Category: personal

Hot again.  Yesterday was 10 degrees cooler than the day before and I appreciated it.   Highest I saw was 87F in the shade.   We had part sun and overcast most of the day, so that helped keep it cool too.   I really hope today is similar.

The rain late Wednesday didn’t soak the ground, so I was able to work Thursday.   The sound of a dumpster being delivered got me moving.    Then they swapped out the skid steer.   All in all, I got a bit of a late start.   I’d forgotten that I took time to build my ‘road’ so my math about how much I’m getting done per day was off.   I’m in better shape than I thought.  Assuming I can keep up the pace.

I have been alternating tasks, both to keep myself fresher, and to better use the machines.  When I swap machines I try to do a bit more with the machine so it doesn’t just run for 5 minutes.   Some of that should continue, but some of the stuff I was alternating with should be finishing up.

I should also get faster both through experience and by getting past the scary close to the edge work.   Can’t move fast when falling off an 18″ edge means rolling the machine down 200 ft of hill with water at the bottom…  Even with the seat belt and the roll over protection cage, I am not sure that would be survivable.

I really hope I can pull this off.  It’s a massive amount of work.

And I’ll continue doing it today.   For at least 10 hours in the seat.

I can put in sweat equity.

And stacks.  I can stack.

nick

Hot hot hot…    Last time I looked it was 97F in the shade yesterday, and it got  hotter.  And I was in the sun most of the afternoon anyway.

I wore a big straw hat, my cool vest, and had a fan blowing on my head.   I also drank a lot of electrolyte replacement drink.

It was still hot, and I was soaked to the skin all day.

Still don’t have a dumpster arranged.   WTF is it with people?  I would have moved on if there was a choice.  I’ll try again today.

Running earthmoving equipment is fun.   If not for the heat, I’d be having a ball.  As it is, I’m still enjoying it.

Today is concrete breaking.   I would like to keep digging but I need to know if the concrete will come out and how much work it’s going to be, that was the primary goal for this week after all.  And maybe if it’s as brutal on the body as youtube suggests, I’ll switch to digging later anyway.   In any case, work will happen.   Even if aspirin is involved.

Stacking up some skills!   And improving my situation.

5 stars, definitely recommend.

Stack something  this week.

nick

Hot and humid again today.   Sunny.   Might be a breeze.  The only thing making it at all comfortable yesterday was the strong wind.

Had a nice day yesterday.  Mostly hid from the heat and watched videos.  Mostly instructional videos…  learned about heavy equipment.   I’ll soon be putting that to the test.

I’ve got a couple of things to pickup today, then load the truck and go…

I don’t think it will be that easy, it never is.

But.  If it is, I’ll be headed up to the BOL to do a week of work.   Hopefully I’ll get done what needs to be done.  You guys are along for the ride in any case.

I’m stacking up knowledge, skills, and improvements to my BOL.   What are you doing?  Stack something.

nick

Hot hot hot.  And humid.   Which my fingers want to spell with a ‘j’.  It was hot yesterday and will be hot for the next week.   Certainly hot today.   Sunny and moist.  Yeehaaa.

Well, I did make it out to my client’s place in the afternoon.   Didn’t get the new cams installed, it was hot, and I opted for indoor network and DirecTV stuff instead.   Had some success there.

Before I could head out though, I needed to get a dumpster arranged for all the concrete I’m pulling out of the area around my BOL house.   That was actually harder than I expected, and still not set in stone.   I’ll be calling them again later today.   Seems that most people out in the country don’t pay people to haul away concrete, they use it themselves, dump it somewhere, or give it away.  Even after filling a 10 yard roll off, I think I’ll have plenty left for anything I might need it for.

I’ve been watching youtube videos to learn about operating the skid steer and mini-excavator I’ve rented.   Thank gnu that now they have “iso” controls that are standardized.   You can still switch them to use other schemes if you have the experience with different systems, but mine is long enough ago that I don’t have any muscle memory and will be happy to learn a new, simpler, scheme.  I expect that by the end of the week of use, I might be finally getting the hang of it.   I really wish there was someone I could pay to do the work, but that isn’t happening.  And hey, I get to run mini versions of the big boy toys!

Youtube is a great resource.  It’s a shame their politics interfere.

Today I’ve got some pickups and some running around to do.  I’ve got to make some cable before Thursday’s swimmeet, pick up some stuff from my secondary location, go by my rent house and see why the neighbor is complaining about trees needing to be cut back, and other stuff as well.   Busy day, once it gets going.  All that and back to pick up D1 from her thing at 3pm.   Something might slip.

Seems like there is always something to do.   Some of it is driven by our participation in meatspace activities.   That can’t be helped as I think being ‘part of the world’ is important.   Some is just part of the lifestyle, and some is work.   Oh well, I guess that it’s all part of work/ life balance…

Probably won’t get anything stacked today.   But I hope to do something.  You should stack something though.

nick

Hot and humid.  Might get weird as there was a lot of wind and from all the points of the compass later in the day yesterday.   As long as I was in the shade, and the wind was howling, it wasn’t bad.   When either of those two things weren’t present, it was miserable.

Spent yesterday catching up on auctions, then booking heavy equipment for the BOL.   That was painful.   The 90s still rule at United Rentals online office apparently.    Despite knowing which store was closest to  my job, and despite having computerized rental records, and knowing the dates I needed the equipment, they STILL showed me stuff that wasn’t available, and errorred out when I tried to book it.    Called the number they insisted I should call.   Got halfway done with booking over the phone and got disconnected.  Called back and got a different agent who was not able to see either my online order, or anything from the first guy.

So we did the dance, I repeated myself for the third time, he called the store, and finally I got some gear I hope will work reserved.   It was all upsized from the machines I actually wanted, and cost more too.  I just hope it’s not too big for access or too heavy for the soil.  Then the system, which found my account  when I logged in, and when I called in, couldn’t process my order because my account was either inactive or on hold.  No telling which, and too late in the day to find out.   So the rep made me a new account faster than even just calling support would have been, and a credit card number later, I was booked to have a skid steer (bobcat) and mini-excavator delivered to the site.   I’m committed to a schedule now…

I’m also committed to learning to use the dang things.   It’s been a couple decades since I ran a skid steer or excavator.  I’m sure I’ll catch on.  Pretty sure.

Now to get some fuel cans, so I can keep the diesel fueled beasts running with no more than one trip a day to the gas station…

Stacking up skills, and experiences!

For today, I’ve got to find a debris service to drop off a roll off dumpster for the broken concrete and get that delivered.   Then I’ve got to head out to my client’s house, and do the things he needs.  I’ll do one pickup on the way.  That should fill my day, but if it doesn’t, I’ll do some other stuff around the house.

Tomorrow should be just as busy too.

It’s a great life if you don’t falter.

DON’T FALTER.   Stack it up.

nick