As my father used to say, "That was slicker than whale snot!"

As I said yesterday, I tried once to install the new spring on my tractor and failed. The failure was because the heavy-duty twine I used was neither heavy nor duty. It snapped just as the spring end was getting close to the hole it needed to go into.

This morning I took three pre-emptive ibuprofen, grabbed my wifes yoga mat and pulled out my big ol' roll of paracord. If you don't know what paracord is, allow me to enlighten you: Paracord is some pretty tough stuff designed to be used for lashing poles together and/or tying down cargo. It's plenty heavy and extra duty. As a matter of fact, I would say it has duty to spare...

I threaded the cord through the tractor frame and tied it to the spring. I then tied a loop in the other end that was big enough to put my foot in. Then I set about getting my ancient ass into a position that would allow me to use my foot to apply force to the line while still letting me see the spring and use my hands to fit it into the hole it needed to go into.

After much groaning and swearing as I was getting situated under the tractor, I put my foot into the loop and pushed. This pulled the cord and the spring towards to hole. Once the end of the spring reached where it needed to be, I pushed it into its hole and slowly relaxed my foot. The spring snapped into place like it had been installed by the factory.

After that, it was a matter of putting the mowing deck back together and testing everything out.

I'm pleased to say that all is well and this job went a lot better than I thought it would.

Wait, that might be a lie. All is not actually "well".

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting my blood blister:

That is courtesy of my needle-nose pliers and I can assure you, it caused me to say some very, vey bad words.

⧫
This is Sage.

She really, really likes that towel.

⧫
These posters are popping up all over Europe.

"THE SWASTICAR"

⧫
With last nights loss to the Sabres, the Bruins are now in a position to get the number one draft pick in the upcoming offseason draft.

Yea, yea, I know. I'm grasping at silver linings in the cloud that is the Bruins 2024/2025 season...

⧫
The Red Sox beat the crap out of the Cardinals last night, beating them 18-7 and giving them the sweep.

That win put them in second place in the ALEast, 1/2 a game behind the New York Aaron Judges. And as I type this, the Judges getting beat by the Tigers 5-1 in the sixth inning.

If the Judges lose, the Red Sox will move into a tie for first place.

They take on the Blue Jays tonight and if they win, they will take a 1/2 game lead in the ALEast.

First pitch is at 6:45 and Fitts has the start.

⧫
Here are some links:

• "I didn't do it. It's not my fault!"



• I'm waiting for the news story where Iran says there are no meetings planned...



• Here's a feel good story for you.



• When I was a youngster working midnights, I would always stop on my way into work and buy a copy of The Star. We picked out the best stories and posted them on the duty board to give the day shift something to do.



• There are some who will claim this is because Musk is Trumps best buddy but I think it's because SpaceX actually knows what it is doing.



• I'm betting he is full of shit.



• I'm of the belief that "scientists" are spending a lot of time inventing shit we don't need.



• I'm hoping this is a good move.