Heeeeere's Johnny

It seems the Wisconsin Dell's Plague of 2011 is finally starting to leave us.  I don't think any of us is completely rid of all the symptoms, but things are starting to get back to normal.  Although both have a bit of a cough still, N and L were back up to their normal energy levels yesterday, which was really hard on C and I, who are still a couple days behind them in our recovery.  Although even today we are still not up to full speed, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

In spite of feeling miserable, I did muster the energy to venture out of the house yesterday morning to look at a riding lawn mower.  When we moved to our new house, I tried to rationalize getting a riding mower but, on paper, our yard just wasn't big enough to justify it.  However, as I've improved the creek and the opposing creek bank, the area that I mow has grown.  Every time I mowed last summer I was thinking how nice it would be to have a rider to help speed things up.  Of course, not just any riding lawn mower would do.  After seeing a old John Deere 110 at a tractor show last summer, I became intrigued with the idea of using one as a "working" tractor. 

And so the search began.  There was lots to learn, from was it even practical to use, to what things do you watch out for, to what is a good price for a given condition.  My search took a temporary hiatus when I found my Caterpillar tractor and started working on it, but as the snow started to melt, I began thinking about spring and the riding mower again.  What I didn't expect was for my search for the "right" one to be so short.  I had surfed craigslist and Ebay just to get a feel for what was out there, but hadn't made any serious inquiries.  Then while I was sitting up waiting for N's fever to break Thursday night, a 1966 model 110 popped up locally. 

I called the seller, and yesterday morning I went to look at the tractor in person.  The seller seemed to really take alot of pride in "Johnny" as he called it, but was moving to a condo and didn't need a mower anymore.  It had been restored a few years ago, but used on a regular basis for mowing, so it wasn't pristine.  He had traded another guy some stuff for some pulling wheels and tires, and put them on Johnny just for decoration.  The rear pulling tires proved impractical for mowing, but the fronts worked OK so he left those on.  It seemed almost too coincidental that my main attraction to the 110 was it's similarity to the 4010, 4020 and 6030 my grandpa had, and here this even had yellow rear rims and aluminum front rims like grandpa ran on his 4010 puller.  Nostalgia aside, I made a thorough run through my checklist, drove it around a while, and everything checked out.  We pretty quickly came to terms on a price, and Johnny was mine. 

What I didn't expect was this deal to quickly turn into a case of getting more than I bargained for, literally.  While the aluminum front rims look neat, I really wanted stock front rims. The seller said he had a set of stock rims, and was willing to include those in the deal.  The rims he had, however, were installed on another tractor chassis he had stored out back.  By the time we got Johnny loaded into my truck, the seller had gone from offering to trade the stock rims for the aluminum ones, to just giving me the whole other tractor for the rims and any other parts I wanted off of it.  Not only that, he decided to save himself the hassle of moving all his remaining miscellaneous tractor parts to his new place, he'd give me those too.  I really wasn't looking to get into the tractor parts business, but I'm always willing to offset a toy purchase with a little reselling.  Now I just need to get to where I feel well enough to get out into the garage and start working on some of this stuff again.

DDT & Sons... Infirmary

The sickness continues to spread around the household.  The good news is that L appears to be mostly recovered, with only a lingering cough.  While this is certainly welcome news, his renewed energy level is more than any of us can keep up with right now.  I woke up this morning with body aches, chills and a 102 temperature.  N had a temp around 101 to 102 most of the day, and would go from acting normal to taking little cat naps.  C felt better this morning, but not so much this afternoon.  Fortunately I started feeling a little better by the afternoon and could pick up the slack.

Tonight is hopefully the climax of our medical malady.  C said her throat feels like she's been gargling razor blades.  Thankfully she is the only one with the sore throat symptom.  She did go to the doctor yesterday and one test showed negative for strep, but she is still waiting on the results from the slower, more accurate test.  L and I both seem to be holding our own.  I don't think either of us is 100%, but at least don't seem to be getting any worse.  The big concern tonight is N.  He fell asleep on the couch almost immediately after supper, and when we checked his temp it was over 104.  We've managed to get the fever down to 103, but it seems to be just hanging out around there for the time being.  Looks like it's going to be another rough night ahead. 

Payback

My parents have, on multiple occasions, reminded me of my habit of getting sick on vacations when I was a todler.  I can now say that I have lived through that adventure on the parental end of things.  Ever since we went up to Wisconsin Dells last May we have been wanting to go back.  For months we had been planning a trip to go up Valentine's weekend.  Not the most romantic get-a-way to be sure, but the timing worked out well for us, or so we thought.

