OK, an electrician (and helper) came out today at 11 am. I demonstrated the problem (but of course, as dramatically as possible). I have a split-foyer house, which means the front door is halfway up the house, a half set of stairs goes down the the basement and a half set of stairs goes up to the one main floor. So it looks like a 2 story house outside but it is really a ranch house on a full basement that is mostly above ground. I hope that makes some sense.
But that means that the light inside the front door is about 15" high and that there is a light switch at the top in the middle at the door, and at the bottom at the basement. I've never used the middle one because I enter the house through the garage attached to the basement and only use the top and bottom switches.
So the first electrician decided to wire the new ceiling light to the switch at the basement end of the stairs. I asked why not just connect the new light directly to upper light but he said that wasn't really possible. After he was done, it turned out that the upper switch wouldn't turn the lower light on "because of the wiring". Grumble grumble...
After he left, I discovered that using the switches in order of descending the stairs made one light come on and the other off back and forth. I emailed the company and said politely that this couldn't be normal or unfixable.
Enter today's electricians. Now I will say from the start that they understood the problem immediately. When they saw the one light turning on and the other turning off from the same flip of a switch, they cringed (it was their own company's previous work after all). Even the electricians HELPER said that the "main switch" must be at the top of the stairs. I mentioned that I had suggested the more direct solution was to fish a wire from the new light to the existing light up the walls and across that attic.
After opening all 3 light switches and testing the circuits head electrician said my suggestion to the previous electrician was the best way to do the job. I didn't comment further.
But another matter was the "new" ceiling light I wanted installed at the top of the stairs. Its a old fake tiffany lamp (Mom and her sisters fought over it thinking it was real from Gramma). The first electrician refused to install it because it was missing support parts. I thought I had "fixed" it well enough but the new electrician said it still wasn't to code and needed "canopy and ceiling plate" parts they don't have. So it needed an antique lamp repair shop. OK, I'll trust him on that and get that done.
So, because wiring the new lower stairs light to the upper light now would mean all the wiring work today and unwiring and rewiring it when the old "tiffany" lamp was repaired (at extra cost).I agreed to basiclly let them set the switch wiring bck to the previos settings (so the lower light was not connected). That was how it was before the lower light was installed earlier this week, so it is back to normal.
When I get the "tiffany" lamp repaired for "to-code" conditions, there will be little charge since I already paid for the lower lamp installation and wiring. Doing the wiring between the lamps will take them extra time, but they gave me a quote for that and will stick to it (and I've already paid for it).
But since they were there, I had them replace a motion-detector light way up over the front door (that the roofers messed up when they detached and re-attached it after doing their work AND they looked at my kitchen ceiling 4' fluorescent light fixture which bizzarely will not come on in the hottest part of Summer. I've assumed attic heat is the cause. Well, it only happens then.
The first electrician said I needed to convert the existing T-12 ballast and tubes to T-8 because "they run cooler". The 2nd electrician (who had recognized the first electrian's multiple failures) said "well, you probably need a new ballast, but do you have any new fluorescent tubes around?" I did. He replaced them and they worked. I felt stupid.
But its dim. The 2nd electrician is an honest person. He said, you know, you can buy a new one at Home Depot and have them install it for less than I can do this work. I thanked him.
The second electrician and his helpers did good honest work, admitted where things had gone wrong before and repaired those parts at no cost (and detailed on the work order those things that should not be charged in the next visit).
I value that. I found the company on Angie's List and selected them among 3 companies all rated "A" in all categories. OK, they had that first guy do badly, but they returned so quickly with a better person that I bet that first guy is already gone). I found the roofer there and the replacement siding company too. I have had nothing but great service from "A" rated house work companies on Angie's list. Dentist and doctor too, BTW.
I'm not here to promote Angie's List in any way other than my own personal satisfaction with the service, but it sure has been working for me. Its possible the top ratings are not very different at "A" or "B" level, but I think it really weeds out the bad ones and that's good enough for me to stay subscribed.
And I still have other work to have done. The asphalt driveway is 26 years old and falling apart. I want a cement one. Back to Angie's List...
Friday, August 9, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Electricians
First, evil skwerl #5 passed this earthly life 2 days ago... I THINK (and hope) it is the last.
Seeond, what on earth passes for an "electrician" these days? I had a person from an A rated Angie's List service here today and it was like watching someone butcher a chicken with a machete.
OK. it was a LITTLE complicated and I knew that going in. So I contacted a top-rated company . And to hell with the cost. I like jobs done right. The stairway has a ceiling light way up at the top. I wanted to replace it with a fake tiffany lamp I am sorry (but of course honored) to have inherited.. The stairs ceiling is the only place to put it so that relatives will see it but not bang their heads on it. So basically, this fake Tiffany lamp is a matter of family pride I must endure. I am not allowed to tell my older relatives it's fake.
Plus I decided it would be a good idea to add an old ceiling light at the bottom of the "damn it dark down there" stairs for safety and have it come on when the upper light was lit. Two stairs, two lights, existing switches. Logical.
