My normal routines have gone entirely out of whack this past week or so. Too many annoyances...
Let me say clearly,that my troubles are minor compared with many peoples'. But they are MY troubles and on my mind constantly.
1. I just can't seem to get in tough with the owner of the neighboring property. The contractors won't tell me (don't want to get in trouble). The County tax records still list the previous owner and I know ownership passed to a bank and then the property was sold.
I need to talk to the actual owner or whoever is managing the contractors renovating the property. I can't find the person, though the contractor boss says 'he". I am worried every day they will start painting or tearing down MY fence when I'm not looking.
WHY I care if they paint it is a whole separate post and I will try to get to that soon. Meanwhile, it is my fence on my property and I claim the right to decide how it looks.
2. My beloved 60" plasma HDTV died Wednesday. It just went *blink* and then nothing. It is only 3 1/2 years old. The soonest appointment for a repair I could get is next Wednesday. Actually, I called Samsung for trouble-shooting advice hoping for some rebooting advice. I didn't know that repairs on those things were even possible.
The Sumsung service desk says it sounds like a power supply problem. I have my doubts, since there is a little red power "on" indicator and it is lit. But maybe there is a circuit past that which can be replaced.
Anyway, the idea of having no TV at all for week was just too much, so I went to Walmart and bought a 24" model for $138. Plus, I wanted tit as a test o know if it was the TV or just some cable or the cable box etc.
Right out of the box, the new little TV came right on. It's the 60" that is having the problem. Plus I can show that to the repair person. Having a small TV isn't bad. Since I have MSNBC on most of the day, I listen to TV more than I watch it. Who needs to watch talking heads?
But The Washington Nationals baseball team are in the playoffs, and watching THAT on a small TV is annoying. But I'm old enough to remember our first family 12" B&W TV and then years later thinking a color 20" TV was just "amazing". So I pulled the TV stand closer to the chair and got used to it. 4 days of "tiny" TV isn't the worst thing. Some people drink water from polluted creeks...
But I'll still be happy to see the big screen again.
3. I mentioned a couple weeks ago getting the metal spout of a gas can stuck in the car's fuel inlet. The dealership did the job removing it just fine. How they did it is not something I expect to have to know for future situations, but they did suggest I have the timing belt and all drive belts replaced. Not from wear, but due to age. They wanted $1000 for that. My automatic response was no because there was no actual problem. It wasn't like they said "we looked at your timing belt and it is worn out".
But now everytime I start the car I worry. Some problems you can see developing. The engine is hart to start, the engine runs rough while driving, there are noises, the brakes squeal, etc. But when a timing belt breaks, everything just STOPS all at once and nothing first.
It's like falling off a cliff. The falling isn't the problem. The problem is the sudden "THUD". A broken timing belt is a "THUD". That happened on a previous car, and lucky that I was directly in front of a good local repair shop. They just pushed it into the shop and replaced the timing belt in an hour! I doubt I would be so lucky again.
I think I may pay for the whole belt assembly. I've been lucky. No sense pushing my luck. The Toyota Highlander is 12 years old. It only has about 28,000 miles
on it. But it has mostly been stop-and-go traffic commuting and local
errands, and that is really hard on an engine. I want to keep the current car running until there is a good SUV hybrid or fuel cell model available. I like SUVs for the height and cargo capacity. And since I don't drive much, gas mileage isn't a concern.
4. I'm listing information about Iza to bring to the vet. My thanks to everyone who mentioned things to ask about. I want to talk to the vet about a plan of exams rather that just bring Iza to the vet and say "do stuff" I want the vet to think about it, advise me of what tests he indends to perform, and them look them up before I agree.
But I'll do anything within reason to make her life (and mine) better. My regular vet of 30 years gets the first chance to identify her problems. I trust him a lot because of years of good attntion but also because HE was the one who found Ayla had almost a whole ovary after the breeder's vet did 2 failed spay operations. But he might not be so skilled/equipped at detailed tests. I know of a certified feline specialist (an annoying hour drive away because of few bridges across a river but closest - 40 road miles, 10 as the crows fly) and will go there if my regular vet can't find the problems.
But to be clear, the feline specialist vet wanted $1700 for exploratory surgery and my vet did it for $400.
Showing posts with label Problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Problems. Show all posts
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
The Daily Grind
You would think that, being retired, I would have all the time I need
to do the things I want to do. Sadly, no. My activities expand to fill
all available time.
Thursday was a great example (I'm behind a few days in my posts).
I started off the day with a haircut. It had been 2 months...
I bought a new microwave oven a month ago. After a couple weeks, it arced and popped twice even burned a black tunnel through a sweet potato. It is more wattage and interior size than my previous one. Trust me, I know not to put anything metal in the M/W after 25 years of them, LOL! Keeping a pyrex measuring cup of water in it stopped the problem, but made me realize that it is designed to cook larger quantities of food than I routinely do.
And I decided there was no way I was going to get along with having a pyrex cup of water in the M/W for the next 8-10 years. So I called Amazon about returning it. I order a LOT of stuff from them, so they are forgiving about the occasional return. They emailed a return label.
I repacked it so carefully I even put the peel-off plastic wrap back on! I keep EVERYTHING from a box for 90 days, just for reasons like this. But I had to get it back to UPS eventually and I wasn't looking forward to it. The darn box was so big I could barely get my hands around it to carry it to the car, and the distance from customer parking to the UPS input desk seemed more than I wanted to do. But I have a little handcart and that made it a lot easier.
Then I pulled it in the the input desk, the guy said "Wow, what are you shipping"? I said I had a bad shoulder (sometimes a small lie eases conversation). He casually picked it up and placed in on his counter. Hey, he looked 25, and I'm not. It's something you start to get used to in your 60s.
That taken care of, I drove home, where I discovered that another UPS guy had delivered a 50# bag of Nyger seed for the goldfinches. I buy it that way because it is really cheaper per pound. But the M/W was only 35# and this was 50#. Yet I could lift it because it was a smaller box! I could get my arms around it.
Ladies, when you complain that you can't reach to top shelfs of kitchen cabinets or lift heavier objects, I understand. I'm 66 and 5'6". I know the problems. I have a few 2 step stepladders around the house for a reason. Every time I buy a new pair of pants I have to bring then to an alterations guy saying make the inseam 25". And he goes "Are you sure"? Yeah...
Anyway, I was able to carry the 50# bag of Nyger seed to the basement (not easily). So at the workbench, I had a 50# bag of nyger seeds and two 35# buckets of kitty litter and 2 cases of wine. And 4 litter boxes to clean. I knew what the next couple of hours was going to be like.
I used to buy kitty litter in 12# plastic jugs. I saved them. It is worth the effort to transfer it from the buckets to the jugs. And I found a 12" funnel to help. So I set the 12# jugs on a bucket on the floor and lift the 35# tubs to dump it into them through the huge funnel. I can handle a 35# tub of litter but not a 35# box with a M/W in it. Smaller! 30 minutes of pouring and I have 5 12# jugs easier to handle for the next few weeks. Done!
Now I have the 50# bag of nyger seed (I should actually weigh those some day to make sure the supplier is honest). I got it up on the workbench laying flat, put a 5 gallon bucket right underneth a corner overhanging the bench and cut it open carefully. As I saw the spilling seeds were going right into the bucket slowly, I cut it open a bit more. When the bucket was 3/4 filled I lifted the cut corner to prevent further flow. Stuck a brick under the corner.
Remember the kitty litter jugs I mentioned I saved? I have more. I use them for nyger seed too. They are rectangular and fit perfectly into my freezer with little wasted space and that keeps the seed lasting longer. Goldfinches won't eat "old" seed, which is one reason I won't buy the smaller bags in department stores. They sit around, get heated, and the birds don't want them. The 50# bags come straight from a producer and straight into the freezer.
So with the workbench FINALLY cleared, I could FINALLY clean the litter boxes. I try to do that daily, but I KNOW I've waited too long when they gather around waiting for the cleaning. Or maybe they just find it amazing that I do that and like to watch. Who knows what cats think?
I have found it easier to just lift the litterboxes to the workbench one at a time. It is easier on my knees and I get to sweep away the loose litter around them. I sweep the spilled litter (not output) into a dustpan and toss it back in a litterbox. Waste not, want not. The cats don't mind; litter material is litter material.
But that wasn't the end of the afternoon. I had 3 flats of flower seedlings emerging on the bottom shelf and the lights were 12" away. Way too far. But 2 bulbs were burned out. I have what I think is a very good rule. Cats and plants get what they need before I do. They can't take care of themselves indoors.
So I had to haul out 3 flats of seedlings, find 2 bulbs, and replace them. The bottom shelf is the worst. I had to place bulbs toward the back of the shelf and so crawled in on my back over the shelf. Which is bad. When I twist around like that, I usually get some back or rib muscle spasms.
They didn't want to go in. It took 3 frustrating minutes to get one in, only 1 to get the other. But 4 minutes on your back in discomfort is never fun. But I did it and crawled back out. Sure enough, soon as I stood up, muscle cramps! Never fun. But I won't stop gardening because of that. Its worth it.
After that, since it was still daylight and heavy rains are coming today, I re-planted snow peas where the previous planting didn't come up. I planted 20 originally and 9 came up. So I planted 11 more.
And then, just to make sure all my seedlings were growing close the the indoors lights, I took all the flats off the shelves and rearranged the 6-packs. Some seeds were 2" tall and some just emerging, so the re-arrangement was needed. Now I have flats of newly-emerging seeds and taller ones grouped together. and each growing as close to the lights as possible.
All are as close to the light bulbs as possible. Matched in heightss
Then I made dinner, watched an hour of political talk TV and came here! To blog personally and catly.
Quite a Day!
Thursday was a great example (I'm behind a few days in my posts).
I started off the day with a haircut. It had been 2 months...
I bought a new microwave oven a month ago. After a couple weeks, it arced and popped twice even burned a black tunnel through a sweet potato. It is more wattage and interior size than my previous one. Trust me, I know not to put anything metal in the M/W after 25 years of them, LOL! Keeping a pyrex measuring cup of water in it stopped the problem, but made me realize that it is designed to cook larger quantities of food than I routinely do.
And I decided there was no way I was going to get along with having a pyrex cup of water in the M/W for the next 8-10 years. So I called Amazon about returning it. I order a LOT of stuff from them, so they are forgiving about the occasional return. They emailed a return label.
I repacked it so carefully I even put the peel-off plastic wrap back on! I keep EVERYTHING from a box for 90 days, just for reasons like this. But I had to get it back to UPS eventually and I wasn't looking forward to it. The darn box was so big I could barely get my hands around it to carry it to the car, and the distance from customer parking to the UPS input desk seemed more than I wanted to do. But I have a little handcart and that made it a lot easier.
Then I pulled it in the the input desk, the guy said "Wow, what are you shipping"? I said I had a bad shoulder (sometimes a small lie eases conversation). He casually picked it up and placed in on his counter. Hey, he looked 25, and I'm not. It's something you start to get used to in your 60s.
That taken care of, I drove home, where I discovered that another UPS guy had delivered a 50# bag of Nyger seed for the goldfinches. I buy it that way because it is really cheaper per pound. But the M/W was only 35# and this was 50#. Yet I could lift it because it was a smaller box! I could get my arms around it.
Ladies, when you complain that you can't reach to top shelfs of kitchen cabinets or lift heavier objects, I understand. I'm 66 and 5'6". I know the problems. I have a few 2 step stepladders around the house for a reason. Every time I buy a new pair of pants I have to bring then to an alterations guy saying make the inseam 25". And he goes "Are you sure"? Yeah...
Anyway, I was able to carry the 50# bag of Nyger seed to the basement (not easily). So at the workbench, I had a 50# bag of nyger seeds and two 35# buckets of kitty litter and 2 cases of wine. And 4 litter boxes to clean. I knew what the next couple of hours was going to be like.
I used to buy kitty litter in 12# plastic jugs. I saved them. It is worth the effort to transfer it from the buckets to the jugs. And I found a 12" funnel to help. So I set the 12# jugs on a bucket on the floor and lift the 35# tubs to dump it into them through the huge funnel. I can handle a 35# tub of litter but not a 35# box with a M/W in it. Smaller! 30 minutes of pouring and I have 5 12# jugs easier to handle for the next few weeks. Done!
Now I have the 50# bag of nyger seed (I should actually weigh those some day to make sure the supplier is honest). I got it up on the workbench laying flat, put a 5 gallon bucket right underneth a corner overhanging the bench and cut it open carefully. As I saw the spilling seeds were going right into the bucket slowly, I cut it open a bit more. When the bucket was 3/4 filled I lifted the cut corner to prevent further flow. Stuck a brick under the corner.
Remember the kitty litter jugs I mentioned I saved? I have more. I use them for nyger seed too. They are rectangular and fit perfectly into my freezer with little wasted space and that keeps the seed lasting longer. Goldfinches won't eat "old" seed, which is one reason I won't buy the smaller bags in department stores. They sit around, get heated, and the birds don't want them. The 50# bags come straight from a producer and straight into the freezer.
So with the workbench FINALLY cleared, I could FINALLY clean the litter boxes. I try to do that daily, but I KNOW I've waited too long when they gather around waiting for the cleaning. Or maybe they just find it amazing that I do that and like to watch. Who knows what cats think?
I have found it easier to just lift the litterboxes to the workbench one at a time. It is easier on my knees and I get to sweep away the loose litter around them. I sweep the spilled litter (not output) into a dustpan and toss it back in a litterbox. Waste not, want not. The cats don't mind; litter material is litter material.
But that wasn't the end of the afternoon. I had 3 flats of flower seedlings emerging on the bottom shelf and the lights were 12" away. Way too far. But 2 bulbs were burned out. I have what I think is a very good rule. Cats and plants get what they need before I do. They can't take care of themselves indoors.
So I had to haul out 3 flats of seedlings, find 2 bulbs, and replace them. The bottom shelf is the worst. I had to place bulbs toward the back of the shelf and so crawled in on my back over the shelf. Which is bad. When I twist around like that, I usually get some back or rib muscle spasms.
They didn't want to go in. It took 3 frustrating minutes to get one in, only 1 to get the other. But 4 minutes on your back in discomfort is never fun. But I did it and crawled back out. Sure enough, soon as I stood up, muscle cramps! Never fun. But I won't stop gardening because of that. Its worth it.
After that, since it was still daylight and heavy rains are coming today, I re-planted snow peas where the previous planting didn't come up. I planted 20 originally and 9 came up. So I planted 11 more.
And then, just to make sure all my seedlings were growing close the the indoors lights, I took all the flats off the shelves and rearranged the 6-packs. Some seeds were 2" tall and some just emerging, so the re-arrangement was needed. Now I have flats of newly-emerging seeds and taller ones grouped together. and each growing as close to the lights as possible.
All are as close to the light bulbs as possible. Matched in heightss
Then I made dinner, watched an hour of political talk TV and came here! To blog personally and catly.
Quite a Day!
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Grocery Store Frustrations
I shop mostly at one grocery store. They have the most extensive variety and the best quality (until you get to organic stores where broccoli is $9/lb). But it has a few habits that drive me crazy.
The first is minor. They offer strawberries at $3/lb at the front of the store and $4/per 2lbs further back. I can deal with that trickery. I just leave my 1lb container among the 2lb containers so they know I switched. Minor sneakiness...
Another habit is mixing up produce. They have Granny Smith apples labeled Yellow Delicious (They suppose any apple that isn't red must be "yellow"?) . The parsnips were labelled "rutabagas" today. The individual bags of fresh spinach, collards, kale, and cut cabbage were are labelled "collards at $3lb even they they were actually 3 different prices.
Worse, when you can FIND a produce clerk and ask a question, they always have to take a sample back the storage area to check. It's because they don't know what the produce is and have to ask the Produce Manager. Most of them have never eaten half the stuff they sell.
The worst habit is lack of pricing labels. It drives me crazy! I go to the store with a list, but I'm always open to good deals. Conversely, if what I have on my list is expensive, I'll change. I like almost all veggies and fruits, so I can shift.
More than once, I have found the actual Produce Manager out on the floor and led him in a brief tour of all the several above errors. I suppose I am annoying...