Just inside for the 72 hour no refund period, L started showing the signs of getting sick.  C almost immediately took him to the doctor, where he was diagnosed with a double ear infection.  Said infection spiked a fever up to 104 Friday night, but by Saturday night the fever was all but gone and he seemed well on his way to recovery.  With all signs pointed toward improving health, we left mid-day on Sunday, thinking by Monday surely he would be back to almost full speed.  What we didn't expect was for a nasty cough to set in.  We did not notice it much before we left, but it got our attention quick about an hour into our trip when he started coughing and didn't quit until he threw up.  He repeated this trick a couple more times during the remainder of the trip, refusing to take a nap in the process, which surely didn't help.  Between the cough, a strange bed, and strange surroundings, he did not get much sleep Sunday night either, nor did we.

Monday we took a wait and see approach, and decided to wait until after L's morning nap before attempting any activities.  The nap went OK, so we thought some warm air and sun would do him some good.  While it was apparent he was not 100%, we took it very easy with L, and he seemed to enjoy spending a little time in the water.  N had started to lose his apprehension about water slides at the end of our last trip, and that apprehension was completely gone this time.  C and L were not big fans of the family tube slide, but N and I went back a couple times.

Lunch back at the room and afternoon nap went OK, so the recovery seemed to be back on track.  An afternoon session at the water park went fairly well, but at supper the coughing came back with a vengeance.  We had to make a hasty retreat back to the hotel.  When we got back, L seemed mostly unphased by the ordeal.  C, on the other hand, was starting get L's cough.  Not good.  We started to accept the idea we were going to have to cut our losses and make an early return home.  Monday night, thankfully, did not go too badly.  L had a few coughing fits, but kept what little supper was left in his tummy down.  C slept on the Murphy bed so that her coughing did not wake up L or I.  N, bless his heart, slept like a champ.

We entered Tuesday with the plan to let N and I get one last water session in before hightailing it home.  C and L would join us if they felt up to it.  After morning naps for both C and L, they seemed up to the task and we made a family trip to an area we hadn't tried yet. I think we would all agree it was the most fun we had the whole trip.  N hit the water slides like a pro.  C and I both had some apprehension that on his way up to the slides there were parts where we couldn't see him, but he waited his turn and dutifully came back to us every time.  L enjoyed playing in the water, and seemed to really like when I took him down one of the kiddy slides. He didn't even want to go back to C, he just reached for me and then pointed to the slide. Of course I obliged him with half a dozen trips down it.

After a couple hours, we got our fill of the waterpark and headed back to the room for lunch and loading up for home.  L took another nap, and the rest of us started packing.  Although she seemed to enjoy the morning activities, packing took alot out of C.  L was still coughing a little too, but not as intensely as before.  With the sting of an unused night charged to our credit card, we headed for home mid-afternoon.

I dare say the trip home went better than the trip up. L still had a few coughing fits, and managed to keep his streak alive of throwing up every day of our vacation.  N had, by this time, mastered the portable DVD player and kept himself mostly occupied the whole trip.  C's condition continued to deteriorate, which she only let show the maybe 30 minutes out of the 4+ hour drive that she got to spend facing forward and not holding L's barf bowl or getting something for L or N.

Although it wasn't uneventful, we made it home safe and sound.  L and N took a little time to wind down, but both went to sleep in their own beds without much fuss.  L, so far (knock on wood) hasn't been coughing too much. N has coughed a few times, as have I, but no major signs of illness, yet.  C is suffering with a cough, chills and fever.  Looks like we are going to need that last day of vacation afterall, just to get everyone nursed back to health.

Snow, snow go away...

After mostly recovering from the Blizzard of 2011, I was looking forward to a warmer and mostly snow-free weekend.  This Saturday was the St. Louis toy show.  Last year was the first year since 2004 that I didn't go to the show, because I took N to Monster Jam that day.  Monster Jam fell on the same day again this year, but since N wasn't as interested in it, I went to the toy show instead.  While I didn't enter the contest this year, I did make a tractor to take to the show.  It was a follow-up to a series of tractors I did in 2007 that incorporated the brands from AGCO's past onto a modern tractor.  At that time, I did Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline and Massey Harris since my Grandpa T was fond of those brands, and threw an Allis-Chalmers and White in for good measure.  The guy that bought the set from me had requested a Cockshutt to go with them, and two years after I started the tractor, I finally finished it up. As I was reviewing my records, I was surprised to find that those tractors were the last tractors I had made to sell until this one.

So, I awoke early on Saturday to head down to the show.  I hadn't bothered to check the forecast for St. Louis, but knew that we weren't expecting any more snow until Sunday afternoon, so I expected an easy trip.  It was an easy trip for the first half, but just south of Springfield it started snowing.  A little snow wouldn't hurt anything I though, but the snow continued to get heavier the farther I drove.  By the time I got south of Litchfield, we were down to driving in single lane.  Going was slow, and a there were a couple moments that raised my heart rate a little bit, but I made it just fine about a half hour later than I expected. 

