Steve Tilford

Yesterday was one of those days that everything just went a little wrong. Maybe it was because I got up before 4 am to drive Trudi to the airport after a hard, hot day on the bike, I don’t know, but nothing seemed to be working well, especially my mind and body.

Anyway, I thought should change the oil in my diesel van. It takes 15 quarts of synthetic oil and by the time you add the new oil filter, it comes to about $125, that is doing it myself. So, it’s about a 10 minute job normally, but not yesterday.

When I got the van a few years ago, the oil plug was partially rounded. So, everytime I removed it, I pay close attention to get the socket on straight and tight. But, not yesterday. Yesterday I just fuckered it up more. And more. I soon realized that I wasn’t going to be able to use the 19mm anymore and the plug was toast. So I went in the garage and got a 24in Rigid pipe wrench to remove it. I got the jaws of the pipe wrench on the plug pretty good and couldn’t believe it wouldn’t come out. That just rounded it more and more.

I sprayed some rust penetrator stuff on the bolt, since it is a steel pan, steel bolt, sans copper washer, and let it sit. I got the pipe wrench on it again and nothing. So, I go downstairs and get the Dremel tool. I took the Dremel and cut the plug to a the size of a 18 mm socket. I tapped it on with a hammer, had a pretty good feel for it and then, nope, it just spun.

Finally, I just ground the bolt down to the size of a 17mm extractor I had. I’m not sure if it was removing the metal that was rusted to the pan or what, but the extractor removed the plug. I haven’t changed the oil since I drove the van up to Cable over Christmas, and that place is white with salt, but come on, that was ridiculous.

I went to the auto parts store to buy and new plug and couldn’t figure out what size I needed. I think it was a 14 x 1.25 pitch, but it didn’t look right. Anyway, I finally called the Ford dealer and they had a plug for $9, so I just drove there.

I got the plug and had the destroyed one with me and when I went to the cashier woman at the dealership, she knows me, she said something about it looks like I had some trouble getting it out. I told her that is is so weird how a 10 minute job can turn into a 2 hours job. And I got no satisfaction out of it at all. I told her the plug has been screwed up since day one, but I blew it initially.

She said it was patience. That the older we get, the less patience we have. We don’t do things as precisely as we used to because we lack patience. I agreed. Plus, I added I didn’t get much of a sense of accomplishment from solving the problem because I knew that I was going to get the plug out.

20 years ago I would have thought of the whole thing as a learning process and really taken some pride in solving the issue. I wouldn’t have thought of it as a waste of my time. I wasn’t patient from the start and that is what started the whole load of extra work.

Patience applies a lot to bike racing, especially when you’re racing alone. Since an individual rider doesn’t usually have a ton of impact on the whole race, that rider needs to allocate his/her energy very efficiently. I’ve met a ton of very, very talented athletics, that raced bikes, that didn’t have any patience. They never got to the next level because of it. They used all their energy, some of it just nervous energy, but most of it real, expended energy, on stupid moves and early breaks that had little chance for success. I felt bad for them because they didn’t have any ability to rein it in and just let the race play out as it normally would. Their impatience made it nearly impossible to get a result.

Anyway, it seems now like I’m always behind doing things. I’m not sure if it is just a perception or I am really behind. I’d think at this time of my life, I would have less stuff to do. It always seems more stuff to do. Maybe I just want to do more stuff, so there is a longer list, I’m not sure, but whatever the reason, the list just keeps getting longer. And I don’t have the patience, it seems, to just do things half-assed. I think I used to be able to decided what needs to be done perfectly and what just needs to get done. Now, when I do something, I want to do it exactly the right way, even if it doesn’t matter than much. Eventually, I just run out of time and do it mediocre because that is all the time I have left to do it. It is frustrating.

