I have a good friend that was trying to get his International 450 tractor ready to go on an annual tractor ride. Friday evening before Father’s Day, I get a call that he needed some help and wanted to know if I would be willing to come out. Of course I said yes (it is hard to pass on an opportunity to do some mechanic work). I jumped on my motorcycle and headed into town. When I got there, he was working on changing one of the rear wheels. As the tires are filled with fluid to increase weight and traction, we estimated that they weigh about 1000 lbs…each. The wheels are heavy enough that it is good to have at least two people around. That way, if the tire falls over on one of them, the other can call for help. After getting the tire off and wheeled out of the way, we worked on putting a different set back on. Fortunately, the set going back on were not filled with fluid and were considerably lighter.
As usually happens when working on old tractors, after getting the second rear wheel off, we needed the change the rear axle seal as it was leaking. Once that was done and the new wheel put on, we started working on a hydraulic leak that started the night before. The unfortunate part was the leak was located behind the dash. This forced us to remove most of the sheet metal on the tractor and the dash in order to gain access. This little project took much longer than expected. It was about 2:30 in the morning when we finally got everything done.
As we were working, a heavy fog rolled in. Normally, this would not be a problem except I had ridden my motorcycle. Fog likes to collect on the face mask of my helmet making it impossible to see. This means that I have to ride with my face mask up, which then causes my glasses to fog over, again, making it impossible to see. I have to then push my glasses down my nose so I can see over them. The fog will then collect on my face, eyebrows, eye lashes and eventually start running into my eyes. As the fog was so thick, my top speed hit a whopping 30mph. It took me nearly an hour to ride home. That put me in bed around 3:30am. Saturday night, I got busy working on the computer and got to bed about 1:30am.
Now, I am not one that is really enjoys celebrating holidays. To me they are nothing more than another day of the year. This usually manifests itself with Laura as utter disappointment on special days like Valentines, Christmas, her birthday, etc. However, I expect nothing from anyone on similar days. While this may seem like a fair trade to me, it is terribly unacceptable to Laura. To that end, after being disappointed every holiday the first year we were married, she has since stolen my cell phone and programmed all the ‘special’ days into the calendar. Unfortunately for me, she decided to get some revenge in the process by setting reminders, not once, but three times a day for a month ahead of time. I think she has a little too much time on her hands.
To me, Father’s day is just another day of the year. I know that many people take part by sending cards and making phone calls, but I am just not into that. Laura, on the other hand makes sure to keep me in line. She will buy the cards and I will sign them. Mason also gets to sign the cards…one of the few times that he is allowed to use an ink pen. Usually he just scribbles all over the card. Laura will trace his hand onto the card and write the date in the middle of it. Mason will then try to do it himself. Sometimes he misses a finger or two but he is getting better at it.
Sunday morning, which was Father’s Day, was pretty brutal. A few hours of sleep a couple days in a row can really wear on a person. But that morning, Mason came upstairs with my Father’s Day cards. He opened the one from Laura first and tried to read it to me, but I couldn’t understand a word he said. Next he opened the card from him to me with the same jabbering that only he could understand. Then it was time to play, “jump on Dad until he gets out of bed”. Several knees to the bladder later, I got up. It was a special treat to see Mason so excited about getting to open the cards.
Tags: Father's Day, Mason
