Roof Update, Snow, and Winter Car Maintenance

All we need is two days of weather that is not dropping rain, sleet, or snow out of the sky.  The temperature has dropped from the 50's to the low 30's and I am really not happy about that.  What happened to the days of 40 degrees temperatures?  I've already hauled out my winter boots, gloves, and coat.  Now comes the 6 months of winter and days that have little sunlight.  I swear it gets dark at 430PM.

The photo below shows the progress on the roof at the end of last week.  We have made a little additional progress but basically this is where we are at the moment.  Four more short rafters and then the plywood sheathing.

We feels like we are spinning our wheels.  Today for example I ran up town to get something and then we were going to work on the roof.  I was at a traffic light and put on my left turn indicator and it started blinking real fast.  That is an indication of that either the front or the back turn signal bulb is burned out.  Just great.  There are several chain automotive supply stores in the area so I stopped at one to get a bulb but first I needed to know if it was the front or back bulb.  So before I went into the store I checked and it was the rear bulb but I noticed my driver side headlight bulb has burned out.  Who knows when that happened because I haven't driven at night in eons.

Long story short.  It took us all day to change out the rear turn signal bulb because you need to remove the entire tail light assembly to change the bulb.  Who designs tail lights that need to be removed to change out a bulb?  Obviously the same person who designed the front headlight assembly.  

We still need to replace that bulb but like I said it gets dark at 430PM.   The method for removing that bulb is to access the headlight assembly from the back through an access opening in the wheel well.  We removed the access cover and turned the tire as far right as we could but still couldn't reach the bulb.  So tomorrow we remove the wheel/tire and replace the bulb.

I  was talking to someone later in the day and she said they had to take their vehicle in to the dealership to have a headlight bulb changed.  R and I just can't won't do that.  It is bad enough that those two bulbs cost 28 bucks but then to add on a dealership fee of at least $100.......ouch.

But while I was at the auto parts store I noticed everyone coming out with new wiper blades in their hands.  Some people were changing them in the parking lot.  So here is a friendly reminder to check out your windshield wiper blades now before the first big winter storm hits.  If your blades are OK but probably won't make it through the winter, just throw the used blades under your seat in case you ruin your new blades during an ice storm.  Been there, done that.  Never force them when they are frozen to the windshield.

Also, top off that windshield washer solvent bottle and squirt a few drops of oil into your door locks.  When the battery dies in your key fob and you try to use your key to unlock the door, but the lock is froze up from salt and road dirt, you will wish that you had squirted a few drops of oil into the lock mechanism.  Fun fact....it is mostly the driver side that locks up because the driver side gets more road salt/snow because of oncoming traffic spraying the driver's side as they drive by.

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