Today it got seriously annoying. I like yellow peaches over white ones. Yellow ones separate from the pit easily and are sweeter. The bin had 2 shelves and one label marked "yellow peaches". $2/lb One shelf had smaller riper peaches than the other shelf. I chose mostly those, but there were a few larger ones that seemed ripe, too. I also bought some plums.
At checkout, I watch the register display carefully. The clerks punch in the product codes from memory (and they are quite good at it but not infallible. When there is an error, the price is usually the same and I don't care. Sometimes it is computer errors back at the programming center. If THEY somehow call item #4043 white peaches instead of yellow peaches I don't care if the price is right.
But today was weird. I bought a bag of peaches and a bag of plums. As I pushed the cart away, I noticed the receipt said I had plums, peaches and nectarines. So I pointed that out the the cashier. What followed was 15 minutes of confusion...
Taking the plums out of the picture, I was charged twice for my peaches. Seems straightforward, but they were different weights and prices. Well, the cashier had been having a problem with the scale.
We finally figured out (to the extreme annoyance of the other people waiting in line) that my bag of peaches had both yellow and white peaches (from a single bin that had 2 shelves and only one label).
I know this cashier. She is a very nice friendly and helpful person. But she is easily confused by problems.
I suggested the easiest way to resolve the confusion. Refund me for the nectarine charge, refund me for the mixed bag of yellow and white peaches, and I would just go buy another bag of all-yellow peaches (now knowing the product code) and I would pay for them separately in an express line. She said she could do the refund action easily. Nope!
That was too confusing... She had to go to another cashier several times for every step. (Where was the cashier manager?")
If the glares from the customers behind me in line could kill, I would not be writing this post now...
It eventually all got sorted out and fixed. But the whole problem was created because the Produce people can't manage to keep their produce labelled!
**********
And there is an afternote: I had 4 cloth shopping bags. 2 are cheap store crap. 2 were cherished handmade gifts from a deceased sister. I know I had them in my cart when I went in the store. One was missing at the checkout. Someone snatched one the the bags while I was shopping... The service desk said none were turned in but I will check again next time.
The first is minor. They offer strawberries at $3/lb at the front of the store and $4/per 2lbs further back. I can deal with that trickery. I just leave my 1lb container among the 2lb containers so they know I switched. Minor sneakiness...
Another habit is mixing up produce. They have Granny Smith apples labeled Yellow Delicious (They suppose any apple that isn't red must be "yellow"?) . The parsnips were labelled "rutabagas" today. The individual bags of fresh spinach, collards, kale, and cut cabbage were are labelled "collards at $3lb even they they were actually 3 different prices.
Worse, when you can FIND a produce clerk and ask a question, they always have to take a sample back the storage area to check. It's because they don't know what the produce is and have to ask the Produce Manager. Most of them have never eaten half the stuff they sell.
The worst habit is lack of pricing labels. It drives me crazy! I go to the store with a list, but I'm always open to good deals. Conversely, if what I have on my list is expensive, I'll change. I like almost all veggies and fruits, so I can shift.
More than once, I have found the actual Produce Manager out on the floor and led him in a brief tour of all the several above errors. I suppose I am annoying...
Today it got seriously annoying. I like yellow peaches over white ones. Yellow ones separate from the pit easily and are sweeter. The bin had 2 shelves and one label marked "yellow peaches". $2/lb One shelf had smaller riper peaches than the other shelf. I chose mostly those, but there were a few larger ones that seemed ripe, too. I also bought some plums.
At checkout, I watch the register display carefully. The clerks punch in the product codes from memory (and they are quite good at it but not infallible. When there is an error, the price is usually the same and I don't care. Sometimes it is computer errors back at the programming center. If THEY somehow call item #4043 white peaches instead of yellow peaches I don't care if the price is right.
But today was weird. I bought a bag of peaches and a bag of plums. As I pushed the cart away, I noticed the receipt said I had plums, peaches and nectarines. So I pointed that out the the cashier. What followed was 15 minutes of confusion...
Taking the plums out of the picture, I was charged twice for my peaches. Seems straightforward, but they were different weights and prices. Well, the cashier had been having a problem with the scale.
We finally figured out (to the extreme annoyance of the other people waiting in line) that my bag of peaches had both yellow and white peaches (from a single bin that had 2 shelves and only one label).
I know this cashier. She is a very nice friendly and helpful person. But she is easily confused by problems.
I suggested the easiest way to resolve the confusion. Refund me for the nectarine charge, refund me for the mixed bag of yellow and white peaches, and I would just go buy another bag of all-yellow peaches (now knowing the product code) and I would pay for them separately in an express line. She said she could do the refund action easily. Nope!
That was too confusing... She had to go to another cashier several times for every step. (Where was the cashier manager?")
If the glares from the customers behind me in line could kill, I would not be writing this post now...
It eventually all got sorted out and fixed. But the whole problem was created because the Produce people can't manage to keep their produce labelled!
**********
And there is an afternote: I had 4 cloth shopping bags. 2 are cheap store crap. 2 were cherished handmade gifts from a deceased sister. I know I had them in my cart when I went in the store. One was missing at the checkout. Someone snatched one the the bags while I was shopping... The service desk said none were turned in but I will check again next time.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Yardwork
I'm still doing some yardwork. I wanted a trailerful (about 2 cubic yards) of compost, but getting replacement tires for the trailer in December really set me off schedule. But it was scheduled to reach 55 degrees today, so I decided it is never too late to put compost around..
The trip was a comedy of errors!
First, I carefully placed the trailer hitch on the back of the car. I put the tarp to cover the trailer in the back, a rake to level out the dumped compost in the trailer, and lots of bungee cords to hold the tarp down. Off I went. Do you notice something I missed? I had to return for something I forgot.
The trailer... Yes, I actually forgot the trailer. Backed the car out of the driveway and drove away...
Back home, attached the trailer, got to the nursery. Set my tarp to be held down in the front of the trailer by weight of the compost and ready to fold over the top to keep stuff from blowing out.
Went inside and placed my request for 2 cubic yards of compost. Gave the clerk the coupon I had for $15 off a $75 dollar order. Now, I knew the 2 cubic yards only cost $35.99 each, so I needed to spend $3 and change to use the coupon. But there is always something cheap to buy. Spend $3, get $15 off...
I should have known, when the clerk walked off with the coupon, with a puzzled look, something was wrong. Something was. They claimed it wasn't their coupon.
I am sure it WAS. I clipped it out of the gardening section of the newspaper, and (moreover) I wouldn't have if it wasn't that one nursery I go to. Anyone else, I wouldn't have bothered! But I clipped the coupons out so carefully, there is no mention of the company offerring the discount.
I was annoyed enough to want to check. But NATURALLY, all the old newspapers (where the ad the coupons were clipped from) were in the recycling box picked up yesterday!
But, on the other hand, I wanted the compost, would have bought it without any coupon, so I just made a slight joke about uncertainties of ads and paid for the 2 cubic yards of compost. Then went out back to the trailer.
Where I suddenly realized the the covering tarp was set up sideways! And the guy was there with a cubic yard to dump. I had to wave him off for a moment, while I adjusted the tarp to fit the right direction.
So he dumped the first cubic yard. 1/3 of it stuck in the bucket-loader. It had been raining the day before and everything was wet. He shook the bucket, but stuff was still sticking. So I showed him my rake and started loosening wahat was left. I got most of it.
The next bucket was way overfilled. He was trying to make up for the sticky compost I didn't get in the 1st. Nice person. I think I ended up with 2 cubic yards.
So I started to drive home. After I reached 50 MPH, I realized the trailer was swaying back and forth. I pulled over immediately. Such swaying usually occurs when the trailer tires are mismatched in air pressure or the load in unevenly spread in the traile.
But I had specifically checked the air pressure in the car tires and the trailer tires. And I had spread the compost evenly inside the trailer. Since the trailer tires were new, I was worried that one wasn't holding air, or I had failed to tighten some lug nuts.
I checked and everything seemed right. So I put the hazard lights on and set the cruise control to 35 mph while I drove home. Moat of the time I could drive on the shoulder of the road. (And rehearsed what I would say to a policeman if I was pulled over...)
Fortunately, it was all back roads the last 2/3s of the drive and I got home safely. So then I had to disconnect the trailer from the car so I could put the car in the garage.
BTW, the car is a 2005 Toyota Highlander, 26,000 miles and garage-kept). I obviously don't drive for the thrill of it, LOL!
But after unlocking and unlatching the trailer, it wouldn't release from the car's trailer ball. That's happened before. I just have to kick it a couple of times. But when I did, it WASN'T usual. The front of the trailer went right up in the air (and of course the back down to the ground.
Oops, I seem to have spread more weight of compost toward the back of the trailer... The comedy of errors was continuing. With less than my full weight on the front of the trailer, I could push the front down. I'm guessing it took about 125 of my 170 pounds to do that. BUT doing that, I couldn't also put anything under the back end to hold the trailer more level. I tried adding a few cinder blocks on the front, but I sure wasn't going to get to 125 pounds. And I couldn't lift the back of the trailer at all!
I could have asked a neighbor, but that's not me. The one I would have asked was gone (no car in the driveway). Besides, I love a challenge...
The first challenge was to loosen the tarp folded under the back of the trailer (pinned down by the weight of the trailer). My shovel was enough of a lever, so while I stood on the shovel handle, I removed the bungee cords back there and pulled the tarp edge out.
That allowed me to fold up the tarp to expose the back. I use my riding lawn mower to haul a 3'x4' yard cart. I used to shovel material from the trailer to the yard cart and then haul the yard cart to the back yard and shovel it back out again where I wanted stuff. I learned it was easier to use the yard cart to hold buckets that I filled up from the trailer and then manually dump them where desired.
So I shoveled out the back foot of compost into the buckets, set the buckets into the yard cart, and drove them to the back yard where I dumped them to where I expect to plant tomatoes in a new place next year.
And as I shoveled out the back 1 foot part of the compost, the trailer gently settled forward onto the front support. That was a relief! But it also meant that the amount of compost I shoveled out filling the 8 buckets in my yard cart weighed about 125 pounds. Since the trailer is 8' long the compost weighed 8x125 pounds or 1200 pounds! I did NOT realize how heavy the compost was.
With the back foot of compost removed, I was able to remove the back of the trailer for easier shoveling. It was late in the day, so I only got to fill up the yard cart buckets 2x before sunset.
I secured the tarp over the compost so that rain wouldn't wash any away and went inside to clean up. Wile was dogn that, I considered why the trailer had started swaying while I drove home.
There are 2 possibilities (at least). One is that the trailer tires say to be inflted to 45 PSI and the car tires are inflated to 32 PSI. I don't think that matters so long as they are the same on both sides. Uneven pressure on one side would make a swaying, but that wasn't the case.
The likliest thing is that I pushed the compost around in the trailer wrong. The trailer tires are in the middle of the trailer. I'm thinking that if too much weight of the compost was behind the tires, it may have caused the problem. In past loads, the trailer has never tipped up at the front before. So if the weight is behind the trailer tires, that may have caused the rather scary swaying.
In the future, I will make sure to keep most of the weight in front of the trailer tires. I was good at geometry in school. I can picture the trailer as a triangle of 2 middle tires and a front trailer hitch. That seems more stable than having the weight behind the tires.
I've always said I try to learn something new every day. This wasn't exactly one of the things I wanted to learn, but sometimes negative things are educational too.
Now I just have to empty the other 90% of the compost, LOL!
The trip was a comedy of errors!
First, I carefully placed the trailer hitch on the back of the car. I put the tarp to cover the trailer in the back, a rake to level out the dumped compost in the trailer, and lots of bungee cords to hold the tarp down. Off I went. Do you notice something I missed? I had to return for something I forgot.
The trailer... Yes, I actually forgot the trailer. Backed the car out of the driveway and drove away...
Back home, attached the trailer, got to the nursery. Set my tarp to be held down in the front of the trailer by weight of the compost and ready to fold over the top to keep stuff from blowing out.
Went inside and placed my request for 2 cubic yards of compost. Gave the clerk the coupon I had for $15 off a $75 dollar order. Now, I knew the 2 cubic yards only cost $35.99 each, so I needed to spend $3 and change to use the coupon. But there is always something cheap to buy. Spend $3, get $15 off...
I should have known, when the clerk walked off with the coupon, with a puzzled look, something was wrong. Something was. They claimed it wasn't their coupon.
I am sure it WAS. I clipped it out of the gardening section of the newspaper, and (moreover) I wouldn't have if it wasn't that one nursery I go to. Anyone else, I wouldn't have bothered! But I clipped the coupons out so carefully, there is no mention of the company offerring the discount.
I was annoyed enough to want to check. But NATURALLY, all the old newspapers (where the ad the coupons were clipped from) were in the recycling box picked up yesterday!
But, on the other hand, I wanted the compost, would have bought it without any coupon, so I just made a slight joke about uncertainties of ads and paid for the 2 cubic yards of compost. Then went out back to the trailer.
Where I suddenly realized the the covering tarp was set up sideways! And the guy was there with a cubic yard to dump. I had to wave him off for a moment, while I adjusted the tarp to fit the right direction.
So he dumped the first cubic yard. 1/3 of it stuck in the bucket-loader. It had been raining the day before and everything was wet. He shook the bucket, but stuff was still sticking. So I showed him my rake and started loosening wahat was left. I got most of it.
The next bucket was way overfilled. He was trying to make up for the sticky compost I didn't get in the 1st. Nice person. I think I ended up with 2 cubic yards.
So I started to drive home. After I reached 50 MPH, I realized the trailer was swaying back and forth. I pulled over immediately. Such swaying usually occurs when the trailer tires are mismatched in air pressure or the load in unevenly spread in the traile.
But I had specifically checked the air pressure in the car tires and the trailer tires. And I had spread the compost evenly inside the trailer. Since the trailer tires were new, I was worried that one wasn't holding air, or I had failed to tighten some lug nuts.
I checked and everything seemed right. So I put the hazard lights on and set the cruise control to 35 mph while I drove home. Moat of the time I could drive on the shoulder of the road. (And rehearsed what I would say to a policeman if I was pulled over...)
Fortunately, it was all back roads the last 2/3s of the drive and I got home safely. So then I had to disconnect the trailer from the car so I could put the car in the garage.
BTW, the car is a 2005 Toyota Highlander, 26,000 miles and garage-kept). I obviously don't drive for the thrill of it, LOL!
But after unlocking and unlatching the trailer, it wouldn't release from the car's trailer ball. That's happened before. I just have to kick it a couple of times. But when I did, it WASN'T usual. The front of the trailer went right up in the air (and of course the back down to the ground.
Oops, I seem to have spread more weight of compost toward the back of the trailer... The comedy of errors was continuing. With less than my full weight on the front of the trailer, I could push the front down. I'm guessing it took about 125 of my 170 pounds to do that. BUT doing that, I couldn't also put anything under the back end to hold the trailer more level. I tried adding a few cinder blocks on the front, but I sure wasn't going to get to 125 pounds. And I couldn't lift the back of the trailer at all!
I could have asked a neighbor, but that's not me. The one I would have asked was gone (no car in the driveway). Besides, I love a challenge...
The first challenge was to loosen the tarp folded under the back of the trailer (pinned down by the weight of the trailer). My shovel was enough of a lever, so while I stood on the shovel handle, I removed the bungee cords back there and pulled the tarp edge out.
That allowed me to fold up the tarp to expose the back. I use my riding lawn mower to haul a 3'x4' yard cart. I used to shovel material from the trailer to the yard cart and then haul the yard cart to the back yard and shovel it back out again where I wanted stuff. I learned it was easier to use the yard cart to hold buckets that I filled up from the trailer and then manually dump them where desired.
So I shoveled out the back foot of compost into the buckets, set the buckets into the yard cart, and drove them to the back yard where I dumped them to where I expect to plant tomatoes in a new place next year.
And as I shoveled out the back 1 foot part of the compost, the trailer gently settled forward onto the front support. That was a relief! But it also meant that the amount of compost I shoveled out filling the 8 buckets in my yard cart weighed about 125 pounds. Since the trailer is 8' long the compost weighed 8x125 pounds or 1200 pounds! I did NOT realize how heavy the compost was.
