Counting down

T-Minus five days and counting...

Last week at work was crazy for both Josh and I, and I expect this week to be as well. When you go on vacation, your job doesn't. The week(s) and days before a trip are spent at a maddening pace, trying to cram and get everything done that you possibly can. At the same time you try not to think of doing the exact same thing once you return to "catch up". You want to actually enjoy your time off.

I've done a lot of praying about some projects I have been working on. One client has their website deadline at the end of September, yet they continue to make changes. Friday of this week is technically the last working day of September. Am I the only one who realizes this? I also have a meeting on Tuesday evening with another client about their website. Okay, I'll admit it, I have felt a bit stressed from all this. I also know that God is in control and that has helped ease the tension.

On top of our normal work and home schedule, we've been working on the Bronco. Okay Josh has been working on it and I've been helping where I can. I'm proud to say I am learning many new things that I didn't know before. That's funny since I have enjoyed learning about cars since I was in high school, I've just never gotten to work on them.






I'll start out by saying this may not interest any of the ladies, sorry. Maybe it will, I don't know. We knew that there were codes we needed to read from the Bronco by using an OBD-I scan tool. The problem is that all the places we went to get one only had the OBD-II which doesn't work on a '93 Bronco.







To solve this issue, we connected a jumper wire to the EEC module and then the "check engine" light would blink the codes. The codes tell you what is wrong with the vehicle, such as code #332 = insufficient EGR flow detected (basically an emissions problem). I won't go into any more detail about that because it's not very interesting, but like I said I am learning.The next thing was to replace the battery cables. We think the person who owned the Bronco before us either didn't care about what they did with it, or they didn't know how to fix things properly.As you see, the ends of the exposed wire from the cables were frayed. Only part of the wire was under the bolt connection and another part was just hanging out for the fun of it. They were also corroded badly. I don't know how the truck was getting a steady current from the battery. (Yes we did see this before we got the truck, and it was an easy fix.)

Josh had to separate the CO2 line from the first cable, and then he removed the other cable. Once he had that done, he could place the CO2 line back with the new cable and then reattach both to the battery.

I helped a little with reattaching the cables. You really don't want the negative connector touching the hot positive connector, so I held the negative out of the way. What a big help I am. Woo hoo! Actually, think of a 9-volt battery. Did you ever test one on your tongue? Consider this to be 1000 times worse; it has the potential to kill you, although that's not very likely.

Josh has become the regular "grease monkey" around here. I say that lovingly and not in a derogatory way. I think it's cute seeing him get all excited when he accomplishes something new and when I check on him he's covered in grease. It is funny to see where his face has gotten itchy. You can see dirty little finger smudges on his forehead where he scratched.


The task for Sunday afternoon was to remove the back bench seat. That way we will have plenty of room for all of the camping gear. I did actually help with that. It was interesting since the bench was heavy and the tailgate reaches just about chest high to me. Most of you know that's "normal" for my height. Everything is taller, higher and bigger for me. I don't mind most of the time, but sometimes it can be challenging.

We hope to have many pictures to share from our camping trip. That will depend on the weather, if it rains or not. The forecast is for a high in the mid 70's and the low in the mid 50's. Of course it could be warmer or colder, and we are packing for that chance.

Have a wonderful week!
- Hol