pfllh, This is what our community John Deere dealer service dept. guys say in regard to checking the oil level in the hydraulic system. The tractor needs to be sitting on level ground with engine turned off to check. All implements need to be in the "lowered" position. They say the dipstick to check the hydraulic oil is on top of the transmission housing, in front of and below the seat (between the operator's legs). They said that you should use John Deere Hy-guard Oil. They further stated that the symptoms you are having might also be due to a clogged or "stopped-up" pump suction screen in the bottom of the transmission housing. They told me it is common for older tractors pump screens to get "matted over" with sludge and debris to the point that the pump can't get oil, or gets it too slow. So if the dipstick says the oil level is OK, you probably will need to have the hydraulic pump suction screen serviced and all new Hy-guard oil put back in. If the dipstick says it is low of oil, fill it to the full mark with Hy-guard and see if that improves the action of the 3 point hitch and box blade.

Dear Fiance, SD wrote about what she is thankful for Thanksgiving. She discussed being thankful for the earth, her house and family. -I appreciate my family because I have a dad that loves me and my brother that is funny. My dad gives food to me and my brother.- It struck me that after all the time I have spent with her, practically living here, and dinners we have made, I am left out. It has been a sad realization that my rose-colored fantasy of what could be has shattered little by little, day by day. The more I open up to them and try to create a solid foundation, the more pain I feel. I wish I could hug your children and feel like their mother and love them unconditionally. When I read things like --no person, grandmother, sister, brother, Lady Dianna, mother Theresa et al can replicate what Late Wife provided to me and the kids...I had a gorgeous women look at our children with eyes that just gushed love. Only a mother can possess that look of absolute, unadulterated love for her children-, I can't help but feel like s--t and wonder why I am here. As much as I love you and enjoy our time together, being in a role of stepmother or surrogate mother is taking a toll on my identity, redefining me into a second rate role fraught with loss and insecurity. I wish the word --mother wasn't even part of stepmother. At every developmental level, there is bound to be confusion about my role, their loss, and who their mother was. You will also mourn that Late Wife did not witness pivotal moments of your children's lives. Your children will ask you, ---Tell me a story about mommy?--- I honestly don't know if I will ever be fully comfortable listening to your stories or hearing Late Wife's family tell stories about her. After all, if she had not died, I would not be a part of your lives. It is hard to live daily with this cold reality, when it is normally, first comes love, then comes marriage, then children.... Every day, I am confronted with reminders of a past intact happy family: love letters, pictures, furniture, christmas ornaments, her recipes, dishes et al. I find it emotionally distressing to reside among visual representations of my secondary and outside position, yet I know I should just suck it up and be mature about it. To be in your lives, I have to suck it up a lot more than you may realize, dealing with grief and loss that predated me. I think that marrying you and adopting your children is premature and unrealistic, and unfair to ask of anyone, when I do not believe that you have grieved enough. If you had, I would be offered more drawers than what LW's belongings occupy considering I live in your house most of the time. Throughout this experience, I realize that the stepmom/potential adoptive mother role is based on a lie, that I will be the --mom.--- I can help raise SD and SS; help with homework, feed them, clothe them, and drive them to school. But I will never be their mom. Building our relationship so that we have a solid foundation also takes up time you can spend with your children when they have already have lost a parent. Your children have had to adjust as you bring a stranger into the house. They struggle to feel secure and form an attachment when they already have abandonment and identity issues. That's why they cling and then pull away from me. I too struggle to fully embrace children who I had no hand in raising during their formative years and who are not mine genetically. It is difficult to not be able to see myself in children I am trying to raise, as parents sit around a table discussing their children and see themselves in them. It is difficult to know when to act like a -parent-, when to be a -friend-, and when to be your girlfriend. It is hard to explain the difficulty of such a task until you walk in my shoes. And what about you? You feel exhausted because you are trying to spend time with me to keep me happy and spend time with your children to keep them happy. It is draining trying to please everyone while having a demanding career. It is a tug of war instead of the cohesive unit you had when you were in an intact family and which you so often refer to in your writing as ---wanting back---. While you are only marrying me, I am also becoming wedded to your children and LW's sainted memory. If I move in with you, I will forever be surrounded by mementos of your past. If I put them all together, they wouldn't even fit in a bedroom, and we would be downsizing and hopefully moving some of my stuff into the new home. How can that possibly happen? At present, there is no room for me in your life, that space continues to be occupied by the love of your life. I feel like an interloper as I lay here on a bed frame with the love of your life's name written on it. SD mentioned today that her New Years wish is for you to smile all day and be happy. I think right now we are working so hard to be happy, it is causing us to get sick and tired. I am being kept awake projectile vomiting and probably can't go to work tomorrow. I love you and want to stress that I have never loved someone so fully. We however met under unfortunate circumstances and poor timing. I want you to be happy and I cannot do that for you. I am adding complexity to an already complex situation. My self-esteem is also crumbling under these conditions because while I know that is not your intent, I feel second best. I want to have firsts with the man I marry. I also feel selfish for wanting time with just you, limited time taken away from time you can spend with your children who need a parent. This tug of war would not occur in a marriage not involving children and is not something that can be prevented under current circumstances. I am truly sorry that you lost the love of your life. I cannot fathom the sorrow you feel. I wish that she was still alive and with you. You would be smiling all day. I hope someday to have someone love me as much as you love her and to be the only woman, the first lady, in a man's life. Love, Pityparty