The electrician who came out yesterday failed utterly. I've done some electrical work in the basement, so I understand circuits in general. I even know how light switches are connected to lights. So when the electrician explained what he was going to do, I had my doubts , but he IS the professional from a top-rated company, right?
I told him I thought he needed to snake a wire through the walls to directly connect the upper light and the new light at the bottom. I got one of those "who is the professional here" looks. So, OK, do whatever works and I'll just stay out of the way.
I was right, he wasn't. It's hell understanding how things work sometimes. There are parts of the job I understand VERY well, but parts I don't. There was NO WAY I was going to rebuild the wiring and support for the heavy lamp, and there was NO WAY I was going to snake wires through the walls.
But when he failed the 3 switch connections, I was resigned to the idea that I had to manage the switches carefully. Until after he left and I discovered that one switch turned on only the upper light and then the other two would turn one OFF and the other ON!
What would YOU do? I emailed the company and told them what was wrong. I emailed because I wanted things in writing... They are sending a more experienced electrician and a helper (to hold the damn lamp up in place while it s being properly wired, I assume) Friday.
Complaining works. But I will wait and see the results. If it all works, I may take pictures to show.
But damn, I'm aggravated... And I haven't been in bed yet since 11 am Tuesday. "Seriously annoyed" keeps me awake.
Seeond, what on earth passes for an "electrician" these days? I had a person from an A rated Angie's List service here today and it was like watching someone butcher a chicken with a machete.
OK. it was a LITTLE complicated and I knew that going in. So I contacted a top-rated company . And to hell with the cost. I like jobs done right. The stairway has a ceiling light way up at the top. I wanted to replace it with a fake tiffany lamp I am sorry (but of course honored) to have inherited.. The stairs ceiling is the only place to put it so that relatives will see it but not bang their heads on it. So basically, this fake Tiffany lamp is a matter of family pride I must endure. I am not allowed to tell my older relatives it's fake.
Plus I decided it would be a good idea to add an old ceiling light at the bottom of the "damn it dark down there" stairs for safety and have it come on when the upper light was lit. Two stairs, two lights, existing switches. Logical.
The electrician who came out yesterday failed utterly. I've done some electrical work in the basement, so I understand circuits in general. I even know how light switches are connected to lights. So when the electrician explained what he was going to do, I had my doubts , but he IS the professional from a top-rated company, right?
I told him I thought he needed to snake a wire through the walls to directly connect the upper light and the new light at the bottom. I got one of those "who is the professional here" looks. So, OK, do whatever works and I'll just stay out of the way.
I was right, he wasn't. It's hell understanding how things work sometimes. There are parts of the job I understand VERY well, but parts I don't. There was NO WAY I was going to rebuild the wiring and support for the heavy lamp, and there was NO WAY I was going to snake wires through the walls.
But when he failed the 3 switch connections, I was resigned to the idea that I had to manage the switches carefully. Until after he left and I discovered that one switch turned on only the upper light and then the other two would turn one OFF and the other ON!
What would YOU do? I emailed the company and told them what was wrong. I emailed because I wanted things in writing... They are sending a more experienced electrician and a helper (to hold the damn lamp up in place while it s being properly wired, I assume) Friday.
Complaining works. But I will wait and see the results. If it all works, I may take pictures to show.
But damn, I'm aggravated... And I haven't been in bed yet since 11 am Tuesday. "Seriously annoyed" keeps me awake.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Evil Squirrels
I caught the 4th of maybe 5 squirrels who had learned to steal from the garden. If there is a 5th, I'll get it in a week. My tomatoes are just ripening. I hope there is only 4. I don't ENJOY this.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
The Angelique Story
Angelique (what a name) begins as the child of an impoverished rural Baron. She runs wild through the countryside, becoming quite confidant and independent. Overhearing a poison plot against the young Louis the 14th, she steals a casket that will cause her trouble for a decade.
She is married off to a scarred lame older man Jeffrey de Peyrac) who turns out to be brave, scientific, poetic, and loving. Perhaps a last Renaissance man... He mines gold, breeds mules, organizes intellectual parties, etc. And he is based on a real person.
Shortly, his wealth threatens the young King, who arranges a fake trial and has his burned as a sorcerer. Angelique falls into poverty and discovers a local Parisian underworld leader is a former childhood friend (far under her former station, of course). She sinks into the underworld of Paris, but of course rises up again after her childhood friend's gang is wiped out.
It sounds stupid, but it does go along well with the history of the times.
Angelique narrowly escapes death a few times. Being around Angelique is almost as certain a death sentence as being a red shirt security guy on the original Star Trek.
When she escapes the underworld live, she does a grill-restaraunt makeover and recovers her fortune. Alas, nothing in Angeliques life is ever settled. Noblemen crash the place and burn it to the ground, killing her manager and a child. But not until she recognizes most of them from her days at court. She plans revenge!
