November’s 17th, twenty seventeen
With all the activity related to the plumbing on Fracas it’s easy to forget about the biggest project, the exhaust replacement. We took the exhaust remains with the tomato soup can and the high tech tape etc out to Turner Machine Shop out Orange Ave. We got a price for a stainless replacement and we went with that. We thought it would be finished yesterday so we went out to visit them.
They had as yet not started on the pipe. The ladies in the office said you wait and talk to Ron, Ron will tell you when he will do it. So, I waited for Ron. Ron arrived, he looks like Ben Casey, maybe a little heavier and not as tidy. He said “tomorrow by noon, maybe three o’clock”. That seemed agreeable, and from Ben Casey, what could I say? I said, I’ll call tomorrow at noon… I was immediately chastised by the ladies, “we’ll call you”… Okee dokie, they all looked like Nurse Wills… OMG.
This morning at about 10:00 we received our call from Ron (Ben). We have a little problem. We can’t get the flange off the old piping. (Re-using the flange is vital) He said I’m afraid I will break it if I use bigger tools and more heat. I said, I understand these things and it won’t be your fault if it breaks, (he’s freakin’ Ben Casey). I told him, in the meantime I will start looking for a replacement flange. He mentioned something about Rose Bud? The only Rose Bud I knew was a jersey cow my grandfather had in Arthurette New Brunswick. He also said he would put the ‘big pipe’ on the pipe wrench…
At about 14:00 today while ML and I were discussing if we should call or go out there, the phone rang. “Your pipe is ready” she said. We dropped everything. Well not everything, I sat the beer down. Off we went. We arrived and the lady said the price, and it was what they quoted. I expected much more for aggravation etc… Ron (Ben) came by and said “we used the biggest rose bud we had” I nodded, wondering how a jersey cow could help with a pipe wrench. It was either going to come loose or break, it came loose. We had that baby cherry red, we put Perry on the wrench and pipe extension and I (Ron(Ben)) steadied the vise. I wish I could have been there. They saved the flange and a lot of aggravation. I would have worried about steadying the cow, but jerseys are fairly low key.
The result is a piece of art. (pictures will follow tomorrow). I don’t want to fondle it anymore. They used some sort of Teflon paste on the joints and that stuff is tough to remove. If you do get some on ya’ ML’s nail paint remover will take it off, eventually.
Clarification: Apparently, Rose Bud is Ron (Ben’s) pet name for his favourite favorite torch. more later