Publishers addendum

Please note the following publisher's addendum to Ford Pick-ups & Expedition, 1997 thru 1999, Haynes Repair Manual.

Section 1-25 Cooling system servicing

Warning 1 reads:

Do not allow antifreeze to come in contact with your skin

and should instead read:

We have never changed any fluids of any kind ourselves

Paragraph 4 states:

Move a large container under the radiator for drain to catch the coolant. Attach a 3/8-inch diameter hose to the drain fitting to direct the coolant into the container...

and should instead read:

Do not bother attaching a hose to the drain fitting as only 5 percent of the fluid will travel out the petcock valve stem. The remaining 95% of the coolant will erupt from the base of the petcock valve.

Figure 25.5 caption reads:

The block drain plugs are generally located about one to two inches above the oil pan - there is one on each side of the engine block.

and should instead read:

The block drain plugs are generally located about one to two inches above the oil pan - there is one on each side of the engine block. If your vehicle is equipped with an "electric starter" do not bother looking for the drain plug on the passenger's side.

Also please note that in the specifications we noted the capacity of the cooling system with rear heater to be 26 quarts. We didn't really measure it. It might actually be 26 quarts, but we recommend you do not buy the required 13 quarts (3.25 gallons) to make a 50% mixture. You will be lucky if you can drain 12 quarts total out of the system.

One additional note: If you plan on replacing the radiator hoses, all connections will be a standard hose clamp.... except one. That one will be the lowermost clamp buried deepest within the engine compartment. Instead of a basic hose clamp, it will be a new fangled clamp that is normally removed by simply rotating it 45 degrees in either direction. Of course, this works only with a brand new hose. A hose under normal wear will have to be cut off. The internal hardened metal clamping mechanism will then have to be bent back in four places and manhandled with a large set of pliers to get it to release from the soft plastic radiator tank. This superior clamping mechanism is only used on one location instead of all 6 locations for reasons we are not able to release to the general public because they are of a sensitive nature for national security.

How to build a high-rise fire ant condominium

First take one stump. If you do not have a stump, we have many fine stumps to choose from here at the Stump Farm. It is best to choose a fresh stump. Hardwood is suggested. This is a fine oak specimen.

Add one chainsaw and you get a nice carved out stump.




Now take the excess sawdust and wooden bits and pieces and scatter them all around the stump. This will attract termites, drawing them into the stump.


Finally, tell your spouse you have built them a planter and tell her to plant flowers in them. The fire ants will move into the new fresh soil, attracted by the tasty termites.
See also: How to build a stump planter

High rise fire ant condos are a TradeMarked product of SporkCo Industries and The Stump Farm

How to build a stump planter

First take one stump. If you do not have a stump, we have many fine stumps to choose from here at the Stump Farm. It is best to choose a fresh stump. Hardwood is suggested. This is a fine oak specimen.

Add one chainsaw and you get a beautiful decorative stump planter.
See also: How to build a high rise fire ant condominium


Stump Planters are a TradeMarked product of SporkCo Industries and The Stump Farm

New look per user request

surprised by arbitrary assertions

I hadn't intended for this to be Kooks Korner for Religious Fanatics.... but I just saw an interview with Stephen Colbert and N.T.Wright. The subject was Wright's new book. If you think religion is arbitrary and illogical... you aint seen nothing yet. And this guy is sort of... mainstream.

Wright basically proposes (at least on Colbert's show) there is an "after-after life". In other words, after all of you go to heaven (I suspect I wont make the cut) you will then have an afterlife after that. As if it were not arbitrary enough to propose one, why not two? This is sort of the reverse Occam's Razor. I am going to call it Occam's Beard. Hell, I might even think we should have an after-after-after life. And I think we should also start worshiping god's creator while we are at it.

My favorite quote of this guy was this:

The great thing about Anglicans is that we have no theology of our own. If something is true the Anglicans believe it.... You chaps [Catholics] have stuff you look up in these big books all the time.

I suspect the concept of "Anglican truth" is not based on evidence of the senses here -- especially judging by the context of the statement. Let me translate what he said into plain English:

We don't need the proof of data written in a book by flat-earth superstitious folk in the dark ages then madly edited by the Catholic church in a quest for squashing knowledge and maintaining power. That's way too structured for us. We'll just obtain magical truth and believe it.