That's when The Poet appears. He lives in the underground too and writes the most scurrilous poems attacking Bad Guys! Out of love for Angelique, he writes condemnatory poems of each of the noblemen, to be ended with the one (The King's Brother who actually killed the child), on the last day.
He is of course, caught and hanged before that and Angelique is forced to turn over the last days accusatory poem in exchange for her life and some kingly business favors.
Being around Angelique is usually fatal... And If I had been around her I would have gotten the hell out of Paris fast!
But there is no escaping Angelique! If you ever knew her, you are doomed. Every person she meets dies. Every friend, co-worker, and servant... Basically, you might as well just throw your self into the Seine.
I make light of it but death DOES hang around her neck like an albatross.
And that's just the first 3 books of 13! The person around her that lives (and whom I admire) is a detective with a talented dog who actually just stays "a friend".
Spoiler alert for the rest of the series as I know it (those darn 3 books not published in English)!!! If you want to read the books, don't read further.
OK, Angelique marries her cousin a nobleman Field Marshall. He gets killed in a battle. From her new title though, she gets access to the Court. There, she gambles at cards with a sad old Prince. The wager becomes if Angelique wins the hand she gets his castle and if she loses, she will become his mistress (she wins of course).
This brings her to attention of Louis 14th. After some danger, she ends up in his personal chambers. He knows who she really is. He remembers her from Jeffrey de Peyrac's court, from her days as the Red Mask Tavern that was the site of the child murder, and as Field Marshall-General du Plessis's wife.
In a wonderful scene, the King talks about his younger days trying to fight for his Kingshipe. Many long years of living as a paesent stoking fires to stay warm at night. As he stokes the fire in his private room's fireplace. He explains that he had to put down noblemen with greater riches and influence than he had. He explains that he needs a queen to match his boundless ambition for France to rise again. He needs Angelique.
Quite frankly, in a moment of both hope, tenderness, and utter stupidity, he gives Angelique the official reports of Jeffrey de Peyrac's "death". Jeffrey slipped over the side of the boat bringing him to burning site. The report says the death was certain. Angelique says to the King "He Lives". She leaves the King to search for Jeffrey.
OK, after that, she foments rebellion in Southern France loses, gets raped and with child, ends up a captive of an Arab Sultan, escapes with the help of an Englishman, hides among Parisian Houganots and helps them escape onto a pirate ship.
Guess who's the captain of the pirate ship?
Jeffrey. He survived the escape into the Seine, made his way to Arabia through his science contacts, and he has been wreaking vengence on French ships while his spies tracked Angelique!
She doesn't recognize him at first because the Arab doctors has rebroken then repaired his crippled leg, gebnerally fixed his lifelong facial scars (yeah right), but he wears a mask anyway, and even partially repaired the damaged vocal chords.
Bad things happen on ship. The Hugonauts mutiny just as a terrible storm makes them help the ship's crew to brace the mast. All seems good. No, nothing is ever calm in Angeliques life. Just as she is loving Jeffrey again, she learns that he had kidnapped her sons (remember them?) and not told her.
It was a test he said, to see if she cared what happened to them. Never mind that she went nuts and did crazy things saving them many times. She hadn't asked HIM about them fast enough after she learned who he was. I think she faints from shock.
Anyway, they eventually make up and go to Canada. It gets weirder after that. They are happy, then that Englishman who carried her out of Arabia shows up, and some Jesuit and some Demon woman sent to destroy her.
But all turns out OK. Every man in Angeliques life eventually succumbs to Jeffrey's leadership and admirable skills.
But there are Indians AND the King of France who has never forgiven Angelique for rejecting him (or forgotten Jeffrey as being a threat). And who wants control of Canada.
Two bad books made fast, the Englishman, the leader of the Hugonauts, and an Indian leader make up to Jeffrey and Angelique, and Jeffrey kills a mysigonist (but sturdy) Canadian Frenchman in a snowy swordfight.
All is wonderful again, but there is still an angry King of France and I won't bother you with the rest of it because the last couple books got really stupid. It happens in series. I'll just say that at the end of one of the last books, one of Angeliques son's leads his pet wolverine into the forest after the demon woman and he returns shining in Arthurian brightness.
In spite of all that, it's worth reading the series. I've been a bit sarcastic because historical fiction/romance novels are not my usual fare. But I liked this one.
I mentioned all of this because there is FINALLY (after 45 years) an English-dubbed version of a 1960s French movie series about Angelique available. I am enjoying it thoroughly.
You should give it a try. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013XZ6MU/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1
I get nothing from this recommendation...
She is married off to a scarred lame older man Jeffrey de Peyrac) who turns out to be brave, scientific, poetic, and loving. Perhaps a last Renaissance man... He mines gold, breeds mules, organizes intellectual parties, etc. And he is based on a real person.
Shortly, his wealth threatens the young King, who arranges a fake trial and has his burned as a sorcerer. Angelique falls into poverty and discovers a local Parisian underworld leader is a former childhood friend (far under her former station, of course). She sinks into the underworld of Paris, but of course rises up again after her childhood friend's gang is wiped out.