Okay, now that I have all that down, I can take a deep breathe. It didn’t help much that I nearly completely fell apart on the club ride last night. I finally just sat on and when they went hard at the end, I sat up. My legs didn’t feel that bad, I just had no energy. I probably need another rest day, off the bike, but sometimes those don’t really turn out to be rest days. Most my projects involve a big amount of physical activity. And the ones that don’t, I tend to just ignore.

Below are a few pictures of the drain plug, so interesting to me and no one else, plus a few old time photos I got from Jim Safford. He’s been taking photos for a long time and said he would send me some more after the Tour of California. I really should get all my pictures and slides turned into digital sometime.

Screwed up drain plug.

Extractor that ended up working.

New and old plug.

This photo is from the Tour of Americans. It’s a team time trial, obviously. I was winning the race at this point. I ended up 2nd overall to Davis Phinney.

I guess this is from the Tour of Texas. That is Chris Carmichael behind me.

This is from Sea Otter, late 90’s. Seem a little muddy.

This is from Mammoth, early 90’s. I look a little scared. This wasn’t an easy descent.

I think maybe you might be able to judge a country on whether it is 1st World or not on how they treat their pets and animals. When people, or the general population of a country, have the luxury to be able to worry about whether the stray dogs and cats have enough food and are healthy, then they have enough food and are healthy.

I was sickened by the reports that they were just shooting/killing big dogs prior to last year’s Winter Olympics in Russia. I was thinking about how cruel it was that humans could care so little to let the situation get that bad to start with. But, those people didn’t have the luxury to be able to deal with the situation. People look after themselves first, then the animals 2nd, if at all.

When I first heard Bob Barker do the spiel about getting your pets neutered or spayed, I thought the guy was a nut. Now thinking back upon it, I am embarrassed about my first impression. I didn’t really think about it, I just judged. He was really doing our society a service. We don’t want or need more cats and dogs running around, or not running around, here. We have enough.

Monday, before 6 am, when I was returning from driving Trudi to the airport, I came upon a fox walking down the street in our neighborhood. Then Monday night, when I was walking Bromont late, I saw another, or the same, fox just standing in a yard. Bromont ran right by him, which should have been mildly embarrassing to him. Then last night, some sirens went off when I was just a couple blocks from the park and a whole pack of coyotes started howling. Like lots that were maybe just 50 meters from me, across a creek. I would have bet you a million dollars that there weren’t 10 coyotes within 100 meters of me right then.

I think it is amazing how wild animals can live in a city with people. Bromont regularly will be out with me running and next thing I know he’s chasing a few deer through the yards. It’s not like I live close to the country, I’m pretty much in the middle of the city. There is a big city park close by, that is left pretty natural, with a creek running through it, so that is where most of the wild animals hang I suppose.

Bromont got an ear infection last weekend. His ear looked pretty gross a couple days ago, but is much better now. I’m not much into cleaning out smelly ear infection stuff, but I’ve been doing it twice a day for him. He knows his ear is bad, so he tolerates it pretty well. I think Bromont gets the ear infections and skin problem every Spring with allergies. He and I seem to mimic each other in that regard.

We’re having all sorts of cat situations. Our long haired cat, Fran, seemed to forget how to clean herself. When I came back from being gone a month, she was completely matted. Trudi took her to our Vet to have her groomed. She came back looking so silly. Sort of like a lion, with a bob on her tail. I think she is embarrassed.

Plus, our cats are rearranging themselves. Wink, the one eyed cat has been pretty much been living in the basement the last three years with the bike stuff. But, a few months ago, during the winter, a feral cat took refuge in the basement and that drove Wink into making a decision. She moved upstairs and now even goes outside. She seems happier.

The feral cat is getting more used to us. It will eat food within 5 feet of me, but there is no way I can touch it. We had this happen once before with Willow, and she became super friendly eventually. This cat is older, so I’m not sure it will be the same. I probably should trap the feral cat and take it to the vet to get fixed, but I don’t want to scare it away. Evenutally.

Okay, just a few things floating around in my brain. There is lots more.