With the back foot of compost removed, I was able to remove the back of the trailer for easier shoveling. It was late in the day, so I only got to fill up the yard cart buckets 2x before sunset.
I secured the tarp over the compost so that rain wouldn't wash any away and went inside to clean up. Wile was dogn that, I considered why the trailer had started swaying while I drove home.
There are 2 possibilities (at least). One is that the trailer tires say to be inflted to 45 PSI and the car tires are inflated to 32 PSI. I don't think that matters so long as they are the same on both sides. Uneven pressure on one side would make a swaying, but that wasn't the case.
The likliest thing is that I pushed the compost around in the trailer wrong. The trailer tires are in the middle of the trailer. I'm thinking that if too much weight of the compost was behind the tires, it may have caused the problem. In past loads, the trailer has never tipped up at the front before. So if the weight is behind the trailer tires, that may have caused the rather scary swaying.
In the future, I will make sure to keep most of the weight in front of the trailer tires. I was good at geometry in school. I can picture the trailer as a triangle of 2 middle tires and a front trailer hitch. That seems more stable than having the weight behind the tires.
I've always said I try to learn something new every day. This wasn't exactly one of the things I wanted to learn, but sometimes negative things are educational too.
Now I just have to empty the other 90% of the compost, LOL!
Friday, August 19, 2016
Cmputer Updates
Well, I defeated Apple. Sort of... One of the good thing I have is called 'Time Machine'. I may not use it the way Apple intended. I have it set up as an external drive. I'm sure I'm not the only one. But it does mean that I can restore my Mac to previously saved times. I did that last night and today. It took about 7 hours and I'm glad I did it.
Everything works the way it did before and the way I liked it. iPhotos shows the file names again, the graphics aren't annoying-looking, and the help bar actually answers questions.
I may have to upgrade to the newest Apple OSX someday, but it will not be this day.
I will not go to the iCloud this day, I will not be forced onto Facetime this day, I will not accept the loss of features I valued on this day. Apple can be slipped around on its plans again on this day!
I have taken back my computer to when it worked for me, and that is all that matters to me.
And I will hope that when my last program will no longer function, that Apple or Microsoft will have finally solved their problems and made things that are user-friendlyagain.
Because if they don't, someone else will.
Everything works the way it did before and the way I liked it. iPhotos shows the file names again, the graphics aren't annoying-looking, and the help bar actually answers questions.
I may have to upgrade to the newest Apple OSX someday, but it will not be this day.
I will not go to the iCloud this day, I will not be forced onto Facetime this day, I will not accept the loss of features I valued on this day. Apple can be slipped around on its plans again on this day!
I have taken back my computer to when it worked for me, and that is all that matters to me.
And I will hope that when my last program will no longer function, that Apple or Microsoft will have finally solved their problems and made things that are user-friendlyagain.
Because if they don't, someone else will.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Politics As A Profit Center
I suspected many months ago that Trump was playing the money game by running for office as he gave his speeches. Now I have more evidence.
The recent Federal Election Commission filings provide information Trump would preferred to hide. But unlike tax filings, those are public.
Trump says he is financing his campaign. Well, not really. He is LOANING money to his campaign (and loans usually have interest charges). That's right, he is loaning personal money (and it may be more tricky than that) to his campaign. That means he is signing the checks on both sides of the loan! The campaign is obligated to back Trump back for the money he is essentially loaning to himself.
Don't you wish you could borrow money that easily and expect payment back? But it gets worse...
Trump is using his own businesses to support his campaign. And he is charging his campaign a hefty sum for "privilege" of using his own services. The idea seems to be that he will use his own companies to benefit financially supporting his Presidential campaign. Its a great gig, if you can arrange it. And Trump does.
Use his his own jet to fly to campaign stops? Trump charges himself high fees. Staying at his own residences in various States? Trump charges the top rates to his campaign. Eat at a fundraiser (and yes he has them though he says he doesn't) you eat Trump steak and drink Trump wine. Get given a framed picture of The Donald for a donation? That picture comes in a Trump Picture Frame.
Play a round of golf with Trump? High green fees for the round charged to his campaign. He charges the campaign to operate his campaign in various business locations he profits from.
Staffers and campaign supporters eat at Trump restaurants, fly accumulating Trump miles, and wear Trump T-shirts made by Trump companies. Those Trump hats he tosses out at campaign rallies? A staffer company makes those and the campaign pays top dollar for them.
On the single day Trump announced his campaign in June 2015, his campaign cost generated $506,846 to Trump businesses. One single day!
By the end of just 2015, the Trump campaign paid out $2.2 million, $2 million of which went to the airline where Trump is the CEO...
$90,000 went to staffers eating at Trump Cafe and Trump Grill...
Unspecified amounts went to Trump Payroll Corp. and Trump Tower Commercial LLC to pay for campaign staff payroll management, but that work isn't cheap...
This isn't a campaign, its a profit-making scam! The Republican party has finally produced the perfect example of its long-held claim that businessmen (and it's usually men) are the most suited to run the country for the benefit of all the citizens. If running for office is now a profit-center for Republican candidates to operate as a business, do you want to see what laws they pass? I sure don't.
The recent Federal Election Commission filings provide information Trump would preferred to hide. But unlike tax filings, those are public.
Trump says he is financing his campaign. Well, not really. He is LOANING money to his campaign (and loans usually have interest charges). That's right, he is loaning personal money (and it may be more tricky than that) to his campaign. That means he is signing the checks on both sides of the loan! The campaign is obligated to back Trump back for the money he is essentially loaning to himself.
Don't you wish you could borrow money that easily and expect payment back? But it gets worse...
Trump is using his own businesses to support his campaign. And he is charging his campaign a hefty sum for "privilege" of using his own services. The idea seems to be that he will use his own companies to benefit financially supporting his Presidential campaign. Its a great gig, if you can arrange it. And Trump does.
Use his his own jet to fly to campaign stops? Trump charges himself high fees. Staying at his own residences in various States? Trump charges the top rates to his campaign. Eat at a fundraiser (and yes he has them though he says he doesn't) you eat Trump steak and drink Trump wine. Get given a framed picture of The Donald for a donation? That picture comes in a Trump Picture Frame.
Play a round of golf with Trump? High green fees for the round charged to his campaign. He charges the campaign to operate his campaign in various business locations he profits from.
Staffers and campaign supporters eat at Trump restaurants, fly accumulating Trump miles, and wear Trump T-shirts made by Trump companies. Those Trump hats he tosses out at campaign rallies? A staffer company makes those and the campaign pays top dollar for them.
On the single day Trump announced his campaign in June 2015, his campaign cost generated $506,846 to Trump businesses. One single day!
By the end of just 2015, the Trump campaign paid out $2.2 million, $2 million of which went to the airline where Trump is the CEO...
$90,000 went to staffers eating at Trump Cafe and Trump Grill...
Unspecified amounts went to Trump Payroll Corp. and Trump Tower Commercial LLC to pay for campaign staff payroll management, but that work isn't cheap...
This isn't a campaign, its a profit-making scam! The Republican party has finally produced the perfect example of its long-held claim that businessmen (and it's usually men) are the most suited to run the country for the benefit of all the citizens. If running for office is now a profit-center for Republican candidates to operate as a business, do you want to see what laws they pass? I sure don't.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Bathtub Area Replacement
First, getting up at 7 am to be ready for the demolition crew was a novel experience. Second, getting the cats stashed away into a safe room was only a partial success. Third, no renovation work ever goes smoothly.
I managed to get up on time, fed the cats, and went to get them into the bedroom. I called them and Marley and Iza came right in. Ayla was not so cooperative, sensing that "something" was up. I know better than to chase a cat, I just follow slowly. But she was ducking from room to room and upstairs/downstairs until she was upstairs and I wasn't sure where she was. I figured she was either in the Mews Room or the Computer Room, so I just closed both doors. It turned out she had to be hiding in the Living room somewhere. I swear that cat could hide in a coffee mug! But since she stayed in hiding and didn't try to run out through the frequently opened front door, all was fine.
The bathtub area demolition was impressive. I took a LOT of pictures for possible insurance reasons, but I will only inflict a few of them on you.
The before shot shows the mess. When the tiles began to come loose, I duct-taped plastic around the front and side, not realizing how bad it was getting behind the plastic. And under that situation, tub-cleaning seems to have fallen off my schedule.
So, they went in and just started pounding the tiles and backer board into pieces. Well, the plastic was more waterproof than the tiles were!
Bathroom renovators are notorious for finding "more repairs needed" when the backer boards are removed. These guys said everything looked mold-free and no rot. I looked at it and agreed. I don't know tiles, but I know about wood. So they vacuumed all the dust and debris.
And started to replace the backer board. It is a special concrete and laminate product that basically can't rot. So was the original stuff, but after 30 years, the modern product is better.
Next, they installed the new tub and covered the inside with padding and plastic. And it was a good thing they did! Because after that, they constructed and installed the new pipes. I wasn't thrilled to see them using a plastic pipe, but they assured me that it is better than copper pipe. "Not one failure in 10 years and it sheds mineral deposits that can collect in copper pipe with hard water".
Well, I have soft water, but if the cemented plastic holds better than soldered copper, OK... BTW, the first day I moved in here 30 years ago, I tasted the water and decided it was the best municipal water I had ever tasted!
So then we had a few "adventures". The first was a pipe cap blowout. You see that copper pipe sticking out over the tub? There is a temporary pipe cap. The Senior Repairman said they are called "shark valves" because once on, they never come loose until you want them to come loose".
So guess what came loose? Right! The shark valve... The assistant went running to the door shouting at Senior guy that "the water is on". Well, yeah, it had been turned back on, but I realized he suddenly didn't WANT it to be on, so I ran into the basement (bad knee and all) and crawled into the access where the whole-house shut off valve was and closed it.
That apparently saved about 50 gallons of water pouring out the open tub into the basement. And I stuck a bucket under the leak.
They were very apologetic. Those caps "never fail". Well, until they do, of course. At least I got some credit for fast-action! The assistant is not the brightest bulb in a room of lamps, he meant "water is flowing and it shouldn't". I had noticed the senior guy mad jokes about the assistant (his BIL) and I had joined in slightly, but I stopped after that.
But, no harm was done. The plastic in the tub caught most of it and my bucket caught the rest. The senior guy was really pissed off, but I joked "that was fun, let's do it again".
After they vacuumed up the water and replaced the plastic lining with a dry one (and made sure I saw they were using a brand new pipe "shark valve" cap), they proceeded with the job with the water turned back on.
Then the second little "adventure"...The last backer board to be installed was the one that fits over the tub faucet and shower valve. That takes very precise cut-outs. And senior guy cut it wrong! Oh wow, did the assistant have a relieved turn with that. I had noticed the the senior guy just wrote the cutting dimensions randomly on a piece of paper. Well, I suppose when you have been doing something for 38 years (as he said he had), you know where your numbers are.
Oops, he got the left and right measurements reversed.. No problem for me, it's a fixed price contract (and the senior guy did mention that it comes out of company expenses.
I mentioned to him that when I put wood paneling in the basement, I had been careful to use a huge piece of cardboard from a bookcase box to make sure I cut it right. Ans then traced that onto the wood paneling so that I COULDN'T get in wrong. And got it wrong ANYWAY because I put the cardboard on the wrong side of the panel.
True story, but it did lighten up the situation... The last thing I want are angry embarrassed workers doing work in my house. I've done enough house work myself to know that when you get mad, you don't do your best work!
So senior guy cut out another concrete backer board panel and it fit like a glove.
They return on Monday to install the bathtub fixtures and do the tile installation.
Ayla, Iza, and Marley recovered quickly. Food helped, attention helped, deck time helped. quietness helped. But I bet I will have to get sneakier about getting them shut into the bedroom Monday morning. At least the final work is quieter...
I managed to get up on time, fed the cats, and went to get them into the bedroom. I called them and Marley and Iza came right in. Ayla was not so cooperative, sensing that "something" was up. I know better than to chase a cat, I just follow slowly. But she was ducking from room to room and upstairs/downstairs until she was upstairs and I wasn't sure where she was. I figured she was either in the Mews Room or the Computer Room, so I just closed both doors. It turned out she had to be hiding in the Living room somewhere. I swear that cat could hide in a coffee mug! But since she stayed in hiding and didn't try to run out through the frequently opened front door, all was fine.
The bathtub area demolition was impressive. I took a LOT of pictures for possible insurance reasons, but I will only inflict a few of them on you.
The before shot shows the mess. When the tiles began to come loose, I duct-taped plastic around the front and side, not realizing how bad it was getting behind the plastic. And under that situation, tub-cleaning seems to have fallen off my schedule.
Well, I have soft water, but if the cemented plastic holds better than soldered copper, OK... BTW, the first day I moved in here 30 years ago, I tasted the water and decided it was the best municipal water I had ever tasted!
So guess what came loose? Right! The shark valve... The assistant went running to the door shouting at Senior guy that "the water is on". Well, yeah, it had been turned back on, but I realized he suddenly didn't WANT it to be on, so I ran into the basement (bad knee and all) and crawled into the access where the whole-house shut off valve was and closed it.
That apparently saved about 50 gallons of water pouring out the open tub into the basement. And I stuck a bucket under the leak.
They were very apologetic. Those caps "never fail". Well, until they do, of course. At least I got some credit for fast-action! The assistant is not the brightest bulb in a room of lamps, he meant "water is flowing and it shouldn't". I had noticed the senior guy mad jokes about the assistant (his BIL) and I had joined in slightly, but I stopped after that.
But, no harm was done. The plastic in the tub caught most of it and my bucket caught the rest. The senior guy was really pissed off, but I joked "that was fun, let's do it again".
After they vacuumed up the water and replaced the plastic lining with a dry one (and made sure I saw they were using a brand new pipe "shark valve" cap), they proceeded with the job with the water turned back on.
Then the second little "adventure"...The last backer board to be installed was the one that fits over the tub faucet and shower valve. That takes very precise cut-outs. And senior guy cut it wrong! Oh wow, did the assistant have a relieved turn with that. I had noticed the the senior guy just wrote the cutting dimensions randomly on a piece of paper. Well, I suppose when you have been doing something for 38 years (as he said he had), you know where your numbers are.
Oops, he got the left and right measurements reversed.. No problem for me, it's a fixed price contract (and the senior guy did mention that it comes out of company expenses.
I mentioned to him that when I put wood paneling in the basement, I had been careful to use a huge piece of cardboard from a bookcase box to make sure I cut it right. Ans then traced that onto the wood paneling so that I COULDN'T get in wrong. And got it wrong ANYWAY because I put the cardboard on the wrong side of the panel.
True story, but it did lighten up the situation... The last thing I want are angry embarrassed workers doing work in my house. I've done enough house work myself to know that when you get mad, you don't do your best work!
So senior guy cut out another concrete backer board panel and it fit like a glove.
They return on Monday to install the bathtub fixtures and do the tile installation.
Ayla, Iza, and Marley recovered quickly. Food helped, attention helped, deck time helped. quietness helped. But I bet I will have to get sneakier about getting them shut into the bedroom Monday morning. At least the final work is quieter...
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Repairman Blues
ARGGGHHHH! Repairmen drive me crazy sometimes. It always seems there is some part of the repair that they just can't do properly. And I don't mean some part of the job that is just hard to do. I mean some part that they don't UNDERSTAND how to do.
I shouldn't be too surprised. I seem to have the misfortune of having "the troublesome repairs". No one ever comes here and finds just "a loose wire" to re-attach...
Yesterday it was the heat pump outside unit. It failed a week ago. But there is a backup heating unit inside mine that provides heat (an electrical induction coil like in a space heater). That works well enough, standard electric furnaces work that way routinely though not quite as efficiently. So I waited until the snow melted.
This time, the initial diagnostic test suggested 2 possible problem, and of course it wasn't the simple one. Surprise, surprise! The "thermal expansion valve" had gone bad and they had to order one, being a part that "rarely fails". Surprise, surprise!
