This has been a pretty crappy day. It finishes up a so-so weekend. I don't think I got a damn thing accomplished that I wanted to do.

I don't think I mentioned this, but I picked up a piece of metal in my offside front tire yesterday. It punched a hole in it that was too big to patch and wasn't really worth fixing anyway (I need new tires). The guy I buy tires from is on vacation and won't be back for a week. I had a brainstorm and put the spare from my old Ford truck on instead of the spare from the new truck. Why? because the spare for my old truck is the same size as what is on the other three wheels. The spare for my new(er) truck is a much smaller tire. Great idea, huh?

It was flat this morning. I took my little Nissan and went to get some good ole' Fix-a-Flat. Nearly six bucks a can for that crap. Why does this piss me off? Because I was somewhere (I can't remember where!) the other day where it was on sale for a buck ninety-nine a can. I was too dumb to buy any. I use the heck out of that stuff on my wagons, mower and other assorted things I have that don't get used very often that happen to have inflatable tires.

Finally got that fixed, took my truck to the barn to leave it parked (so as to be near the air compressor if it went down again) and hopped on the Ferguson to go to TC's and start mowing hay.

Got down there around 10 this morning and started mowing. On my second round I smelled something funny and before I could figure out what it was I heard a pop and looked behind me to see the driveshaft spinning wildly on the PTO. I had popped a universal joint. I don't have a spare. TH (the guy I get these things from) is on vacation. LA (neighbor with the same mower I have) doesn't have a spare one either.

Cut my fingers to ribbons getting the old one out because it needs to come out anyway and the manual doens't tell what size universal the drive shaft takes. Head over to TSC for another one. Guess what? They don't have one. They do have an empty box for one where some A-hole pocketted the damn thing. I go to find an "associate" (or whatever they call 'em) who assures me that they don't have any back in the back. Naturally she doesn't bother to go LOOK or ask her manager. Did I mention this is the same chick who informed me yesterday that they don't have any 2-4D? At least yesterday she did go ask someone if they had any more. I think the only reason she bothered to ask yesterday was because I asked her THREE times.

Ran by the Auto Zone on the off chance they might have one and completely flummoxed the poor kid behind the counter. I walked in with the U-joint and asked "do you carry metric U-joints?"

He imediately goes to a computer terminal.

"I don't know, what kind of car is it off of?"

"I'm not going to tell you, because if I do you'll just tell me you don't have it."

He didn't know what to make of that.

I said "If you carry Weasler U-Joints I can give you a part number, otherwise we have to go by the measurements."

"Ummm, do you know the measurements?" I don't think most kids today even know what a calipier is, let alone know how to read one that isn't digital.

"Yes, 79.4 MM on the cross, 29.something on the cap."

To his credit, this kid actually did go and look. He must have pulled out a dozen or so different sizes. He finally came back to the counter and asked what it was off of. I could tell the curiousity was killing him. He asked me if it was off a rail buggy or four wheeler. I think it shocked him when I told him a mower.

I could've drove down to Calhoun and got one, but that's thirty miles and my day was pretty much shot by this time. Did I mention today is my thirty-seventh birthday? Yes indeed, thirtyseven years ago today I hit the ground squallin' and ain't stopped since, as one can tell from the drivel that I write here.

I went to dinner with my bride and met up with Stick-Boy's sweetie to pass some corn on to them. Came home, feed the horses and now I'm typing this.

And as Walter used to say "And that's the way it is..."