It sounds stupid, but it does go along well with the history of the times.
Angelique narrowly escapes death a few times. Being around Angelique is almost as certain a death sentence as being a red shirt security guy on the original Star Trek.
When she escapes the underworld live, she does a grill-restaraunt makeover and recovers her fortune. Alas, nothing in Angeliques life is ever settled. Noblemen crash the place and burn it to the ground, killing her manager and a child. But not until she recognizes most of them from her days at court. She plans revenge!
That's when The Poet appears. He lives in the underground too and writes the most scurrilous poems attacking Bad Guys! Out of love for Angelique, he writes condemnatory poems of each of the noblemen, to be ended with the one (The King's Brother who actually killed the child), on the last day.
He is of course, caught and hanged before that and Angelique is forced to turn over the last days accusatory poem in exchange for her life and some kingly business favors.
Being around Angelique is usually fatal... And If I had been around her I would have gotten the hell out of Paris fast!
But there is no escaping Angelique! If you ever knew her, you are doomed. Every person she meets dies. Every friend, co-worker, and servant... Basically, you might as well just throw your self into the Seine.
I make light of it but death DOES hang around her neck like an albatross.
And that's just the first 3 books of 13! The person around her that lives (and whom I admire) is a detective with a talented dog who actually just stays "a friend".
Spoiler alert for the rest of the series as I know it (those darn 3 books not published in English)!!! If you want to read the books, don't read further.
OK, Angelique marries her cousin a nobleman Field Marshall. He gets killed in a battle. From her new title though, she gets access to the Court. There, she gambles at cards with a sad old Prince. The wager becomes if Angelique wins the hand she gets his castle and if she loses, she will become his mistress (she wins of course).
This brings her to attention of Louis 14th. After some danger, she ends up in his personal chambers. He knows who she really is. He remembers her from Jeffrey de Peyrac's court, from her days as the Red Mask Tavern that was the site of the child murder, and as Field Marshall-General du Plessis's wife.
In a wonderful scene, the King talks about his younger days trying to fight for his Kingshipe. Many long years of living as a paesent stoking fires to stay warm at night. As he stokes the fire in his private room's fireplace. He explains that he had to put down noblemen with greater riches and influence than he had. He explains that he needs a queen to match his boundless ambition for France to rise again. He needs Angelique.
Quite frankly, in a moment of both hope, tenderness, and utter stupidity, he gives Angelique the official reports of Jeffrey de Peyrac's "death". Jeffrey slipped over the side of the boat bringing him to burning site. The report says the death was certain. Angelique says to the King "He Lives". She leaves the King to search for Jeffrey.
OK, after that, she foments rebellion in Southern France loses, gets raped and with child, ends up a captive of an Arab Sultan, escapes with the help of an Englishman, hides among Parisian Houganots and helps them escape onto a pirate ship.
Guess who's the captain of the pirate ship?
Jeffrey. He survived the escape into the Seine, made his way to Arabia through his science contacts, and he has been wreaking vengence on French ships while his spies tracked Angelique!
She doesn't recognize him at first because the Arab doctors has rebroken then repaired his crippled leg, gebnerally fixed his lifelong facial scars (yeah right), but he wears a mask anyway, and even partially repaired the damaged vocal chords.
Bad things happen on ship. The Hugonauts mutiny just as a terrible storm makes them help the ship's crew to brace the mast. All seems good. No, nothing is ever calm in Angeliques life. Just as she is loving Jeffrey again, she learns that he had kidnapped her sons (remember them?) and not told her.
It was a test he said, to see if she cared what happened to them. Never mind that she went nuts and did crazy things saving them many times. She hadn't asked HIM about them fast enough after she learned who he was. I think she faints from shock.
Anyway, they eventually make up and go to Canada. It gets weirder after that. They are happy, then that Englishman who carried her out of Arabia shows up, and some Jesuit and some Demon woman sent to destroy her.
But all turns out OK. Every man in Angeliques life eventually succumbs to Jeffrey's leadership and admirable skills.
But there are Indians AND the King of France who has never forgiven Angelique for rejecting him (or forgotten Jeffrey as being a threat). And who wants control of Canada.
Two bad books made fast, the Englishman, the leader of the Hugonauts, and an Indian leader make up to Jeffrey and Angelique, and Jeffrey kills a mysigonist (but sturdy) Canadian Frenchman in a snowy swordfight.
All is wonderful again, but there is still an angry King of France and I won't bother you with the rest of it because the last couple books got really stupid. It happens in series. I'll just say that at the end of one of the last books, one of Angeliques son's leads his pet wolverine into the forest after the demon woman and he returns shining in Arthurian brightness.
In spite of all that, it's worth reading the series. I've been a bit sarcastic because historical fiction/romance novels are not my usual fare. But I liked this one.
I mentioned all of this because there is FINALLY (after 45 years) an English-dubbed version of a 1960s French movie series about Angelique available. I am enjoying it thoroughly.
You should give it a try. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013XZ6MU/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1
I get nothing from this recommendation...
