Auburn Gal Always

Tackle It Tuesday. I'm beginning to realize I don't do much tackling on Tuesday. I tend to tackle off schedule. And I don't have pictures. But I did eliminate the need(?) for a $100ish expense with this tackling. yay me!

Oh well and anyhoo....

I so Rock!

You may not know this about me, but I'm a mechanical genius. It's a genetic ability I inherited from my dad, who is quite the inventor, himself. I'm not so much of an inventor as I am a master disassembler and reassembler.

I can correctly fold road maps. Now that we have dashboard navigation systems, this is an obsolete and totally useless skill, good for a polite spattering of applause at the weirdest of cocktail parties.

I know how to fold fitted sheets so that they make mostly-square shapes.

I can do origami shirt folding, but don't really like it.

I've replaced belts on vacuum cleaners.

I am the one that assembled our bbq grill when we got married. And I only used the hammer once, and it was because a part was damaged in shipping. I promise. In shipping, I tell you!

I am definitely the one who assembles most toys. Unless, of course, I am great with child and then The Mighty Hunter should just get his hammer out and get to work.

I don't do auto-mechanical stuff. It's a little greasier and dirtier than I like to get. But my dad can make any engine hum like something that hums nice and quiet. He holds 2 patents for xalternative fuel furnace systems for use in agricultural buildings (like chicken farms, etc.)

When I left home and moved into my first apartment at college (yes, Auburn University!), my mom gave me my first hammer and screwdriver set. She said that a "smart girl like you can drive her own nail and screws and should have the tools to do it." And that the "hammer is useful for self-defense too." Also, that if I waited on some man to do it for me, I'd probably need the hammer to teach him a lesson in a totally different manner. Or something like that.

I have lost track of most of those original tools. I still have that hammer and, for some reason, feel sentimental about it. MY HAMMER. I have since added to my tool collection. The Mighty Hunter has found that I'm decent at choosing individual tools and will sometimes take the "five finger discount" on the choicest ones he finds in my toolbox.

jerk

When I say I have tools, I should clarify. I have a great little needle-nose wire-cutter thing. MY HAMMER. Small screwdrivers ideal for toy battery cover removal and computer work. A flat screwdriver that has a durable handle I use as a chisel for various things. Just before Christmas, I bought myself a cool little racheting tool that has about 24 different tips: Phillips head, flat head, hex head and small sockets. The driver part will adjust to a 45 or 90 degree angle. And - AND! - it has a great little pouch that keeps it all together. I'm tempted to put some kind of Lojack device on it, as The Mighty Hunter covets it fiercely. I've hidden it in the back of the Pimped Out Mamamobile. bwahahahaha!



Anyway, back to me Rocking!

I've been lazy about getting my old stroller out and cleaned up to use with Lucky. To be honest, I haven't been anywhere that didn't have shopping carts for me to put his carseat carrier thingy on.

My laziness had to end though, as tomorrow, I'm taking Stinkerbell, Lucky and a friend to meet The Mighty Hunter in Birmingham, and we're all going to the zoo. A stroller without zoo cooties for Lucky will be a MUST. Which meant that I had to first FIND my stroller, and, second, wash the fabric parts.

How many of you have ever removed all the fabric pieces from a stroller? The stroller I have uses 10 different screws to hold the main fabric seating piece to the metal frame. The basket in the bottom is attached with heavy duty snaps. The canopy thing has a metal frame and velcro.

It has been probably 5 years since I've used this lovely hand-me-down from my brother's kids. I grabbed my racheting tool and quickly removed the fabric pieces and threw them in the washing machine. The basket got wiped down with a soapy rag. However... And isn't there too many "howevers" in life? However, I didn't really pay attention to exactly how the basket snapped in. And I remembered that the canopy was missing a part that held it in place in the back. In place off the baby's head. (I suspect this is why my brother gave us the stroller when Stinkerbell was born.)

Short List in Ways I Rock in Assembling Stuff Late at Night:

1. I got all the fabric pieces and the basket back in place with only looking at a picture from the internet of the same stroller for sale. For $10, how sad. I was hoping to find the assembly instructions or user's manual from Graco, but no luck.

2. I used my needle-nosed wire-cutter tool to cut down a really wide clothes hanger to fix the canopy so that it would stay off the baby's head and actually work properly.




No, I have nothing else to write about. Thank you for tolerating my madness one more time.