So they came back Monday morning at 8:30 am to replace it. I had a vet appointment at 2:15 pm, but I wasn't worried about it. An hour to replace a part, I assumed.
Little did I suspect that he had to disassemble most of the outside unit to get AT the part. I was annoyed by late morning and worried by Noon. He had the outside unit running by Noon, but was still having a problem.
I have a "normal" setting were the actual heat pump provides the heat. There is a "stage 2 heat" where the inside induction coil comes on to provide additional heat if required. That's for extreme demand (like when the power has been off and the house has gotten very cold, or when the outside unit fails). There is "emergency heat" (which I assume means both are on when it gets too cold outside for the heat pump alone to keep up).
The repairman couldn't get the thermostat off the stage 2 heating mode. I didn't know that. He just kept fiddling with the thermostat and then going back outside to wait for the outside unit to come on again (there is a time delay when changing settings.
I generally keep the house at 70F. When I started getting worried about the time to the vet appointment, I started watching what he was doing. He would set the target temperature up to 80F wait until the outside unit came on (after the 5 minute delay) then go back inside and see the stage 2 icon on.
I finally asked him what he was trying to do. He said he was trying to get the system operating on normal heat, not stage 2. Well, OK, I certainly want that. After the 3rd cycle of that I started asking questions. I'm analytical; I figure out logical problems. So I asked why he thought the thermostat setting would change.
I immediately got that "God save me from curious customers" look. Undaunted, I said it wouldn't change until the house temperature reached the target setting. I got a child's explanation of how the thermostat worked.
Bad move on his part. I've been operating thermostats for 30 years, I know how they work. And I said so. THAT got me the "God save me from customers who think they know better than the repairman" look.
Worse move on his part! So I asked him what he expected to happen. He explained carefully that the "normal" icon should show up when the outside unit is operating. I told him, it doesn't work that way; the stage 2 heat will stay on until the house temperature reaches the target setting. He looked pained and launched into a much longer and very detailed explanation of how heat pump thermostats work. I guess that was on the idea that if he couldn't dismiss my concerns he would drown me in details.
Worst move on his part! Now that I knew what he was thinking, I knew where he was WRONG! He thought the thermostat operated in 5 degree intervals. As in, you set the target temperature to 70, the heat stays on until 75, then kicks on again when the house gets down to 65.
WHAT?!? No, it works in 1 degree increments I said. If set to 70, its heats to 71 and shuts off. Then kicks back on at 69. He didn't believe me. I told him it had always operated that way.
Then it got loonier! He asked what base temperature the installers had programmed the thermostat to initially. (Huh?) He said if I kept the house at 70, they would have set the system to 70 at installation. Well, that made no sense. He even examined the insides of the thermostat looking for "something". He demanded to see the manual. I provided it. He could barely read it (English was not his native [Italian] language, which added to our difficulties on explanations).
Now, the fan itself has 3 settings; "auto" meaning the fan is on when the system is on, "on" which means the fan is constantly operating, and "circulate" meaning the fan cycles on and off constantly every 10 minutes (for no purpose I can think of).
The repairman kept pointing to the "auto" icon, thinking it referred to the "normal" heat setting (also described as "auto" on the thermostat. I had to lead him step-by-step through the manual before he realized the difference.
Which got us back to his idea that the system had been "programmed" to a specific temperature setting. I never could convince him that there was no such thing (admittedly "that I knew of"). He insisted on getting the house cooled back down to 70, and opened the deck and front doors to let in cold air. I went along since he was utterly convinced the system wasn't working properly and apparently I wasn't getting rid of him until he was happy.
I tried another leap of logic... The house was at 80 (he had bumped the target temperature up several times is his testing). So I asked what was the difference between seeing what happened going from 80 to 81 instead of cooling the house to 70 and seeing what happened bumping the setting to 71? I should work just as well for testing purposes.
I got "that look" again...
But he "allowed" it, so we did. After waiting the 5 minute delay (which is actually only 30 seconds normally - his equipment outside probably had a time delay built in - but I wasn't going to quibble over minor matters).
Hot Damn! The thermostat icon went to "normal" heating immediately. Surprise, surprise! He was shocked (and I think a bit disappointed). His misunderstanding of thermostats (Ok, OK, maybe they work differently in Italy) wasted almost 2 hours of my time and forced me to reschedule the vet appointment.
Epilog: You'll get a kick out of this... I had accepted a 2 delay repair delay because the office manager said he wanted to send one of his experts instead of one of the "regular" guys. Makes me worry about the "regular" guys! Imagine how bad THAT might have been...
Fortunately, the repair was a fixed price, not by-the-hour. So I didn't actually have to pay for the wasted time. But at bill-paying time, the repair ticket had a rating section for the repairman's work. I had to fill it out right there in front of him. That's a cheap trick companies use. I could tell that if I had given less than a perfect 10, he would have whined and pleaded. So I gave him 10s to get him out of the house. I'll write a detailed letter to the company advising them of his thermostat-confusion later today. He DID know the mechanics of the part-replacement!
And as he left, he suggested that there was still a problem with the thermostat. I could see he was thinking that I would be calling them back soon). The whole system seems to be working perfectly and as intended...
And the cats' annual vet exam was rescheduled for an hour later and they are all fine!
I shouldn't be too surprised. I seem to have the misfortune of having "the troublesome repairs". No one ever comes here and finds just "a loose wire" to re-attach...
Yesterday it was the heat pump outside unit. It failed a week ago. But there is a backup heating unit inside mine that provides heat (an electrical induction coil like in a space heater). That works well enough, standard electric furnaces work that way routinely though not quite as efficiently. So I waited until the snow melted.
This time, the initial diagnostic test suggested 2 possible problem, and of course it wasn't the simple one. Surprise, surprise! The "thermal expansion valve" had gone bad and they had to order one, being a part that "rarely fails". Surprise, surprise!
So they came back Monday morning at 8:30 am to replace it. I had a vet appointment at 2:15 pm, but I wasn't worried about it. An hour to replace a part, I assumed.
Little did I suspect that he had to disassemble most of the outside unit to get AT the part. I was annoyed by late morning and worried by Noon. He had the outside unit running by Noon, but was still having a problem.
I have a "normal" setting were the actual heat pump provides the heat. There is a "stage 2 heat" where the inside induction coil comes on to provide additional heat if required. That's for extreme demand (like when the power has been off and the house has gotten very cold, or when the outside unit fails). There is "emergency heat" (which I assume means both are on when it gets too cold outside for the heat pump alone to keep up).
The repairman couldn't get the thermostat off the stage 2 heating mode. I didn't know that. He just kept fiddling with the thermostat and then going back outside to wait for the outside unit to come on again (there is a time delay when changing settings.
I generally keep the house at 70F. When I started getting worried about the time to the vet appointment, I started watching what he was doing. He would set the target temperature up to 80F wait until the outside unit came on (after the 5 minute delay) then go back inside and see the stage 2 icon on.
I finally asked him what he was trying to do. He said he was trying to get the system operating on normal heat, not stage 2. Well, OK, I certainly want that. After the 3rd cycle of that I started asking questions. I'm analytical; I figure out logical problems. So I asked why he thought the thermostat setting would change.
I immediately got that "God save me from curious customers" look. Undaunted, I said it wouldn't change until the house temperature reached the target setting. I got a child's explanation of how the thermostat worked.
Bad move on his part. I've been operating thermostats for 30 years, I know how they work. And I said so. THAT got me the "God save me from customers who think they know better than the repairman" look.
Worse move on his part! So I asked him what he expected to happen. He explained carefully that the "normal" icon should show up when the outside unit is operating. I told him, it doesn't work that way; the stage 2 heat will stay on until the house temperature reaches the target setting. He looked pained and launched into a much longer and very detailed explanation of how heat pump thermostats work. I guess that was on the idea that if he couldn't dismiss my concerns he would drown me in details.
Worst move on his part! Now that I knew what he was thinking, I knew where he was WRONG! He thought the thermostat operated in 5 degree intervals. As in, you set the target temperature to 70, the heat stays on until 75, then kicks on again when the house gets down to 65.
WHAT?!? No, it works in 1 degree increments I said. If set to 70, its heats to 71 and shuts off. Then kicks back on at 69. He didn't believe me. I told him it had always operated that way.
Then it got loonier! He asked what base temperature the installers had programmed the thermostat to initially. (Huh?) He said if I kept the house at 70, they would have set the system to 70 at installation. Well, that made no sense. He even examined the insides of the thermostat looking for "something". He demanded to see the manual. I provided it. He could barely read it (English was not his native [Italian] language, which added to our difficulties on explanations).
Now, the fan itself has 3 settings; "auto" meaning the fan is on when the system is on, "on" which means the fan is constantly operating, and "circulate" meaning the fan cycles on and off constantly every 10 minutes (for no purpose I can think of).
The repairman kept pointing to the "auto" icon, thinking it referred to the "normal" heat setting (also described as "auto" on the thermostat. I had to lead him step-by-step through the manual before he realized the difference.
Which got us back to his idea that the system had been "programmed" to a specific temperature setting. I never could convince him that there was no such thing (admittedly "that I knew of"). He insisted on getting the house cooled back down to 70, and opened the deck and front doors to let in cold air. I went along since he was utterly convinced the system wasn't working properly and apparently I wasn't getting rid of him until he was happy.
I tried another leap of logic... The house was at 80 (he had bumped the target temperature up several times is his testing). So I asked what was the difference between seeing what happened going from 80 to 81 instead of cooling the house to 70 and seeing what happened bumping the setting to 71? I should work just as well for testing purposes.
I got "that look" again...
But he "allowed" it, so we did. After waiting the 5 minute delay (which is actually only 30 seconds normally - his equipment outside probably had a time delay built in - but I wasn't going to quibble over minor matters).
Hot Damn! The thermostat icon went to "normal" heating immediately. Surprise, surprise! He was shocked (and I think a bit disappointed). His misunderstanding of thermostats (Ok, OK, maybe they work differently in Italy) wasted almost 2 hours of my time and forced me to reschedule the vet appointment.
Epilog: You'll get a kick out of this... I had accepted a 2 delay repair delay because the office manager said he wanted to send one of his experts instead of one of the "regular" guys. Makes me worry about the "regular" guys! Imagine how bad THAT might have been...
Fortunately, the repair was a fixed price, not by-the-hour. So I didn't actually have to pay for the wasted time. But at bill-paying time, the repair ticket had a rating section for the repairman's work. I had to fill it out right there in front of him. That's a cheap trick companies use. I could tell that if I had given less than a perfect 10, he would have whined and pleaded. So I gave him 10s to get him out of the house. I'll write a detailed letter to the company advising them of his thermostat-confusion later today. He DID know the mechanics of the part-replacement!
And as he left, he suggested that there was still a problem with the thermostat. I could see he was thinking that I would be calling them back soon). The whole system seems to be working perfectly and as intended...
And the cats' annual vet exam was rescheduled for an hour later and they are all fine!
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Feeling Sad For Iza Today
Warning, some icky biological stuff is involved here...
Poor Iza, She hasn't been able to keep much food down Mon and Tues or this morning. Then today I brought her to the vet, where she was "temperatured" (ahem), had a blood sample taken, x-rayed, given two shots and returned to the PTU. Suffice it to say that she was "subdued"
And then the vet instructionn were that she couldn't have any food or water until the next morning. If she tossed up any food tomorrow or often in the next few days, she needs further tests. The vet suggests berium pumped into the stomach and ultrasound if that doesn't show the problem, but I am thinking of just going straight to ultrasound.
Iza has always had a tendency to toss up her food once every week or two. Giving her spoonfuls many times a day the past few months has helped. But this change to hurling every meal is too serious.
She keeps her food in her stomach for 4-5 hours at least. I can tell because of the varied cube, sliced, and minced foods I give the cats. When a cat tosses up undigested cubes 4 hours after eating, there is a problem. Food shouldn't stay in the stomach that long. And she isn't even stopping the hurling when the food is out of her stomach; sometimes she keeps at it later when there is nothing but tan foam. There is no grass of plant material; this isn't "scouring".
The vet says the x-rays show mysterious spots in Iza's stomach, which seems to confuse him; he thinks it is just air. I keep thinking there is something Iza has swallowed that is blocking the output end of her stomach. Maybe that's what the mystery spot is. The vet just doesn't seem to want to consider that.
He pointed out that there IS matter in her intestines, so there is no blockage. But what if the "something" moves around in her stomach and only sometimes blocks it.
He called this afternoon and said her blood work is fine, no sign of infection of organ problems. That's good. She had no high temperature, physical sensitivity, or reaction to being prodded.
But she did refuse to eat Tuesday night (and she has never refused food in her life), she just stared at the food and left. She has lost 1.5 pounds in a week. There is OBVIOUSLY something wrong!
I just KNOW this brief fast after the 2 shots the vet gave her are NOT going to have any effect! She has had this problem (to a much lesser degree) all her life. I can tell I will have to proceed to more serious examinations after the Friday vet visit where it seems clear that he will tell me the problem is unresolved.
The odd hardest thing, though, is that I can't give poor Iza any food after she hasn't kept much down for 3 days! All I can do is just hold and comfort her...
Poor Iza, She hasn't been able to keep much food down Mon and Tues or this morning. Then today I brought her to the vet, where she was "temperatured" (ahem), had a blood sample taken, x-rayed, given two shots and returned to the PTU. Suffice it to say that she was "subdued"
And then the vet instructionn were that she couldn't have any food or water until the next morning. If she tossed up any food tomorrow or often in the next few days, she needs further tests. The vet suggests berium pumped into the stomach and ultrasound if that doesn't show the problem, but I am thinking of just going straight to ultrasound.
Iza has always had a tendency to toss up her food once every week or two. Giving her spoonfuls many times a day the past few months has helped. But this change to hurling every meal is too serious.
She keeps her food in her stomach for 4-5 hours at least. I can tell because of the varied cube, sliced, and minced foods I give the cats. When a cat tosses up undigested cubes 4 hours after eating, there is a problem. Food shouldn't stay in the stomach that long. And she isn't even stopping the hurling when the food is out of her stomach; sometimes she keeps at it later when there is nothing but tan foam. There is no grass of plant material; this isn't "scouring".
The vet says the x-rays show mysterious spots in Iza's stomach, which seems to confuse him; he thinks it is just air. I keep thinking there is something Iza has swallowed that is blocking the output end of her stomach. Maybe that's what the mystery spot is. The vet just doesn't seem to want to consider that.
He pointed out that there IS matter in her intestines, so there is no blockage. But what if the "something" moves around in her stomach and only sometimes blocks it.
He called this afternoon and said her blood work is fine, no sign of infection of organ problems. That's good. She had no high temperature, physical sensitivity, or reaction to being prodded.
But she did refuse to eat Tuesday night (and she has never refused food in her life), she just stared at the food and left. She has lost 1.5 pounds in a week. There is OBVIOUSLY something wrong!
I just KNOW this brief fast after the 2 shots the vet gave her are NOT going to have any effect! She has had this problem (to a much lesser degree) all her life. I can tell I will have to proceed to more serious examinations after the Friday vet visit where it seems clear that he will tell me the problem is unresolved.
The odd hardest thing, though, is that I can't give poor Iza any food after she hasn't kept much down for 3 days! All I can do is just hold and comfort her...
Friday, January 29, 2016
A Week In The Life...
Some weeks, problems accumulate...
1. Naturally, I had to order more cat food just as the snowstorm struck. 2 boxes of 8 trays total, scheduled to arrive Wed and Thurs. Well, I had the driveway and sidewalk cleared of snow Sunday, but I didn't shovel the front steps. Figured I would most of it melt and shovel the remainder Tuesday afternoon. The first box arrived Tuesday morning. UPS left it at the garage door. So I pushed the box inside the garage.
I forgot about the box when I decided to drive out for some errands Wed. Well, you would be surprised at how many cans of cat food an SUV can crush beyond use... ARGHHH!
2. The outside unit of the heat pump stopped working. I'm getting normal heat via electrical induction from the inside unit (like an oven), and I suspect it isn't costing MUCH more than the usual heating (some normal furnaces routinely operate that way). I have been trying a few things hoping the outside unit will just "start" again. I shovelled the snow from around the unit where air comes in, scooped out accumulated snow inside the unit, poured hot water over the insides hoping some ice was preventing operation, pulled and re-inserted circuit breakers, etc. No luck.
