Pete, that was a great story. Don't give up just yet, I'm sure you'll
succeed.
I once used a blown clutch on my teen aged son's 77 Mustang as an
opportunity to teach him the finer points he needed to know about being a
backyard mechanic. So we picked up the necessary parts, hauled the tools
out of the basement and got to work on the dismantling process. That all
went very well as I lectured and he handed over the required tools, then I
taught him the art of cleaning very dirty parts before we could re-assemble
the drive train, but the interesting stuff happened when we started putting
it all together again.
It was a Saturday afternoon of a Northern British Columbia autumn with the
temperature starting to dip a little, but more importantly the lights were
starting to go out much earlier. He and I were busy working away, me still
lecturing and him still handing over tools as directed. I had noticed that
he was having some difficulty finding the right tools from time to time, and
I simply attributed it to his being tired or bored, then with reluctance he
asked, "would we be able to get a lamp from in the house so that I can read
the sizes on the tools?" It was only then that I realized that it wasn't
just my fingers that were getting a little cold, but that the lights had
gone out on my teen aged son, the tool fetcher.
We did manage to secure an old lamp from the basement and finished the job
that evening, but it did teach me a lesson. When I could see, a trouble
light was an important tool on every job and I guess it still should be if
I'm going to work with the kids on these projects.
Thx, Albert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Mikochik" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2005 5:54 AM
Subject: blind handyman drives car
dear blind handyman listers
anyone here who knows me, knows that i am truly a do-it
yourselfer. this means that i work alone. being totally blind,
this sometimes presents problems, but overcoming these are a
large part of the satisfaction i get when i finish a project.
sure, i have a sighted wife who is excellent at many things and
would crawl under the house with a rope in her teeth if i asked,
but she is not of a mechanical nature and i do not wish to
endanger her health or good looks to assist me in my hare-brained
schemes.
i live in a beach resort community, so the local handyman are too
busy working on the millionaire estates to bother with small fish
like me or they are the town drunks and i really do not need
their aggravation.
so i work alone, which means that i engineer many fantastic ways
of doing things, not just because of being blind, but also that i
only have 2 hands and many times i need at least 3 or 4.
anyway, i digress. yesterday my wife said, "get rid of those euh
bushes". "no problem," my usual reply. i have cut down many a
mighty tree so i thought this would be a simple task and i would
be finished by lunchtime.
by 1:30 i was soaked with sweat. the limbs cut off easily, but
the roots. i dug and hacked and sawed but nothing. i was working
by the roadside and a passing woman said, "you got to chain it to
the car and pull it out".
"hmm" i thought. my methods so far were so ineffective that i
considered this. there is an old mini van in my backyard,
recently taken off the road, which i use as a giant tool box and
fort. the radio and cigarette lighter still work so i haven't
had the heart to call the wreckers.
anyway, i digress again. my problem is to get the van from the
back yard to the site of the tug of war.
i went around the side of the garage and found an 18 foot 2 by 6.
i carried it over and laid it parallel to the van, on the drivers
side. i got in, fired that mother up and rolled down the window.
with my cane i could feel the 2 by 6 on the ground just fine, so
i dropped her into reverse and backed up. feeling with my cane,
i was veering way off course. i put it in park and got out and
looked at the front tires and saw they were pointing the wrong
way. i turned the steering wheel and felt the tire again until
it was straight. i then looked at the orientation of the steering
wheel so i could get a better idea of how much it turns.
i got in, stuck my cane back out and successfully backed up for
the length of the board. when i got to the end, i got out and
slid the board back along my way and repeted this until i got
close to the bush.
being a beach town, it is pretty quiet around here this time of
year so not so many cars passed and i'll never know who saw me
doing this, but no one stopped to criticize or assist.
with the car in position, i wrapped a thick strong rope around
the root and to the trailer hitch.
i repositioned my 2 by 6, checked the tire orientation, snapped
my seat belt to keep my front teeth in my mouth instead of
decorating the steering wheel when the bush gave way and through
her into low.
pulling and straining the car went nowhere. i switched to a foot
on each pedal as i reved the old engine and slowly released the
break. not a inch did i budge alone the 2 by 6. more power raised
my concern that when the bush let loose i would careen into the
side of my house and my wife would notice the car in the living
room when she got home.
i took the van out of gear and it rolled back a foot the stubborn
bush not at all loosened.
again i tried adding more power until the rope broke and i shot
forward. luckily the seat belt held as my foot slammed the brake
causing the contents of junk in the back to rush towards me.
i undid the broken rope and maneuvered the van back to the back.
tomorrow i'll go to the hardware store and get a 16
foot length of chain and when no one is looking, try again.
pete
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
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