Angelique
I grew up reading mostly science and science fiction. I was never
into fairy tales (according to my mother's memories (even as a child).
By the time I was 11 or 12, I had exhausted the local library's
collection of "young adult" science fiction and was allowed to take out
adult books. In 10th grade, I was so far beyond the usual modern novels
(Dickens bored me to death) being discussed, and the lame weekly
vocabulary tests )it was the 60's), that I was allowed to sit in the
back of the room and just read anything in the teachers bookshelf as
long as I produced a book report weekly.
Forward to 20. I was majoring in Political Science, thinking of a law degree, and thinking a political future. New scince fiction being few at the time, I happened upon something called "Historical Fiction" set in France at the time of Louis The Sun King (and my minor degree was history). I asked an employee about it and he explained that it was actual history told from the point of view of a minor or even "symbolic" person alive at the time. And he said there was "Historical Romances" that combined that with history (like Gone With The Wind. But he said this particular book was (generally) accurate history and some exciting romance. And had read it and was impressed.
Ok, I needed something to read other than how to construct political polls and the histories of English Kings...
I fell in love with Angelique, and who wouldn't? From being the daughter of a destitute minor Baron in rural southern France, to the heights of the King's court, to abject poverty among the knaves of Paris, to a new rise as a commercial restaranteur, to married nobility again, a new fall, and a rise again in Canada with her first love, and other challenges, I read each book time and time again.
And then it all seemed to end. I understand there are 3 more books not translated into English. I await those.
But a week ago, I found a DVD version of the first few books made in French and overdubbed in English. The reviews were good, but I know the story well enough, I could probably follow it in French.
The dubbing is so good I can't even notice it. The DVD movie version doesn't follow the books perfectly, but I know the missing parts and errors well enough that I don't mind that much.
I watched Part 1 of 3 two nights ago, Part 2 last night, and was enraptured. Tonight I will watch Part 3 of 3. Sadly, that will be only half of the books I've read of the series and I haven't even read the last 3 books (available in French only).
Someone should translate the last books into English. And someone should make 2 movies to cover the last 6 (?) books.
And someone should make decent movies of the Jean Auel series of books about Ayla, the equally wonderful heroine I discovered after the Angelique books stopped. Aren't there enough Spiderman and X-Men movies now (of which I also admire) to suggest heroines from the past?
Forward to 20. I was majoring in Political Science, thinking of a law degree, and thinking a political future. New scince fiction being few at the time, I happened upon something called "Historical Fiction" set in France at the time of Louis The Sun King (and my minor degree was history). I asked an employee about it and he explained that it was actual history told from the point of view of a minor or even "symbolic" person alive at the time. And he said there was "Historical Romances" that combined that with history (like Gone With The Wind. But he said this particular book was (generally) accurate history and some exciting romance. And had read it and was impressed.
Ok, I needed something to read other than how to construct political polls and the histories of English Kings...
I fell in love with Angelique, and who wouldn't? From being the daughter of a destitute minor Baron in rural southern France, to the heights of the King's court, to abject poverty among the knaves of Paris, to a new rise as a commercial restaranteur, to married nobility again, a new fall, and a rise again in Canada with her first love, and other challenges, I read each book time and time again.
And then it all seemed to end. I understand there are 3 more books not translated into English. I await those.
But a week ago, I found a DVD version of the first few books made in French and overdubbed in English. The reviews were good, but I know the story well enough, I could probably follow it in French.
The dubbing is so good I can't even notice it. The DVD movie version doesn't follow the books perfectly, but I know the missing parts and errors well enough that I don't mind that much.
I watched Part 1 of 3 two nights ago, Part 2 last night, and was enraptured. Tonight I will watch Part 3 of 3. Sadly, that will be only half of the books I've read of the series and I haven't even read the last 3 books (available in French only).
Someone should translate the last books into English. And someone should make 2 movies to cover the last 6 (?) books.
And someone should make decent movies of the Jean Auel series of books about Ayla, the equally wonderful heroine I discovered after the Angelique books stopped. Aren't there enough Spiderman and X-Men movies now (of which I also admire) to suggest heroines from the past?
Saturday, August 3, 2013
The Shower Leak Grows
In my house, there is a main bathroom, a showerstall bath off the main bedroom, and a "powder room" in the basement (that I installed) for convenience. I never used the shower stall off the bedroom. Actually, the shower stall was so useless to me that I set plastic liner in it and kept a painted turtle there for several years. When you live alone, you can do weird stuff.
The turtle finally died (not from lack of good food) and I cleared the shower stall. For whatever reasons, the drain leaked after that and I didn't bother with it for 15 years. While having some general house renovations done. I had them fix the stall drain.
Several years ago, I discovered that the shower pipes were leaking, so I put a repair on the "To DO; list. Forward 5 years...
Having joined Angie's List to get top contractors for other reasons, I decided to have someone fix the shower stall leak. Um, I didn't think to see if the shower stall pipes were still leaking. Once leaking, always leaking, right?