But when the block of ice inside the outside unit finally melts and it doesn't start working normally again in a couple of days, I will have to call for repairs. I didn't call immediately, because I AM getting heat, and I know they take complete failures as emergencies first. Besides, they always want to just replace the whole unit.
3. My automatic garage door openers stopped working. The overhead door light just blied rapidly. That probably means something, but I couldn't find the manual. But it isn't THAT hard to just raise and lower the door manually.
So I checked the power supply, circuit breakers, spring attachments, possible blockages, etc. No luck. Finally, I followed the wiring down to the bottom of the garage door track. Well lookee there! There is a set of safety lights at each side. If the light beam between them is blocked, the system shuts off. One of them had gotten pushed off. Well, I guess when I ran over the box of cat food, I also pushed it into the light beam device. Took just a minute to get it clipped back on and aimed properly.
At least SOMETHING got working again.
4. I mentioned previously that I had set up a regular birdfeeder on a pole on the deck to feed the non-finch birds sunflower seeds during the snowstorm. They emptied it today. The stepladder is still buried under the deck snowdrift, so I figured I would just untie it and set it down flat to refill it, and them put it upright again and retie it. Brilliant but dumb idea!
The instant I untied the last know holding the pole tight, a strong gust of wind hit. So there I was holding the bottom of the pole while the heavy top started to fall over. I couldn't hold it up. The feeder can crashing down on the deck. The wooden feeder broke into 4 pieces! I said a few BAD WORDS. But what is done is done, and you go on from there.
I took the pieces down to the work bench and set about regluing the pieces (with exterior waterproof wood glue). It took 12 bar clamps (you can never have too many bar clamps). The feeder is back together, but it has to set until tomorrow morning. I started to put out a tray of seeds, but even with a brick in the tray, the wind was slowly pushing it around. And even if I clamped the tray to the deck rails, the wind would probably just blow the seeds out. Sadly, the birds will have to wait til I get up in the morning...
5. The trash company didn't show up for regular pickup today. I'm leaving it out by the street. I recycle and compost so much that about the only thing that goes in the trash is used cat litter, styrofoam, and chicken skin. And I out the chicken skin IN the litter bags. So I feel pretty confident that NO scavenger is going to bother MY garbage can! LOL!
BTW, I drove out today and saw a neighbor's TRASH can knocked over and the contents spilled out. It was ALL cans and bottles. All recyclable. Aw c'mon... We get free street-side recycle pickup and you don't even have to sort it. Are they ACTIVELY against recyclying?
6. This one is a bit long... My waterbed sprung a leak. That happens. I have a repair kit. I've probably patched it a dozen times (the waterbed mattress is at least 35 years old). I only noticed when I pulled the sheets up for washing and the edges in one corner were wet. I pulled up that corner of the waterbed. I thought it was wet cat food at first (because there was some there), and thereby hangs a short tale.
Ayla eats only in the bedroom, and sometimes she decides on some odd places. That morning she had decided she would eat on the bookcase headboard of the waterbed. I sure don't argue about it. It's not like she gets to make a WHOLE lot of decisions in her life, so I give her the ones I can.
That afternoon, when I pulled the wet sheets up I found her bowl tucked into that corner. WOW! I sure didn't think there was THAT much water in canned cat food (and it didn't smell like anycat had peed there). But the cause and effect seemed clear. So I cleaned up the spilled cat food, wiped it clean, and stuffed an old towel down to absorb the water.
Well, THAT wasn't the problem. There was TOO much water the next morning and the towel was soaked. So I pulled the corner of the waterbed up (which is not easy - water is heavy). And I found a strange little piece of sharp metal. I can't identify it, but I assume it took a while for it to slowly wear through the waterbed mattress.
I can't get a patch to hold in the corner unless I drain the mattress and remove in entirely. And even that might not work. So, after all these years, I think I will replace it. It's OK, they aren't expensive. $50 to $200 depending on whether you want baffles and lumbar supports etc. But I'm used to the cheap kind with nothing fancy so I will stick with that.
There COULD have been a better time for this. All my hoses are outside and too cold to uncoil without maybe causing a break. But at least the forecast calls for 50F temperatures Sunday, so I can probably get one into the basement undamaged and let it warm up inside. One of the problems with a waterbed is draining them. That can take a couple hours. And then you have to fill the new one. Filling a waterbed takes about 30 minutes from the outside spigot, and it takes all day for the heater to warm the water.
Fortunately, my basement laundry tub faucet has a garden hose screw fitting. But my water heater doesn't hold enough hot water to fill the king size waterbed mattress. So it will be a balancing act to get the heated and cold tub water mixed right so I can sleep on the new mattress the same night as I empty it.
I'm probably not saying this clearly. I have to get up in the morning, drain the old mattress, remove it, pull up the old liner (old and worn out) dry the wood frame, set the new liner in place, set in the new mattress, fill it, get the water warm enough, and put the mattress pads and sheets back on. My recollection from the last time (30 years ago) was that took all day. So I will be in for a very boring (watching a waterbed mattress fill up is like watching paint dry), but dedicated day...
7. I had a mouse invasion. Marley caught 5 mice! I initially blamed the snow for making mice seek shelter, but it might have actually been my fault. Last Friday, when the snow began to fall, I brought a few tubs of planting soil into the basement to thaw out so I could plant leftover Spring bulbs in them for forcing by Spring. There MAY have been mice nesting in them in the leaf litter covering the soil.
I HOPE he caught them all regardless of how they got inside. Probably. There were 4 caught one day, I found a 5th in a bucket the 2nd, and none for 4 days.
Quite a week!
1. Naturally, I had to order more cat food just as the snowstorm struck. 2 boxes of 8 trays total, scheduled to arrive Wed and Thurs. Well, I had the driveway and sidewalk cleared of snow Sunday, but I didn't shovel the front steps. Figured I would most of it melt and shovel the remainder Tuesday afternoon. The first box arrived Tuesday morning. UPS left it at the garage door. So I pushed the box inside the garage.
I forgot about the box when I decided to drive out for some errands Wed. Well, you would be surprised at how many cans of cat food an SUV can crush beyond use... ARGHHH!
2. The outside unit of the heat pump stopped working. I'm getting normal heat via electrical induction from the inside unit (like an oven), and I suspect it isn't costing MUCH more than the usual heating (some normal furnaces routinely operate that way). I have been trying a few things hoping the outside unit will just "start" again. I shovelled the snow from around the unit where air comes in, scooped out accumulated snow inside the unit, poured hot water over the insides hoping some ice was preventing operation, pulled and re-inserted circuit breakers, etc. No luck.
But when the block of ice inside the outside unit finally melts and it doesn't start working normally again in a couple of days, I will have to call for repairs. I didn't call immediately, because I AM getting heat, and I know they take complete failures as emergencies first. Besides, they always want to just replace the whole unit.
3. My automatic garage door openers stopped working. The overhead door light just blied rapidly. That probably means something, but I couldn't find the manual. But it isn't THAT hard to just raise and lower the door manually.
So I checked the power supply, circuit breakers, spring attachments, possible blockages, etc. No luck. Finally, I followed the wiring down to the bottom of the garage door track. Well lookee there! There is a set of safety lights at each side. If the light beam between them is blocked, the system shuts off. One of them had gotten pushed off. Well, I guess when I ran over the box of cat food, I also pushed it into the light beam device. Took just a minute to get it clipped back on and aimed properly.
At least SOMETHING got working again.
4. I mentioned previously that I had set up a regular birdfeeder on a pole on the deck to feed the non-finch birds sunflower seeds during the snowstorm. They emptied it today. The stepladder is still buried under the deck snowdrift, so I figured I would just untie it and set it down flat to refill it, and them put it upright again and retie it. Brilliant but dumb idea!
The instant I untied the last know holding the pole tight, a strong gust of wind hit. So there I was holding the bottom of the pole while the heavy top started to fall over. I couldn't hold it up. The feeder can crashing down on the deck. The wooden feeder broke into 4 pieces! I said a few BAD WORDS. But what is done is done, and you go on from there.
I took the pieces down to the work bench and set about regluing the pieces (with exterior waterproof wood glue). It took 12 bar clamps (you can never have too many bar clamps). The feeder is back together, but it has to set until tomorrow morning. I started to put out a tray of seeds, but even with a brick in the tray, the wind was slowly pushing it around. And even if I clamped the tray to the deck rails, the wind would probably just blow the seeds out. Sadly, the birds will have to wait til I get up in the morning...
5. The trash company didn't show up for regular pickup today. I'm leaving it out by the street. I recycle and compost so much that about the only thing that goes in the trash is used cat litter, styrofoam, and chicken skin. And I out the chicken skin IN the litter bags. So I feel pretty confident that NO scavenger is going to bother MY garbage can! LOL!
BTW, I drove out today and saw a neighbor's TRASH can knocked over and the contents spilled out. It was ALL cans and bottles. All recyclable. Aw c'mon... We get free street-side recycle pickup and you don't even have to sort it. Are they ACTIVELY against recyclying?
6. This one is a bit long... My waterbed sprung a leak. That happens. I have a repair kit. I've probably patched it a dozen times (the waterbed mattress is at least 35 years old). I only noticed when I pulled the sheets up for washing and the edges in one corner were wet. I pulled up that corner of the waterbed. I thought it was wet cat food at first (because there was some there), and thereby hangs a short tale.
Ayla eats only in the bedroom, and sometimes she decides on some odd places. That morning she had decided she would eat on the bookcase headboard of the waterbed. I sure don't argue about it. It's not like she gets to make a WHOLE lot of decisions in her life, so I give her the ones I can.
That afternoon, when I pulled the wet sheets up I found her bowl tucked into that corner. WOW! I sure didn't think there was THAT much water in canned cat food (and it didn't smell like anycat had peed there). But the cause and effect seemed clear. So I cleaned up the spilled cat food, wiped it clean, and stuffed an old towel down to absorb the water.
Well, THAT wasn't the problem. There was TOO much water the next morning and the towel was soaked. So I pulled the corner of the waterbed up (which is not easy - water is heavy). And I found a strange little piece of sharp metal. I can't identify it, but I assume it took a while for it to slowly wear through the waterbed mattress.
I can't get a patch to hold in the corner unless I drain the mattress and remove in entirely. And even that might not work. So, after all these years, I think I will replace it. It's OK, they aren't expensive. $50 to $200 depending on whether you want baffles and lumbar supports etc. But I'm used to the cheap kind with nothing fancy so I will stick with that.
There COULD have been a better time for this. All my hoses are outside and too cold to uncoil without maybe causing a break. But at least the forecast calls for 50F temperatures Sunday, so I can probably get one into the basement undamaged and let it warm up inside. One of the problems with a waterbed is draining them. That can take a couple hours. And then you have to fill the new one. Filling a waterbed takes about 30 minutes from the outside spigot, and it takes all day for the heater to warm the water.
Fortunately, my basement laundry tub faucet has a garden hose screw fitting. But my water heater doesn't hold enough hot water to fill the king size waterbed mattress. So it will be a balancing act to get the heated and cold tub water mixed right so I can sleep on the new mattress the same night as I empty it.
I'm probably not saying this clearly. I have to get up in the morning, drain the old mattress, remove it, pull up the old liner (old and worn out) dry the wood frame, set the new liner in place, set in the new mattress, fill it, get the water warm enough, and put the mattress pads and sheets back on. My recollection from the last time (30 years ago) was that took all day. So I will be in for a very boring (watching a waterbed mattress fill up is like watching paint dry), but dedicated day...
7. I had a mouse invasion. Marley caught 5 mice! I initially blamed the snow for making mice seek shelter, but it might have actually been my fault. Last Friday, when the snow began to fall, I brought a few tubs of planting soil into the basement to thaw out so I could plant leftover Spring bulbs in them for forcing by Spring. There MAY have been mice nesting in them in the leaf litter covering the soil.
I HOPE he caught them all regardless of how they got inside. Probably. There were 4 caught one day, I found a 5th in a bucket the 2nd, and none for 4 days.
Quite a week!
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Sunday Snow Aftermath
I have lived in various parts of Maryland since 1963. In the NE part til 1968, at Univ of MD til 1973, and around Washington DC since then.
The worst single snowstorm I experienced in Maryland was in 1966 where is snowed for 4 days. The accumulation was only 20", but the winds whipped up snowdrifts covering the ground floor windows. And Mom was about to have a baby! The neighborhood roads were not plowed. Dad and I shoveled 20" of snow a car width wide for 150' to the main road behind the house.
And off Dad and Mom went by car seeking the local hospital (which had a maternity wing of course). At 15 (I keep thinking 16 because it was 1966, but I wasn't really 16 until May), I was left behind to take care of my 2 younger siblings. For 2 days. It was quite an adventure... It's a good thing I could cook. And apparently, I would have made a good parent (if I do say so myself); peace and calm abounded!
7 Mothers delivered babies in Harford County that day. The other 6 Mothers were brought to the county hospital by helicoptor. Dad drove... Determination and self-reliance (to a point) is a family habit. And school was closed for a WEEK!
So that was a really serious snowstorm. And there have been some bad storms since then, but mostly several close-together storms with recovery time between.
But this one was BAD. I think it is now considered 2nd or 3rd worst in the Washington DC area (that 1966 one mentioned above slid north of DC so they don't count it here).
So here are some more pictures of THIS one...
The wind collected a lot of snow near the house on the deck. It was 3' deep in the drift Saturday afternoon.
And it got worse as the day went along.
The sunflower seed birdfeeder was standing tall. I had cardinals, sparrows, juncos, titmice, nuthatches, chicadees, purple finches, and goldfinches there at various times. I could have done without the sparrows (they get i seeds and kick backwards, shoveling seeds out of the tray. It is their successful "scratching the ground" habit, so I can't exactly blame them. But they sure are unwelcome at a seed tray.
But then the outside unit of the heat pump failed overnight. Probably because the sides got covered by snow preventing air from getting in. I assume it shut itself down because of the lack of air flow. I'm on "Heat2" right now. That's less efficient than the usual heat pump process, but I don't know exactly what it is doing. All I can tell (from the manual) is that it is not "emergency" heating (which would be like turning on an electric oven with the door open). It will probably be more expensive, but not like I have much choice. The repair company is busy with true failures and at least mine is keeping the house at normal temperatures (operating constantly). There ARE priorities of repairs.
So the first thing I did Saturday morning was to dress up warm* and shovel the snow from around the sides of the heat pump. That didn't get it started again. When I looked inside, it was all full of snow. I know it is SUPPOSED to "de-ice" itself when that happens. So I tried some simple repairs. I loosened the grid on the top to scoop out the accumulated snow inside. NO GO! I couldn't remove the grid because there is a heavy duty electrical cable stuck to it.
But I WAS able to lift up the opposite side and scoop most of the inside snow out. That didn't get it going either. So I poured bucket after bucket of VERY HOT water into it to melt the remaining snow. and ice around the working parts. Well, those parts are exposed to rain all the time (water drains out the bottom), what harm can water do? But that didn't get it started either. I removed and replaced the outside unit circuit breaker. No success there either. I suppose some part has failed at the worst possible time (like there is ever a BEST possible time?) and I will have to call for service.
But I am still getting heat from the inside part of the equipment, so it is not an emergency. I keep hoping to hear the outside unit suddenly come on though...
The snowdrift on the deck is probably about its highest.
And the snow on the roof is slowly sliding off. It should start to fall on the deck soon. I have a specialty tool for pulling snow off the roof, but I have to get out on the deck to use it and that snow drift is too deep for me to even push through wearing my trout-fishing hip-high waders.
So I am just going to wait things out. Which could get awkward. The Weather Channel says it will get down to 8F tonight! There isn't going to be any melting for a few days at least...
Did get to use the snowblower though. More on that next post!
* Warm meant thermal underwear under heavy jeans, extra thick socks in the 16" rubber boots, thick flannel shirt, ski mask, insulated rubber gloves, AND a hat with ear flaps! And of course a long insulated jacket you could explore the Arctic in... I don't play around with cold windy weather.
