Mechanical insight..

...was not handed out to me.

I am definitely not as handy as this lass is,

with a wrench.

Oh, by the way, if you like all kinds of retro things,
take a look at my neighbours website
www.theretrobarn.com

When I was at school, I had to do all kinds of aptitude tests to see where my interest and talents lay.

These tests would give me an idea in what direction I should be looking,  to find a suitable career.

Some of the things on my  list of opportunities were jobs such as:

Forrester,

Psychologist,

Biologist,

Dentist (?)

even an agricultural teacher was on this recommended list.

The "other" list was jobs and vocations that I really should not even vaguely consider,

as I had/have no talent whatsoever for them.

On this list was things like kindergarten teacher,

auto technician,

tractor fixer,

salesperson

bookkeeper

Unfortunately, I have had to do a whole lot of these jobs  lately,

I had to get the 2012 taxes done and I have been dealing with some mechanical and technical issues.

The radiator of our tractor tore open,while I was feeding.

Martien (our technical hero and neighbour) and Eric managed to make a temporary fix (no duct tape),

while I ordered a new radiator.

And, then today,

the one side of the front end loader detached itself from the round thing,

you know that round thing that it rolls over when it goes up and down?

See?

And, this needed fixing before I could finish feeding.

So, out came the wrench, and a heavy hammer

and by beating one side and then the other,

I finally managed to have it all back in place.

I have such a sense of pride when I do cope with these mundane technical issues.

I feel like I have conquered my disabilities..

that is,until the next challenge appears.

Sometimes, the nature of the problem is not really mechanical,

more technical.

Oops,

that is not how this grain hopper should be laying.

However, sometimes when putting it on the front end loader,

things go wrong and then the hopper ends up like this..

(mostly it is my doing)

This  challenge is more a spatial problem..

How to lift the hopper up and set it straight, without damaging it or bending it or making it fall in an even more inconvenient position.

My first course of action is to utter some curses,

then have a coffee,

make a photo or two,

phone a few people,

text the photo(s) to some mechanically minded people

and then wait for some solutions.

Eventually, I will get some straps on,

add some chains,

push and heave,

curse,

 and miraculously it all falls back in place.



And,once again I can walk around with that sense of accomplishment.

Today, I had to detach a hitch on one trailer and attach it to another trailer.

All Eric said to me this morning was

try,

look,

figure it out ("it is logical" he added..)

and don't phone me.

My blogs may lead you to think that

 my days are  filled with

sheep whispering,

hugging puppies,

and

visiting with cowboys...

But, as you see, 
it is also plagued by mechanical, technical and spatial problems.