well..uhhhh...well, I been laying a little low since my wine induced post from Friday night. Do you ever wake up the next day and think, "oh, I know better then to post anything after two glasses of wine"? At the very least, wait till the next morning to decide whether to hit the send button or not. geeeeez! Also, I did not post a follow up yesterday cause my head was HURTING. I think you get my drift. Worse then that, I had to drive three hours to lake house yesterday with my head HURTING. But, all's well that ends well, I guess. My head no longer hurts, tall, dark and skinny hubby was glad to see me, and the near fatal car crash I averted yesterday by running off the road (even with me head HURTING) after other idiot driver crossed the center line was a good thing. And then today, after I lost my mind and let my two cairn terriers out on the deck forgetting to make sure the doggy gate was in place...that endend well, only by the GRACE of GOD, with me finding them wandering (but in one piece) on the street rather then smushed in a greasy spot. I was consumed with studying my bathroom that is the next remodel adVENTURE we have to look forward to. That's why I was not focused on my babies. Thank you God for helping the stupids like me. Lastly, I got a big kick out of all your responses to my question. Too funny. I'm glad that many of you got a kick out of my question/wino rambling. And Bill Vincent, I was pleased to see that you are not ALL ABOUT the tile. HA!!! Forever your pupwhipped, but no longer winewhipped

An inch and a half of water loss per day is appropriate if your pool is suspended over a volcano, or sitting in the path of an active F5 tornado. Otherwise, your pool is leaking. John, concrete pools should not have a vinyl liner. Most vinyl manufacturers will not even make the liner if they know it is intended for a concrete pool. In Ontario where you are located there are VERY few experienced concrete pool builders, but an army of vinyl "pool guys" who would be willing to install a coping strip, hang a liner and take your money. Concrete pools are expensive to renovate so a liner is an easy sales pitch. $10k+ for new concrete coping, $10k+ for new tile band and $10k+ for new plaster interior surface is too much for many pool owners so they like the sound of $4k for a liner coping track and a vinyl liner. The problem is that the vinyl will not last in a concrete pool. Your interior surface was failing to begin with so it is no longer smooth - more like a 50 grit sandpaper. As the liner shifts over the concrete, which is does constantly, the liner will wear away. You will be lucky to get a handful of years out of each liner in that pool. As for the ABS pipes - hopefully you meant PVC or poly pipe and are incorrectly calling it ABS. ABS is non-pressure rated black rigid pipe meant for drainage applications. It is not suitable for a pressurized pool system, nor is it compatible with chlorine. If it is in fact ABS that you have, I would not spend one dollar looking for a leak in the pipes if the symptoms point you towards a plumbing system leak. Replace everything. Poly pipe can look like ABS since they are both black, but poly would be clamped at the fittings where ABS would be (should be) glued with yellow glue.