Shocked to see my John Deere 330 battery last 12 years!

| April 14, 2024

Photo from working in yard in Spring 2017 Our old John Deere 330 16HP diesel tractor, that we use for all kinds of yard chores, required another battery this spring. It seemed like just yesterday that I replaced it, but  then I realized it was replaced back in 2012! Amazing longevity for a Walmart Ever […]

Removed a couple trees from the front of our house #TBT

| April 11, 2024

Brenda has been bugging me to remove a couple of pine trees (one 30 yo Blue Spruce that was nearly dead) from in front of the house (photo – house without the drooping pine). They were on the “to-do” list last year, but I’ve procrastinated until this year … and in my mind, I was […]

Hoping a small repair prevents a major repair on our Acura RDX

| January 6, 2024

Last week we took our 2010 Acura RDX to our local repair garage, hoping for a minor rather than major issue. So far, so good. The initial thought that it might be a solenoid controling the turbo wastegate turned out to be “not” the issue … and digging deeper required several more hours of labor. […]

Replacement parts headache for our Kubota ZD326 mower

| January 4, 2024

The LOW QUALITY, inexpensive replacement parts being sold these days is starting to irritate me; it is becoming a pet peeve. I have not notice this as much when purchasing OEM replacement part from the tractor dealerships or even for cars when it comes to big branded automotive part stores. Long gone are the days […]

Home Repairs: Toilets, Refrigerator shelf, Roof and Soffits

| January 2, 2024

With the slower than usual week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I opted to work on a few home repair projects … really notice the toilet problems when the family was here over Christmas. I ordered a valve repair kit for the media/game room toilet in the basement and a new flapper set-up for […]

Taylor impressed me with his handyman skills earlier this week

| December 30, 2023

All fathers who semi-attempt to pass down a few “handyman” skills are proud of their sons (and daughters – mine is amazing!) when they tackle projects by themselves. Taylor continues to amaze me at his fortitude when taking on homeownership projects, although he’s never been hesitant to jump into things with both feet. 😊  It […]

Brenda’s 2010 Acura RDX is in for an emissions issue – Gulp!

| December 28, 2023

After taking Brenda’s 2010 Acura RDX to a local service garage in September, it ran fine for a few months. Beginning in December though, it started to stumble and eventually triggered lights on the dash that included emissions and an AWD code. So we have taken it back this week to see if there is […]

An everyday carry pocket knife gets a lot of wear and tear #TBT

| November 9, 2023

Not all that long ago, I blogged on the need to start looking for a replacement pocket knife for my all-time-favorite EDC Swiss pocket knife. I could never quite cough up the money since the “blades” on my Mini Champ were still good and it spends most of its time in my pocket anyway. BUT […]

A economical fix for the 2010 Acura RDX by our local garage

| September 24, 2023

Our 2010 Acura RDX with 155,000 miles was sputtering and burning excessive fuel for the last couple of weeks (according to the car’s driver — Brenda) and by the time she asked me to take a look at it, a plethora of lights were on the instrument panel. A quick start-up and I knew something […]

Nothing to see: Sewing my cap and Beach Bub umbrella bag

| September 2, 2023

Really, there’s isn’t anything to see … just a little sewing. Last weekend I got out the Sailrite Ultrafeed in order to salvage a pair of shorts that had frayed … but I failed, so they are now in the trash (I miss my mom).  But since I hauled home the BeachBub.com beach umbrella bag […]

Kubota ZD326 zero-turn mower repaired and semi-serviced

| August 9, 2023

Fifteen years for a diesel mower in my book is not old, but it does seem to be about the time for parts to wear and repairs to start (or continue). Last week was the second time that I’ve had to replace the fuel pump on our Kubota ZD326s zero-turn mower.  The Kubota has been […]

Paslode battery conversion works and more fence repairs

| July 25, 2023

Last weekend I toyed with the idea of converting one of my NiCad Paslode batteries over to Lithium-Ion. I picked up the charging module circuit board with DC voltage boosting and “thought” this might be a simple solution. Oh not so quick … 4+ hours later … it was not so easy to stuff two […]

Weekend leftovers: Paslode battery project and fence repairing

| July 18, 2023

Nothing earth shattering from the working around the house projects, but archiving a couple photos from staining a section of last years repaired fence … to more repairing of fences as well as using TiteBond 3 glue as before (this could be a forever project — our fences are deteriorating A LOT). I was going […]

Summer storms have been blasting through with a lot of wind

| July 11, 2023

We’ve had several short-lived summer storms blasting through this year. Often I wrap up my sun sail in the back of the pool house garage (use it for a little shade), but didn’t last week. Unfortunately some VERY high winds hit and stretched out my homemade bungee (steel cable inside rope) and bent the hooks […]

How to: An interesting LED lightbulb hack #video

| May 30, 2023

The next time the LED chip malfunctions or “burns out,” I may try this hack … although instead of taping on a piece of foil … I think I’ll use solder. 

April 1st, but no fooling as roof shingles are damaged

| April 1, 2023

We have had several windstorms in recent days and weeks, but I didn’t notice the missing ridge cap shingles until last week (not noticeable in this photo). Shockingly it has been 8 years since we put on a new roof, but I was thankfully able to track down the company who installed it and they […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog