Friday, March 23, 2012
The NEW "Little One" 3/22/2012
Kate had her baby yesterday.
The "Little One" 9 pounds 12 ounces.
Here the BEHM is being introduced. His life will now be changed forever!!!
Fritz holding the NEW "Little One".
For Gerardo's birthday last weekend we had a dinner of steak and lobsters.
The birthday couple.
The steaks.
Lobsters.
Birthday cake.
The weather has been very mild, thank goodness for Global Warming.
The BEHM and I checking out the grill.
Enjoying the warm weather.
Fritz came on a visit and made fried chicken for us. This is the only picture I got of it,
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Weekend Update
I got query about how BEHM was able to stand at the counter and help me with my cooking.
As you can see he stands on a bench behind the counter.
It was down in Grandpa Fritz's basement many years and I bought it home. It had been painted white but I removed all the paint.
Underneath you can see that I made it in Jr. High School, over 50 years ago and it still is in good shape.
We made some very complicated chocolate cookies this week. They had over a dozen ingredients.
The dough was rolled up into balls then coated in powdered sugar.
It took us almost three hours to make twenty cookies!!!!
The BEHM sure loved them and his mother took all the leftovers home and ate them that night! I had one but it was too chocolate for me. I am not much of a chocolate fan.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Blazer Mode Actuator Replacement
The floor of Blazer with center console removed.
Plastic panel under steering wheel has been removed.
Plastic panel under ash tray still needs removal along with silver angle plate which holds the bottom of "knee bolster bracket" There are two 10 mm nuts that hold the top of the bracket. If you look closely at the picture you can see the vent lines running from the controls on the dash to the actuators under the dash. The yellow line is the control line that closes the dash vents and is connected to the "Mode Actuator". On the other side of the "Mode Actuator" is connected a brown vacuum line for the bi-level operation.
Page from manual telling how to slide actuator from the clip. It wasn't that easy. You have to disconnect it from the door lever first before you can slide it out of the bracket.
New actuator came in the mail.
Schematic of HAVC system.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Weekly Update
Last weekend I made an apple pie.
I am still using my apples from my trees last year.
It turned out pretty well except I didn't use enough sugar.
Kate and Gerardo and the "Little One" came over for dinner on Sunday.
I had ham and ...
Scalloped potatoes.
Gerardo, "The Little One" and I.
This week we had some more "Blow-able" snow.
Driveway afterwards.
This week I watched "the Little One"
We made Oatmeal cookies again. I have decide that the "The Little One" is from now on going to be referred to as a "Brown Eyed Handsome Man". (BEHM)
I have had some heater control problems in the Blazer.
I took the dash apart.
What an adventure!!!
I found a defective "Mode Actuator". A replacement from the Government Motors was $80 plus tax.
Since the position to use the defrost and floor heater was in the extended position I took a piece of sheet metal and a screw and clamped it into that position. Since I never use the AC, I don't have to worry about the dash vents (called "I/P outlets" in the manual) anyway.
If you wonder how I knew how to get the dash apart, Kate bought me a General Motors (pre-bankruptcy) service manual for the Blazer a few years ago.
The text, while it appears to be written in English, is absolutely undecipherable and the diagrams are less than worthless. The only good thing is that you know the terminology for your visit to the Government Motors dealer. I met a really nice kid at the parts counter and he gave me the actual GM part number. Since I knew it was called a "Mode Actuator" he probably figured I was a GM mechanic and gave me a break. I was able to order an actuator "on line" for $20 plus shipping. I will install it next summer when it warms up.
