14 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Oct 27 2026
You start your engine one morning and hear a ticking sound coming from under the hood. Maybe it disappears after a few minutes. Maybe you've been hearing it for weeks, and now it seems to be getting louder.
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12 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Oct 21 2026
Meteorologists are expecting a potentially historic El Niño system could make this coming winter particularly bad across parts of the United States....
12 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Oct 13 2026
The oil additive shelf at a parts store can run six feet wide, and nearly every bottle on it promises less friction, a quieter engine, or more years...
11 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Oct 7 2026
The forecast cone swings toward your county on a Tuesday. By Thursday the gas station lines wrap around the block, the hardware store is out of fuel...
8 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Sep 29 2026
The generator has been sitting in the back of the garage since the last outage, and there is still fuel in it. Half a tank, maybe more, and no memory...
9 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Sep 23 2026
The mower goes in the shed in October. The sled goes in the barn in April. Same problem on opposite calendars: a tank of gasoline sitting still for...
7 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Sep 15 2026
The first hard freeze usually shows up before anyone is ready for it. The thermostat calls, the burner that has been quiet since April clicks, and...
8 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Sep 8 2026
The storm track shifts your way, you pull the generator out of the garage, and the gas in the tank is whatever was left in it last October. Now you...
9 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Sep 1 2026
That's why the mower that ran perfectly when you parked it in November may refuse to start in March.
8 min read
Erik Bjornstad: Aug 25 2026
The mower sat all winter, and now the gas in the tank is months old. The first instinct is to dump it and start over. Sometimes that's the right...