The show was pretty good, and mostly like I remembered it. There were a few vendors I remembered that were not there, apparently victims of the economic downturn. I got to talk to a bunch of my "toy tractor friends", and catch up with what they have been up to since I talked to them last.  I have to admit I missed entering the contest a little bit, but the competition would have been tough.  The custom tractors and displays had both advanced since the last time I was there.  Several of the custom tractor guys are now casting their own parts, and my favorite display had smoke, water and LED lights for special effects.  I can see a display like that somewhere in N and I's future.  I made a few purchases, but after selling the Cockshutt came home with a little more money than I left home with, minus food and gas expenses of course.  The drive home, thankfully, was much less eventful.

While yesterday was a nice "Daddy Day", today was an equally nice family day.  We made it to early church, and we all enjoyed donuts and running around the multi-purpose room afterwards.  After church, L took a nap, and N was good helper cleaning up around the house.  As a reward, we set up the train I bought at Menards a couple weeks ago.  It was half price, and N has really been into trains lately so I couldn't resist.  I just had to wait for the right occasion to give it to him.  For the price, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it is just about perfect for him.  It is battery powered with lights and sounds, and has a radio control for the forward/reverse, the whistle, and the bell.  As an added bonus, we got out grandpa's old train terminal and it fits just right with the train.  It has been a big hit, and I think N has already made a few hundred laps around the track.   
 

Just Chillin' at home, literally

It seems I remembered snow days as a fun thing.  What I apparently took for granted is part of what makes them fun is that you can go inside and warm up.  Such was not the case last night and this morning.  Apparently the elaborate apparatus we constructed for the furnace vent during the last snowstorm still did not stop the wind enough to keep the furnace running.  Shortly after I posted on here last night, the furnace kicked off and the temperature in the house began to fall.  I tried everything I could think of or find on the internet, and despite my efforts, it would only run for a few minutes and then shut itself down. Finally, about midnight I gave up and moved the boys to our bedroom where we could keep warm under the covers.  L did not appreciate this, so around 1 AM we moved him back to his room, which thankfully was remaining somewhat warm.

The little space heater kept the bedroom warm throughout the night.  Downstairs, however, the temperature had dropped to 55 degrees by morning.  I think we are lucky if we use our fireplace more than a couple times a year, but we were loving it this morning.  It brought the downstairs back up to a comfortable temperature fairly quickly.  I repeated my efforts to revive the furnace, with similar results.  I called the HVAC company, but of course they were snowed in too.  We resigned ourselves to keeping warm from the fireplace, and waiting for the streets to get cleared or the wind to die down, whichever came first.

I tried to do my part to make way for the furnace repair man, and set out to clear the driveway.  It was mostly clear, except for a 3' drift right in front of the garage doors.  A bigger drift, probably about 4' high was outside our front door.  I counted shoveling that one as my workout for the day.  After shoveling snow, I did a quick survey of the area.  The street was drifted a foot to two feet deep from our driveway to the stop sign, and who knows how far after that.  It was obvious we weren't going anywhere any time soon.  Despite howling all night, the wind did not appear to cause any damage other than the grill cover.  I was sure I was going to find the windmill scattered across the back yard.  While it definitely took a beating, I think I can bend it back in shape.

Things finally took a turn for the better around noon.  Although the repair man called to say he couldn't make it to us, the furnace started working again as the winds died down, and (knock on wood) has been working fine since then.  Also as the winds died down, the neighbors began to emerge and start their snow removal tasks.  One of N's friends was out, so we went outside to play a little bit, and share our stories of surviving the storm.  It wasn't until 8 that a backhoe finally made it to our street to clear the snow.  He left me a pretty good pile at the end of the drive, so I suited up one more time to clean it up.  I figured even at 8 it was warmer than it is supposed to be any time tomorrow, and that's one less thing to worry about in the morning.  After the last 24 hours, it's nice to just sit at the computer, relax and be warm.  It wasn't easy, but someday we can tell stories about how we survived the "Blizzard of 2011". 

Weathering the Storm

Today was one of those days where you could just see everyone reverting back to their childhood hope for a snow day.  Of course at Caterpillar, we move mountains, so a little snow isn't going to stand in our way.  So, unlike nearly everyplace else, we did not officially get work called off early.  I did have a manager swing by my desk and tell us that while he couldn't officially tell us to go home, he was going to be coming back by there in an hour, and would prefer for us not to be there.  You don't have to tell me twice. 

The drive home really wasn't that bad, but it had only been snowing for a couple of hours at that point.  I'm sure it would have been much worse later.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the wind had blown my driveway nearly clear of snow when I got home.  That is about the only good part about the vicious Easterly wind.  The first casualty of the wind was our grill.  It normally stays put pretty well tucked up against the house, but the wind was just right to catch the grill cover and start moving it. I braved the elements to put it back, and put the spare propane tank next to it to hold it in place.  While that did work for the most part, the wind was determined to move something, and when I looked out a short time later I found the grill cover in shreds. Once it started tearing, it began acting even more like a parachute, so I went out and took it off, and strapped the grill to the railing just to be safe.