Thursday, back on track...

Okay, I am still a bit ticked off at the oil on my garage floor from Wednesday night. So, after discussing it with B___, we head to the hardware store at lunch and pick up some brass fittings, some 3/8 inch gas line tubing and two clamps. Not cheap by any stretch of the word, but worth it if it works!

Once home after work, I scrape up the oil soaked kitty litter and apply another sprinkling of fresh kitty litter. Then I get out my green rolling garden seat (it's the perfect height for this project and will definitely save my back!) I took some "before" pictures for the blog and then got to work.

I installed the one male brass barbed fitting into the engine block (being extra careful not to cross-thread it). Then I measured and cut the gas line tubing (why gas line? So the oil won't deteriorate the tubing as it might on the cheaper regular rubber or plastic tubing). I slid that onto the bard and secured it with the little clamp.

I slid the female brass barbed fitting into the other end (after sliding on the second clamp) and securely clamped that as well. Then I put the original oil plug in the end of that. I was going to just wire tie it to the frame, but B___ had suggested self-stick Velcro and I happened to already have some. So, I cut a big piece to fit and attached it to the frame. Then I wrapped a big piece of the other Velcro around the tubing and tested it. Bingo! Now I have a way to drain the engine oil, using the flexible hose to direct the stream into a catch basin and not onto the floor. I refilled the engine with clean fresh oil.

Then I took out the paper air cleaner and blew it off. Even though I remember the dust problem from last year vividly, I was surprised at how much dirt blew out. Then I washed the inner filter with dish detergent, dried it with paper towels and reapplied oil to that. I took some "After" pictures and went in the house to clean up.

I called Carla to wish her well tomorrow (it's a long story and not mine to tell). Then I called Lu to see if she is ready for her house guests and she is.

Now, it's quite late, so dinner is leftovers again. I checked out the TV but nothing caught my eye. So, I got out my book and read until I started to doze. Switched off the light and called it a night.

(Wow! That last sentence should be in the Poetry section, I think!)