The wife and I like to swing. Mostly we swing in the evening, but she enjoys swinging in the morning as well. We like coffee with our morning swings sessions.
Yeah, some of you need to get your mind out of the gutter.
The swing pictured above came from our last house and is several years old. We like it and plan to make it last as long as possible. We have spent many talking sessions with friends and family on the front porch of our previous house on it.
Since we have moved a few years back, it is on our back patio. We don't have a lot of family and friends living near by. Now it is mostly the wife and I who share the swing, but occasionally a neighbor will join us.
Today I replaced the chains the seat hangs from. The old one was rusty. In fact I was scared eventually a link might snap. So the wife ordered some more chains online.
The chains arrived yesterday and I was quickly put to work. Now this was something I could easily do, even in my condition and with my skills. Or so I thought.
I approached the swing with the arrogance of Godzilla standing over Tokyo. Then I tried to lossen the first bolt and nut fastening the chains to the seat. That arrogance quickly faded.
After several years and paint jobs, those bolts were not coming loose. They had butterfly nuts on the back, so I grabbed some pliers and thought a little mechanical help would do the trick.
It wasn't to be, I broke the wings of the nut. I believe a few choice curse words were whispered as I shuffled back into the garage for more mechanical help.
Ah! The vice grips! That should do the trick. So I shuffled back out to the swing and fastened the vice grips on to the wingless nut. I then began to turn a little bit at a time.
Eventually the vice grips slipped off and realized I stripped the nut good. So I shuffled back to the garage for some more mechanical muscle. There I pulled down my battery powered grinder.
Shuffling back to the swing, I got the look from the wife. I ignored it. A smiled from ear to ear as the grinder started cutting through the bolt like swiss cheese.
KACHUNK!
The grinder came to a screeching halt. Must be a dead battery. So I shuffled, a little more angrily, back to the garage for another. I placed the new battery on the grinder and...
KACHUNK!
It wasn't the battery. My grinder had bit the dust. Figures. That is how things go when I work on home projects. They always turn into a fiasco.
Finally, we were able to use a hacksaw and cut the bolt. We had to cut two more, and the last came off by hand. Everything else was rather easy. We just had to level out the seat and get the swing at the right height.
By the time we were done, I was sweaty, tired, had a sore back, busted ego, and a broken grinder.
But we have our swinging!
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Note: Image is my own taken with iPhone SE
