Tractor Thursday

The morning spent indoors trying to get to grips with the upstairs bath plumbing system and taking out some bits and pieces to try and get replacement parts in the afternoon in Memmingen where I had a doctors appointment.

Since my last appointment with the internist things have been much better and although there is no cure in sight, I feel a lot more optimistic and think with a bit more sensible eating and dietary discipline I should be able to improve matters. Kidney stones continue to make regular appearances, all without any pains but they are only around 3-4mm.
More good news the tests carried out a few weeks ago were all negative.
Sadly the visits to sanitary fitting specialists were far less positive. One item I need is a 1-inch diameter gasket costing perhaps 50 cents. The thing is simply not available anywhere and the straightforward, simple brass tap fitting it is affixed to is not recognisable and there is no replacement of any kind on the market. In effect, as one specialist said, for the sake of less than 1 Euro, need to rip off tiles, break open walls and spend 20,000 Euros on a new bathroom! Would love to but with 19,999 Euros missing in the bank a/c. I may use the advice of an elderly plumber standing next to me at the wholesalers - get a piece of leather and cut out a hole!

Another hot, hot day above 35°C, the garden thermometers showing over 40°C, so being indoors at about 20°C was not a hardship. Angie took the dogs for a walk alongside a stream driving there in her Renault Megane. Came home to announce one of the electric windows was stuck in the down position.......yet again. Makes the car unusable!

Just after leaving home on the way to Memmingen, I spotted an old Claas combine harvesting a field near Sontheim - the harvester was tiny, without a cabin and the driver with a straw hat at the mercy of the sun, Sadly I was late so couldn't stop but on the way home did try to find him but without success. With the maize now high, it is difficult to see far. Drove up and down tracks and all I could find was the above Claas Dominator 56. Spoke to the farmer who said he bought it used 25 years ago. It was first registered in 1981. When this series of harvesters came on the market around 1970 they were destined for large farms. Today with just 2.7m cutting heads, this once "monster" is dwarfed by the newest combines with over 12 m cutters.

The farmer uses it just for his own few fields and for a few friends if he has the time. Despite the cabin, the door was open as he crept over the fields but there again air conditioning was not standard and possibly not available in 1981.