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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Small steps in the cold north



In a previous post I mentioned that the nice looking step bumper on my van pretty much just fell off. All the internal steel was heavily rusted. Fortunately, the support beams were in excellent shape.

The quick and dirty solution was to build a step bumper out of wood. We had some days that got into the low 40s so I was able to work outside. First, all the pieces were cut, screwed and glued together. Then everything had to be brought inside where it would be warm enough to for the glue to set. Pretty much the same operation for paint. Applied it outside, then brought it back in before the temperature dropped below freezing.

Installing it wasn't a lot of fun. It was pretty simple job -some drilling and stainless steel bolts. Unfortunately, the weather had turned bad and we had mixed precipitation, a lovely combination of snow and rain. It wasn't much fun to lay on the wet and cold ground to tighten the bolts.

I'm glad I pushed through and did it. The mix turned to heavy rain, but I was done before the puddles got too deep. Nothing like a rainy day with the temperature just barely above freezing. After the job was finished, I stoked up the woodstove, got out of my wet clothes, and went back to bed.

It's been a long slow process to build up my stamina since my leg injury. Months of inactivity really took its toll on me. It doesn't help that I've got a small cold right now, so everything aches more than it should. There's no help for it but to push on. I'm also getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids. Even taking off a few pounds. One step at a time.

Mechanically, the van should be ready for our trip. It will need to be registered and inspected before we leave. I've been slowly loading it with our gear. By the time we are ready to go we should be able to just hop in and start driving south.

-Sixbears

12 comments:

  1. Maybe because I was raised around a sawmill and homemade stuff, I've always liked wooden bumpers and running boards, though I've never had them.

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    1. I like the look too, but this time it was more a matter of having the lumber and most of the hardware.

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  2. I'm impressed with your ingenuity. The only places I've seen wooden vehicle bumpers is at the car lot, where fear of damage from jockeying them around often has some replaced temporarily.

    Trip preparation baby steps. When it becomes work, it isn't fun any more.

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  3. Nothing like making do with what's at hand. Hope you feel better soon and stay well until your trip. Bet that Florida sun will feel good.

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    1. My lungs are starting to suffer from the cold. If it wasn't for the family all being here around Christmas I'd be heading south before now.

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  4. You're right the older we get the harder it seems to come back from illnesses, aches and pains. But we keep movin'. Take care...

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    1. Recovering from this injury has made me feel old. Once I'm well I should feel younger again, right?

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  5. Seems like you do a lot of work in very inclement weather conditions. Better be awfully careful, it would be easy to pick up pneumonia or something out in the cold and wet.

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    1. We get a lot of inclement weather this time of year so there's not much choice if you want to get anything done.

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  6. I definitely understand the slow uphill climb in recovery from injury. There are days that I think , I'll never fully make it back...
    Course who am I fooling ? I likely never will lol.
    They're saying only highs in the mid sixties for all of next week here.
    Which means arctic tundra conditions up there.

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    1. I remember a friend who recovered from a long bout of physical issues. The doctor said, you're about 95% recovered. That last 5%? You won't see it because you've gotten older.

      Oh well, such is life.

      65 looks good to me about now.

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