So on the hour before the plumbers were to show up, I turned on the shower so they could see where the leak was.
No leak...
But when I flushed the toilet, water fell into the basement. Talk about serendipidy! It took a good 30 minutes for the 2 plumber guys and I to figure out where the water was coming from. The water was leaking out around the air vent stack, not a water supply pipe. So:
1. There was a leak around the new roof flashing.
2. The shower stall was leaking at the base where the tiles meet the fiberglass shower stall.
3. There was a leak around a toilet or sink pipe.
4. The toilet had a crack.
5. The wax ring around the bottom of the toilet had dried and cracked.
The plumbers went for #1 because that wouldn't be their problem to fix. And #2 for the same reason. Now think about that. They DIDN'T want a problem they could fix... Don't they make money by solving problems?
So we all went into the basement to identify all the pipes. OK, granted that I know the positions of the "equipment" upstairs, they couldn't figure out which pipes went to where. Its understandable. My builder's guys did some really weird stuff in the house, and I didn't know because I lived 60 miles away and only visited the construction site every 2 weeks. And what would I know anyway? I'd never seen a house being built.
It was #5 that was the problem. On the VERY day before the plumbers came, the wax ring under the toilet had cracked and a gallon of water came out each time it was flushed.
It wasn't what they had been called to fix, but it was what was needed. Sometimes, you just get lucky! I'm not used to that kind of luck, but I'll take it when it comes...
In the next few days, I have contractors coming to look at replacing the crumbling 26 year old asphalt driveway and the 20 year old deck that I am beginning to think I will fall through. And an electrician to hang a 17 pound fake Tiffany lamp over the stairs, add a lower stair lamp fixture, replace 2 smoke detectors, and fix a basement electric plug I can't make work.
And THEN get someone out here to remove a ridge in the back yard that has aggravated me for 20 years (it was 5 years before I even really knew it was there because it was covered with thorny locust scrub trees that I spent 3 years killing).
So much stuff to catch up on, but this is the year I will do it.
The turtle finally died (not from lack of good food) and I cleared the shower stall. For whatever reasons, the drain leaked after that and I didn't bother with it for 15 years. While having some general house renovations done. I had them fix the stall drain.
Several years ago, I discovered that the shower pipes were leaking, so I put a repair on the "To DO; list. Forward 5 years...
Having joined Angie's List to get top contractors for other reasons, I decided to have someone fix the shower stall leak. Um, I didn't think to see if the shower stall pipes were still leaking. Once leaking, always leaking, right?
So on the hour before the plumbers were to show up, I turned on the shower so they could see where the leak was.
No leak...
But when I flushed the toilet, water fell into the basement. Talk about serendipidy! It took a good 30 minutes for the 2 plumber guys and I to figure out where the water was coming from. The water was leaking out around the air vent stack, not a water supply pipe. So:
1. There was a leak around the new roof flashing.
2. The shower stall was leaking at the base where the tiles meet the fiberglass shower stall.
3. There was a leak around a toilet or sink pipe.
4. The toilet had a crack.
5. The wax ring around the bottom of the toilet had dried and cracked.
The plumbers went for #1 because that wouldn't be their problem to fix. And #2 for the same reason. Now think about that. They DIDN'T want a problem they could fix... Don't they make money by solving problems?
So we all went into the basement to identify all the pipes. OK, granted that I know the positions of the "equipment" upstairs, they couldn't figure out which pipes went to where. Its understandable. My builder's guys did some really weird stuff in the house, and I didn't know because I lived 60 miles away and only visited the construction site every 2 weeks. And what would I know anyway? I'd never seen a house being built.
It was #5 that was the problem. On the VERY day before the plumbers came, the wax ring under the toilet had cracked and a gallon of water came out each time it was flushed.
It wasn't what they had been called to fix, but it was what was needed. Sometimes, you just get lucky! I'm not used to that kind of luck, but I'll take it when it comes...
In the next few days, I have contractors coming to look at replacing the crumbling 26 year old asphalt driveway and the 20 year old deck that I am beginning to think I will fall through. And an electrician to hang a 17 pound fake Tiffany lamp over the stairs, add a lower stair lamp fixture, replace 2 smoke detectors, and fix a basement electric plug I can't make work.
And THEN get someone out here to remove a ridge in the back yard that has aggravated me for 20 years (it was 5 years before I even really knew it was there because it was covered with thorny locust scrub trees that I spent 3 years killing).
So much stuff to catch up on, but this is the year I will do it.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Sort Of Missing Relative
First, just let me say there is a happy outcome; I'm not drama-dredging here.
But I have an elderly widowed Aunt who never had children and I never heard of any family on the husband's side. I'm not at my best on the telephone with social talk, so I send homemade cards and the occasional letter. I never expected replies because she is quite elderly.
So when I wanted to write a new letter to her about my Dad moving to an assisted-living facility, I checked with a family member to see if she already knew about that. No need to go into great detail about Dad if she already knew, right?
