SFR Don't ya' just hate it when . . .

[Salmo_g]

If this had happened when I removed my Yakima Skybox from my car after my last fishing trip last year, I could have appended it to a trip report. But it happened yesterday when I put the Skybox back on my Subaru preparing to depart for Montana Sunday. Glad I didn't wait until the last minute as I often do. Got it up there and opened it up and the rear diamond shaped doo-hickey (scientific technical term if you're not familiar with it) that expands and collapses when you open or close the lid, well the bottom mount popped off of the two rivets that held it in place. So the lid won't stay open with just the forward doo-hickey being operable. Since I plan to be away for more than a week, I really appreciate the extra storage space the Skybox offers. I briefly thought about doing without it; then thought, "Naw, I can fix this."

So off of the car it comes, and I set it on a couple saw horses. I wasn't sure about just removing and re-installing with new rivets. So I drilled out the old rivets and replaced them with small bolts, washers, lock washers, and double nutted with thread locker. It looks like it should last, so it's going back on the roof of the Subie this morning.

I really hate equipment failure, or failure of most anything. I haven't had something go gunny-sack on me on a fishing trip since a Simms wading boot sole delaminated while I was fishing the Dean River in 2019. Yeah, all equipment has a limit to its useful life, but when something isn't worn out and fails unexpectedly it causes me to use some bad language. First world problems, I know. At least I didn't break a fly rod or something important. I'm going to spend most of today getting gear sorted and organized and ready to pack tomorrow and buy more groceries. I'm even going to clean and dress my floating fly lines since I haven't done that in a few seasons.

 

[Hem]

If this had happened when I removed my Yakima Skybox from my car after my last fishing trip last year, I could have appended it to a trip report. But it happened yesterday when I put the Skybox back on my Subaru preparing to depart for Montana Sunday. Glad I didn't wait until the last minute as I often do. Got it up there and opened it up and the rear diamond shaped doo-hickey (scientific technical term if you're not familiar with it) that expands and collapses when you open or close the lid, well the bottom mount popped off of the two rivets that held it in place. So the lid won't stay open with just the forward doo-hickey being operable. Since I plan to be away for more than a week, I really appreciate the extra storage space the Skybox offers. I briefly thought about doing without it; then thought, "Naw, I can fix this."

So off of the car it comes, and I set it on a couple saw horses. I wasn't sure about just removing and re-installing with new rivets. So I drilled out the old rivets and replaced them with small bolts, washers, lock washers, and double nutted with thread locker. It looks like it should last, so it's going back on the roof of the Subie this morning.

I really hate equipment failure, or failure of most anything. I haven't had something go gunny-sack on me on a fishing trip since a Simms wading boot sole delaminated while I was fishing the Dean River in 2019. Yeah, all equipment has a limit to its useful life, but when something isn't worn out and fails unexpectedly it causes me to use some bad language. First world problems, I know. At least I didn't break a fly rod or something important. I'm going to spend most of today getting gear sorted and organized and ready to pack tomorrow and buy more groceries. I'm even going to clean and dress my floating fly lines since I haven't done that in a few seasons.

Hooking up with Swimmy?
Hope you have good fishing.

 

[nomlasder]

Refreshing to see someone else has the first thought...how can I fix it... rather that where do I get a new one.

 

[Salmo_g]

Hooking up with Swimmy?
Hope you have good fishing.

Wouldn't ya' know, he and Wayne are on the river today. And this is the guy who was uncertain about how many days he could make it over this season due to, uh, work. Hah!

 

[SKYKO]

Well done, it's so satisfying to fix something and extend the life or repurpose an item into a new use, becoming a lost art in large swaths of the good old USA.

