Monday, March 23, 2009

Ben and the Art of Motor Vehicle Maintenance

This weekend has been an extremely productive one, thanks to Ben. (Or should I simply say it's been a productive week for Ben and a beneficial week for me?!)

Missions Accomplished:
*Cleaned the bottom of the boat (which requires some scuba gear and elbow grease.)

*Cleaned the bottom of my dinghy. Dinghy goes much faster now. :)

*Mounted a solar light on the bow of my dinghy. (Dinghies are supposed to have a white light for visibility at night. West Marine sells a $45 battery-powered one, but I got mine at Home Depot for $4 and it's solar. TAKE THAT, West Marine!)

*Changed the oil in my car (aka Thin Mint).

*Changed the valve cover gasket in Thin Mint.

*Changed the oil on his new (used) motorcycle. (Ben recently acquired a KLR-650.)

*Tightened the chain on the KLR.

*Changed out the *wire hanger with tin foil* for a real antenna on Thin Mint. (It's the simple things in life, ya know?)

I think that sums up everything. There is nothing this guy can't fix. And I am very thankful, grateful and appreciative for that. :) Next on the list of "Things To Do": Hook up my trolling motor and have built a new muffler/exhaust for Mo-C (get it? Mother Culture... Mo-C).

*****

I saw a funny acronym in a marine supply store:
B.O.A.T. = Break Out Another Thousand.

Ain't that the truth? Actually, our belief is that living on a boat is a lot cheaper than owning a house. What others pay in monthly mortgage payments, we probably don't spend in one month on boat maintenance and repair. Heck, my income is not much higher than what would be considered the poverty line here in America, but my life is pretty rich. After all, we all know money doesn't buy happiness. Right? Right. ;)

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