Imagine my shock to be told "Oh I called and the phone was disconnected and she didnt reply to any letters. She seems to have disappeared a couple of years ago."
What??? I had visions of her lonely and abandoned in some awful nursing home, or even a virtual prisoner in her own home by some dominating caretaker or housemate (I have a vivid imagination, and there HAVE been horrible things in the news). And who would want to just say "Oh everything is probably fine" and then discover it was not later.
I live hundreds of miles away, and I didn't really know any relative to call (actually, there was one relative I could have called, but I was all upset.
So I googled her address and found a detective agency in the town. I'm NOT kidding. They do exist and not just for getting sneaky pictures of people having affairs etc. I explained that I just wanted to know where she was and how to contact her; no crimes or big inheritances involved, just "out of touch for 2 years and I wanted to make sure she was OK".
They assured me that "they do nice stuff too" and estimated it would take an initial 3 hours work (with a prepayment). I agreed. After I hung up the phone, I felt a bit like a sucker. Sure, they would use up the 3 hours and then need another 3 hours and again and again.
I am happy to say I was wrong. They visited her listed address, got the name of a relative, who got them to an assisted-living facility. It turns out that my aunt stopped wearing her medical alert button, fell and broke her hip and laid on the floor for 10 hours until someone found her.
I received an email from the detective agency and a call from one of her nephews explaining the past several years and her "disappearence" (from my POV). It was an awkward conversation. I grew up in New England, but I could hardly understand a word he said, so I had to keep asking for repeats (and even spellings a few times).
It turns out that there are numerous family on her deceased husbands side that I never knew about (well they didn't know I existed either) and are close to her (geographically and socially). They brought her to various assisted-living facilities until she liked one and she is there, healthy and happy (for her age).
So I am relieved. I did "The Right Thing" by checking on her.
The nephew says OUR aunt probably doesn't know about my Dad going into assisted living, and MIGHT not even know her sister (my Mom) died in 2010. So I will write about all that. And writing to her about Dad was what started all of this.
Now lets see about how I am related to the nephew who called me. I'm terrible at that stuff. Beyond immediate cousins, I give up. My aunt is a sister of my mother. My aunt was married. The nephew of my aunt is the son of the sister of my aunt's deceased husband. So from me, it goes to my mother, to her sister, to HER husband to HIS sister to HER son. So is that like second cousins, first cousins twice removed, or what?
I am curious but confused.
The important thing is that my aunt is "OK" and getting good care and attention. And while it wasn't necessary to my aunt's health and well-being I DID something to make sure about it.
I will sleep better tonight
But I have an elderly widowed Aunt who never had children and I never heard of any family on the husband's side. I'm not at my best on the telephone with social talk, so I send homemade cards and the occasional letter. I never expected replies because she is quite elderly.
So when I wanted to write a new letter to her about my Dad moving to an assisted-living facility, I checked with a family member to see if she already knew about that. No need to go into great detail about Dad if she already knew, right?
Imagine my shock to be told "Oh I called and the phone was disconnected and she didnt reply to any letters. She seems to have disappeared a couple of years ago."
What??? I had visions of her lonely and abandoned in some awful nursing home, or even a virtual prisoner in her own home by some dominating caretaker or housemate (I have a vivid imagination, and there HAVE been horrible things in the news). And who would want to just say "Oh everything is probably fine" and then discover it was not later.
I live hundreds of miles away, and I didn't really know any relative to call (actually, there was one relative I could have called, but I was all upset.
So I googled her address and found a detective agency in the town. I'm NOT kidding. They do exist and not just for getting sneaky pictures of people having affairs etc. I explained that I just wanted to know where she was and how to contact her; no crimes or big inheritances involved, just "out of touch for 2 years and I wanted to make sure she was OK".
They assured me that "they do nice stuff too" and estimated it would take an initial 3 hours work (with a prepayment). I agreed. After I hung up the phone, I felt a bit like a sucker. Sure, they would use up the 3 hours and then need another 3 hours and again and again.
I am happy to say I was wrong. They visited her listed address, got the name of a relative, who got them to an assisted-living facility. It turns out that my aunt stopped wearing her medical alert button, fell and broke her hip and laid on the floor for 10 hours until someone found her.
I received an email from the detective agency and a call from one of her nephews explaining the past several years and her "disappearence" (from my POV). It was an awkward conversation. I grew up in New England, but I could hardly understand a word he said, so I had to keep asking for repeats (and even spellings a few times).
It turns out that there are numerous family on her deceased husbands side that I never knew about (well they didn't know I existed either) and are close to her (geographically and socially). They brought her to various assisted-living facilities until she liked one and she is there, healthy and happy (for her age).
So I am relieved. I did "The Right Thing" by checking on her.
The nephew says OUR aunt probably doesn't know about my Dad going into assisted living, and MIGHT not even know her sister (my Mom) died in 2010. So I will write about all that. And writing to her about Dad was what started all of this.
