Barracuda Fuels

While I was out doing my walk yesterday, I noticed a new fuel truck in the neighborhood. The truck was black and called Barracuda Fuels. Never seem it before. Years ago, they had a number of small companies floating around. But over the years they kept getting bought out. I think mine had three different owners. 

When I first came here, I dealt with Shell. I guess they came with the house. Then I figured out that every tank of oil cost me $50.00 more than with a no-name company. So, I switched. People would say, "Oh, you're getting cheap oil, junk oil etc." But. here's the thing. All the oil here comes from the same pump. Same oil, the only difference is price. 

MY T.V. REMOTE

My T.V. remote was working too well, volume wasn't working, hard to change channels, etc. So I took it apart and wiped it all down with alcohol. What happens is, oil from our fingers gets inside and gums up the buttons. After that, I put it all back together and all is well.

The House Next Door

     Well, we have some action on the building lot next door. Time to build a house. Right off the bat, that didn't work out too well. First they had to test the soil for pollution. And no wonder, as soon as they dug into the soil, you could smell the oil. Pollution from the oil tank. I remember when they were tearing down the house, they just batted that oil tank around. When there is pollution like that, they have to remove the soil for cleaning.
     That's when they got another surprise. They never removed the foundation from the old house. They just knocked it into the hole. So they had to dig that out and haul it away. Then they had to take out the polluted soil. They took truck loads away. It was going on for days. They told me they don't bring the soil back. Probably sell it. When they finished, there was a hole at least 20 ft. deep. After that they filled part of the hole with crushed rock. Truck loads and truck loads.
Today, they are getting ready to lay the foundation. The guys told me it would take 6 months to build the house. Get used to the noise.
     They told me the new owner wasn't too happy when he heard about the pollution. I think he went after the seller.
     I met the new owner last fall. If he was the guy that bought the house. The first thing he said to me, "I don't like your fence. I'm going to build my own." We're off to a good start. Then I looked at the bright side, I only have to paint my side of the fence. +-

Lawn Mowers.

      The next task was to get my lawn mowers ready to go. I have two mowers. One, you press the handle and away she goes. I use that one out front. Hills on the sides of the lawn. It mulches everything. Also has a bag on the back. The other machine is one I put together from three broken mowers. 22" across, so I use it in the back yard.
      Changed the oil in both machines. You take the cover off the top and lay it on its side. I cleaned them both last fall and took out the gas. Filled up with gas and both started on the first pull. I bought the new one at Sears Clearance the year before last. It doesn't have a primer for the gas - you just pull the cord. I would rather have a primer. But, you can get over that. Just take out the spark plug and spray in some carb. cleaner.
      The day after that, I cut the grass out front. Don't need to do the back yet. The new machine has a hose connection. Hook up the hose - turn the mower on and it washes underneath.

Oil Change

Got my tires changed on the van this morning. Faster and cheaper when you own the rims. Also, had an oil change. Oil changes for this van cost more because of the different type of filter. Strange looking filter. 6' high and about 2' across. Looks like an air filter. I'll put up a photo. On the way home it started to snow. Turned to water on the ground.