 

[Phil K]

Here is my current, somewhat related, old man yells at clouds situation. I drive a 2010 Toyota Matrix that I bought new. It's always been a great car. 100% reliable; never had a singe issue other than normal brakes, tires, and fluids. 'Gets decent gas mileage, and functionally is just what I need.
Last week the ventilation selector knob stopped working. I can only get air directed to the floor or mid-cabin locations. The windshield defroster will not come on which is not a sustainable option come fall. I took the car to my trusted mechanic and despite the $500-$600 estimate had him pull apart the center console to replace the knob.
That would be fine, but it turns out there is more to the story. The knob actuates a cable which runs into the heater/AC core, and the problem is internal to that. He would need to pull the whole dash to access it, bleed the AC and heat coils, hopefully fix whatever is going on inside, service the AC, put everything back together and voila; $2000 or more. The car is worth what- $500 or $1000 over that.
My mechanic, coworkers, and possibly even my spouse think it's time for a trade in. It seems crazy to treat a car as a disposable object, and replacing it feels wasteful and disrespectful (! ?) to the old beast. Oh, and the price or new/used vehicles these days......

But it does drive me nuts when things don't work properly

 

[Old406Kid]

Wouldn't ya' know, he and Wayne are on the river today. And this is the guy who was uncertain about how many days he could make it over this season due to, uh, work. Hah!

We just got dumped on here in Billings with up to several inches of rain and flash flood warnings 30 miles west of here.

 

[Porter2]

I hate it when heading to Oregon coast, have fishing plans for 3 days (actually a total of 1.5 days) …. Went through my gear, packed it all but I was changing lines on the reels. So I told myself I’ll remember to pack reels in the am. Long story short. I had 3 rods and no reels when I got to Oregon. I had my waders, flies, net, stripping basket, etc. but no reels and no line.

Sure enough a week later the three reels and a couple spare spools were sitting right where I had left them. It was not a best moment for me

Yes I could have went and bought a cheap reel but I needed to punish myself. So no fishing. I was really upset with myself over that one.

 

[Matt B]

Here is my current, somewhat related, old man yells at clouds situation. I drive a 2010 Toyota Matrix that I bought new. It's always been a great car. 100% reliable; never had a singe issue other than normal brakes, tires, and fluids. 'Gets decent gas mileage, and functionally is just what I need.
Last week the ventilation selector knob stopped working. I can only get air directed to the floor or mid-cabin locations. The windshield defroster will not come on which is not a sustainable option come fall. I took the car to my trusted mechanic and despite the $500-$600 estimate had him pull apart the center console to replace the knob.
That would be fine, but it turns out there is more to the story. The knob actuates a cable which runs into the heater/AC core, and the problem is internal to that. He would need to pull the whole dash to access it, bleed the AC and heat coils, hopefully fix whatever is going on inside, service the AC, put everything back together and voila; $2000 or more. The car is worth what- $500 or $1000 over that.
My mechanic, coworkers, and possibly even my spouse think it's time for a trade in. It seems crazy to treat a car as a disposable object, and replacing it feels wasteful and disrespectful (! ?) to the old beast. Oh, and the price or new/used vehicles these days......

But it does drive me nuts when things don't work properly

Hair dryer that hooks into the cigarette/12V accessory outlet for a defrost?
My old (even older than that) Highlander has similar console heat control issues. My mechanic told me more or less not to get into it if at all I could avoid it.

 

[Salmo_g]

If it ain't one thing, it's another. I felt better having taken care of the Skybox issue, so went out on the deck to water the fuchsias. I keep one of those pocket hoses and a watering wand attached to the hose bib that serves the deck on the back of our house. Turn on the faucet and no water. What the? Pocket hoses don't have an especially long service life, so I disconnected the hose and turned the faucet on again. No water. Aha! The exterior hose bibs on our house include an anti-syphon vacuum breaker doo-hickey. It's supposed to prevent water from syphoning back into the water system, although how that might ever happen is beyond me. I guess it was plumbing code when we built this place in 2009-10. (But the farmer faucets out by the garage are not equiped with this feature, but oh well.) This has happened to exterior hose bibs twice before and a call to the plumber resulted in a bill somewhere north of $100 each time. So I figured this isn't rocket science and decided to remove it and see if I could make it work again myself. I removed it, but as for making it work, nuttin' doin'. Since I have nothing else to do besides prepare for a fishing trip I'm off to Lowes to buy a new doo-hickey. And of course, even though their store inventory shows one left in stock, it ain't there. So how's Mrs. Salmo going to water the fuschsias and other deck plants while I'm away?

