Tripping On Lawnmowers

Last night Fred and Discount Man came over. The reason for the trip? Fred was buying our 1985 Toyota. It's a classic! Before they came over, I had to jump the very dead battery and take it for a road trip.

I went around the block a few times, came home, shut it off. Dead. So I tried to hit the country backroads for a longer trip. So I could really OPEN it up! Yet, I got stuck behind some fucking moron in a broken down van going 20 mph, and then a truck going about the same speed. No suprise, I still didn't charge the battery up. So I got on i270 and drove all the way to Dublin. About 16 miles. Turned around, and drove all the way back. THEN, the battery was charged. Hoo-ha!

Later when Fred and DM arrived, we all hopped into the car to ride up to the gas station for 40'z. Low and behold a headlight was out. Woops. This worried Fred ... a lot. He would have to drive this car home and he didn't want to be pulled over. No insurance. Worse, the headlight was retaining water. There was almost a solid inch of water in his headlight. Looked like a fish tank. Probably due to the bee-bee hole in it, and long exposure to rain.

Back at home, we ordered subs, and I slugged about a third of my King Cobra (ah! Snaaake!) and then headed out to the garage for some light duty auto repair. My plan was to drill a hole in the bottom of the headlight and let the water out. Unfortunately, there was no way in hell to access the bottom from under the car. Removing the headlight proved to be quite a task. Something I didn't want to get into. So the solution? Siphon it out. I grabbed a small hose from the ol slimy fish tank, washed it real good and started sucking. Once I got it running, I couldn't believe how much water was in there. Took about 5 minutes to drain it all out.

Then I sealed the headlight with some all purpose bathroom caulk. Luckily I actually had replacement bulbs from my Volvo. And they were the same fitting! How often does that happen. So in with the new bulb, along with another half a tube of bathroom caulk to seal the rear assembly. It was VERY loose, adding to the water inside I am sure. Looks like someone rewired it at some point and came up missing pieces.

Fred was pleased. He now had a fully operational car with good lights! It's driveable! After handing him over a burned copy of FreeBSD 4.8, the keys, and the title of course, he was on his way.

I ended up heading to bed in a drunken stuper, having now consumed the entire 40oz King Cobra. And my bad was all achey. Probably because I tripped over the lawnpower pull cord, and nearly fell on my ass. Ouch. It still hurts.