"The point is that things can be repaired ― that they are even more beautiful for having been repaired."
― Sonali Dev
We got a few inches of snow cover last week and temperatures dropped dramatically, bringing chilling arctic air throughout Wisconsin. We're looking at an extended warming trend coming up this week, which will likely melt the snow we do have. Naturally, I've been keeping my eye on the courtyard crabapple tree on and off throughout the weekend. American Robins are in the tree feasting away and also foraging for fallen fruit on the ground. Yes ― we still have robins around.
There are also House Finches ...
And Cedar Waxwings.
Repair #1
Meanwhile, I used my weekend free time to work on a variety of things in need of repair. While listening to music a few days ago, I noticed some static coming from one of my Bose cube speakers. These suckers are pretty old and probably shouldn't have lasted as long as they have ― testament to the quality of Bose. I think I purchased these sometime in the early to mid 1990s, but they still sound great (when working properly).
Meanwhile, I used my weekend free time to work on a variety of things in need of repair. While listening to music a few days ago, I noticed some static coming from one of my Bose cube speakers. These suckers are pretty old and probably shouldn't have lasted as long as they have ― testament to the quality of Bose. I think I purchased these sometime in the early to mid 1990s, but they still sound great (when working properly).
At first I wasn't sure if it was a speaker or something amiss with my Denon receiver, but after unplugging everything and testing each component and channel one at a time, I was able to isolate the offending speaker and plucked it out.
The part number was conveniently located on the back and quickly found replacement online ― it's already on the way. Interestingly, I can't tell a difference in the sound except for the fact that the static is gone. After putting it all together again, I figured one side would overpower the other, but not at all. Still, I'll go through with installing the replacement speaker once I get it.
Repair #2
I noticed one pickup cover on my Dark Night American Professional II Stratocaster was oddly deformed. I decided to take it apart and discovered a poor glue job ― the raised dried glob was pushing up from the inside creating the deformity visible from the outside.
I just scraped it off with a knife ...
While the guitar was disassembled, I cleaned the bridge, oiled the neck (lightly), re-strung it with D'addario strings, and even replaced the pick guard with a new 3-ply black one.
Shiny ― just like new!
Repair #3
Sometime during the past insecting season I damaged my Tamron 60mm F/2 Macro lens, which is the optical device I use more than anything else in my entire arsenal of outdoor gear. We can rebuild it ― we have the technology. As regular readers know, it's the lens I use for all of my insect and wildflower photography, which is a huge portion of the content on my blog these days.
That's some ding in the glass, right? This is a job for a spanner wrench! Ya got one? Super handy tool.
They're great for removing objective lens locking rings on cameras. Fortunately, I have a second of the same lens with intact glass, but the focusing mechanism on it is broken. I kept it for parts, so it's time had come to be a component donor.
Hmmm! Still more spare parts in there ...
Removed ...
And installed! I'll still keep the old scratched lens in the even I do something even worse down the road with the repaired one. It's a small enough scratch that it probably doesn't adversely impact image quality too much, but it was a simple switcheroo, so why not do it?
Ready for Spring Insecting in 2023!
All images © 2022 Mike McDowell