Category: personal

Hot and humid. It was 104F in the shade yesterday afternoon when I got home. Told my wife I’d cut the grass when it cooled down. Couple hours later it was still 102F so I gave that nonsense a pass… I’ll cut it when the temps drop, and if that’s December, so be it…

I started the day building my temporary deck at the BOL. It will give us a good feel for size and shape, and keep us out of the red sticky mud when it does finally rain. So far I’ve only got 6hrs of driving, $100 trailer rental, and $120 in material into it. It’s almost 3ft high and about 600 sq ft, so that’s pretty cheap. I spent a couple hours putting down what I have so far. It will need some furring strips and then a plywood skin, so add a few hundred more bucks. That should work for a while and still be easily removable for access by the foundation guys when we get the hill stabilized or the helical piers installed for the real deck. Quick, relatively cheap, and temporary. There are a couple of things like that up there now.

Speaking of temporary, I did manage to win a couple more garden hose sprinkler heads. That’s a good thing for my temporary watering system. Couldn’t find the pipe I needed at Lowes. I’m going to have to find a local irrigation supplier, or hit the web I guess.

I’m about 90% decided how to clean up the electrical supply in the little workshop and what feeds the dock, dockhouse, and another shed… and it won’t be 1950’s salvaged fused disconnects and antique breaker panels that have been on fire. Whatever I do, even if it is using masking tape and bread bag twist ties to replace everything there, it’ll be an improvement, and safer.

I’ll be doing work here at home today. Mostly paperwork, bills, and invoicing, but also the outside stuff if it’s not too hot. I can cut the grass in 20 minutes or less, but even that can see a 10 degree temperature rise. That caught me yesterday morning working on the deck. It was a reasonable low 80s when I started, but 98F when I finished. I had to go inside and cool off at one point. Snuck up on me.

It’ll be worth it in the end. It’s already worth it for the redundancy and backup, as we can live there full time if needed. And if the world somehow avoids the conflagration, we’ll have a nice place to hang out on a beautiful lake in our “golden years.”

Find yourself some place to go if you have to. Work on getting out of the big cities, out of unfriendly communities, away from potential trouble spots. Trouble IS coming. There is no other way out of the hole our ‘betters’ have dug. And the world is going spastic and insane. IN PLACES. In other places, life goes on, mostly the same, and you can point and comment about the other places. But fires have a tendency to spread, and so does the social madness that seems to sweep the world every few decades. EVERY place is going to be affected. Do what you can to minimize the damage.

And stack stuff. Can’t hurt. Will probably help. Might save a life.

nick

Hot and humid is the order of the day. It was a little bit cooler yesterday or I’m adapting, because I didn’t end the day soaked to the skin. I only had sweat dripping from my eyelashes and nose twice.

With the late start, I got on the machines in the afternoon. Stripping the side patio back is going well so far. Finished the day at a good point, and there wasn’t really room for more in the dumpster anyway. They are supposed to swap it out again this am, and it needs it.

Played board games with the family before working and after, yesterday. Extra kid is fitting in well (D2’s friend, not X1) she’d been kinda quiet and reserved previously. Smack talking and elbow throwing now 🙂 (metaphorically speaking)

We played “Code Names” after breakfast. It takes partners with a shared cultural frame of reference to do well. When paired with my wife, we do very well. When paired with D1, I don’t win. We played “Ticket to Ride” after dinner. That is one of my favorites. I recommend it for any group, including mixed ages. There are a couple of different strategies, and styles of play. You have to make decisions and build off them but also be willing to abandon a plan and find a different choice.

The kids were playing Rumikub most of the day. I like it too, if you have players that don’t take all day on every turn.

Wife painted trim when she wasn’t playing with the kids or moving my stuff around. (kidding, I kid…)

A good day, until the plumbing mess at the end.

Stack up the good times, they can sustain you in the bad.

nick

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