The worst single snowstorm I experienced in Maryland was in 1966 where is snowed for 4 days. The accumulation was only 20", but the winds whipped up snowdrifts covering the ground floor windows. And Mom was about to have a baby! The neighborhood roads were not plowed. Dad and I shoveled 20" of snow a car width wide for 150' to the main road behind the house.
And off Dad and Mom went by car seeking the local hospital (which had a maternity wing of course). At 15 (I keep thinking 16 because it was 1966, but I wasn't really 16 until May), I was left behind to take care of my 2 younger siblings. For 2 days. It was quite an adventure... It's a good thing I could cook. And apparently, I would have made a good parent (if I do say so myself); peace and calm abounded!
7 Mothers delivered babies in Harford County that day. The other 6 Mothers were brought to the county hospital by helicoptor. Dad drove... Determination and self-reliance (to a point) is a family habit. And school was closed for a WEEK!
So that was a really serious snowstorm. And there have been some bad storms since then, but mostly several close-together storms with recovery time between.
But this one was BAD. I think it is now considered 2nd or 3rd worst in the Washington DC area (that 1966 one mentioned above slid north of DC so they don't count it here).
So here are some more pictures of THIS one...
The wind collected a lot of snow near the house on the deck. It was 3' deep in the drift Saturday afternoon.
The sunflower seed birdfeeder was standing tall. I had cardinals, sparrows, juncos, titmice, nuthatches, chicadees, purple finches, and goldfinches there at various times. I could have done without the sparrows (they get i seeds and kick backwards, shoveling seeds out of the tray. It is their successful "scratching the ground" habit, so I can't exactly blame them. But they sure are unwelcome at a seed tray.
But I WAS able to lift up the opposite side and scoop most of the inside snow out. That didn't get it going either. So I poured bucket after bucket of VERY HOT water into it to melt the remaining snow. and ice around the working parts. Well, those parts are exposed to rain all the time (water drains out the bottom), what harm can water do? But that didn't get it started either. I removed and replaced the outside unit circuit breaker. No success there either. I suppose some part has failed at the worst possible time (like there is ever a BEST possible time?) and I will have to call for service.
But I am still getting heat from the inside part of the equipment, so it is not an emergency. I keep hoping to hear the outside unit suddenly come on though...
The snowdrift on the deck is probably about its highest.
Did get to use the snowblower though. More on that next post!
* Warm meant thermal underwear under heavy jeans, extra thick socks in the 16" rubber boots, thick flannel shirt, ski mask, insulated rubber gloves, AND a hat with ear flaps! And of course a long insulated jacket you could explore the Arctic in... I don't play around with cold windy weather.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Solved It
OK, so the planting timing problem was caused by my wanting to plant lots of spring-flowering bulbs where I was planting wildflowers earlier and not wanting to walk on the sprouting wildflowers. I had to think on that a while.
Solution? Walking-boards and cheap plastic tubs.
The walking boards will be some pieces of 2"x12" boards left over from the deck construction last year. With small pieces of 4"x4" scrap wood attached to the bottom, the footprint will be minimal, but allow me to walk out to the pre-dug holes for the wire cages for protecting the spring flowering tulips and hyacinths from the voles.
Each spot for the spring flowering bulbs will have a predug hole with a cheap plastic tub of the soil there. I will walk out on the supported boards, lift the tub, set the wire cage down, add an inch of soil, set the bulbs down, add the rest of the soil, walk off the board and lift the board off the wildflower sprouts.
Every problem has a solution...
Solution? Walking-boards and cheap plastic tubs.
The walking boards will be some pieces of 2"x12" boards left over from the deck construction last year. With small pieces of 4"x4" scrap wood attached to the bottom, the footprint will be minimal, but allow me to walk out to the pre-dug holes for the wire cages for protecting the spring flowering tulips and hyacinths from the voles.
Each spot for the spring flowering bulbs will have a predug hole with a cheap plastic tub of the soil there. I will walk out on the supported boards, lift the tub, set the wire cage down, add an inch of soil, set the bulbs down, add the rest of the soil, walk off the board and lift the board off the wildflower sprouts.
Every problem has a solution...
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Neighbors
This isn't about a HORRIBLE AWFUL neighbor who does completely TERRIBLE MEAN things. This is about a long-time merely annoying neighbor who just finally got me all ticked-off today.
OK, lets say you have a drainage easement along a property line. And that drainage easement is shared by a neighbor. And you are mutually legally responsible for it (the storm drain itself is a county responsibility). The responsibility means keeping it free flowing right into the storm drain (meaning around the storm drain and the grate on the top of the storm drain is OUR responsibility).
Let's say you have had that same neighbor for 28 years, they refuse to pay any attention to cleaning (because their yard is higher and the occasional flooding caused by the debris-covered storm drain never causes them any problem), and you have mentioned this very politely several times over the years.
Let us further suppose that you have cleaned the sides and grate numerous times. And picture the sides and top as "beaver dam material" - interwoven sticks and small branches that fill in with leaf-packed mud like the squishy stuff at the bottom of a natural lake but also plastic bags, fast-food containers, and general trash).
And let us further suppose that you had spent over an hour 2 weeks ago wedging the sticks and branches loose with an iron bar (throwing most of them onto your own side of the property line) before ripping loose handfulls of leaf-packed mud and feeding them into the newly-rushing water escaping into the now partially opened storm drain to break apart in the flood-flow. And you are doing all this bent over at the waist with pooled water 3/4 the way up your boots.
After doing all this work, you clean up your property side, but also pick up all the trash plastic bags etc on both sides and fill up your trash can. You leave the 1/4 of the sticks that happened to land on their property while you were pulling them all loose so that they will notice it while mowing and see that you have cleaned the storm drain grate ONCE AGAIN!
I don't usually act passive/aggressive (and it wasn't intended to be the "aggressive" part). But I almost never see those neighbors outside and I didn't want to go bang on their door with my muddy hands and temporary annoyance. I figured they would see the branches, see the cleaned storm drain grate and just pick up their minor share of the sticks pleased that I had cleaned the storm drain again...
Nope! Are you surprised?
And, then imagine that after all that neighborly work, you return home today from errands to discover they have picked up all the sticks and dropped them onto YOUR lawn...
Now THAT's "passive-aggressive"!
I suppose I have to go knock on their door some Saturday afternoon and discuss it. Again. Explain the work I did, that I picked up most of the debris and all the trash, scooped the leafy mud with my bare hands, and that I am tired of doing this myself all the time when we are both responsible for it, and that I expect them to clean the storm drain grate themselves sometimes.
Not to get too far afield, but I DON'T like having to tell people what they should be doing. I avoided several management offers in my career for that reason. So I really don't want to go knock on their door and surprise them with a complaint (they may be utterly clueless).
Several ideas come to mind...
1. Knock, knock. "Hey neighbor are we having a stick fight"?
2. Knock, knock. "Did you notice I cleaned the storm drain in June? It's your turn every November".
3. Knock, knock. "Thanks for the sticks. Is that a cultural gift I should know something about"?
4. Anything else. But please don't suggest "I should have just picked up their sticks as well". I won't go for that one.
I'm willing to have a minor fight about this if there is a positive outcome. But they seem to have some problems. They half-built a garage and then let it stay that way for many months. They did some yardscaping another year and that stayed half-done for several years. A psychologist friend of mine said those are signs of personal and/or family dysfunction.
OK, lets say you have a drainage easement along a property line. And that drainage easement is shared by a neighbor. And you are mutually legally responsible for it (the storm drain itself is a county responsibility). The responsibility means keeping it free flowing right into the storm drain (meaning around the storm drain and the grate on the top of the storm drain is OUR responsibility).
Let's say you have had that same neighbor for 28 years, they refuse to pay any attention to cleaning (because their yard is higher and the occasional flooding caused by the debris-covered storm drain never causes them any problem), and you have mentioned this very politely several times over the years.
Let us further suppose that you have cleaned the sides and grate numerous times. And picture the sides and top as "beaver dam material" - interwoven sticks and small branches that fill in with leaf-packed mud like the squishy stuff at the bottom of a natural lake but also plastic bags, fast-food containers, and general trash).
And let us further suppose that you had spent over an hour 2 weeks ago wedging the sticks and branches loose with an iron bar (throwing most of them onto your own side of the property line) before ripping loose handfulls of leaf-packed mud and feeding them into the newly-rushing water escaping into the now partially opened storm drain to break apart in the flood-flow. And you are doing all this bent over at the waist with pooled water 3/4 the way up your boots.
After doing all this work, you clean up your property side, but also pick up all the trash plastic bags etc on both sides and fill up your trash can. You leave the 1/4 of the sticks that happened to land on their property while you were pulling them all loose so that they will notice it while mowing and see that you have cleaned the storm drain grate ONCE AGAIN!
I don't usually act passive/aggressive (and it wasn't intended to be the "aggressive" part). But I almost never see those neighbors outside and I didn't want to go bang on their door with my muddy hands and temporary annoyance. I figured they would see the branches, see the cleaned storm drain grate and just pick up their minor share of the sticks pleased that I had cleaned the storm drain again...
Nope! Are you surprised?
And, then imagine that after all that neighborly work, you return home today from errands to discover they have picked up all the sticks and dropped them onto YOUR lawn...
Now THAT's "passive-aggressive"!
I suppose I have to go knock on their door some Saturday afternoon and discuss it. Again. Explain the work I did, that I picked up most of the debris and all the trash, scooped the leafy mud with my bare hands, and that I am tired of doing this myself all the time when we are both responsible for it, and that I expect them to clean the storm drain grate themselves sometimes.
Not to get too far afield, but I DON'T like having to tell people what they should be doing. I avoided several management offers in my career for that reason. So I really don't want to go knock on their door and surprise them with a complaint (they may be utterly clueless).
Several ideas come to mind...
1. Knock, knock. "Hey neighbor are we having a stick fight"?
2. Knock, knock. "Did you notice I cleaned the storm drain in June? It's your turn every November".
3. Knock, knock. "Thanks for the sticks. Is that a cultural gift I should know something about"?
4. Anything else. But please don't suggest "I should have just picked up their sticks as well". I won't go for that one.
I'm willing to have a minor fight about this if there is a positive outcome. But they seem to have some problems. They half-built a garage and then let it stay that way for many months. They did some yardscaping another year and that stayed half-done for several years. A psychologist friend of mine said those are signs of personal and/or family dysfunction.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Another Garden Enclosure Post
I'm beginning to wonder when this is going to end! When I started it last Fall, I expected it would take most of 2 weeks. Sad laughing at THAT now! A day to break up the first couple of old rotting raised beds and transfer the soil to the other beds, build a couple new ones, transfer the soil to the new ones and then remove the other old frames.
Then a day to dig holes for the new frame (15 minutes each, right?), and the rest of the day to construct the basic frame (just "tinkertoy" stuff, right?) Another day to toss chicken wire over the frame. Then a day to tighten the chicken wire all around. And then a day to build a screen door into the structure.
Oh what fools we mortals be...
I keep finding problems to solve. Now, I'll grant that solving problems is an enjoyable challenge. But "2 weeks" has turned into "2 months" (given a break over Winter), and it's not finished YET! I am both HORRIBLE at foreseeing problems AND estimating time to do work.
In my defense, doing things you have never done before in any way is difficult. But I PLANNED this and had a pretty good idea of the work. Sort of... Well, I didn't expect digging a simple 2' deep hole wouldn't take just 15 minutes, but 30, and after several I was worn out for the day. I bet my estimate of the total time is only 1/2 was it was, but what I didn't realize was that I couldn't keep at it 6 hours a day.
I then there were surprises. Who knew chicken wire was so heavy and resisted being pulled tight? Who knew that tolerances for fitting PVC pipes (with steel conduit inserted in the PVC pipes for rigidity) would be so important? Who knew that making the tops of the frame would be so tricky on ground that sloped East/West AND North/South. And I assumed the hanging chicken wire would be easily attached to the ground with 6" landscaping staples.
So today, I decided I needed to attach steel conduit reinforced PVC pipe at the bottom of the frame (to attach the bottom of the chicken wire). I went to the local big-box DIY store to buy them.
The idea was to use something called a "snap-tee" to attach the PVC pipes at the bottom of the frame to attach the chicken wire using nylon cable ties.
It fits over existing PVC pipes by friction, but can also be cemented. So I bought more PVC pipes and the snap tees and conduit steel pipe, and got them home. Brought out my can of PVC cement and read the instructions. The instructions mentioned that if the cement was "jellylike", DO NOT USE .
So I opened the can of cement and of course, it was "jellylike". Well, it WAS 10 years old. So back to the DIY store for fresh PVC cement. Everything takes more time than you expect...
OK, I had the cement, the PVC pipes, and the steel conduit rods for rigidity. I was confident the rest would go well today and quickly. I had set the upright frame VERY carefully, so the PVC pipes at the bottom HAD to fit perfectly, right?
Of course not! So much as a 1/4" off and each cross pipe at the bottom required cutting to size. And with the fitting, the steel conduit pipes had to be 1 1/4" shorter. Argh! I had to cut each steel conduit pipe shorter and the PVC pipes shorter by varying amounts (they are NOT all exactly the same lengths, varying by as much as 1/2").
There was a lot of cutting involved...
It's all maddening, sometimes!
So, I was ready to use the snap tees and cut-to-length between each individual set of uprights pipes. That should be all that was required, right? No.
The snap tees weren't exactly what I thought. I thought they fit over half the pipe, so that another could be placed opposite each on the other side of the pipe. But they fit 2/3ds over a pipe. So you can't put one opposite the other on the same pipe.
They have to be one above the other...
If I had it to do over again, I would have made a jig to cut the snap tees to fit half the pipe instead on 2/3rds, but I was half done before I realized the problem. And when the PVC cement sets after 10 minutes, there is NO undoing it.
It sets in just several minutes. So when it is put anywhere, it STAYS there!
So I had to figure out another adjustment...
Doing some dry-fitting experiments, I figured out could I place one snap tee over another. In effect, all I accomplished in 2 days was attach 7 PVC pipes with steel conduits in them along all the bottom of most of the structure. My guess before would have been 1 hour at worst. It took 4. O the hottest day of the year so far... 90 degrees and 90 humidity. ARGH!!!
But like every other problem, its done! Another unexpected problem solved...
At least I can next attach the chicken wire at the bottom tightly tomorrow! Unless I discover some NEW problem to solve.
Next will be installing the screen door.. That's going to take more hole-digging, but at least I know how slowly that goes into the dry gravel/rock/clay soil. I've been delaying that, seeing forecasts of rain to soften the soil a bit. But it hasn't rained (naturally) so I'll have to do it the hard way like I did for all the upright pipes.
I have the screen door framed with 2x4"s. The holes I dig will hold 4x4" posts set 2' deep. The door frame holding the screen door will attach to the 4x4 posts.
And I bet something will just NOT work about that. What would this project BE without one more surprise...
Then a day to dig holes for the new frame (15 minutes each, right?), and the rest of the day to construct the basic frame (just "tinkertoy" stuff, right?) Another day to toss chicken wire over the frame. Then a day to tighten the chicken wire all around. And then a day to build a screen door into the structure.
Oh what fools we mortals be...
I keep finding problems to solve. Now, I'll grant that solving problems is an enjoyable challenge. But "2 weeks" has turned into "2 months" (given a break over Winter), and it's not finished YET! I am both HORRIBLE at foreseeing problems AND estimating time to do work.
In my defense, doing things you have never done before in any way is difficult. But I PLANNED this and had a pretty good idea of the work. Sort of... Well, I didn't expect digging a simple 2' deep hole wouldn't take just 15 minutes, but 30, and after several I was worn out for the day. I bet my estimate of the total time is only 1/2 was it was, but what I didn't realize was that I couldn't keep at it 6 hours a day.
I then there were surprises. Who knew chicken wire was so heavy and resisted being pulled tight? Who knew that tolerances for fitting PVC pipes (with steel conduit inserted in the PVC pipes for rigidity) would be so important? Who knew that making the tops of the frame would be so tricky on ground that sloped East/West AND North/South. And I assumed the hanging chicken wire would be easily attached to the ground with 6" landscaping staples.
