John (Deere, my tractor) returned from the hospital on Wednesday.  The fellow who delivered him only knew that the service manager had called him and told him to take John home.  The manager was out of town on business.

Good for him.  They usually seem to keep John for much longer than I would like.  So I was pleased when he was delivered.  No invoice.  The boss would take care of that when he got back later that day.

Company came and I had no time to do anything with John until Thursday afternoon.  I examined the tractor before going to work with him.  Oh oh . . .  It was obvious that they had not done the routine winter maintenance that I had requested.  The necessary repairs were done, however.

Okay, it fell through the crack.  Understandable, right?  Perhaps, but the same thing happened last year.  I was not happy.  I called the manager, and he apologized profusely.  He’s done that before.  (Must have practice?)  Then he nearly knocked me over.

“Can we come to your house tomorrow morning and perform the service right there so there is no delay in getting it back to you?”  Needless to say, he won me over and put me back in the contented customer category.  That’s one of the reasons I spent extra money for “big green.”  They are great at providing parts and service.

They are coming this morning. :clap:   Perhaps I’ll get some work done with John before the day ends.

I invited my older son to join me last night (Thursday) for a Social Security seminar sponsored and presented by my certified financial planner.  Wow!  If you’re facing retirement in the near future, you would do well to seek some professional guidance.  There are options that allow a person, or a couple, to best use the benefits that are available.  SSA agents can’t advise you, but will answer your questions.  The secret is knowing the questions that you should ask.  I’m not competent to tell you anything more than, “seek help.”

Our good friends Angel and Edeline García are with us.  They arrived yesterday and will be leaving a bit later today.  We enjoy our time with them.  A lot.  They enjoy coming here where it is quiet and they can enjoy some “down time.”

They brought their grandson, Joshua, with them.  He’ll be 14 months old next week.  We’ve enjoyed having such a happy and well behaved child in our house.  I’ve had a lot of fun laughing and playing peek games with him. :whaa:   Sylvia is enjoying loving on the baby.

Sylvia and Joshua

I’d post more today, but I don’t want to spend more time here at the computer.  Not when there’s a happy youngster to play with. 😆

C U 2morrow.  TTFN

Posting in cooperation with:

This diagram from Denmark explains the reason for our seasons.  Most of this you probably studied in school

Equinox comes from two words meaning “equal night.” At the equinox the sun is directly over Earth’s equator and the length of light and dark (day and night) are [approximately] equal.

Solstice comes from two words meaning, “sun” and “to stand still.”  This happens when the sun reaches the farthest northern (or southern) point from the equator.

Indeed if you observe you’ll notice that the length of the day (compared to night) changes most rapidly at the equinox and very slowly at the solstice.  Have you ever observed the differences in where the sun rises and sets?

About 35 years ago, my commute to work included a stretch of wide open expressway.  In the spring and the fall around the time of the equinox, the rising sun would be directly in my eyes as I drove along this part of the road to work.  It only lasted three or four days and then it was off to the left or right and would be higher or lower in the sky and not bother me.

You don’t have to be a home-schooler to teach your children about these things.  AND you don’t have to be a child to learn more.  Use your eyes, be curious, find answers and learn.  It’s fun.  No, really it is. 8)

Here in Michigan, we think of summer being over after Labor Day.  That long weekend marks the end of summer activities for most folks.  That’s partly due to shorter days, cooler weather and also because children are heading back to school.  If I’m wrong about school schedules, please remember it’s been about 30 years since I had a child in school.

Many, including our calendars mark the end of summer as coming at the autumnal equinox.  This year, that happened about 10:45 AM last Saturday (Sept 22).  Which leads me off on a side trail . . .  Why is it the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox when we refer to the summer solstice and winter solstice?  Do you know why?  I don’t.  Is there a reason that it’s not spring equinox and fall equinox?

The lawn is growing very slowly.  I’m not complaining about that.  Yes, I like being outside while I’m mowing, but it takes expensive diesel fuel and my arthritic bones get “all shook up” riding on that tractor.  I’m also not complaining about that either.  I’d rather live here in the country and deal with the expansive lawn and everything else than to live in town in an apartment.

The garden is showing signs of wrapping it up for this year.  It look different than it did even a couple of weeks ago.

Marigold and salvia keep some color alive.  We’ve had a great harvest this year, and will eat well for the next year from produce that came from this patch of ground.

There’s some red showing in the cherry tomatoes, but it won’t last much longer.  Soon the cooler weather will be cold.  The tomato plant will have completed its cycle.  There is promise for the future.  The fern-like plants on the left are new asparagus plants.  They will come back next year and get much stronger.  The year after, we will enjoy a tasty harvest from these plants.  Next year, we’ll be enjoying rhubarb from the other side of the garden.

