I've been pounding the keyboard like a gaucho's thirsty horse galloping for the nearest waterhole. Whew! I was almost frothing at the mouth by the time I completed the first version of a 56-page translation. Teka, the cat, slept right through all the action, as usual.
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| Lazy Cat |
It was Tuesday afternoon and the translation was due the following Monday. That left me with plenty of time for the revision and final reading, and also some free time to do something worth doing.
It was too late in the day to go anywhere. I decided to update the confessional (blog), but it didn't take long to realize that my mind was drained and drifting. That's when a random unrelated thought popped into my head: Jakatar's Hurth transmission has lost that sweet "clunk" sound when shifting into forward. In fact, it has already given me a few "=/&$#, I'm screwed" moments while maneuvering in the marina.
That got me thinking about a 37-foot sailboat that lost its steering while exiting the marina and then rammed Jakatar (my boat). His boat, with a blue hull is on the left, Jakatar is on the right facing this way. This is how the owner described the situation on the phone:
"I motored ahead and by the time I realized I had no steering, I was almost on the rocks. So I put it in reverse, but it began to go sideways before colliding with your boat. My God, your boat is built like a tanker, I barely scratched the gelcoat with the anchor. Anyway, you better come down and have a look."
Yeah, right! He forgot to mention that his anchor locked horns with my Voyager windvane, leaving it bent and cracked, before it proceeded to plow a nice long gouge in the gelcoat. Ouch!!!
Let his boat insurance take care of it.
I didn't want to inflict that sort of damage on any other boat, or my own, because of a faulty transmission.
That got me thinking about a 37-foot sailboat that lost its steering while exiting the marina and then rammed Jakatar (my boat). His boat, with a blue hull is on the left, Jakatar is on the right facing this way. This is how the owner described the situation on the phone:
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| Accident scene |
"I motored ahead and by the time I realized I had no steering, I was almost on the rocks. So I put it in reverse, but it began to go sideways before colliding with your boat. My God, your boat is built like a tanker, I barely scratched the gelcoat with the anchor. Anyway, you better come down and have a look."
Yeah, right! He forgot to mention that his anchor locked horns with my Voyager windvane, leaving it bent and cracked, before it proceeded to plow a nice long gouge in the gelcoat. Ouch!!!
Let his boat insurance take care of it.
I didn't want to inflict that sort of damage on any other boat, or my own, because of a faulty transmission.
Instead of meditating or going for a walk, I started thinking about my transmission woes.
Where the hell was I going to get a transmission in Portugal, and for a decent price even if I did manage to find one. It was time to saddle up the computer again and cruise UK sites for boat transmissions.
These are the times when I wish I was back in North America where you can get anyting you want, when you want and without hassles. Sure, I could order one through the Internet, but I'm through with importing equipment from anywhere outside the EU: the customs authorities crucify you with absurd import taxes and paperwork. You learn to take the path of least resistance.
These are the times when I wish I was back in North America where you can get anyting you want, when you want and without hassles. Sure, I could order one through the Internet, but I'm through with importing equipment from anywhere outside the EU: the customs authorities crucify you with absurd import taxes and paperwork. You learn to take the path of least resistance.
Next Morning
So this morning I got up early as usual, around 6:30, exercised in the attic for 30 minutes, performed the morning rituals and plopped myself down onto the saddle to start revising the translation.
Just about fell off the chair when I opened the folder containing the original file and realised I had to translate five files. How could I forget something like that? No wonder I was doing so well.
Some days I wish I could be a cat and sleep the day away.
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