{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "F150 on jabel", "icon": "https://avatars.micro.blog/avatars/2021/97100.jpg", "home_page_url": "https://jabel.blog/", "feed_url": "https://jabel.blog/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/05/10/not-going-to-be-a.html", "content_html": "

Not going to be a lot of work on projects this weekend. Yesterday I met up with Todd for lunch in Edinburgh and had a great time. Today will be some family visits, being Mother’s Day. I did, however, get the serpentine belt replaced on the truck. Very easy and far cheaper than a mechanic’s bill.

\n", "date_published": "2026-05-10T10:23:06-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/05/10/not-going-to-be-a.html", "tags": ["F150"] }, { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/04/27/cnbc-newsletter-musks-tesla-is.html", "content_html": "

CNBC newsletter:

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Musk’s Tesla is beta testing an in-vehicle version of xAI’s Grok chatbot. First rolled out last year, it allows drivers to give voice commands to their car’s navigation system.

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Meanwhile, my thirty-year old pickup truck has no power windows, locks, mirrors, or seat. The radio/cassette player doesn’t work–and I may not fix it. It doesn’t get in a hurry to go anywhere, which is increasingly to my taste.

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-27T08:57:45-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/04/27/cnbc-newsletter-musks-tesla-is.html", "tags": ["F150"] }, { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/04/12/projects-update-f-and-gardening.html", "title": "Projects update: F150 and gardening", "content_html": "\"\"\n

A few small tasks completed on the F150 this week:

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I had hoped that replacing the door striker on the driver side would fix the not-fully-shutting problem. It didn’t. Looks like it may be that the door hinge pin and bushing are worn out, making the door sag. Thankfully the replacement pins and bushings are inexpensive—though taking the door off looks like a job.

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Garden

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I mentioned earlier this week that Rachel has bought some new trees for the yard. We planted the juniper that day. On Saturday, we planted the first of the three serviceberry trees. The call-before-you-dig folks still need to mark our tree plat before we can plant the other two serviceberries.

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By the way, what do you call that strip of ground between the sidewalk and the road? We call it the tree plat but the internet tells me that’s very much a minority position. Apparently some people call it a “nature strip” (ugh, so many problems with that term) or a “tree strip.” As I was sitting on the front porch contemplating this question, the word “verge” bubbled up into my memory. I actually like that one.

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Anyway, so trees will be planted soon. We also built a string trellis system for Rachel’s heirloom tomatoes. Those things have broken every system we’ve tried to order their vigorous growth. We’ll see how this one does.

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The lilacs have been perfuming our house all weekend. Glorious.

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-12T20:12:06-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/04/12/projects-update-f-and-gardening.html", "tags": ["Workshop","Gardening","F150"] }, { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/03/31/current-f-repair-list.html", "title": "Current F150 repair list", "content_html": "

I mentioned before that my ‘96 F150 is my summer (and likely much longer) project. It actually runs well, especially for being more or less neglected for years. It hasn’t been driven much over my twenty years with it because most of my driving was to my old job–thirty miles away. Not economical. Now most of my driving is within the city limits of our small town so it’s time to get her into shape.

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Most of the issues are simple inconveniences:

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Nothing too intimidating for a newbie. Pictures to come, once she’s all cleaned up.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-31T09:39:51-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/03/31/current-f-repair-list.html", "tags": ["F150"] }, { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/03/30/projects-update-pond-f-scrapple.html", "title": "Projects update: Pond, F150, scrapple", "content_html": "

We got a lot done this past weekend.

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On Saturday, we had a good, full day celebrating our anniversary. We actually left the city limits! 😊 We drove up to Bloomington, went to the greenhouse and a few other favorite shops, and went out to lunch. Then we picked up some honey from a beekeeper near Spring Mill State Park and drove home through the country. Later, we went to the theater to see “Project Hail Mary.” It was fine but, honestly, I don’t get all the buzz around it.

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Pond

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On Sunday we re-lined and built up the pond. Look at how sad it was when we started.

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We wrestled the (thicker than original) lining into place and rebuilt the waterfall. The fountain, by the way, is an old butter churn that was left in the house when we bought it.