There are beets and carrots waiting to be harvested.  There are still plenty of butternut squash to be brought in, processed and preserved.  But the end is in sight.  The promise for the future can be seen as well.

Summer may be over, but I am warmed by a feeling of deep contentment.  Life is good.

? ? ? ? ? ?

The picture is Briana and me.  We want your help.  Please supply a caption for this photo in a comment.  We thank you.

Briana, no longer a teenager, is in her junior year of Nursing School.  Her grandpa is just a silly old man.

I remember old time radio dramas.  I loved them.  They fed the imagination.  The creepy tales that would give one such a fright.  The comedies that left you in stitches.  The mysteries that tested your wits.  Best of all, they are just as good today as they were back then when we huddled around the old console radio.

To me, William Conrad will always be Marshall Dillon.  James Arness might look more the part, but William Conrad had the voice that made you believe.  Your mind’s eye would picture the Marshall being like one of Ray’s chickens.  You know, “big as a house, smart as the dickens.” 😉

For several years, I have been a [free] subscriber to Live 365.  There you’ll find all kinds of Internet radio stations.  I search for “otr” (old-time radio).  Some of the listings require a paid subscription, but they do come commercial free.  These are live audio streams, so it’s like tuning in a real radio station.  You may join in the middle of a program, and you’ll hear what has been programmed.

I wanted to find Mr Keen episodes online.  Finally I did find them at archive.org.  In fact they have a tremendous archive of radio programs and other items too.  It’s better than TV–at least in my opinion it is way better.  You can click on the link to listen online or download and save the files.  I prefer to listen online.  Check it out and enjoy!

In cooperation with:

Okay, it is John Deere and my tractor refused to start when I went out to mow the lawn.  It didn’t even try.  The battery didn’t have enough charge.  I put the battery charger on it.

That’s the charger on the left-front tire.  There’s an electrical problem in the glow-plug system.  They use them in the modern diesel engines so they will start in cold weather.  The circuitry is complicated and buried inside somewhere.  The guy from the dealership will pick it up this morning and take it in for repairs.  With all the hydraulics and fancy systems on this modern marvel, I don’t work on it.

It’s like my car.  I used to work on it.  Drive in and buy the parts.  Pray :pray: I had everything I needed.  (Of course I had double and triple checked, but sometimes . . . 😥 )  Then take it apart, work on it and put it back together.  Fortunately, I never completely embarrassed myself.

I did the mowing I wanted to do, but not with John.  Instead, I turned to Yan.  He’s been around for quite a while and with me for over a decade.

Like me, Yan is a high-mileage unit–and he is relatively simple. 😀   I’ve worked on him quite a bit.  I even bought the metric tools so that I could.  When he stopped working late last summer, I scoped out the problem, ordered parts and fixed him.

Great machine, right? :up:   Perhaps not.  He has a higher center-of-gravity, no power steering and the rear-mounted mower is difficult to maneuver around obstacles.  Also, in cold weather he doesn’t want to start. :down:

Despite all that, Yan came through for me and we got the lawn care job completed.  Not only that he’ll be here with me while John is in “the hospital.”

Do you know what John and Yan have in common?  They both have Yanmar diesel engines.

My neighbor once asked me why I chose to move out here in the country in retirement.  I responded, “I moved out here under the theory that it would cure me . . . or kill me.”  So far it’s working well.  My blood pressure is back under control. :up:   I’m saturated with feelings of peace and contentment.

I could have saved a lot of money on tractors and repairs if we’d have bought a house on a small lot in town.  I think we made the right choice.

Why do I have to check my e-mail shortly before going to bed?  It’s a terrible thing to do.  I should know better.  I obviously don’t! :no:

I remember, a few years ago, excusing myself from a conversation at the end of the work day.  I wanted to take a quick scan of my e-mail inbox before leaving for home.  My colleague said, “I never check e-mail during the last hour of work.  The last thing I want to see is bad news before I go home . . . and double down on that for weekends.

My problem wasn’t bad news it was this:

Don’t watch that just before going to bed.  You’ll be having fowl thoughts doing the chicken dance around your brain.  Do you really want that?  I didn’t think so.

But it wasn’t the pouncing poultry in my brain as much as it was aching arthritis in my body that resulted in a poor night’s sleep for me.  After a while, I gave up and got out bed and went to the recliner and heating pad for some relief.  Eventually, I found the sleep I sought.

I was up this morning before the crack of . . . 9 AM.  And that’s why I’m a bit late posting this morning.  That’s my story and . . . you know. 😉