A Redneck's Last Words....

Or file this under "you can take the boy out of the Central Valley, but you can't take the Central Valley out of the boy."

Anyway, a redneck's last words?

"Hey, watch this!"

Tomorrow I take a new step. I venture into unknown lands. I have done this sort of thing before, and it has been with mostly good results, but the ante has been upped. The stakes are higher. The horsepower is, well, actually measured in horsepower.

The stand mixer needs servicing, and the nearest shop is in Santa Rosa.

"Shucks!" thinks I, "it's just an electric motor and some sort of belt drive."

I have gotten very good as espresso machine repair and improvement. I can take apart and reassemble a fishing reel. OK, there is that automatic winding fly reel, but I will swear up and down that it is defective design. Why not have a crank anyway? Stupid design. It never worked very well, although it never malfunctioned enough to be considered "defective" and worthy of being returned to the rod and gun shop.

Of course, I risk a lot more by cracking open the expensive, professional stand mixer, but it died during a giant batch of heavy almond cake batter, leaving us scrambling as to what to do to make sixteen pounds of buttercream frosting. It's not just a broken kitchen gadget, it is a vendetta. There is a bad belt in there, and I am going to tear it out and show it how to transfer kinetic energy from one wheel to another. Or replace it.

Ah, now to find a source for mixer parts...

The fun never ends. If I am feeling motivated I will take pictures.