Sometimes you just want to punt and get off the field!

A few days ago, I wrote a post and then experienced a problem and now that post is forever drifting around in the internet universe.


As many of you are aware, Coach resigned at Breckenridge last week.  It seems that when they came to him, they told him they wanted to do whatever it took to attract the coaches who could make Buckaroo athletics competitive again.  (Of course the best way would be to hire coaches with children who are multi-sport stars).  Coach put together a good group, and he and the school board enticed these people to make the transition to Breckenridge.


Now there has been a changing of the guard on the school board, and changes are being demanded and questions are coming that don't have answers.  One school board member requested Coach's presence at a board meeting to ask why they are having so many knee injuries since coach took over.  There is no answer.  Injuries happen.  We all know that no coach would ever wish for or ask an athlete to do something that would cause them to become injured.  (Besides, Coach suffered a knee injury in High School and had surgery then and knee replacement three years ago).  The latest school board initiative is to cut the athletic budget twenty-five percent across the board, including coaching stipends.  Now this didn't affect Coach as he was seven months in on a new contract, but his assistant coaches that had been enticed by increased pay were now looking at pay cuts.  The superintendent was very pro athletics, and the school board in their mindless assault on athletics were looking at non renewing this man's contract, so he resigned.  Coach Freeman requested that the school board grandfather in any coaches who moved with him in 2010 and make the new requirements effective only on new hires.  The school board declined action on this.  The board president became so upset with the board that he resigned and then Coach Freeman submitted his resignation, saying that maybe with any excess between his salary and whoever the board hires to replace him, they could use the money to honor their commitments to the coaches he brought to Breckenridge.


I suppose the Breckenridge School Board is going to go to some place like "Discount Coaches" for their new hires.


My thoughts are this, who would want to go to Breckinridge where they don't honor their agreements and obviously do not support their coaches and their programs.


And that is all I'm going to  say about that!


Last Thursday, Slats and I drove to San Angelo to repair Merrit's car.  This is the little battle scarred Isuzu Rodeo that Alton and Lou Ann gave her.  It has been a good one and remarkably, Merrit has not wrecked it.  (Just minor rubs and brushes).  Last week Merrit had called and said her car was very sick.  You could pour water in the radiator and it ran out just as fast.  Slats and I figured a hose and a new fill of antifreeze and it would be fixed.  Once we got there, we discovered it wasn't a hose, it was the water pump.  This meant it would be a much more major fix than we were prepared to do on the curb of a street, so we began looking for a car dolly to rent.  We went to U-Haul of San Angelo where they had six of them, but they said they were all too big to do our job.  I didn't understand this because I can see the danger in too small but it looks to me that over size wouldn't be a bad thing.  Still they would not rent me a car dolly.  They sent me across town where it took an hour to do the paperwork over the phone with U-Haul traffic, then we hooked up and high tailed it.  I will say it is the first time I have ever rented something at U-Haul that they didn't do a physical inspection of the equipment, that they didn't hook up, that they didn't give a quick tutorial on, and that they didn't check to be sure every light was shining.  I did elect to put insurance on the dolly and $5000 on the Rodeo.


We drove to Merrit's Mom's house where the Rodeo had succumbed to internal injuries and driver abuse.  We readied the car dolly and then tried to start the Rodeo.  It wouldn't start and stay running.  We finally pushed the car up the street, then onto the dolly.  Slats removed the driveline while I secured the straps over the front tires and put the ramps up.


Slats and I hit the road, discussing what we thought might be wrong and hopeful that she had not gotten the engine so hot she had cracked a head or the block.  I did call and ask Chris to order us a book on the 3.2 liter engine.   The trip was uneventful until we got between Bronte and Blackwell, when the Rodeo and the dolly began snaking behind us.  Being the professional I am, I knew something had happened to cause the dolly and Rodeo not to track smoothly.  I pulled to the shoulder of the road and Slats got out.  It turned out that the wheels had turned on the rodeo and the straps had become loose.  One was totally off, the other was almost there.


I saw an image of $5000 floating by my eyes.


Slats told me how lucky we were, then I told him I had insured the car.  We both sat in stunned silence.


We made it to the barn and off loaded the Rodeo, deciding to wait until the following morning to see what we were looking at.


The next morning we began the tear down and discovered the water pump was out and that the timing belt was very brittle.  This engine is an interference engine where if the timing belts breaks, bad things happen.  Pistons meet valves and dollar signs blow out the exhaust.


We decided to replace the water pump, the timing belt and the spark plugs.  Parts would be in Monday.  The water pump was a piece of cake, the timing belt was the subject of much discussion.


