[RHClarke]

It has been an interesting few weeks to say the least. Bob was down but not out with his ticker acting up, Guy had some parts of his leg replaced, and my knees decided to pack it in for a few weeks. I am not sure how Grant has been faring, as I saw him once these past weeks. Bob seems to be doing quite well, Guy is on the mend and my knees have improved. So much for the walking wounded.

Barn wise, Grant moved his truck out of the barn and into its winter storage shed. Bob moved the trusty tractor into the barn. We cleaned up around and in the barn so that we could actually work in the barn now that the cold weather is upon us. Bob and Grant nailed together a new wood crib to replace the large crib that fed Lucifer. Lucifer's feed was changed from a fiber (wood) centric diet to a fat (oil) centric diet. The wood starts the fire going, and the oil keeps us nice and warm.

When my knees allowed, I trekked to the barn to work on some of the Pilot HUP parts. Anything that could fit into the cabinet sandblaster got cleaned up nicely. This past Saturday was very quiet with Bob out Christmas shopping and Grant at work. Guy was out to show off his new cane, and my knees have returned to a less sensitive state. The weather was quite nippy (-10 oC), so I fired up Lucifer.

The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning dirt out of one of the support channels that run the width of the rear compartment by the rear door. With the aid of an air nozzle and a trusty Shop-Vac, I managed to clean out years of sand, gravel and cement that had accumulated. The bad news was that the cleaning exposed where the cement reacted with the metal and moisture to eat a hole in the channel. This hole did not show up when I did the frame off sandblasting of the truck. After some poking and prodding, a good sized lump of cement came away with a good chunk of rusted metal. I'm not much for upside down welding, so I think I will line the hole with metal glue and press a metal plate over it. The underneath part will be sprayed with rocker panel coating. The final task of the day was to remove two metal bars that had been welded to the rear of the compartment. These bars were welded to the tabs that hold the two wall mounted bucket seats in the HUP.

Once that fun was completed, I took the HUP for a run over the snow covered trail. The braking and clutching action reminded me that the knees were still a bit sensitive, so the joy ride was called off and I returned the HUP to its shelter. Unfortunately, I had to head home early so that the missus could get to work early - this being the busy time of year for retailers.

Hopefully, Bob and Grant can fill in some of the blanks over the past few weeks.

Photos:

1 - Sandblasting fodder
2 - The boys playing "crib"
3 - The barn - a study in winter
4 - HUP repair site
5 - The hole in the channel