Just another day at the ranch....

It's been one of those days. You know the kind, when everything you try to do is just a touch out of sync. It started out like any Saturday morning on the ranch....a few chores to do, then some time for a little recreation before settling in for the evening. But, today the curve balls, change-ups and sliders started early, and I wasn't on my game.

First chore of the day was to replace the battery in the truck. No rocket science required here, take out the old, put in the new.....on a good day! Today, however, was not a good day. Since this battery was the original, I had never paid much attention to it, so I had never noticed the diagonal brace that had to be moved aside to remove the battery. No problem, get the socket set, remove the bolt, slide the brace over and remove the battery. Oops, wrong socket, it's a metric bolt. Dig out my one set of metric sockets and complete the task.

Then, to the battery terminals to disconnect the cables from the side-mounted battery connections. No problem, it's a really tight fit, but I can just get the socket on another metric size bolt.....oops, there goes the socket. I hate it when that happens, and I especially hate it when the socket disappears somewhere into the depths of the engine bay. Did I mention that I have only one set of metric sockets....I'm from the old school, we don't use metric sizes in the good old U.S.A. Aah, but we do, and I am ill prepared to deal with it. The dropped socket is nowhere to be found, so like all "good" mechanics I improvised and got the job done. Not as easily as it should have been, but it's done, and the next chore awaits.

Again, a simple task, change the oil on the same truck. I don't know who was the engineer on the design of a 2003 GMC 2500HD truck, but I would like to have a little talk with him or her. It's a four wheel drive, so there's plenty of room for me to slide under it and work, but whoever decided to place the exhaust cross-over directly behind the oil drain plug is a moron. You have to be careful no to burn yourself on the hot exhaust, and the oil spurts right on the pipe as well.

Regardless of these inconveniences, I usually have little trouble with the task....usually. But, today the plug dropped into the drain pan and I had to fish it out of the hot oil. Then, the oil filter wrench slipped, busted my knuckle, and fell.....into the drain pan of hot oil. Could this go any worse? Of course it could! The oil filter came loose and fell......into the drain pan of hot oil, splashing oil all over the floor of the shop. Not my day!

Tell you what, let's skip the rest of the chores and go fishing. I have a one-man, inflatable pontoon boat I use to float on the pond and fish for bass.....usually. Today, one of the pontoons won't hold air, and the way this day has gone so far, I'm not about to venture offshore in it.

Okay, forget the fishing and forget the chores. Some days are just not meant for productive work, and this is one of those days. There's a current country song that comes to mind, and it's one that fits this day like a glove. It's about a guy who's not too good at any type of work, but he's "Pretty good at drinking beer". I'm getting ready to give it a try.....maybe I can get that done right, but as I've proven all day long, what do I know?