Slats and I both had dreamed that we put it all back together and the car wouldn't start.


We decided that since nothing had changed as far as the position of the cams and the crankshaft, we could put the belt on and the timing should be correct.  We put the belt on and assembled the engine as far as we had to, to try to start the engine.  It would turn over to beat the band but it would not start.  Our dreams were prophetic.  We spent the rest of the day tinkering with it, but with no positive results.


We decided Tuesday morning we would tear it back down, remove the belt and begin from scratch.  We positioned the crank on TDC (top dead center), then we positioned the camshafts on their marks as well as the oil pump.  We slipped the belt on, with all three timing marks appropriately positioned.  Then the book said rotate the engine by hand to be sure there was no interference.  We did, and the book said to roll it over until the timing marks came back to the original positions.  With two tensioners, a smaller sprocket on the crankshaft and larger sprockets on the two camshafts plus the water pump driving off the timing belt, it took twenty six revolutions before all the stars aligned again.  Slats got in the car and turned the key and it started up.  It was very smooth, probably smoother than I had ever known it to be, however it had some smoke coming from the tail pipe.  We were hopeful this smoke was from oil leaking on top of the pistons when we changed the spark plugs.


I may begin calling this car Jericho.


We had a few small things we fixed on it,  a transmission leak, some tweaking here and there and we did a full service on it.  I even put two quarts of oil and a gallon of 50/50 antifreeze in the back.


Mid afternoon yesterday Slats and I sat out to return the car to Merrit.  Initially there was slight smoke coming from the tail pipe, then it cleaned up.  I was following watching the tail pipe and my windshield to be sure we weren't losing fluids.  When we got to the hills south of Sweetwater it would roll a little black smoke and I could smell gasoline, then it would backshift and clean up and go on.  Apparently in overdrive on the inclines it was trying to flood out.  About the 53 cut off, it began running like a Trojan!  I looked down twice and we were running 85.  I thought, we have created a monster, we may have to pull one or two spark plug wires to keep Merrit from speeding.


When we slowed and went through Bronte, Slats was running about 60 miles an hour so I figured he wanted me to pass him and lead, I did but her continued to drop back.  I slowed as we got to San Angelo and then the Rodeo got a new breath of life and he was about to run over me. 


We aren't sure what is going on.  I wish I knew someone who had a computer to put it on.  It might well be the fuel filter or it could be the catalytic converter is stopped up.  But it does run.


I had made the statement that the antifreeze would probably cost more than the repair.  HA HA HA HA!  Golly was I wrong.


I told Merrit the Rodeo may not be pretty, it may not be fast, but it is hers.


The highlight of the repair and return was I got to see Noble when we took the Rodeo to Merrit's house.    Lolly drove up with him for a visit.


Valentines, Georgiana and I went to Abuellos.  We tried to go to Red Lobster at 5:30 and there was already a two hour wait.  What in the world.


Aunt Robbie, came in Friday to spend the weekend with Memama and go to a birthday party.  Georgiana came back to Roscoe with me and we stayed at the house.  We got up early Saturday to watch Reid and Holt's little dribbler basketball games in Shallowater.  then we got to go to Reid's baseball tryouts and we finished out visit by all going to eat at the Caprock Café.


We returned late Saturday in time to do some prep work for Sunday lunch.


Sunday morning we got everything in the oven and on the stove and headed to Abilene and Joni finished lunch and put it all together.  I returned late Sunday evening.


Rian told me that Reid was the number one pick in the baseball draft.  I hope he gets lots of money!!!!!!!!!


Tuesday was my birthday and it was a good day.  Me and the guys cooked burgers at the barn, life long friend, Debbie, came bearing gifts and celebrated with us, and late in the day Georgiana came also bearing gifts and with Italian crème cake!  My favorite.  Pat and Hag came by to wish me a happy birthday, then Georgiana, Memama and myself went to Ma Allen's and ate the buffet.  We returned home to have cake and ice cream before Georgiana returned to Abilene.


For those of you keeping a score card.  I turned 61 Tuesday.  Ironically, this is the same age Gon Gon was when he died.  Golly, he was young.  I can remember because I was 16 and he was 61.  That is kind of scary.


Memama is doing pretty good.  She has been getting up and getting dressed which I think makes her feel better and more energetic.  She has not complained of any shortness of breath lately so that is good.


Have a day!


FATHER, thank YOU for another birthday.  Thank YOU for resurrecting Merrit's Rodeo, I pray it stays reliable and dependable and safe for her and little britches!