So today, I decided I needed to attach steel conduit reinforced PVC pipe at the bottom of the frame (to attach the bottom of the chicken wire). I went to the local big-box DIY store to buy them.
The idea was to use something called a "snap-tee" to attach the PVC pipes at the bottom of the frame to attach the chicken wire using nylon cable ties.
It fits over existing PVC pipes by friction, but can also be cemented. So I bought more PVC pipes and the snap tees and conduit steel pipe, and got them home. Brought out my can of PVC cement and read the instructions. The instructions mentioned that if the cement was "jellylike", DO NOT USE .
So I opened the can of cement and of course, it was "jellylike". Well, it WAS 10 years old. So back to the DIY store for fresh PVC cement. Everything takes more time than you expect...
OK, I had the cement, the PVC pipes, and the steel conduit rods for rigidity. I was confident the rest would go well today and quickly. I had set the upright frame VERY carefully, so the PVC pipes at the bottom HAD to fit perfectly, right?
Of course not! So much as a 1/4" off and each cross pipe at the bottom required cutting to size. And with the fitting, the steel conduit pipes had to be 1 1/4" shorter. Argh! I had to cut each steel conduit pipe shorter and the PVC pipes shorter by varying amounts (they are NOT all exactly the same lengths, varying by as much as 1/2").
There was a lot of cutting involved...
It's all maddening, sometimes!
So, I was ready to use the snap tees and cut-to-length between each individual set of uprights pipes. That should be all that was required, right? No.
The snap tees weren't exactly what I thought. I thought they fit over half the pipe, so that another could be placed opposite each on the other side of the pipe. But they fit 2/3ds over a pipe. So you can't put one opposite the other on the same pipe.
If I had it to do over again, I would have made a jig to cut the snap tees to fit half the pipe instead on 2/3rds, but I was half done before I realized the problem. And when the PVC cement sets after 10 minutes, there is NO undoing it.
It sets in just several minutes. So when it is put anywhere, it STAYS there!
So I had to figure out another adjustment...
Doing some dry-fitting experiments, I figured out could I place one snap tee over another. In effect, all I accomplished in 2 days was attach 7 PVC pipes with steel conduits in them along all the bottom of most of the structure. My guess before would have been 1 hour at worst. It took 4. O the hottest day of the year so far... 90 degrees and 90 humidity. ARGH!!!
But like every other problem, its done! Another unexpected problem solved...
At least I can next attach the chicken wire at the bottom tightly tomorrow! Unless I discover some NEW problem to solve.
Next will be installing the screen door.. That's going to take more hole-digging, but at least I know how slowly that goes into the dry gravel/rock/clay soil. I've been delaying that, seeing forecasts of rain to soften the soil a bit. But it hasn't rained (naturally) so I'll have to do it the hard way like I did for all the upright pipes.
I have the screen door framed with 2x4"s. The holes I dig will hold 4x4" posts set 2' deep. The door frame holding the screen door will attach to the 4x4 posts.
And I bet something will just NOT work about that. What would this project BE without one more surprise...
Monday, November 24, 2014
A Little Computer And Some Garden Problems
COMPUTER: Well, first, I KNEW everything wouldn't be perfect on the new old laptop. The thrill of connectivity deceived me. Oh, it's not terrible news, but the "M" key came loose right away, and my feedly.com reader list keeps disappearing from the sidebar. It sticks on the desktop but not the laptop. I'm sure I'll find out how to stick it permanently, but haven't so far.
And there are other annoying problems. I'm sure most can be fixed, but some may just be part of using a laptop. I was expecting that since I was only using the laptop for reading blogs (at the moment), what did I care about security? There's nothing ON the laptop. But then I started getting unending, nearly constant ads. It was like "Whack-A-Mole"! Close one, another pops up. I went 15 minutes doing nothing but closing ads at one point, and even closing some of them seems to have generated some email responses to the ads even though I don't have any email set up tat I know about. Probably some basic gmail embedded in the computer.
I went into the system preferences and made some adjustments which reduced the ads but haven't eliminated them. I was hoping not to have to buy MacKeeper for the laptop (it can prevent pop-up ads among other things. I may find free software that does that. Apparently, I'm going to have to compare files on my desktop to the laptop, see what I can copy over, and maybe buy some simple versions of other software.
If anyone has Mac desktop and laptop equipment and some of those things sound familiar, please drop me an email with any useful advise, please! Reattaching the "M" key is actually a priority, but the other long term stuff is more vital.
GARDEN: We had an unusual 70+ day today, so I set about constructing the 5th of 6 framed beds. I thought it would go fast, but NOOOOO....
I mostly have to laugh at all the surprises a project can offer. Well, it doesn't help to complain. Not that I don't both laugh AND swear sometimes.
I got out in the garden at 1:30. First, I had to carry the precut boards (by me, not the Home Depot guy after the first bad experience). I carried one out to the garden, then decided to try using the dolly to carry 2 at a time. Didn't work, they were too tall and awkward. So I carried them all out one at a time. 2"x8"x7' preservative-treated boards are heavy, but on my shoulder one-at-a-time worked. That part was fairly expected.
So the 5th frame was to go 2' from the last and since there had been old beds there before (full of good soil), I only shoveled soil enough to lay down the new boards (different sizes from the old and 90 degrees in rotation).
Dragged out all the usual tools from the shed, connected the 150' of electrical cord, set up the radio on Classical, and started to dig some trenches where the new frame would set level. There are invading vines from a neighbor, and I have been digging them out as I go. Dig, pull, toss, dig, pull, toss... Only one looked odd out of the corner of my eye, so I looked at it. A poison ivy plant! Sure, why not? I haven't seen a poison ivy plant in the garden for several years and I was holding it in my bare hands. Might as well find one now.
So I dropped it in a remote corner where it could die peacefully and went into the house at once to wash my hand. Holding the hand up so that I wouldn't touch anything in the house with it, I got safely to the bathroom and washed with soap for 5 minutes (hurray for pump soap). Then I washed again with rubbing alcohol. If I'm not complaining of poison ivy in 5 days, you'll know it worked.
So I was back out at the garden and set out the corners for the 5th bed. Which meant clamping a long straight board to the end on the previous bed so that they all stay even with each other. Naturally, I had brought the small clamps back to the house for a different project, so back to the house I went. That 150' of walking back and forth adds up! So I clamped the "straight-edge board" and set some corner bricks to support the lower lever of the frame. Yes, I've developed a routine after the first 4 beds. Experience accumulates.
The distance to the far end of the 5th bed was farther than I eyeballed it, so I had to rip out more of the old frame boards and dig off more old garden soil into the existing beds than I had expected. More time gone. And then I hit a 3" tree root from my neighbor's junk trees. And I mean "junk". He just let whatever grew, grow. None of them are good trees, just invasive ones that grow thickly and unhealthfully. Someday, I may ask him if we can just cut them down and plant nicer smaller ones like dogwoods and crabapples or whatever he likes.
But it meant I had to find my ax to cut the invasive root, which was back in the house, of course (for a perfectly good reason). Then I remembered that the ax was a bit dull, so I had to sharpen it. And the bench grinder on a stand was behind a bunch of stuff moved when the insulation guys worked in the basement, and by the time I got access to it and sharpened the ax to "OK" that was another quarter hour gone. And of course, the root was loose in the ground so chopping it with the ax took some time.
An hour and a half and I still hadn't gotten the first board in place for the 5th bed... I used some bad words.
But I was finally able to start with the frame. Previous frames, I leveled first and constructed later. I tried constructing first this time. If you place bricks angled at all the corners, you can get all the board corners to match. That worked pretty well. I got the lower layer of the frame attached in only 30 minutes. That sounds long, but I am obsessed with getting all the corners matching as perfectly as possible. These beds should last 20 years and I'll be looking at them a lot, so why not go for the best appearance?
To construct each layer of the framed bed, I set the long boards on a brick at the corners. The brick also holds the short end boards at the same level. After that, I can use long clamps to loosely hold the 4 boards together. After that, I tap the boards until the square ends match up. Sometimes the boards are not exactly the same width, so I wedge one up to match the next. I used little twigs on the first few beds but realized the axe blade was very good for that.
I have 2 drills for the project. One is a standard electric drill for drilling pilot holes for the long screws that go though both boards at the corner. The second drill is a cordless drill with a screw setting (has a slower speed and a torque control to not overdrive the screws in). But most importantly, it means I don't have to keep changing the drill bit for the screwdriver bit. And I'm using lubricated star-drive screws designed for preservative-treated boards. Those resist the P-T board chemicals AND go in easier. They are worth the very slight extra cost.
I got the lowever level of the framed bed finished and saw bad news. The sun was on the horizon! It was only 4:15! But my horizon is not flat horizon. The land slopes up radically on my west side. But I had all the tools out, the 2nd level of boards ready, and I wanted to finish the 2nd level today. It supposed to rain tomorrow and get colder.
And wouldn't you know it, my box of screws was empty. Back to the house... I thought, and correctly, that I had another box of them "somewhere". Took only 15 minutes to find them. Yes, they were in an obvious place, but not obvious to ME today... LOL!
So back outside in the fading light. Fortunately, the 2nd level of boards is WAY easier than the first. And I found a few quick tips to make that easier. I had used a square piece of 4"x4" to establish square corners on the first couple of 4' wide framed beds. I found that using 4" bar clamps on the 3' wide 3rd and 4th beds was easier. I tightened them loosely, tapped all the corners flush, then tightened the claps more and drilled the holes. Worked great.
Except the 5th and 6th beds (like the 1st and 2nd beds) are actually 4'3" wide and the 4" clamps are JUST too short. Well, guess what, you can hook 2 clamps together! So I attached a 4' clamp and a 12" clamp across the beds at both ends and locked all the corners tight after making them flush in all directions*.
After that, and with the sun over the local elevated horizon, I got the last of the screws in! The framed bed isn't complete. The 2 levels are not attached to each other. I uses a 1"x6"x6' P-T board for THAT. I attach it on the inside of the long boards. Half the width above the seam between the frame boards and screw it on. Then attaching screws in that 1" board below, draws the 2 levels together beautifully!
Tomorrow isn't going to be as nice as today. 50 degrees vs 75. But 50 is OK I might get the last LAST, LAST LAST framed built finished tomorrow. If it doesn't rain...
So close to the end, and chasing the decent weather to the finish, LOL!
But you know, if there weren't surprises all the time in a project, it probably wouldn't be worth writing about it. Seriously, how exciting would it be to just write "I built 6 framed beds this year"?
* I still had to tap boards around in all the corners until the matched up evenly horizontally AND vertically. THEN I tightened the clamps hard and drilled pilot holes for the screws.
Pictures in a few days when I finish...
And there are other annoying problems. I'm sure most can be fixed, but some may just be part of using a laptop. I was expecting that since I was only using the laptop for reading blogs (at the moment), what did I care about security? There's nothing ON the laptop. But then I started getting unending, nearly constant ads. It was like "Whack-A-Mole"! Close one, another pops up. I went 15 minutes doing nothing but closing ads at one point, and even closing some of them seems to have generated some email responses to the ads even though I don't have any email set up tat I know about. Probably some basic gmail embedded in the computer.
I went into the system preferences and made some adjustments which reduced the ads but haven't eliminated them. I was hoping not to have to buy MacKeeper for the laptop (it can prevent pop-up ads among other things. I may find free software that does that. Apparently, I'm going to have to compare files on my desktop to the laptop, see what I can copy over, and maybe buy some simple versions of other software.
If anyone has Mac desktop and laptop equipment and some of those things sound familiar, please drop me an email with any useful advise, please! Reattaching the "M" key is actually a priority, but the other long term stuff is more vital.
GARDEN: We had an unusual 70+ day today, so I set about constructing the 5th of 6 framed beds. I thought it would go fast, but NOOOOO....
I mostly have to laugh at all the surprises a project can offer. Well, it doesn't help to complain. Not that I don't both laugh AND swear sometimes.
I got out in the garden at 1:30. First, I had to carry the precut boards (by me, not the Home Depot guy after the first bad experience). I carried one out to the garden, then decided to try using the dolly to carry 2 at a time. Didn't work, they were too tall and awkward. So I carried them all out one at a time. 2"x8"x7' preservative-treated boards are heavy, but on my shoulder one-at-a-time worked. That part was fairly expected.
So the 5th frame was to go 2' from the last and since there had been old beds there before (full of good soil), I only shoveled soil enough to lay down the new boards (different sizes from the old and 90 degrees in rotation).
Dragged out all the usual tools from the shed, connected the 150' of electrical cord, set up the radio on Classical, and started to dig some trenches where the new frame would set level. There are invading vines from a neighbor, and I have been digging them out as I go. Dig, pull, toss, dig, pull, toss... Only one looked odd out of the corner of my eye, so I looked at it. A poison ivy plant! Sure, why not? I haven't seen a poison ivy plant in the garden for several years and I was holding it in my bare hands. Might as well find one now.
So I dropped it in a remote corner where it could die peacefully and went into the house at once to wash my hand. Holding the hand up so that I wouldn't touch anything in the house with it, I got safely to the bathroom and washed with soap for 5 minutes (hurray for pump soap). Then I washed again with rubbing alcohol. If I'm not complaining of poison ivy in 5 days, you'll know it worked.
So I was back out at the garden and set out the corners for the 5th bed. Which meant clamping a long straight board to the end on the previous bed so that they all stay even with each other. Naturally, I had brought the small clamps back to the house for a different project, so back to the house I went. That 150' of walking back and forth adds up! So I clamped the "straight-edge board" and set some corner bricks to support the lower lever of the frame. Yes, I've developed a routine after the first 4 beds. Experience accumulates.
The distance to the far end of the 5th bed was farther than I eyeballed it, so I had to rip out more of the old frame boards and dig off more old garden soil into the existing beds than I had expected. More time gone. And then I hit a 3" tree root from my neighbor's junk trees. And I mean "junk". He just let whatever grew, grow. None of them are good trees, just invasive ones that grow thickly and unhealthfully. Someday, I may ask him if we can just cut them down and plant nicer smaller ones like dogwoods and crabapples or whatever he likes.
But it meant I had to find my ax to cut the invasive root, which was back in the house, of course (for a perfectly good reason). Then I remembered that the ax was a bit dull, so I had to sharpen it. And the bench grinder on a stand was behind a bunch of stuff moved when the insulation guys worked in the basement, and by the time I got access to it and sharpened the ax to "OK" that was another quarter hour gone. And of course, the root was loose in the ground so chopping it with the ax took some time.
An hour and a half and I still hadn't gotten the first board in place for the 5th bed... I used some bad words.
But I was finally able to start with the frame. Previous frames, I leveled first and constructed later. I tried constructing first this time. If you place bricks angled at all the corners, you can get all the board corners to match. That worked pretty well. I got the lower layer of the frame attached in only 30 minutes. That sounds long, but I am obsessed with getting all the corners matching as perfectly as possible. These beds should last 20 years and I'll be looking at them a lot, so why not go for the best appearance?
To construct each layer of the framed bed, I set the long boards on a brick at the corners. The brick also holds the short end boards at the same level. After that, I can use long clamps to loosely hold the 4 boards together. After that, I tap the boards until the square ends match up. Sometimes the boards are not exactly the same width, so I wedge one up to match the next. I used little twigs on the first few beds but realized the axe blade was very good for that.
I have 2 drills for the project. One is a standard electric drill for drilling pilot holes for the long screws that go though both boards at the corner. The second drill is a cordless drill with a screw setting (has a slower speed and a torque control to not overdrive the screws in). But most importantly, it means I don't have to keep changing the drill bit for the screwdriver bit. And I'm using lubricated star-drive screws designed for preservative-treated boards. Those resist the P-T board chemicals AND go in easier. They are worth the very slight extra cost.
I got the lowever level of the framed bed finished and saw bad news. The sun was on the horizon! It was only 4:15! But my horizon is not flat horizon. The land slopes up radically on my west side. But I had all the tools out, the 2nd level of boards ready, and I wanted to finish the 2nd level today. It supposed to rain tomorrow and get colder.
