Just Life | Steve Tilford

I was texting Pat Lemieux yesterday, after his wife, Gwen Jorgensen, won the triathlon yesterday. I told him that I thought it was crazy how their “destiny” can be changed so drastically from the results of one sporting event. It almost doesn’t seem right, but for sure, it is true.

I personally don’t know that many people that have won the Olympics. Nearly everyone I know that has a Olympic medal is a cyclist. Well, that isn’t exactly true. I do know Michellie Jones, who won a silver medal in triathlon in Sydney. I felt bad for her, losing that race by just a couple seconds.

Of course I know all the people that won medals in Los Angeles. We had 4 riders on our Levis team that won medals. Those were Connie Carpenter, that won the women’s road race, Steve Hegg, Gold in pursuit, Nelson Vails, SIlver in Sprint, then Roy Knickman, who won bronze in TTT. There were lots of other medals won by American riders too, with Mark Gorski, etc.

But I’m not sure that I actually held a medal other than Roy’s bronze. Roy used to have a glass medal vase and all his medals were just in there. You could stick you hand into the vase and pull a medal out and it would always be amazing. Junior World Championship medal, National Championship medal, Olympic medal. It is crazy his career results. I must have seen Steve Hegg’s medal, but I can’t remember holding it. Same with Nelson’s medal.

Like I said above, an Olympic medal is a life changing deal. Especially a Gold medal. Gwen will be defined from now on by being an Olympic Champion. It isn’t a bad thing. It is funny how just one race is more important than all the rest of the races she has won, combined. This one result will open doors that would normally be closed to normal folks. Closed, locked, key thrown away to us. That is the way the world works.

I have told a ton of people, that if I were super rich, I would collect Olympic medals. I’d try to collect three medals, Gold, Silver, Bronze, from each Olympic games since their conception. Back when the Iron Curtain was up, those medals would have been a lot cheaper. Now they are pretty pricey. I check on eBay every once in a while and see the random Olympic bronze medal out there. Like a Cuban baseball medal or something. They are usually pretty beat, no ribbon, scratched up and cost somewhere over 15K.

Anyway, I hope to see Gwen’s medal sometime soon. Pat said Gwen’s season is most likely over now. I bet not, but wouldn’t put money on it. I hope it is. Then I’ll get to ride some with Pat. They both deserve some rest. They have put so much effort and time into yesterday, I’m sure it felt as much as a relief as an accomplishment.

I have this poster in the stairway going to my basement.

Gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen.

Tucker feels much better today.

The Internet is a two edged sword for me. For most people I think. It really makes many things much easier and enjoyable, but there is the too much deal. It really has replaced the television as the source of entertainment for the majority of people. With that, you get the guilt of overuse. Am I wasting my precious time on the computer when I could be doing something way more useful?

I’ve been trying to curb that by not “surfing” the net much. I do go to a few websites on a daily basis, but I don’t sit on my computer for hours just for nothing.

One thing that I never regret when using the Internet is when I’m trying to fix something. There is always someone out there that has fixed the same problem as I have and feels like sharing it. And it is getting more common. I’ve never made a video of fixing something, but when I do run into something that I find an easy fix for, I feel it is my responsibility to share that with all the guys that have saved me so much time and energy by posting their experiences.

Case in point is on a project I’m doing right now trying to get my ice maker in my refrigerator working. It has been broken all summer, so my insulated bottles are sort of valueless. But, ice is a nice thing, energy intensive, but nice all the same. Bill’s refrigerator has had sort of the same issue, so I figure I’d research mine and maybe figure out his.

I initially thought my problem was the water flow. I’d had that problem before. Those cheap ice maker kits that punch a hole through your copper water line are valueless. I cut mine out and replaced it with a 1/2 inch T and a proper 1/4″ valve. I decided not to sweat in a new t, since the pipe was wet, I bought a removable Sharkbite T and valve and it worked awesome. It cost about $8 more, but the whole process took me about 10 minutes.

Anyway, nearly all the icemakers in all the refrigerators are the same. And there are multiple Youtube videos out the how to fix them. I think it you get lucky, you could probably fix your ice maker for less than $5. But even if you have to replace the whole thing, it is only around $45, which is a steal compared to calling a repairman.

My main issue with this repair is my knee. It involves some kneeling, which isn’t conducive right now. But, I persevered. I had already ordered a new ice maker from Amazon for $45 and then I was making sure it wasn’t the water solenoid or some other problem. I used this Youtube video for most my information. The guy seemed smart and covered most of what I needed to know.

It turns out the heating element that helps release the cubes somehow fritzed out on mine. I learned this by disassembling it. I thought that maybe I could have just gotten a new element, but it had melted the plastic and circuit board. Whatever, a new ice maker is showing up tomorrow.

So, I’m stoked that I found the problem and that it is a easy, relatively cheap, fix. Most things around the house are the same, you just need to hope it is a common issue that someone has posted a Youtube video that show you have to fix it, step-by-step.