Birthday today for Brother Johnny. He's been gone 13 years now. It's kind of a coincidence his birthday is only about a week after my recent heart attack. He passed away about a week after I had my first one. I took the photo of him on the back of my old Chevy truck about 50 years ago.
Like most guitar players back in the seventies, Johnny played some Neil Young, so this one's for him.
I'm currently reading this one, which I can recommend whole heartily. Stockdale was a Navy pilot who was shot down in Vietnam and spent 7-1/2 years in a prison camp. I took the book with me to my dental appointment Friday to have something to read while waiting to see the dentist. As it happened, I had a heart attack while in the dentist's chair. They treated me a little there and then I got a ride in the ambulance to the hospital.
Things at the hospital went well. It seems one of the stents that was installed when I had my first heart attack had closed up 100%. The cardiologist opened it up and put another stent inside the blocked one. I was in a lot of pain prior to the surgery, both in my chest and in both my elbows. After that the pain subsided quickly and I felt OK again. I spent the night in the hospital but was able to come home yesterday. I'm on light duty for a few days but fortunately, according to the cardiologist, no damage was done to the heart. The only soreness I'm having now is at the insertion site in my groin but that should be OK in a few days.
It's supposed to snow again but I won't be able to shovel any. Fortunately, I've got a real good support team that I can count on and a well-stocked pantry. If things get really bad, I can ride it out inside until spring if I need to. I've got lots of books to read and DVDs from the Great Courses to watch. I still haven't watched my Bronson film or the complete Rocky and Bullwinkle and plenty of projects in the shop I can work on.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out: friends, family and medical professionals.
Yep, it's cold outside. Single digits in fact. I took yesterday off and hid in the house except for a short time late in the afternoon to check on the chickens and on the paint job in the shop. When I painted the hood and radiator shell I had the shop warmed up to about 55 degrees, but the heat has been off since. It hasn't gotten below freezing in there yet, but the paint is going to take a little longer to completely set up.
I've got things going on today but plan on finishing up the radiator tomorrow. It's supposed to warm up some. Hopefully it'll be a great day for radiator repair, but I wouldn't bet on it.
There's a reason they called him the King. The man could sing anything and everything - rock & roll, gospel, blues, you name it, and do it all well.
I picked up the cylinder head for the tractor yesterday and there's a station I like to listen to on the radio when I head east. Reception's iffy at home but it comes in well on the truck radio when I make it to the next county over. They've been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving. Normally I've about had enough of Christmas by now since it's been promoted since Halloween, but this year I seem to be enjoying the season. Of course it's still early, at least by my standards.
When I got home from picking up the cylinder head, I painted the hood and the radiator shell. I didn't take it down to bare metal, I just sanded it down with the "DA" to smooth it out a little and scuff up the old paint so it would hold the primer. It came out looking OK for sheet metal that's 73 years old.
The only thing left for me to do is get the fan shroud soldered back onto the radiator without causing a leak and then it'll be in the neighbor's court. However, it's supposed to be real cold tomorrow. I've got some stuff going on early today, but I might try tackling the shroud later. If not, I'll wait a couple of days until it warms up. It'll be nice to get the tractor up and running again. It snowed again Monday night.