I then looked through the bins of hose bibs and parts and found a small hose bib with male threads on both ends. This might work, so I bought it for a temporary fix. And it does, but it leaks despite the healthy application of plumber's tape to the threads. I kinda' thought about leaving it permanently, but since it leaks I'll get a new anti-syphon doo-hickey when they're back in stock and I return home.

Now what's going to be broken or not working today?

 

[DimeBrite]

As long as you're in good health, anything can be fixed and the trips will happen. Don't forget to draft some signs for Swimmy photos.

 

[Shad]

This is what you get for trying to take a relaxing trip. Better to have the problems before the trip than during....

Enjoy it, and say hi to Swimmy!

 

[Jim F.]

We just got dumped on here in Billings with up to several inches of rain and flash flood warnings 30 miles west of here.

Montana has had it's share of storms this year. At least you didn't get bombarded by golfball -sized hail that Billings has endured in the past.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

That is frustrating!

I look forward to the trip pics.

 

[Salmo_g]

That is frustrating!

I look forward to the trip pics.

Oh yeah, I should remember to take my camera. Not sure why though. Same ole, same ole: scenic mountains and rivers, invasive brown trout, invasive rainbow trout, native whilefish. Those boxes have been checked many times.

 

[Matt B]

Oh yeah, I should remember to take my camera. Not sure why though. Same ole, same ole: scenic mountains and rivers, invasive brown trout, invasive rainbow trout, native whilefish. Those boxes have been checked many times.

We need to see your outfits.

 

[Old406Kid]

We need to see your outfits.

Well YEAH!!!

 

[Buzzy]

We need to see your outfits.

Young Salmo_g

 

[Matt B]

View attachment 69997
Young Salmo_g

I also enjoy jauntily splashing through riffles in a most carefree manner, resting my tiresome fly pole upon my shoulder and letting my hip boots fly free and unencumbered.

 

[Flyflicker99]

If this had happened when I removed my Yakima Skybox from my car after my last fishing trip last year, I could have appended it to a trip report. But it happened yesterday when I put the Skybox back on my Subaru preparing to depart for Montana Sunday. Glad I didn't wait until the last minute as I often do. Got it up there and opened it up and the rear diamond shaped doo-hickey (scientific technical term if you're not familiar with it) that expands and collapses when you open or close the lid, well the bottom mount popped off of the two rivets that held it in place. So the lid won't stay open with just the forward doo-hickey being operable. Since I plan to be away for more than a week, I really appreciate the extra storage space the Skybox offers. I briefly thought about doing without it; then thought, "Naw, I can fix this."

So off of the car it comes, and I set it on a couple saw horses. I wasn't sure about just removing and re-installing with new rivets. So I drilled out the old rivets and replaced them with small bolts, washers, lock washers, and double nutted with thread locker. It looks like it should last, so it's going back on the roof of the Subie this morning.

I really hate equipment failure, or failure of most anything. I haven't had something go gunny-sack on me on a fishing trip since a Simms wading boot sole delaminated while I was fishing the Dean River in 2019. Yeah, all equipment has a limit to its useful life, but when something isn't worn out and fails unexpectedly it causes me to use some bad language. First world problems, I know. At least I didn't break a fly rod or something important. I'm going to spend most of today getting gear sorted and organized and ready to pack tomorrow and buy more groceries. I'm even going to clean and dress my floating fly lines since I haven't done that in a few seasons.

Sounds like a design flaw. I know two people who experienced this problem. One of them even had the same issue with a new replacement that was sent to him.