DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4113
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: July 03, 2020, 11:40:10 AM » |
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Doubtless you are like this blessed individual in that you, too, have countless folks to thank for much of the good luck that has come your way. No question about it, I have been most fortunate indeed. I owe a debt of gratitude to so many folks, in fact, that it seems almost unfair to single one out while failing to mention so many others. In a case like that, and I find myself in just such a situation as I write this, I meekly attempt to qualify my remarks with a blanket apology and sincere claim that… you know…
I couldn’t help but smile as the minor irritations and seeming coincidences just kept piling-up… “Am I working at cross-purposes with destiny here,” I even asked myself at one point? One detail all of those issues had in common, though, was the solution to each seemed to involve just one device… A device I would not even know about let alone actually own had it not been for a chance event on a ride I made with Punisher in Arkansas several years ago… Yep, I’m talking about my trusty dependable ‘Rugged Geek’… multi-unit.
As I placed our girl’s side-stand in the up position and pulled forward even the first couple of feet in the loose gravel… I could tell something wasn’t right. She had been at rest outside for several days without being moved or even cranked, so… was it real or was in Memorex? It was real… As we both age, we do experience quirky little aches, pains, pops, and boo-boos when we first getting moving after pauses of any length… so we’ve learned not to jump to conclusions right away. This time it was the real deal, unfortunately.
Yep, her rear tire was definitely low! I jiggled the handlebars after we got rolling to see if immediate attention was required or if we might be able to cover the few miles to a motel… I decided we could make it… We did, but it was a bit dicey there towards the end. That’s when the pendulum swung back the other way, and things began to fall into place.
After unloading her, settling into a motel room, and getting my mind adjusted to this new reality, I returned to our girl to start analyzing the situation. Well, ain’t that special? The rear valve stem was exactly on the bottom of the wheel… at six o’clock! After I checked the pressure, and it was less than 20 PSI, I stood up and noticed a screw buried up to its head in the tread… right there in easy view, and in a relatively easy location for removal and plugging of the hole. I ‘ran out of battery’ on the power unit pumping the tire up, though, so I had to stop and return to the room to recharge that. I’d failed to recharge it the last time I’d used it!
ALI had a dead battery the next morning, too… just as we were getting ready to leave for the dentist’s office. Dang, I looked on my smart-phone app to see if any Uber drivers were available but none were. I then crossed my fingers and hooked up the power unit of the Rugged Geek to the bike battery, and presto, we were off! I sure do love that handy little item! We used three of its features on this one stop, and it sure did save our bacon! So, thanks again, Allan, you sure did us a good turn that long-ago time in Mena, AR…
Speaking of bacon… That crown that had ‘popped-off’ while I was eating some extra crispy (burnt!) bacon a few days before was reattached by a really nice dentist in Butte, who’d been able to work me in! Unfortunately, his prediction came true, and it didn’t last even thirty-six hours. The crown itself had been cracked, and a piece had broken off the back of it… A new one will be required, and he doesn’t do those at his place.
Oh well, I’m going to just go snaggle-tooth until I eventually return south, then do a swing through Montgomery and stop for a visit with my regular dentist. If a problem arises in the meantime, I’ll just deal with it then… Alas, that Rugged Geek can’t fix every problem… On a brighter note, though, maybe this mask business is actually a blessing after all, in that I’ll still be able to go on grinning broadly, but my ‘gap’ won’t be noticeable… Maybe the chicks will even continue to love me…
DDT
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