When I was a new Dad, tired, stressed at work, sleep deprived, I had a wonderful elderly patient talk to me about life. In his gentle and friendly way he was imparting his life wisdom on me. In the moment I was unfocused on what he was saying. I was listening, but I wasn't really hearing him, and he could sense it. I had been giving my typical response to the question,," So hows the new family?", which was '
oh good! I'm not getting enough sleep, and I don't have any time to do what I want to get done...but things are good!". To which he responded, "careful, you're going to blink and it will all be gone by..." and then he waited. He patiently sat there and waited for his words to settle. Like snow flakes on a frigid winters day floating down from above, they took time to swing in lazy circles before landing on my head and slowly melting with the heat of my skin, and eventually soaking into my brain. When it finally happened, I looked up to see a glassy eyed husband, father, grandfather with a hopeful grin...he offered in a choked whisper "it goes so fast, enjoy every second!"
I took his words to heart, maybe not every single day, we are all human and get caught up in our stress of the moment, but by in large I remember what he said to me. Thus I am not the least bit surprised that I find myself scrambling around last minute trying to ready Fillmore ready for another trip to Manitoba for the Grey Owl Golf Tournament. Seems to me last year I was doing the exact same thing...a whole year has gone by and you have to ask..."what have I been doing all year and why aren't we further ahead?" Well, life has happened, kids, dance, volleyball, carpooling...and I am totally fine with that. There will soon be days when I long for the opportunity to drive my kids to a practice or a friends house...
On my last minute wish list was the destination sign crank. So I removed the front bulkhead cover, and marveled at how the dominoes started to fall. What I mean is, once I removed the bilkhead cover....I might as well paint it right? So the first coat of paint was applied.
As that dried I set out to get the U-joint all set up to cross the bulkhead.
The issue is the bulkhead is at an angle, but the destination sign is mounted vertically.
So a U-joint had to be put in place to accommodate the angle difference. The shaft of course has a flat surface for the set screw, but the U-joint didn't have a set screw. So, I drilled and tapped a #8-32 while I waited for the second coat of paint to dry.
While I waited for coats three and four, I installed the plumbing. I have the input being diverted to either the "Fill" position or the "supply" position. Either the supply line or the in house pump (isolated from eachother by a check-valve) can provide pressure to the sinks and toilet.
With literally hours to go, I had to pull the plug and just accept the condition of the interior. My rough goals were achieved. The front bulk head is reinstalled
Weather strip on the main door, fridge operational....
And while I scrambled to get Fillmore ready, others were scrambling to erect Fillmore's new home!
