Commentary by Christy Solo
On one of my recent journeys into the Rogue River National Forest, I managed to hit at least 10% of the *POTHOLES* on Abbott Creek Rd.
And yes, *POTHOLES* because they have gone far beyond “potholes” at this point. Some could swallow a small vehicle.
With the budget for the National Forests being what it is currently, those potholes won’t be filled in any time soon – if ever. So if/when you go exploring on any NF road, be prepared for a slalom. Even at super slow speeds and wearing polarized sunglasses, the potholes are very hard to see because of the dappled sun/shade nature of NF roads.
I was a few miles into my drive home on Hwy. 62 when I heard a terrifying sound coming from…I wasn’t sure. Was it in, on, around or under my car? It was a sound that made me check the dashboard, assuming every WARNING light was going to be on. I thought maybe it was something under the car then. I have driven down 62 before dragging a bit of dried fir branch caught beneath the car.
I pulled over and looked around the car. Nothing obvious. No branches, no flat tires causing bits to scrape the road. Then I checked the front of the car and – yup. The plastic engine splash plate had been knocked loose by a *POTHOLE* and was scraping the highway.
Fabulous.
I drove on to a safer place to pull over where I had room to crawl around and try to figure out a fix to the problem.
Upon closer inspection, I saw the splash pate had been installed wrong. Possibly when it had been replaced over a decade ago after a car vs. raccoon incident on an icy Colorado highway. Possibly last year when I’d had other repairs to damage caused by highway construction done.
Whatever, the plate was just sort of shoved in place, the bolts that should be through the plate and bumper were…just through the bumper.
I opened the small tool kit in my trunk…and nope. No wrenches. No way to undo the very tightly tightened bolt and actual fix the issue. I tried a pair of needle-nose pliers just for grins. Yeah. No.
As I walked back to the trunk I thought, “If only I had a zip tie!” and there in front of me in the tool kit was…a bag of teeny zip ties!
So yes, I zip tied my splash plate in place and drove home in lovely silence.
Really – this is less about potholes and my ability to MacGyver a variety of repairs – and more about zip ties.
This column should be titled “Ode to a Zip Tie.” Those plastic doodads are one of the greatest inventions of all time.
Keeping my splash plate in place, my fence covered and my rose from falling over. Photos by Christy Solo
The secondary fencing in my yard (smaller gauge wire to keep dogs in) – zip tied to the primary fencing.
One branch of a rose bush got too heavy and was almost touching the ground – zip tied it to a fence post.
Need to put suet feeder on a tree so the birds can use it with ease – zip tied it to the tree.
Had to put a tarp over the mesh fence to keep my dog and neighbor’s dog from fence fighting – zip tied it.
Gardening, home repair, auto repair (apparently), organizing all those cords around the house, stabilizing bird feeders, zip, zip, zip, zip.
If you can duct tape it, you can zip it.
