from the shed I build for Daughter Number One.

Here we're doing a sort of "hands on"  evaluation of just how far three bundles of shakes will go.
There should be plenty.

I might not get to see much more of this,  as I'm not sure just when we'll get back up there.   No plans at the moment.


Exciting isn't it?

And you know.  I'd sooner do this sort of thing at a cottage,  than sit around all day.  I mean,  I *can* sit around and read etc.,  but eventually I get a little anxious.  Or bored.  Or....something.

I suspect my mind starts to wander to *stuff* I think I should be doing,  and then it's down hill from there.

Anyhoodle,  that's my missive for August so far.  I'll be back at some point I'm sure.

Thanks for moving your eyes back and forth.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Say Good-bye.

Well,   the time had come. 



Out with this:

And in with this:

Travelling Companion and I had been thinking of parting company with the Mercedes for a while now,  and decided to pull the trigger a few days ago.

The thing is,  it's an 11 (2011),  not that that should be an issue,  but there have been a couple "issues",  shall we say?   And now that we had been problem free for a time,  we thought we'd 'get',  while the gettin'  was good.   So to speak.

I mean,  I've bought both new and used vehicles over the years,  and I'm pretty sure I've never dropped as much dough on a used vehicle (after the fact in repairs,  that is) as we did with the Merc.
I mean,  tires or a battery is one thing,   but the air conditioning compressor crapped out at some point a couple years ago,  thereby leaking fluid onto the serpentine belt,  meaning they both had to be replaced,  etc.

Then,  and this was before we bought the truck,  the damned thing wouldn't start one day,  and it turns out it had to go to the Stealership to have the "ignition module"  replaced.   Of course,  you may have noticed that folks who have Mercedes as their favourite vehicle,  always make sure to have two or three sitting in the driveway,  just so they'll have a backup when one of them craps out.
Had to rent a car for that one,  as they needed the car for several days,  and far be it from them to have a courtesy vehicle. 
I was not pleased.

The "new" car is a '15,  so it's not *that*  new,  but first of all,  it's a Toyota,  and secondly,  being somewhat newer,  it has a few gadgets that we did not have on the Mercedes,  such as a back-up camera and usb ports and such.  Kind of like the truck.

Now I'll admit,  the Merc was a great little car on the handling end of things,  but I suspect we won't be slaloming through any mountain roads any time soon,  so having a little softer ride with the Camry works for me.  T.C. hasn't quite come over to my way of thinking,  but I suspect she'll be OK with it in due time.

Oh and,the "4-matic" thing was pretty awesome in snow,  as long as you also had winter tires I suspect,  but I also think it was the reason our fuel economy never was all that great?

The Camry takes regular gas,  whereas the Merc took "high test".   I'd go as far as the mid-grade,  but wasn't willing to pay more.



So I mean,  if you were to lease a brand new one and take it back at the end of three years?  Well,  maybe that would work.  But we don't lease vehicles anymore.  Not financially sound,  unless you're running a business and it works to your advantage tax wise.   The other thing that we won't be doing anymore?  Getting another Mercedes.


I'm out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.

I'm still here. Honest.

Or maybe it should be "honestly"?   Good grammar is a touchy subject with me most days.

Anyhoo,   sorry for the absence.   They say it makes the heart grow fonder.   Or something.
I think it tends to lose you readers,  to be honest.   But I'm pretty sure there are a few die hards out there.

So,  what's been going on?   Well,  the usual actually.   Some sailing,  both Tuesday nights as well as a couple weekend outings.  I did the "Sail Past"  this year,  which is an annual tradition at the Yacht Club involving the "Blessing of the Fleet",  and then literally a sail past the Commodore.    A little hokey I realise,  but it was a nice day on the water (even though the wind died later)  and for a measly twenty bucks,  the club served what I considered to be an awesome meal of steak,  baked potato and salad.

But,  I'm going to skip ahead.   I mean,  I take pictures of stuff,  but then never get around to doing too much with the pics.   There are a few out there who might have seen the odd thing on the Book of Face,   but really?   Posting to the blog would be a bit boring I think.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

BUT,   this weekend was the annual "Guy's Weekend"  in Grand Bend,   and on one of our forays into town, I was sitting in the truck waiting for my buddy to come back from the coffee shop,  and I see this Dude across the road with a rather large hat on,  and I'm thinking,  "Why does that guy look familiar?"

Well,  it turns out it was a fellow blogger,  none other than George,  from Our Awesome Travels!

Of course,  by the time I remembered the extra camera I had brought along and fetched it from the back seat,  he and Suzie were just heading out.

But I do have proof!

Well,  it's only "proof"  to the person who owns that car,  and who had just come out of "Grandpa Jimmy's Scottish Bakery".  Right?   But maybe George will stop by and confirm my claim.

So,  when my buddy came out of the coffee shop,  I said something like,  "Hey,  I just saw a guy whose blog I follow!"   and he asked if I had run across the road to say "hi",   but I had to admit that,  first of all,  I didn't realise until too late just whom I was looking at and secondly,  I likely would have been run over,  as the traffic in Grand Bend at that point in time was a wee bit on the steady side.

Anyway,  I thought at least *that*  was blog worthy.


Other than that,  here we are this morning outside the Colonial Restaurant,  where our annual tradition also calls for taking our host out to breakfast before we head on back home.

And no,  the guy with his back to the camera isn't camera shy,  I just took a photo without him noticing.     Here he is expertly extricating himself from one of the sand traps at Bayview Golf Club.

Wait,  he's got his back to the camera again.   Here we go...

But then I realised,  I have another pic of the bunch of us,  in the "selfie"  style.

And.....that's all I got.

I'm out.

I'll be back again at some point.   Thanks for stopping by.