And wouldn't you know it, my box of screws was empty. Back to the house... I thought, and correctly, that I had another box of them "somewhere". Took only 15 minutes to find them. Yes, they were in an obvious place, but not obvious to ME today... LOL!
So back outside in the fading light. Fortunately, the 2nd level of boards is WAY easier than the first. And I found a few quick tips to make that easier. I had used a square piece of 4"x4" to establish square corners on the first couple of 4' wide framed beds. I found that using 4" bar clamps on the 3' wide 3rd and 4th beds was easier. I tightened them loosely, tapped all the corners flush, then tightened the claps more and drilled the holes. Worked great.
Except the 5th and 6th beds (like the 1st and 2nd beds) are actually 4'3" wide and the 4" clamps are JUST too short. Well, guess what, you can hook 2 clamps together! So I attached a 4' clamp and a 12" clamp across the beds at both ends and locked all the corners tight after making them flush in all directions*.
After that, and with the sun over the local elevated horizon, I got the last of the screws in! The framed bed isn't complete. The 2 levels are not attached to each other. I uses a 1"x6"x6' P-T board for THAT. I attach it on the inside of the long boards. Half the width above the seam between the frame boards and screw it on. Then attaching screws in that 1" board below, draws the 2 levels together beautifully!
Tomorrow isn't going to be as nice as today. 50 degrees vs 75. But 50 is OK I might get the last LAST, LAST LAST framed built finished tomorrow. If it doesn't rain...
So close to the end, and chasing the decent weather to the finish, LOL!
But you know, if there weren't surprises all the time in a project, it probably wouldn't be worth writing about it. Seriously, how exciting would it be to just write "I built 6 framed beds this year"?
* I still had to tap boards around in all the corners until the matched up evenly horizontally AND vertically. THEN I tightened the clamps hard and drilled pilot holes for the screws.
Pictures in a few days when I finish...
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Rain, Good And Bad
Well, we got some heavy rain here Tuesday. Almost 3" all day, but almost all of it in 1 hour.
I'm not going to complain bout it much. I needed some rain. It hasn't been as dry as in some years when the soil cracked open, but on the other hand, the soil surface and grass was dry this afternoon, so I mowed the lawn. Other places got more rain though, and not the kind that would just get soaked up by the lawn. Places in Maryland got 9-10", and In New York, it got up to 14". I saw pictures on TV of cars floating around in streets and parking lots. So it could have been a LOT worse here.
Still, I had some problems with water getting into the basement, and I thought I had solved that with the extra-large raingutters installed 2 years ago and a drainage ditch I dug from the sunken patio. The sunken patio has been a problem for a decade at least. It properly slopes slightly away from the house. The water that collects at the lower end for a day or 2 is a minor (but annoying) problem.
It's the fact that the lawn level has raised over the years that really creates the problem. Grass grows, I mow it, the clippings become topsoil, etc. Well, that's why praries have dozens of feet of topsoil. I need to lower the lawn level at the edge of the deck, but that is back-breaking work and I keep avoiding it.
Instead, I dig a drainage ditch. 3"wide, 3" deep, and the lawn slopes downhill from the patio, so it works great. It can drain off even the heaviest rain. The problem? Soil moves. The ditch slowly fills in very slowly and I never notice when it is QUITE not capable of handling the occasionally heavy rainfall. So I have to run out in the downpour and rescrape the ditch with the grubhoe deep enough to drain the patio.
But I had an additional surprise this time! The raingutters ARE working just fine. But, apparently, the soil level raised just enough this Summer to direct the outflow back toward the patio instead of out into the downslope lawn.
I'm generally an optimist (though maybe not a rational one). I always expect things I fix to STAY fixed. To show the flaw in that, I also expect weeded areas of the garden to STAY weedless, repaired cars to STAY working, and structures I build to stay standing. Obviously, there is a flaw in my expectations.
So when I dig a ditch to drain rainfall away from the patio, I expect it to STAY a ditch... Even though I'm the smartest person in the house, I have some errors in my assumptions.
So I'm going to fix this rainfall-in-the-basement problem once and for all! I'm going to build a sealed 1' dike in front of my basement! Just kidding...
Seriously, I'm going to lower the lawn level 3" below the edge of the patio/lawn. I will dig a 1' deep trench along that edge and toward the downslope lawn, and I will install perforated drainage pipe buried in sand and landscaping fabric (however it is recommended). And I will attach a 4' extension to the existing downspout to get the rainfall from the roof away from the patio.
Drainage pipe...
Gutter extention...
Still, I had some problems with water getting into the basement, and I thought I had solved that with the extra-large raingutters installed 2 years ago and a drainage ditch I dug from the sunken patio. The sunken patio has been a problem for a decade at least. It properly slopes slightly away from the house. The water that collects at the lower end for a day or 2 is a minor (but annoying) problem.
It's the fact that the lawn level has raised over the years that really creates the problem. Grass grows, I mow it, the clippings become topsoil, etc. Well, that's why praries have dozens of feet of topsoil. I need to lower the lawn level at the edge of the deck, but that is back-breaking work and I keep avoiding it.
Instead, I dig a drainage ditch. 3"wide, 3" deep, and the lawn slopes downhill from the patio, so it works great. It can drain off even the heaviest rain. The problem? Soil moves. The ditch slowly fills in very slowly and I never notice when it is QUITE not capable of handling the occasionally heavy rainfall. So I have to run out in the downpour and rescrape the ditch with the grubhoe deep enough to drain the patio.
But I had an additional surprise this time! The raingutters ARE working just fine. But, apparently, the soil level raised just enough this Summer to direct the outflow back toward the patio instead of out into the downslope lawn.
I'm generally an optimist (though maybe not a rational one). I always expect things I fix to STAY fixed. To show the flaw in that, I also expect weeded areas of the garden to STAY weedless, repaired cars to STAY working, and structures I build to stay standing. Obviously, there is a flaw in my expectations.
So when I dig a ditch to drain rainfall away from the patio, I expect it to STAY a ditch... Even though I'm the smartest person in the house, I have some errors in my assumptions.
So I'm going to fix this rainfall-in-the-basement problem once and for all! I'm going to build a sealed 1' dike in front of my basement! Just kidding...
Seriously, I'm going to lower the lawn level 3" below the edge of the patio/lawn. I will dig a 1' deep trench along that edge and toward the downslope lawn, and I will install perforated drainage pipe buried in sand and landscaping fabric (however it is recommended). And I will attach a 4' extension to the existing downspout to get the rainfall from the roof away from the patio.
Drainage pipe...
Gutter extention...
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Damnable But Small Problems
It's the smaller problems of life that get at you the worst sometimes. I mean, Really Bad Problems, you know they are, and you have to deal with them. Family members die, you break a bone, you lose a job. Those are bad. And everyone understands.
Its the smaller stuff that is sometimes harder to deal with, because you are all alone with it. The splinter in your finger, the sore shoulder, the car that doesn't like to start, those don't get so much sympathy.
I've been plagued with the latter recently. I don't need much sympathy, but I DO want to gripe about them. And its MY blog, so here goes (LOL)...
My left thumb is inept. For years, I've had a spot I stuck with a thorn and it caused a tiny hard spot that just won't go away. I keep noticing it with the index fingernail. I've opened it a couple times with a sewing needle, but I can't get it to heal away. And I cut the base of my right thumb years ago and it formed a hard spot there too. I just keep noticing it when I grab things. So when I got a half-inch splinter in That Left Thumb from the new deck I just got all freaked. I couldn't get it out. Turn the inside of your left thumb towards you and put the back down on a steady surface. Now try to get at it with a needle and tweezers.
Maybe I'm not as flexible as I used to be, but I just couldn't. It took a week for the skin harden over the splinter like a callous, and I managed to loosen it after that. Its healing fine.
But sometimes, it is just stuff like that over and over. I damaged the left shoulder rotater cuff 10 years ago, and I thing I've done it again. I don't even know specifically how or when I did it. I just woke up one morning and OUCH!!!
My aging Mother used to say "getting old isn't for sissies". Hmmm. I've been enough heavy work on my own for a long time and had a lot of "ouchies" (and enough "ARGGGHS" too), but they seem to be coming more often these days. I hope I'm not becoming a "sissy". But let's just say that I used up a tube of muscle rub ointment before the expiration date for the first time this year.
I wish that was the only problem. I garden a lot and I get a lot of unwanted tree saplings that need to be dug out. Usually, its not a problem. Oh, work for sure, but I get them out. Well, I was surprised this week.
I am rebuilding my old rotting framed garden beds. Aligned better to the sunlight, wider and higher, and to have a chicken wire enclosure to keep the varmints out. Well, with the season moving on, I decided to redig the beds that will be outside the enclosure so that I could have some Summer plants growing (cukes, beans). Meaning the old less-productive asparagus bed had to be dug up.
There were 4 tree saplings I've been cutting back in there for several years. So it was the right time to REALLY dig them out. I couldn't. I mean, I used the same techniques I always used before, but they just would yield! I have tools. A sharp all metal spade, an axe, a 5' pry bar. I finally got one out and it about killed me...
Talk about realizing that you aren't 30 anymore... I'd be happy to be 40 (I'm 64). I did the sensible thing. I left the other 3 in and planted around them. Its just for a few months. Come Fall, I will cover that bed with plywood and plastic and let them DIE next year. All problems can be solved with time.
But I only mentioned all this to tell you about today's problem...
I have historically had basement water problems. The old gutters filled with tree debris and would overflow onto the deck and then down to the sunken patio. The patio had ground level drainage. But over the years, the soil build up (fallen leaves, mowed grass) and formed a pool that build up to the level of the basement door. Water got in. I solved that temporarily by digging a ditch through the lawn downslope.
In Fall 2012, I had the roof reshingled, new vinyl siding, and new larger gutters with debris-proof tops. No more gutter overflow filling the basement patio! Yeah.
Right... With the new deck, there was a lot of digging involved. Lots of soil moved around. They did a good job moving the extra soil to a corner of the yard. So far, so good. What I didn't notice was that some of the extra soil got spread into the remnants of the patio drainage ditch. So I had a 2" wall of dirt around the lawn connection to the patio.
It rained really hard today. I was glad for the rain because it has been about 1/4" per week the past month. BUT! The rain that fell through the deck filled up the basement patio (I bet you saw that coming). FORTUNATELY, I happened to go into the basement to get something and saw the rainwater seeping in. I threw some old towels on it and went to the toolshed IN THE TORRENTIAL RAIN to get my grub-hoe. Shovels work, but a grub-how makes a nice 4" wide and deep trench. In the rain.
Even with a raincoat on (and I wished I still owned a poncho) I was soaked to the skin just making a 4" wide and deep ditch from the patio downslope 12' long. It was a pleasure seeing the water draining out in a rush...
But that is still a temporary fix. I thought the bigger rain gutters would solve the problem, but with enough hard rain, even just the water falling through the deck will fill up the patio.
The real fix is to lower the level of the lawn where it meets the deck, AND installing a below-ground drainage system to move the patio water downslope.
More work. Just what I needed. And I'm sure not going to do THAT before my shoulder heals. I'll just have to make sure the grub-hoe surface dug ditch stays clear for a while.
ARGGH!
And I won't even get into the new adult groundhog and rabbit I saw around the garden this afternoon. Well, OK, I just did, but you know what I mean.
Its the smaller stuff that is sometimes harder to deal with, because you are all alone with it. The splinter in your finger, the sore shoulder, the car that doesn't like to start, those don't get so much sympathy.
I've been plagued with the latter recently. I don't need much sympathy, but I DO want to gripe about them. And its MY blog, so here goes (LOL)...
My left thumb is inept. For years, I've had a spot I stuck with a thorn and it caused a tiny hard spot that just won't go away. I keep noticing it with the index fingernail. I've opened it a couple times with a sewing needle, but I can't get it to heal away. And I cut the base of my right thumb years ago and it formed a hard spot there too. I just keep noticing it when I grab things. So when I got a half-inch splinter in That Left Thumb from the new deck I just got all freaked. I couldn't get it out. Turn the inside of your left thumb towards you and put the back down on a steady surface. Now try to get at it with a needle and tweezers.
Maybe I'm not as flexible as I used to be, but I just couldn't. It took a week for the skin harden over the splinter like a callous, and I managed to loosen it after that. Its healing fine.
But sometimes, it is just stuff like that over and over. I damaged the left shoulder rotater cuff 10 years ago, and I thing I've done it again. I don't even know specifically how or when I did it. I just woke up one morning and OUCH!!!
My aging Mother used to say "getting old isn't for sissies". Hmmm. I've been enough heavy work on my own for a long time and had a lot of "ouchies" (and enough "ARGGGHS" too), but they seem to be coming more often these days. I hope I'm not becoming a "sissy". But let's just say that I used up a tube of muscle rub ointment before the expiration date for the first time this year.
I wish that was the only problem. I garden a lot and I get a lot of unwanted tree saplings that need to be dug out. Usually, its not a problem. Oh, work for sure, but I get them out. Well, I was surprised this week.
I am rebuilding my old rotting framed garden beds. Aligned better to the sunlight, wider and higher, and to have a chicken wire enclosure to keep the varmints out. Well, with the season moving on, I decided to redig the beds that will be outside the enclosure so that I could have some Summer plants growing (cukes, beans). Meaning the old less-productive asparagus bed had to be dug up.
There were 4 tree saplings I've been cutting back in there for several years. So it was the right time to REALLY dig them out. I couldn't. I mean, I used the same techniques I always used before, but they just would yield! I have tools. A sharp all metal spade, an axe, a 5' pry bar. I finally got one out and it about killed me...
Talk about realizing that you aren't 30 anymore... I'd be happy to be 40 (I'm 64). I did the sensible thing. I left the other 3 in and planted around them. Its just for a few months. Come Fall, I will cover that bed with plywood and plastic and let them DIE next year. All problems can be solved with time.
But I only mentioned all this to tell you about today's problem...
I have historically had basement water problems. The old gutters filled with tree debris and would overflow onto the deck and then down to the sunken patio. The patio had ground level drainage. But over the years, the soil build up (fallen leaves, mowed grass) and formed a pool that build up to the level of the basement door. Water got in. I solved that temporarily by digging a ditch through the lawn downslope.
In Fall 2012, I had the roof reshingled, new vinyl siding, and new larger gutters with debris-proof tops. No more gutter overflow filling the basement patio! Yeah.
Right... With the new deck, there was a lot of digging involved. Lots of soil moved around. They did a good job moving the extra soil to a corner of the yard. So far, so good. What I didn't notice was that some of the extra soil got spread into the remnants of the patio drainage ditch. So I had a 2" wall of dirt around the lawn connection to the patio.
It rained really hard today. I was glad for the rain because it has been about 1/4" per week the past month. BUT! The rain that fell through the deck filled up the basement patio (I bet you saw that coming). FORTUNATELY, I happened to go into the basement to get something and saw the rainwater seeping in. I threw some old towels on it and went to the toolshed IN THE TORRENTIAL RAIN to get my grub-hoe. Shovels work, but a grub-how makes a nice 4" wide and deep trench. In the rain.
Even with a raincoat on (and I wished I still owned a poncho) I was soaked to the skin just making a 4" wide and deep ditch from the patio downslope 12' long. It was a pleasure seeing the water draining out in a rush...
But that is still a temporary fix. I thought the bigger rain gutters would solve the problem, but with enough hard rain, even just the water falling through the deck will fill up the patio.
The real fix is to lower the level of the lawn where it meets the deck, AND installing a below-ground drainage system to move the patio water downslope.
More work. Just what I needed. And I'm sure not going to do THAT before my shoulder heals. I'll just have to make sure the grub-hoe surface dug ditch stays clear for a while.
ARGGH!
And I won't even get into the new adult groundhog and rabbit I saw around the garden this afternoon. Well, OK, I just did, but you know what I mean.
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I think I have it figured out now. I needed basic frame strength (cubes) plus top support (arches with a ridgepole) for shedding rain and s... -
I like to plant Pansies in the Fall. I replace the dead Tomatos and deck pot flowers with them most years. Best deal I found was 12-packs ...