Putting stuff off

By Rennie Phillips

I don't know if you are like me, but I put off until later stuff I should be doing today. Sometimes it's because I really don't like to do it. And then I put off stuff that I'm not real sure how to do.

There are times I put off stuff I may not have the equipment to get it done. Several years ago I simply didn't feel good enough to do it. Sounds like more excuses for putting it off until later, doesn't it?

We had hauled in loads and loads of fire wood probably six or eight years ago. We made a really neat stack of wood and burned off it for several years. We didn't have a place to put it under cover, so it was stacked out in the weather.

Little by little, the wood started to rot and decay until it wasn't usable any longer.

What I needed to do was burn it. But it was about 30 feet away from a building where I store my tractors, so I put it off. I finally decided the other day it was time. So I lit the pile up and it burned down to almost nothing. I should have done it years ago. But at the same time, I ended up with a pile of ashes and chunks of unburned wood. Then I needed my loader tractor.

Huh! Another thing I had put off was the loader tractor. For probably two or three months I couldn't get the dang thing to start, let alone run. I'd work on it a little and then give up. I finally got to where I had to get it running, so I decided several weeks ago it was time. I'm not much of a mechanic, so I should have called Dennis Miller or one of his brothers or even our youngest son. But I didn't. I checked if there was fire to the plugs, and there wasn't, but I had fire to the points. So I changed the points and condenser and rotor and cap. The plug was still dead.

But there is one other thing that motors have, so it could be this gizmo. The tractor had quit a couple months before this and I'd put a brand-new one of those gizmos on, so it shouldn't be this. But I got to thinking it just might be. So I go down to Auto Tire and Parts and tell Larry I need this gizmo that has a spark plug wire running from one end of it to the distributor. Larry speaks right up and says, "You mean the coil." Yep, I tell him, that's what I need. And I knew from past experience it needed to have an internal resistor.

So I go home and put the piece on my old tractor. Now I got fire from this gizmo or coil to the distributor, but the plug is still dead.

So I open the distributor back up and reset the points and voilà. That old 1950 or so Ferguson tractor just comes to life.

I felt like breaking into my happy dance, but I didn't.

So one day last week I cleaned up the pile of ashes and unburned chunks of wood. It sure looks better. I should have taken the time to fix the tractor back when it quit. But I put it off, probably because I wasn't real sure how to get it running. So while the thing was running, I scraped off the sweet potato vines so I can dig our sweet potatoes. I also pushed some branches and limbs in a ditch behind the house. I actually enjoyed using the old tractor.

Probably the best part of an old tractor like ours is it's simple and not as complicated as the new ones. The new ones seem to run better, but cost a whole lot more than the $1,500 we paid for ours. More excuses.

Probably 10 years ago I mounted an old blacksmith post vise on a layout table in my shop. I figured I'd build a stand for the old vise but just didn't get around to it until the other day.

I gathered up the metal to make the stand and went to weld them together. My self-darkening welding helmet would work and then quit. I fiddled with it for a while and then said to heck with it and used my old welding helmet.

I got the job started and got the metal tacked together. I decided what I really needed to do was buy a new self-darkening welding helmet. I drove up to Ozark Gas and bought a Lincoln helmet. It worked like a charm.

I had some old Havco wood for the shelves, so I put the top on the vise stand. Now to mount the vise. I put one smaller post vise that probably weighs 60 or 70 pounds on one corner. Perfect. Then I loaded and hauled the bigger, heavier vise from where I had stored it. I'm not sure what this one weighs, but it is well over a hundred pounds.

After a bit of struggling I got it mounted. It sure looks nice sitting there with the vises mounted on it. That was another task I'd been putting off until another day.

It's like I have something that needs done and I realize it needs done, but for whatever reason I put it off. So my resolve is to do what needs done when it comes up. At least that is my goal. I think one thing that helps me is realizing I put off whatever.

We put off a lot of things. Making that phone call, visiting someone, going to the doctor, losing weight and the list goes on and on.

The best way, and I'm talking to myself, is to just do it.

Until next time.