The Silent Generation - Bill's Fix It

08/11/2024 – I promise you I am not preaching, lecturing or offering lessons in life. I write for clarity. It is a way of externalizing thoughts that don’t fit in my head, so I can review them at a more leisurely pace.

I am not a Boomer. I was born during the last few days of the silent generation. I do remember being civic minded. I do not remember being conformant, compliant or silent. I do remember the “waste not, want not” edict which, I believe was borne of common sense, more than out of frugality or biblical precepts. Applying general descriptions to a group of people is always dangerous.

So my dad and I added an extension to our home, did our own landscaping and put in a downstairs bathroom. The most ambitious projects we completed was excavating in the backyard, and pouring a large cement pool into homemade forms.

The more routine projects involved a trip to Bill’s Fix It to test and purchase oscillator vacuum tubes to repair our vertically rolling TV. Bill’s was also a destination for all small appliances that did not respond well to DIY intervention; toasters, blenders, vacuum cleaners, etc. Could you image a time when a shop would repair $19 toaster?

Post war dads…

Beyond a jack of all trades apprenticeship, I did not have much of a relationship with my Dad. An ex WWII Marine who served in the South Pacific, a successful entrepreneur, he was not much at family, but he tried. No, actually he didn’t. Still, the most valuable assets that have carried me through life I learned from him.

He and I argued, loudly and often, for the first sixty years of my life and then he died. We never really reconciled. No, that is not remorse. But my wife and I were always there for both he and my mom. If not in presence, not emotionally, certainly financially. A drop in the bucket in repayment for the roof that was put over my head, and food on the table during my childhood.

The problem that plagued him for most of his mature adult life was a nasty business failure. It happens to the best of us. If you try enough times at business, at least one will not go well. But he let this failure define him and it left him angry, feeling betrayed and embattled to the extent it destroyed him. It reminds me of what democrats have done to former President Trump.

I am not a religious guy. I am very much a Jesus fan. I am just not much of an institutional church guy. My wife was a devout Catholic, and prayed for others. When she died… two and one half years ago, I started saying morning prayers on her behalf, including in prayers, a good number of people I really don’t like, but who were important to her.

The simple act keeps me engaged with her, and gives me moral purpose. It also forces me to reflect on the events of my life and, to avoid hypocrisy, to reconsider those I held in low regard. So at seventy eight, I found many good things in my relationship with my father, and came to grips with the fact I also disappointed him. I’m still working on an in-law reconciliation, but I am only human.

Maybe I’ve developed a sense of empathy for my father? Maybe because I realized how much I am like him? Maybe it’s because I am seventy eight years old and we all go looking for Jesus when we might be in need of a little forgiveness. Fathers and sons… and holy spirits.

The DIY gene…

I make things and I fix things. Some, because of economic consideration. Some, a sense of satisfaction. Some, a sense of independence. Some, because the work is enjoyable. In any event, it beats having a garage full of old, non-working machinery.

Early years, sporterizing WWII rifles and reloading ammunition met all of the criteria indicated above, and I saw no reason to change. I never really gave up on firearms over the years but, sometimes, a career that took huge chunks of my time, caused project time to be extended. Measured in years, rather than days, weeks or months.

The Ryobi pictured above is about fourteen years old. About four years ago, it made its way into the garden shed where it sat, while I tried to convince myself battery powered string trimmers were a good thing. I was not, they were not, so the old gas powered string trimmer was recalled to active duty.

It started right up, old premix in its tank, but ran for only a few seconds before shutting down. Clogged fuel filter and fuel passages internal to its carburetor. I do have a Husqvarna brush saw that has a string trimmer head, very powerful, but also very heavy. So I set out to find another lightweight.

A comparable trimmer model, with accessory attachments were selling for $150 – $200. A kit that included carburetor, fuel lines, fuel filter, air filter, and spark plug cost $15. After tanking the original carburetor in the ultrasonic tank with part cleaner with no positive gain, I bought the kit… then another kit.

Just because Amazon says so…

An air filter cover, three small hose connections, two mount fasteners, throttle cable connection… about 10 minutes worth of work, in the worst case. New gaskets and fuel lines come with the replacement kit.

The carb on the left is listed as THE carb for the Ryobi CS30 string trimmer. It is also listed for the SS30 trimmer. Here after referred to as “the returned carburetor”. The carb on the right is the proper carb, listed as a HIPA SS30 carburetor. Here after referred to as “the replacement, replacement”, or “same price”.

Branded equipment like this trimmer, were made under contract for Ryobi by numerous manufacturers, mildly modified from the manufacturer’s generic product. Early trimmers have the HIPA carb with remote primer. Newer versions has the less costly to make primer bulb on carb configuration.

Often replacement carburetors supersed the original or are suitable substitutes and require minor tinkering to fit. In this case, everything was different, from primer bulb location to throttle linkage.

Back together again, just like whatever factory built it.

7 primer pumps, choke on, one pull and the irritating sound of a screaming two stroke string trimmer filled the air. Yes, very similar to Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, including Hueys. Gatling guns, rockets, and Robert Duvall.

In closing…

I have not stopped writing about firearms. I am, at the moment, waiting for firearms to come in from Ruger, Winchester and Browning. They will fall into projects as they arrive.