One More Radiator

I had an "encounter" about 3 years ago with an elk cow while driving my truck at about 50mph. Fortunately the damage was not severe and I was able to drive home. It did rearrange some of the front end of my truck, my air conditioner condenser was ruined and it pushed my radiator about 4 inches back toward the engine.

My original radiator wasn't damaged to the point where it wouldn't work, PB did some work to corral the things up in front that were no longer properly attached where they should be. The repair lasted quite a while, then last January my radiator finally sprung a leak and had to be replaced.

Now, fast forward to this week, Tuesday to be exact, I was heading to work, I stopped by the mailboxes by the main highway, it's a near 6 mile drive to get that far. I saw a friend there, I hopped out to speak to her and check my mail. About 10 minutes later, as I was about to get back into my truck, I noticed green fluid dripping from under the front end.

That meant only one thing, I wasn't going to work that day. I pulled a U-turn and went straight back to the SkyCastle to get PB. The leak wasn't major so I didn't lose too much fluid, but I definitely wasn't going to be driving around west Texas, especially in the heat we are having right now.

I couple of phone calls later, I had another radiator lined up 2 towns over and scored a ride with a friend to go pick up the parts. I will admit that it was nice to be riding in big truck with air conditioning! Some day I'll fix mine, but for now, I'm just not willing to part with the $$$.

I spent the rest of the day watching about half of my neighborhood working on my truck, it truly was a group effort! I greatly appreciate my neighbors/friends, they really come together when it's time to help. The photo shows 3 of the 4 men who worked to get my new radiator installed.

It was Darryl, Dale and PB, Rex showed up later, everyone had a part in working on the truck (Thanks everyone!!!!). The reason the first and second radiator failed was because of the frame that holds the radiator secure had broken at the bottom (from the original damage caused by the elk), it allowed the radiator(s) to move and rubbed a hole in the bottom. A bit of reconstructive surgery on that part and I don't expect my radiator will move like that again.

It was imperative that my truck be running by the end of the day, I had a "date" with my glasses boss the following morning at 8:30 in the next town over. We had some work to do in a couple of stores and he was coming from Lubbock, I couldn't bow out of it.

Fortunately, I was able to get on the road the following day with nary a drip, the gauge read in the perfect range (it's the upper gauge)

I feel very blessed to have a great hubby (PB) and great friends. I did have to rearrange my jobs for the week, but got everything done with no problems. Now it's time to enjoy the weekend.

All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Memorial Day, family and heat!

Holy moly it's hot! OK, I really can't complain, much, our summer is honestly pretty mild, and the heat doesn't last that long, about a month to month and a half, then the rainy season hits and just like that, summer is over. And it's "dry" heat, being in the desert, there isn't much humidity which makes the heat we get much more bearable... And the fact that it almost always cools off at night is a plus. In fact, it often gets cold at night, so I am able to sleep well.

One of the ways I escape the heat is to go under the SkyCastle, being partially buried underground, it's cave like properties means it's cool during the heat of the day, I can't wait for that space to be finished so we can spend more time down there.

I had a visit from my daughter, her husband and 2 of my grands over the weekend, it was nice, though I wish it had been a bit cooler during the day. We didn't do a lot, mostly just visited. They live less than 2 hours away so it's not difficult for them to come out here. We had a BBQ on Saturday evening and we all went to church on Sunday.

Another fun thing we did was we went scorpion hunting. I have several UV LED (blacklight) flashlights, the scorpions light up like a kid's cheap glow in the dark toy. My daughter and I found 3 scorpions near the SkyCastle then later all of us found a couple more of them at the neighbor's house.

I spent Monday recooperating from the visit, I enjoyed it, but I also need my quiet time. I am about to go to sleep, I have a rather lite week at work this week, a nice change from the insane schedules of reset season. Next week picks back up again.

I hope everyone had a thoughtful and enjoyable Memorial Day. I am ready to get back into my semi-regular routine 😊


All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

I'm back!

It's been a rrrreeeaaaalllllllllyyyyy long time since I've posted here, no excuses, but I will tell you what I have been up to...

I'm still living off grid, and life is still good! PB is expanding our living space, finishing the lower parts of the SkyCastle, this space is partially underground so it stays cool in summer and warm in winter. Concrete is the building material of choice, it doesn't rot or burn, critters can't burrow into it, this will last our lifetime and whoever ends up with this place after we are gone.

I'm working for the same merchandising company, I've had my own territory for a couple of years now and loving it. We are at the tail end of "reset season "where we are super busy moving things around in the Dollar General stores, yes I'm that person ;)

We still have both dogs, Casper and Zoe. Casper has grown old, he was getting old when he adopted us, now he's blind but gets around just fine. Zoe has grown up into a fine mountain dog. She is in her middle age now, I look at pictures of her when we first got her, we thought she was full grown, but it's obvious that she was still very much a pup then.

The SkyCastle has become quite the neighborhood gathering spot, especially on Friday, our friends & neighbors stop by for drinks, the occasional BBQ, and just general fun. Sometimes it's just a few people, sometimes it's a crowd  it's always fun.

Those of you who have followed me before know that I'm into alternative health, though honestly it should really be considered real Healthcare as it's what our ancestors did long before modern medicine...  Not knocking modern medicine though, if I'm in a car wreck or break a bone, you'd better believe I want a qualified doctor and medical staff attending my injuries.

But for everyday health, I'm more interested in natural Healthcare. Something I've recently gotten interested in is CBD oil. Let me say up front, I'm not a pot smoker, I haven't done that since I was as a curious teen, though I do wish the powers that be would go ahead and legalize it, or at the very least, decriminalize it.

I have tried CBD oil (the legal stuff made from Hemp) and like the results I've gotten from it. I'm in the process of finding a company that I want to do business with. They must have a product that works, is affordable and has a good business platform.

What is your opinion on CBD oil? Have you tried it? Would you be willing to try it? I'll write more about it in the near future.


All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!