Diary for July 9, 2015

Transmission shifting cable that I photographed for Buckie LeBoeuf last week.

Of course this is our daughter’s birthday! I did phone her and left her a message with a pleasant wish.
Our trusty cheap Chinese pickup can again be shifted into gear, thanks to Buckie LeBoeuf, of Sulphur, LA, and his parts inventory that included a transmission linkage cable.
Oh, I requested the wrong cable. He told me to look for a colored band on the old cable (which I had removed from the truck to take a picture of it). I examined the old cable and found a white paper band with blue Chinese writing on it. So I said blue. Later, when I took the old cable apart to see what was wrong I noticed a prominent yellow band of rubber. The new blue band cable was about an inch and a half longer than the yellow, but I figured better too long, so I installed it and it worked perfectly. It just made a bit larger loop under the truck. No big D. I backed the pickup out of the garage. The red brake warning light is on. I tinkered with the brakes (bled them again, checked fluid level, pumped the brakes, wiggled things, no result. Hot out. I’ll wait for inspiration to deal with brakes.
Despite these trials I replaced the spider glue traps in the basement. Our house is 90, the basement, damp and the old traps were riddled at their entrances with the hapless spiders who got stuck and died trying to enter. They met their fate despite the spiders’ clear warning that their fellows had perished by entering the same way. I was amazed at the number of spider bodies. I blew a puff of air to see if any were alive and able to wave a leg, but I found none. I considered photographing the old traps but discarded that idea after I forgot and pushed the parts of the sticky into itself to hide the contents. Also we have grandchildren coming next week to visit and I wanted to keep our spider-infested house welcoming. I simply dropped the squashed traps into a trash receptacle.
I put out four traps, strategically to catch the vermin before they can get to my head when asleep in the basement. The spiders in question are known as “aggressive house spiders” and have a troublesome bite. My children call them “hobo spiders.” P. doesn’t call them anything. She simply wanted the sticky traps replaced.