2007-02-15 2:18 AM

A nice, smoothly plowed driveway.

It only took me

  • 25 hours start to finish,
  • half a dozen re-attachments of a hydraulic hose,
  • several dozen jump starts,
  • one session of shoveling before I decided there was enough hydraulic fluid left,
  • four “fillings” with gas from the can (slow leak in the tractor tank, so I only put in what I “need”),
  • one gallon of hydraulic fluid delivered by a friend,
  • one super-frustrating session of getting the tractor *really* stuck,
  • one cannibalized coat hanger to hold the hydraulic hose to the cylinder (great suggestion Papa!),
  • three different attempts to winch the stuck tractor unstuck,
  • two missed classes,
  • one successful winching (using the car as the fixed point — does that make it a stationary-wagon?) to pull the tractor off the driveway far enough for…,
  • one trip to town to fill the gas can after…,
  • one slip-sliding-rocking session to get the car down the driveway (I drove and my wife pushed — at her request!),
  • and one wind/sun burnt nose.

    Manual labor. It builds character, breaks backs, and is the reason I’m back in school (to avoid it unnecessarily).

  • Posted by Wayne Buckhanan No Comments »

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