Have a happy Saturday and Easter weekend.

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining – they just shine.” — Dwight L. Moody

The rains from the past couple of days have passed. This morning is quiet (Marcia is still in bed), outside the traffic is light, and here the pot has stopped perking – my coffee is great!

Break needed – Well, well, the combination of crazy work and ‘roller-coaster’ weather has finally left a mark. Marcia, with a combination of exhaustion and the flip-flopping 70-degree to near freezing weather, is now in bed – she’s been there for over 12-hours straight.

Last weekend it was a wonderful time with friends and neighbors (from two places and two countries). First it was the arrival and non-stop time with Barb & Bulent from Canada. Oh, and an evening at a new little restaurant, Abigail Street, in the old historic Over the Rhine area – it was beyond great. Beer-on-tap is common, wine-on-tap less so, especially when it is excellent wine, the folks at Abigail Street managed to pull it off. 

The next evening we entertained friends from right here in North Avondale. We continues with the ‘tapas’ theme and got started quickly after showing off every nook and cranny of our new digs. It’s amazing how quickly the clock eased by the 10:30 mark – especially for us old timers who’d been up till well past midnight the evening before.

Then it was back to the grind at the old homestead.

Kids jumped in – on Sunday. Thanks guys. The result being that everything still on the third floor was taken down. Then nearly everything from the second floor was hauled downstairs.

  Yesterday, Tevita and I hauled a load of metal (old water-heater, two old in-wall AC units, odds and ends, and a ‘50s four burner range stuck in Tevita’s basement from a previous owner, to a nearby metal recycler. Driving through their lot in and around 4-story mountains of scrap exposed me to a world previously unknown to me.

So, Marcia has been painting, and painting, and a little more paint. There are about a dozen boxes of books and texts in the hallway which I’ll take to the Friends of the Library. Then, Monday, the floor specialists will begin refinishing the six or seven rooms with hardwood floors (I’ve lost track of just how many).

Hitting it lucky – As the truck’s odometer crept forward it came to a spot where I determined that it was time for an oil change, fluids check, tire rotation, etc.; you know the drill.

One item I asked they check was a bit of, newly observed, chatter at the rear end, but only after a cold start.

  When I picked the car up I was informed that they could not replicate the ‘chatter’, but did do some research. It appears that Ford issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB in automotive jargon) on just my described problem.

The very next morning I found myself at the service counter of my nearby friendly Ford dealership – Woody Sander Ford (don’t you just love that name?).

Yes, they did find the TSB – a 32-step procedure which requires the rebuilding of the rear-end differential – 5 to 6 hours of work.

My quick question was; WARRANTY? Time-wise it did fall under the bumper-to-bumper coverage. “Mileage”, came the question from the service manager (the limit is 30,000). Here was my answer; “29,571.4”. I hit it lucky. Monday morning at 7:30 they’ll start the rebuilding process.

Fini – Since I did not get to post last weekend here’s a bit of a catch-up. Birthday wishes to Arty, Dia, and Neaners. To Dinah, a great soccer season now that it’s ready to start.

Stay safe and be well, make it a great week.

Cheers.

Dirk