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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Absence of Mallets....

It one of those classic things where you use a tool, lay it down, and it disappears forever.....

There I was, working on my Farmall F-20. It was late July, 2011. I was working "intermittently" because I had several projects I needed to do before having back surgery the first week in August. I needed to finish part of the "Speed Control" lever so I could install it.

It was one of those deals where I had TWO of the correct part - and BOTH were broken. This made it necessary for me to make a whole new part.

I got about 1/4 done with it before time ran out.

Well - since I'm not able to do a WHOLE lot, I finally decided to get busy on finishing that piece. Last week, I got the thing MADE, but still had to grind it down, "dry" fit it, grind it some more, make sure it fit, then prime and paint it.

Yesterday afternoon, it was finally ready to install for keeps.

I loosen a bolt holding another bracket in the way, deftly slide my masterpiece in place, and "pop" it onto the swivels where it belongs....almost.

It wouldn't budge - I needed a hammer.

Not just ANY hammer, mind you, I needed a rubber mallet so I wouldn't mar my nice, fresh, paint. Now, where IS that mallet.....? I looked high and low, far and wide, and still couldn't find the durn thing. I knew I had had it the last time I worked on this part - just before surgery, so I figured it would be hanging around where I last used it.

Nope.

Then, in the dark recesses of my mind, I VAGUELY remembered using it in the shop, so I trudged up the hill to retrieve it. Only trouble was, another even deeper thought reminded me that I used it there about 6 months ago....So I trudged back to the barn and tore the place apart....again.

After about an hour and a half, I gave up - one of the cats must have eaten the thing or - more likely - knew I'm looking for it, and have it hid. I decided that I HAD to get that thing in there, so I used a small piece of wood, and a claw hammer. Sure enough, it marred the paint...

Not THREE SECONDS after I smacked that wood block, I look up and over my left shoulder, and see the elusive mallet laying peacefully on top of the tractor's rear tire, right in plain sight.

Stupid mallet....

Stupid Mallet...

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