Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Patience is a virtue

And I'm learning the virtue of it.

Seems like projects I'm working on are taking-- and have taken-- forever. But I'm starting to be OK with that. I'm getting used to it. It's neither panicking nor frustrating me that things are taking so long.

I finally fixed "the" leak-- or at least the big one-- it was what Ford calls the "Fuel Filter Vacuum Indicator Switch", Ford part number E8TZ-9S283-A, International number 180435C1. $25 from International, as opposed to $80 from Ford!

This leak took me about 3 months to find and fix. That's insane. But I'm OK with that. I'm kind of liking this way of working: slow, methodical, patient. In the process of fixing this, I also cleaned out my fuel tank, put new O-rings on my fuel bowl, and fixed another leak which was from the drain plug. I also wrecked a new O-ring by shoving it in un-lubed (have to replace it again eventually), and ruined three or four expensive fuel hoses due to the old "Fuel Filter Vacuum Indicator Switch" continuing to spew biodiesel on my brand-new hoses after I'd replaced them. Which, had I been a bit more patient, I might have just left the old hoses in place until I'd found the actual leak. Oh well.

I'm not giving myself such a hard time anymore for being lazy and procrastinating. I'm actually enjoying being lazy; getting the most pleasure out of it that I can.

Even when it's not me who is procrastinating, I'm learning to just go with the flow. I'm fitted with a temporary crown on a tooth. I'm getting the work done through a local dental school; they work veery slowly. The temp crown has been on for months. I've managed to hold it together by eating mush, and only on one side of my mouth. I've just been told that I have to continue eating mush on only one side of my mouth for another month: they're off for the winter-break holidays. So be it.

My ceiling is still not in, and I have the tiles, and I just need to buy the hardware for them. I am leisurely pricing out the other things I'll need: Owens Corning pink insulation, a kind of strange hanger I'll need to find or fabricate for the unusual ceiling I'm hanging it from (steel hat-channel rather than dimensional lumber), etc.

I have the new injector O-rings which I need to replace in order to stop the engine from sputtering on closed-throttle deceleration. I'll get to it when I get to it. Also want to put in a new fuel heater to replace the broken one I removed, which might help my hard starting problems go away. And I want to replace my transmission oil filter and change the transmission oil, and do an engine oil change, and wow I haven't even checked my tire pressure in a while... it'll all happen.

My career is also on hold, and I don't have much by way of an income at the moment. These past few weeks it's been freezing cold and raining. More rain coming. Everything is on hold. And that's just OK with me. No sense in stressing; might as well just enjoy it while I got it.

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