Rainy day coffee downtown Chelsea, Michigan. RP is in my ears and I am happy. An easy choice for this afternoon of people watching and online catching up. My phone tells me I had three hours of screen time last week. I am good with that. Others have lots more. Being unplugged from social media and a recovering political and news junkie contributes to my well being. You?
District manager. It's at one of those big box warehouse stores. Just looking for a couple of days a week. Want to keep my other gig where I've been at off and on for 23 years this month. Just working 2 days a week there now. Hope they are OK with me working somewhere else at the same time. Been preparing for a, uh, annual scheduled test at my Doc's and figured since I would be good to go, might as well see what else is out there.
Got a call back this afternoon and an interview with the DM on Thursday !
What's a DM?
Designated Meeter
Pretty close.
District manager. It's at one of those big box warehouse stores. Just looking for a couple of days a week. Want to keep my other gig where I've been at off and on for 23 years this month. Just working 2 days a week there now. Hope they are OK with me working somewhere else at the same time. Been preparing for a, uh, annual scheduled test at my Doc's and figured since I would be good to go, might as well see what else is out there.
Trying not to get depressed from the constant rain. Doing a ton of laundry, signed up for a 3 week MongoDB database class and started reading the Python programming book for my class at MIT in June.
Yes I said MIT. Will look good on resume' since I've been AWOL from the real workforce for so long.
PS And yes I'm still alive, just been wicked busy.
Location: On the edge of tomorrow looking back at yesterday. Gender:
Posted:
May 4, 2019 - 1:35pm
Trying not to get depressed from the constant rain. Doing a ton of laundry, signed up for a 3 week MongoDB database class and started reading the Python programming book for my class at MIT in June.
Yes I said MIT. Will look good on resume' since I've been AWOL from the real workforce for so long.
PS And yes I'm still alive, just been wicked busy.
Things that make me pat myself on the back # 3216: realizing that it's going to possibly rain again and heading out to at least mow the front. Worrying that the gas can might be empty. Nope. Got gas! Fill up the mower, prime it. Nothing. Prime again. Nothing. And suspiciously no spark (reminds me of a favorite scene from Benny and Joon). Look for, and FIND (!) the spark plug wrench and pull the plug. Head to the hardware store. New plug acquired and installed. Prime again. Nothing. Curse lightly. Make sure the plug is seated firmly. Prime again. HURRAH! I think I've earned a cold beer!
For future reference, the problem with small engines is almost always bad gas. Two-stroke, four-stroke, anything carbureted.
Now that gasoline has ethanol in it, any condensed water in the tank gets mixed in, instead of sitting on the bottom of the tank out of harm's way. Plus the ethanol damages carburetor parts: seals, diaphragm, etc. I've rebuilt dozens of small-engine carbs, and the rubber/plastic parts are often turned to jelly. Fuel-injected systems run under pressure so they're not really affected. Plus the engine-management computer can make adjustments.
If you can get ethanol-free gas, it's worth spending a bit more. The stuff in the gallon cans at big-box stores is great, but $20/gallon? No thanks. Fortunately I discovered a gas station that has ethanol-free for about a buck more per gallon. My mower, chainsaws and weedeater start up consistently now.
The spark plug probably wasn't really the problem, but the priming and re-priming flushed out enough crud to get clean(er) fuel in. But no matter, glad you got it running: a win is a win! c.
Thanks! The fuel tank was actually pretty dry. And funnily enough, though I've heard the ethanol is evil thing before, my mower mechanic says he recommends high test and it doesn't matter about ethanol. I do think the problem was the spark plug, because it wasn't sparking when I pulled. But it's running now!
Yep, that's a good call too. I get mid-grade for the small engines, I'm too cheap to pay for premium. Now that I can get ethanol-free it probably doesn't matter so much.
You could be right about the plug. Equipment that's used all the time, like professional landscapers, spark is rarely a problem because it gets plenty hot and burns off any crud. But an engine that's used for just a little while, then sits most of the time, can allow carbon to build up. Probably what happened to yours.
Once upon a time people cleaned and re-used spark plugs, but modern (auto) engines run so lean, and plug technology so much better, they can last the life of the car.
What's a DM?
