The Squamidian Report – Nov. 22 / 08
Issue #339
Including:
From The Shores of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Back to work and back to life here at home. The back to life at home part is good, the back to work part is the pits. It would be very east to get used to not working. It would be a bit harder to get used to not eating or doing any of the other numerous things that I’d have to give up because I couldn’t afford them. I guess just need my wife to earn more money so that she could keep me in the life style to which I’d like to be become accustomed.
One thing we discovered once we got home is that the hot water heater needs to be replaced. It had started to kick out its internal breaker just before we left and is now doing so regularly. We have no idea how old it is because it was in the house when we moved here almost 7 years ago. It may be original equipment for all I know. The water here is quite soft so appliances tend to last a long time. Unfortunately it is electric, we don’t even have gas in this house. So I’ve picked up a replacement electric heater and all the plumbing supplies that I think I’ll need to install the new one. Now I just have to get off my butt and do the work.
One thing that took me by surprise when looking for plumbing supplies is that you can now get ‘pre-soldered’ fittings. They look just like normal copper fittings except that they have a ring around each opening that contains a special type of solder that is supposed to melt faster and easier and at a lower temperature than normal solder. So it is easier for us ‘non-plumbers’ to do the connections. When soldering normal fittings, you heat the fitting more than the pipe in order to draw the solder in. When soldering the pre-soldered joints, you heat the pipe more in order to draw the solder out, removing the heat when a bead forms around the fittings end.
So when it comes right down to it, the worse part of replacing the water heater is that Sue has decided that this is the perfect opportunity to redo the laundry room. Bummer. I hate redoing laundry rooms, or any rooms for that matter. They all look just fine to me.
*
The eagles that tend to winter in the Squamish Valley are starting to come back. Very slowly, but a few are starting to return. You have to look up, they are there, soaring very, very, very high. So high that if they weren’t as big as they are they would be pretty well invisible. The eagles have not returned in any great numbers over the last couple of years because the salmon have not returned to the rivers. The salmon have not returned because they have been fished out. Not by the commercial fleet but by those proud noble defenders of the land who for political correctness reasons must remain un-named. They continue to net the rivers and streams, catching every single fish that tries to spawn. Once a waterway is fished out and barren they move on to the next, taking it for granted that ‘we’ will restock the stream. Restocking takes time and it can be years before a new run is established. And as soon as it has, they are back with their nets.
Enough said!
doug
****
Greetings everyone. It was a great time at the Brubacher homestead when Doug and Sue were back. I was glad to meet some of the people whose names I had read on the weekly newsletter and now I can put faces to the names. I also had a great time playing some music along with the boys.
Last week I stayed in Kitchener after the Rangers game as I play Santa every year at another extended family's Christmas party in Elmira. It was great to see them all again and the small kids as their eyes light up with sparkles as they ask Santa for their wishes for Christmas. It is amazing how much these kids grow in a year. I also have some fun with the adults to when I remind them of little things they have done over the years.
This year wasn't very good for getting our salmon eggs as out of the 200,000 we were allowed to collect we were only able to get about 95,000. We have them bedded down and they are starting to eye up or in other words develop into fish fry. I would guess around early January they will start hatching. Then the work at the hatchery becomes a little more but I don't consider it work.
Also today ( Friday) some parts of southern Ontario to the south of Port Elgin got some pretty major snowfall, some places getting as much as 72 cm. We only have a total of about 15 cm now just a little more than Kitchener. Last Saturday was quite an experience coming back up from Elmira as the rain turned to heavy wet snow. It to me 3 1/2 hours to get back home. About 3/4 of the way I could only do 40 to 45 km / hour. Slow but sure was the way to go. Well I must sign off for now so everyone have a safe and happy week
****
Hello
everyone!
Here we
sit in the midst of a blanket of snow that came as a big surprise to everyone
in Ontario except for the weatherman I guess. It’s way too soon to be shoveling
and blowing snow but there’s not much else we can do, when it’s here it’s here!
I managed to get the snow blower ready about a week before the snow arrived.
The day I first took it out to clear the snow I had a problem with my precious
TORO. It started with the first pull of the cord but then quit within 10
seconds of starting. I tried and tried to get it to start with more pulls of
the cord but to no avail. I then plugged an extension cord into the electric
start connection of the blower and pushed the button. There was a loud clank
and the starter motor spun freely without turning the engine over. I let go and
tried it once more. The starter just whirred at high revs without contacting
the flywheel of the engine. I finally tried and succeeded to get it running with
the cord once more. After clearing the snow from the walks and driveway I went
inside and had a cup of tea to warm up. Once I was warmed I returned to the
garage and removed the starter from the motor. I noticed that there were 7
teeth missing from the gear on the shaft of the starter. When I put the wrench
on the bolts of the starter to remove it, I noticed it was slightly loose. This
allowed the starter to lean away from the flywheel enough to lessen the contact
of the two gears. With this happening the starter gear just danced on the edge
of the much harder flywheel cogs and this caused the teeth to break off of the
starter gear. Oh well, there wasn’t much I could do other than find a dealer
for TORO snow blowers and see if they had a replacement part for the starter.
There’s a dealer in Waterloo that specializes in TORO products so that’s where
I headed to get the part. I would have gone to Home Depot where I purchased the
blower but they don’t have a service department and would take a couple of weeks
to order the part if they even knew what to order. The dealer in Waterloo had a
gear in stock and even installed it for the cost of the part. No charge for
labour, how about that! I was happy and on the way home after only spending
$41.00 to fix the starter. When I got home, I had to pull the housing
containing the pull cord off the motor so I could make sure that none of the
broken teeth were still in the flywheel housing. If they managed to entangle
themselves in the flywheel it could cause much more damage to the motor and
more expense so, better to clean it out before installing the new starter. Once
I had the housing back on I installed the starter motor. The dealer had
suggested that I make sure the bolts were tight and to check them every time I
use the blower. It made more sense to me to use a product called Lok Tite on
the bolts to make sure they’d never come loose again. The Lok Tite is liquid
that once it’s dabbed on the threads of the bolt it hardens after the bolt is
tightened back in place. It takes tremendous pressure to loosen a bolt after
this product has been used so I figured it would keep them tight in this
situation. With all the vibration caused by blowing snow these bolts tend to
loosen after a while of use. Why doesn’t the manufacturer either note this in
the instruction book that comes with the blower or use Lok Tite on the starter
bolts when they build the darned machine? That’d make too much sense I guess!
Anyway, the starter works like new and the blower is ready for the next dump of
snow from Mother Nature. I thought of Doug having the same model and make of
snow blower so I figured I’d better let him know of this minor defect in
design. He said he’d get right on it and check his starter for tightness that
afternoon. I wish someone had told me about the problem before it happened to
mine so I felt good having warned Doug before he had the same problem. I had
sent some information on TORO snow blowers to Sus and Peter in Nova Scotia and
they are looking at purchasing the same model that Doug and I have for use in
their heavy winters in the Maritimes. I hope Sus reads this and they take
preventative measures and use Lok Tite on the bolts of their starter when they
take delivery of it brand new. You know the old saying “An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure!” In this case it’s as true as it sounds! Maybe Sus
and Peter can suggest to their dealer that he put Lok Tite on the starter bolts
before he delivers their new blower!
Well,
that’s about all for this week folks.
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Christmas
is only 5 weeks away! Ho Ho Ho!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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