That was a busy weekend...

Saturday was spent mostly on music, in one form or another. Music tracks for a singing group, then a performance in the evening. Somewhere in there, we fit in a trip to Lowes to garden soil and get a new door for Jami's room (had to break the old one down after Jami locked the door and closed it.)

I begin to wonder how folks ever grew food before Miracle Grow Garden Soil. Apparently, "dirt" isn't enough. Who knew? Maybe the centuries of agriculture I assume happened is just a fabrication, that vegetables didn't actually grow until about twenty five years ago.

The performance was fun, as always, with some folks there I've always wanted to see in my audience who made it for the first time. The audience was small, but that's okay. I didn't feel "on"...there were some dark spots in the day and it colored the performance, I'm sure. I've also been so focused on the CD that I haven't been practicing as I should.

I'm still confident of a May 1 CD release. That gives me two weeks to finish recording/mastering. Do-able, if we can keep the Scheduling Wolves at bay.

Sunday: Easter, of course.

While the family was in church I spent time in "studio" recording: another song completed and ready to burn.

Everyone home, we had brunch with Michelle's parents - eggs, bacon, Michelle's World Famous Biscuits, gravy - then an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

A long nap, much needed, but I slept too deeply and it screwed me up for a couple hours. I know better. I did it anyway.

Started cutting the new door to size. Of course, nothing's standard in our house which meant trimming the door to fit. The door is hollow, so I had to cut and glue in filler pieces. Next time, I might buy a door too small and add to it instead. Some research is in order, there.

Supper of roast chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, cucumber salad with raspberry/red wine vinaigrette. I've gotten good at gravy. Yea me.

Monday begins with thunderstorms, though they weren't nearly as a bad as the radar made them look. I think the TV folks are messing with the colors just to tweak the ratings. It's sunny now, last I checked.

Worked some more with PHP. I'm liking it a lot, and will probably start transitioning to doing all my work there.

That was a busy weekend...

Saturday was spent mostly on music, in one form or another. Music tracks for a singing group, then a performance in the evening. Somewhere in there, we fit in a trip to Lowes to garden soil and get a new door for Jami's room (had to break the old one down after Jami locked the door and closed it.)

I begin to wonder how folks ever grew food before Miracle Grow Garden Soil. Apparently, "dirt" isn't enough. Who knew? Maybe the centuries of agriculture I assume happened is just a fabrication, that vegetables didn't actually grow until about twenty five years ago.

The performance was fun, as always, with some folks there I've always wanted to see in my audience who made it for the first time. The audience was small, but that's okay. I didn't feel "on"...there were some dark spots in the day and it colored the performance, I'm sure. I've also been so focused on the CD that I haven't been practicing as I should.

I'm still confident of a May 1 CD release. That gives me two weeks to finish recording/mastering. Do-able, if we can keep the Scheduling Wolves at bay.

Sunday: Easter, of course.

While the family was in church I spent time in "studio" recording: another song completed and ready to burn.

Everyone home, we had brunch with Michelle's parents - eggs, bacon, Michelle's World Famous Biscuits, gravy - then an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

A long nap, much needed, but I slept too deeply and it screwed me up for a couple hours. I know better. I did it anyway.

Started cutting the new door to size. Of course, nothing's standard in our house which meant trimming the door to fit. The door is hollow, so I had to cut and glue in filler pieces. Next time, I might buy a door too small and add to it instead. Some research is in order, there.

Supper of roast chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, cucumber salad with raspberry/red wine vinaigrette. I've gotten good at gravy. Yea me.

Monday begins with thunderstorms, though they weren't nearly as a bad as the radar made them look. I think the TV folks are messing with the colors just to tweak the ratings. It's sunny now, last I checked.

Worked some more with PHP. I'm liking it a lot, and will probably start transitioning to doing all my work there.

Help..?

Help: does anyone within driving distance of my house (Independence, MO) have any expertise in fixing lawnmowers? Not the engine, the drive belt: it slipped off the transmission pulley, and I can't for the life of me get it back on, there's a metal guard in the way. It's a Toro Personal Pace self-propelled (somewhat op...timistically) P.O.S. (truth be told) mower.

For the record: I'll never again take a lawnmower to Roberts Small Engine Repair on Crysler in Independence. I've had nothing but troubles since they "fixed" it last summer.

Late Edit: 

I got past my frustration and found a video that demonstrated how to completely replace the belt, and that, while not the exact make and model I've got, provided the inspiration for fixing mine. For future reference, because, thanks to Roberts Small Engine Repair on Crysler in Independence, I have every expectation I'll have to do this again, here is what I did:

Toro Personal Pace, model# 20017.

Putting the belt back onto the transmission pulley has nothing at all to do with the transmission pulley, at least initially. Remove the blade. Then remove the blade driver assembly just enough to get the belt off the blade pulley.  Remove the belt guard from the underside of the chassis. Freed from the blade and with access now that the guard is removed, the transmission can rotate backwards, giving you access to the transmission pulley. It's still not a cakewalk, but you now have enough access to work the belt around the metal guards and onto the transmission pulley.

Reassemble, done.

I still don't know if I got everything back together correctly. The mower, upside down for half an hour, wouldn't start (no surprise there, probably flooded) but at least when I pulled on the rope it didn't make any sounds I haven't heard before.

There's hope.

Help..?

Help: does anyone within driving distance of my house (Independence, MO) have any expertise in fixing lawnmowers? Not the engine, the drive belt: it slipped off the transmission pulley, and I can't for the life of me get it back on, there's a metal guard in the way. It's a Toro Personal Pace self-propelled (somewhat op...timistically) P.O.S. (truth be told) mower.

For the record: I'll never again take a lawnmower to Roberts Small Engine Repair on Crysler in Independence. I've had nothing but troubles since they "fixed" it last summer.

Late Edit: 

I got past my frustration and found a video that demonstrated how to completely replace the belt, and that, while not the exact make and model I've got, provided the inspiration for fixing mine. For future reference, because, thanks to Roberts Small Engine Repair on Crysler in Independence, I have every expectation I'll have to do this again, here is what I did:

Toro Personal Pace, model# 20017.

Putting the belt back onto the transmission pulley has nothing at all to do with the transmission pulley, at least initially. Remove the blade. Then remove the blade driver assembly just enough to get the belt off the blade pulley.  Remove the belt guard from the underside of the chassis. Freed from the blade and with access now that the guard is removed, the transmission can rotate backwards, giving you access to the transmission pulley. It's still not a cakewalk, but you now have enough access to work the belt around the metal guards and onto the transmission pulley.

Reassemble, done.

I still don't know if I got everything back together correctly. The mower, upside down for half an hour, wouldn't start (no surprise there, probably flooded) but at least when I pulled on the rope it didn't make any sounds I haven't heard before.

There's hope.