colorado here we come

I may not be able to fix my swamp cooler but I was finally able to fix my upstairs shower head which was leaking. I did that because I'm going to have visitors! My Aunt Sarah and her husband are coming into town in July. She's a jock and just had knee replacement surgery (overall she's happy with the reduction of pain but not as excited about not being able to play volleyball and basketball anymore).

My Aunt Sarah wrote:

I am finally taking a vaca after 2 years of hard work. We are coming to your state, despite the fires, and will be near to Denver. We were wondering if you would like a visit from the clan ( Dave and me)? Our very good friends have a place in Walsenburg that DIDN'T burn-up, thank goodness, and we will spend most of our time thereabouts. We had planned on camping on their mountain property, that DID burn-up, but those plans have ,naturally ,changed. We are pretty flexible, if you want us. We leave Louisville on Friday, July 5 and don't return until the 15th. We could drive in to take you to dinner, or we could just stay for a day- whatever. Don't feel obligated- we just thought we'd like to see you, and the now famous kitchen renovation. We could talk string -theory, knee replacements, park development, Mars rover, the role of exercise in fighting addiction, etc.. Just let us know what you think.

 I wrote:

Yes, a visit sounds great! I just looked and Walsenburg is about 2 1/2 hours from Denver so if you guys want to stay here I have a guest bedroom. My cooking skills haven't really improved but there's plenty of places to eat within walking distance of my house.

I'm not traveling much these days and will be around for the time you're here so any time you guys want to come is great! If you're interested I live about 3 miles from the Denver Botanic Gardens which are fantastic if you like that sort of thing...

(I haven't been to the Denver Botanic Gardens with company since before christmas...I love the DBG so I try to get people to go with me when I have them captive - I mean, when they're visiting me)

She wrote:

Oh goodie! We will be consulting with our friends to see how they want to arrange things. I think we should head straight into Denver, then go to Walsenburg, but Dave thinks breaking things up in the middle of our stay with our buddies would be a smarter way to go...we don't want our friends to get too sick of us. We could make you sick instead!

I am approaching this whole trip with wide open arms and no expectations, just needing a change of scenery and getting out of Dodge...  I haven't been to Denver in 29 years! Some "gentle" mountain hiking would be welcome- NOT like you and your Dad are famous for. I would enjoy the Botantical Gardens or any other site-seeing that is within walking distance. After 22 hours in a car, I will be ready for walking, biking, swimming, hiking etc.

Psyched! Wonder if I can talk them into doing some climbing...

dear swamp cooler: you are an asshole

I keep doing things, like rubberizing the pan, to keep my swamp cooler from breaking. But the fucking thing keeps breaking.

There's no way it can leak anymore, like it used to, because the pan has 5 coats of rubber on it. I just replaced the belt and the water pump (in a thunder storm, which, in retrospect, wasn't very smart), so those can't break. The main pulley was welded and reinforced so it should last forever.

I think the problem is the belt replacement. The belt is obviously tighter than the old one (which was barely holding together). At first everything was fine and then last Monday I woke up at 5 am because my swamp cooler sounded like a 747 taking off on my roof. Someone with proper tools and a knack with engines came over and did some work on it and it was fine. Then I turned it off on Thursday. Friday it was fine but this morning it was making a racket again. I tried tightening shit and lubricating shit but nothing is working.

the asshole

So now I've decided to just hire someone to fix it. I give up. I think the pulley is out of alignment and it wasn't obvious with the old belt because the old belt was so loose. I have no idea how to realign a pulley. Of course, I've called a couple of places this morning and apparently a lot of people have broken swamp coolers and ACs. Hopefully someone will call me back before the summer is over.

Every time I think I'm done with projects in my house something always seems to break...