Last Day of January

We had a big ice/sleet storm last weekend and this prevented everyone from going to work.  So the company gave everyone Monday, January 19, off with pay.  This weekend we are having snow.

The truck has been at Westgate Service Department for a week.  I am driving a rental - a Nissan Altima.  The rental is paid by Stellantis Warranty, but I have to pay the taxes and fees.  The good news is that this car gets over 33 miles per gallon, so fuel isn't costing me.

They changed the Cylinder No. 1 Ignition Coil, but the Check Engine Light came on again.  Stellantis Engineering told the service technicians to check all wires and wiring connections.  I do not know when I will see the truck again.

I went to breakfast at Eggs Up this morning, and then I filled the gas tank on the car.  I stopped at Lowe's to get a few things.  One thing that I got was a big bag of water softener salt.  This can be used to de-ice the sidewalk.  

Monday, Groundhog Day 2026, will be a day off for me because I have a doctor appointment that has been scheduled since November.  I might get a little too used to having 3-day weekends!

MLK Weekend

This was a long holiday weekend.... MLK Day is Monday. 

Yesterday morning I walked the dog, fed him, and made a breakfast for Bob.  Later I went out to get breakfast for myself at Eggs Up Grill, then I went to buy a case of bottled water at Walmart, and finally I got the truck washed.

In the afternoon I was driving the truck on the highway and the Check Engine Light came on again.  I turned around and took the truck straight to Westgate Chrysler Jeep Ram Service Department.   When I got there, I was informed that nobody there was able to troubleshoot the truck and that I should bring it back Monday morning.

Today I had to go into the shop and unload a furnace and reload it with soft sinter parts.  While the furnace vacuum pump was evacuating the furnace I went to the powder room and rammed up another part.  The isostatic press was a little low on water, so I started the make up water, and went back to the powder room.  When I came back with the part, I saw water on the floor and realized that the press reservoir was overflowing.

I got the mop and swabbed the floor and started the drain.   It took over an hour to drain it back to the normal range.  In the end I decided that I would not press the rammed part today.

It took about 3 hours to pump down, back fill, unload, reload, pump down, and back fill the furnace.

In the afternoon I went to Food Lion and bought this week's grocery order.

It was supposed snow today, but it did not snow.  It was cloudy and rainy all day.  Temperatures were in the high 30's.

Tomorrow I want to rest, and maybe take Bob to Great Clips for a haircut.  Then it will be back to work for a shortened work week.

HNY

We had canned corned beef with steam cabbage for our New Year's Day dinner.

On Friday I took the Ram to Westgate Service Department.  The Service Manager warned me that I might be waiting from 9:15 am until 3:00 pm.  I waited in the waiting room and I walked around outside the dealership.  Rusty Coleman, the salesman who sold us the Ram back in March was still there selling cars.

Around 1:00 pm they called me and told me that they swapped the No. 1 and No. 2 ignition coils, but there was no change.  He said the spark plugs are clean and correctly gapped.  They suspected dirty oil, but the oil was changed at 8000 miles - just 2000 miles ago.  They gave the truck back to me and told me to drive it and report to them if the Check Engine Light came on again.  If that happens, they will file a STAR report with Chrysler and give me a loaner to drive until they have it fixed.

Yesterday I thawed a 13-pound turkey that I bought last year.   I put this turkey into the pressure cooker and cooked it at 240° F for 2 hours.   When I opened the lid the meat was separating cleanly from the bone.  I pulled all of the meat from the bones and stored it in a bowl.  I poured the broth through a collander and stored it in a 6-quart stock pot.  The skin and bones went back into the pressure cooker with more water.  I processed the bones for 30 more minutes to make more broth.  I ended up with about 12 quarts of broth.

Today I cleaned a dozen wide-mouth quart jars, and I brought some regular mouth quart jars up to hold the extra broth, but as it turned out, there was just enough broth for the soup.

I chopped up carrots, celery, fresh mushrooms, and a couple of onions for the soup.  I added 1 teaspoon of salt to each jar.  I packed one cup of meat and one cup of vegetables into each jar.  Each jar took almost 4 cups of broth, leaving 1 inch of generous head space.

These quart jars were processed at 15 psig (about 240° F) for 90 minutes.  

Tomorrow I have to return to work.  Both furnaces have to be unloaded, parts have to be rammed and pressed, parts have to be turned and milled.  Back to the grindstone.