My Hero!!!

I went down to the garage this morning to try to remove the vent hoses, again. I didn't want to open the garage door for fear the torrential winds would blow away the various parts of Selma I currently have scattered about. Though the by-product of this decision was having to lay underneath an almost two ton vehicle with all sorts of creaking noises swirling about the place... yes I know... Selma is securely jacked up- she's not going anyway... I'm just not used to being under cars yet.

I was almost immediately frustrated... I had let them sit overnight hoping the various substances I had sprayed on them would sink in and lubricate the process- but they didn't seem to be making any different. The hoses are up in a really awkward position, my arms were getting tired of holding my hands up, trying to push, pull, wiggle, or otherwise maneuver these hoses off (and every time I would use extra force something would creak somewhere and I'd irrationally pause for a second to figure out what it was). I could feel the skinnier hose starting to shred from my wiggling it so much and a small tear was developing at the end where it connected to the tube.

I decided to use the long handled flat-head screw driver that was sitting near by to try to pry the hose off. I figured, if it makes the tear worse, so be it- I think I'm putting new hoses on here regardless. And then it hit me. If I don't care if I accidentally make the tear worse... why not Purposefully make it worse!!! (You were just privy to the thought process of Genius...)

I had already taken the clamp off in it's entirety... so I fetched the above pictured Tool of Brilliance... and started carefully cutting the hose, until it popped off with ease.

I then pulled the hose clamp off the larger one, which is harder then you'd think with the weird angle and all that flaky black stuff clogging up the Phillips head and making it slip. I cut it off, then loosened the clamps on the other side of both the hoses and pulled them off the pipes they connected to.

The hoses. A lot of trouble for such small things.

My cut- you can also see bits of the fraying that was occurring a little below the cut.

There's a warning in here for all you air vent hoses out there- don't get between me and a happy, clean Selma Lee!!!