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Finally, we got all the rest of the limestone in place, filled in with gravel, and got the perching stick back into place. We still have more aquatic plants to put into place but it’s much better!

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F150

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If you recall, my driver side inside door handle looked like this:

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I got all the parts in on Friday. I never did find the part number for the U nut I needed. The ones I bought weren’t exactly right but they were close enough. In the end, I had to buy a different bolt and a smaller washer (total: $0.58) and temporarily remove the handle in order to get it to fit. I got to use a hand riveter for the first time and that was fun!

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I’m hoping to give the truck a really good wash tonight or tomorrow night. It’s pretty grungy and I’d like to start driving it to work. I’m not a person who cares about a spotless vehicle, but even I have a point where it starts to bother me.

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Scrapple

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The scrapple-making was a success! Rachel helped a lot, for which I’m thankful. The smell was intense in the first hour of cooking. After that, it either mellowed or I went nose-blind. David’s recipe was easy to follow and it all came together well.

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I fried up a piece this morning for breakfast and it was much more mild than I expected. I was expecting a very porky flavor. Tomorrow morning I’m going to experiment with a thinner slice, which is apparently less traditional. But I think I’d enjoy it better without the mushy middle that comes with the thicker slice.

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What a great weekend!

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-30T08:46:30-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/03/30/projects-update-pond-f-scrapple.html", "tags": ["Workshop","F150"] }, { "id": "http://jabel.micro.blog/2026/03/22/projects-update-pond-f.html", "title": "Projects update: pond, F150", "content_html": "

I used to post notes about what I was working on and I’d like to get back into that habit. Not because it’s particularly noteworthy—just because I like revisiting these memories.

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Pond

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The big job this weekend was to get the pond ready for the year. Rachel did most of that work on Saturday while I piddled with other things, like building a new sugar snap pea trellis in one of the raised beds. Rachel drained the pond and power washed all the limestone. Unfortunately, after she refilled the pond, she realized the pump wasn’t working. That was a discouraging development, since that meant we would have to empty the pond by hand in order to extract the pump cord and hose from behind all the rocks. I talked her into leaving it for the next day.

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The next morning (today), she found that the pond was half-empty. That meant, she said, we either had helper fairies or a leak. She refilled the pond about halfway and we left to visit my mom and pick up a new pump at Lowe’s. By the time we got back, the water level had not gone down, but we also noticed that the liner looked pretty threadbare in spots. We again drained the pond, got the new pump in place, and then partially refilled it. This week she’s going to contact the pond store in Monrovia to see if they have better liner than what we got at Lowe’s when we built it a few years ago. We’re likely going to be rebuilding the whole thing at some point this week.

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F150

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I inherited from my dad a teal green 1996 Ford F150. We’ve used it a lot over the years to haul trash, dirt, and mulch, as well as move friends and family all around the county. But honestly, it’s pretty neglected. Last year, during one of my rants about “cars these days”, I realized I had a perfectly repairable pickup sitting outside. I know basically nothing about cars. At best, I can do routine maintenance. But that day I decided to learn how to work on this particular pickup. It should be relatively simple to learn; there’s plenty of room under the hood and it has power nothing. Even the windows are hand crank. I bought a Haynes repair manual and started making a list.

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First task: repair the driver’s side inside door handle. Right now when you want to exit the truck, you have to roll down the window and use the outside handle.

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See that torn metal? There’s supposed to be a tab there where the handle attaches. I found a reinforcement plate at broncograveyard.com that I can pop rivet over the top of that area. Apparently this is pretty common on old F150s. I ordered it plus some door panel clips today.

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Also, the gear shifter is sloppy. I already knew the solution here: tighten the bolt under the dash that connects to the shifter tube. Since we had been driving it a bit more lately, it had worked itself loose again. Today I read a suggestion of some blue threadlock to keep it in place. I did that a few minutes ago. Here’s hoping it holds.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-22T18:27:28-04:00", "url": "https://jabel.blog/2026/03/22/projects-update-pond-f.html", "tags": ["Workshop","F150"] } ] }