Of Oil Ice and Thunderbirds

Linda doesn't like oil. Oh I guess she likes vegetable oil in the right places, peanut oil when frying meat for fondue, and coconut oil for the popcorn, but I'm learning that she doesn't like large puddles of oil which emanate from underneath the Thunderbird. We've been working on the interior for some time now but every day we work on it she mentions the oil. And I mean she mentions the oil. She says I need to take care of the leaks. I'm focusing on things like the interior. I know I can replace a bad hose or tighten a fitting; you know, mechanical stuff. But the other items are a learning process, I have to figure it out as I go. In order to keep my focus I have to go slowly and work on a solution to the repair while I'm taking whatever it is apart. So here's how yesterday went; I got up thinking that Linda and I would be working on the Thunderbird. She said she'd do some other stuff while I worked on the oil but I needed to work on the oil. We're making pretty good progress. The interior is out and we (mostly Linda and our good neighbor Todd) have put down a material that is a sound and vibration suppressor. The fender is back on and most of the body work is done. The door panels are off and Lin and I are working on rebuilding them. They are a challenge mostly because I'm cheap. I prefer “frugal” to “cheap” but that's just a euphemism and the truth is I'm cheap. New panels are nearly $800.00 for a pair but I bought some plastic caps which go over the cracked vinyl for about $120.00. Of course they are LOTS more work but I'm willing to have Linda do it. But I digress; I also needed to clean off the deck a bit. It involved spraying down the boards which of course meant that there was water all over the brick pathway down below. So I went down below to turn off the water and drain the hose. What happens to water when the temperature is below freezing? It freezes of course. What happens to people who walk on frozen water? They fall of course. The first time, I hurt my pride and right wrist pretty badly. The second time I hurt my knee and my chances of making it into heaven. It's the first time I've sworn about living here in the frozen wastelands of Arizona. Oh, I whine about it all the time, but yesterday as I lay on the ground writhing in pain and getting colder because I'm laying on the ice, I swore. I mean worse than “Egg sucking dog” kind of swearing. Let's just say that I even mentioned my heavenly father's name one time. It only took one time before I regretted it but none the less I did it. And don't get me wrong; I love Arizona, but I prefer the part where it's warm!

So what does this all have to do with oil? I'll just say that the oil is still under the car because I spent a good part of the day sitting in the chair with ice on my wrist and knee. The wrist is better today but the knee is quite stiff. I'm not dead so I'll be fine. We did accomplish quite a bit with the door panels and the more I work with Linda the more I appreciate her talents. She came up with several ideas and then put them into motion. I think the panels will look really good when we get them painted and installed. Now if I could just get her to get under the car and fix those leaks.......