Now lets see about how I am related to the nephew who called me. I'm terrible at that stuff. Beyond immediate cousins, I give up. My aunt is a sister of my mother. My aunt was married. The nephew of my aunt is the son of the sister of my aunt's deceased husband. So from me, it goes to my mother, to her sister, to HER husband to HIS sister to HER son. So is that like second cousins, first cousins twice removed, or what?
I am curious but confused.
The important thing is that my aunt is "OK" and getting good care and attention. And while it wasn't necessary to my aunt's health and well-being I DID something to make sure about it.
I will sleep better tonight
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Stream Of Semi-Conciousness
You shouldn't have to take a shower at 7:30 AM after being up all night when you are retired.
It started with playing Risk online all night. Then, at dawn, I decided I was tired of having people drop by to see if I was selling the boat or the trailer, so I decided to move them both into the backyard (inside the fence) out of sight.
Easier said than done! Its really hard for one person to get the car's trailer hitch and the boat or hauling trailer hitch lined up. Both are TOO DAMN HEAVY to lift and move around.
So I spent a good (bad?) quarter hour getting the boat attached to the car. Then drove it into the backyard. THEN spent another quarter hour trying to get it backed into the spot I had in mind. Then the trailer support pipe was too low to put a cinder block under so I had to find scrap wood wide enough to support the weight on the ground. THEN unhitched the boat trailer from the car (breathing fumes from the car because I didn't want to keep turning it on and off).
Then I repeated the whole joyful process with the hauling trailer, except that I can't SEE the trailer as I back it into position unless I prop myself up on the seat and that causes cramps in my side muscles which are REALLY painful and DAMN I hate that.
And IT was too low to put a cinder block under the thing that raises and lowers the support, the name of which escapes me at the moment, so I needed MORE boards to keep that pipe from pushing into the ground.
And the whole process took 2 hours when I REALLY wanted to be in bed asleep but I sure hope my neighbors will STOP asking me if they are for sale... Out of sight, out of mind, I hope.
And NO, I'm not "that guy" in the neighborhood with the dead car up on cinderblocks, (the cinderblocks should be painted a matching house color; just kidding, LOL)! I'm just the guy with the organic well-mowed and landscaped yard who doesn't happen to use his boat or half-rebuilt trailer very often... So I'll rebuild the trailer in the back yard and leave it there until I use it again. I prefer to do my work out of sight anyway. I should have moved the boat and the trailer into the backyard months ago.
HMMPHHH!
Now it's 8 am and I'm trying to decide whether to just stay up today and get some other work done in the yard or go to bed and get up at 4 pm and blow the whole day! If I stay up, I'll kind of collapse around 8 pm and wake up at 4 AM, so I'm pretty much screwed up either way today.
I think I'll play with the cats for a while then clean house until lunchtime. After that it's a roll of the dice...
It started with playing Risk online all night. Then, at dawn, I decided I was tired of having people drop by to see if I was selling the boat or the trailer, so I decided to move them both into the backyard (inside the fence) out of sight.
Easier said than done! Its really hard for one person to get the car's trailer hitch and the boat or hauling trailer hitch lined up. Both are TOO DAMN HEAVY to lift and move around.
So I spent a good (bad?) quarter hour getting the boat attached to the car. Then drove it into the backyard. THEN spent another quarter hour trying to get it backed into the spot I had in mind. Then the trailer support pipe was too low to put a cinder block under so I had to find scrap wood wide enough to support the weight on the ground. THEN unhitched the boat trailer from the car (breathing fumes from the car because I didn't want to keep turning it on and off).
Then I repeated the whole joyful process with the hauling trailer, except that I can't SEE the trailer as I back it into position unless I prop myself up on the seat and that causes cramps in my side muscles which are REALLY painful and DAMN I hate that.
And IT was too low to put a cinder block under the thing that raises and lowers the support, the name of which escapes me at the moment, so I needed MORE boards to keep that pipe from pushing into the ground.
And the whole process took 2 hours when I REALLY wanted to be in bed asleep but I sure hope my neighbors will STOP asking me if they are for sale... Out of sight, out of mind, I hope.
And NO, I'm not "that guy" in the neighborhood with the dead car up on cinderblocks, (the cinderblocks should be painted a matching house color; just kidding, LOL)! I'm just the guy with the organic well-mowed and landscaped yard who doesn't happen to use his boat or half-rebuilt trailer very often... So I'll rebuild the trailer in the back yard and leave it there until I use it again. I prefer to do my work out of sight anyway. I should have moved the boat and the trailer into the backyard months ago.
HMMPHHH!
Now it's 8 am and I'm trying to decide whether to just stay up today and get some other work done in the yard or go to bed and get up at 4 pm and blow the whole day! If I stay up, I'll kind of collapse around 8 pm and wake up at 4 AM, so I'm pretty much screwed up either way today.
I think I'll play with the cats for a while then clean house until lunchtime. After that it's a roll of the dice...
Sunday, July 21, 2013
One Time too Many
Hairy Houdini Squirrel went for the lushious peanut butter bait one too many times this morning.
And this time I did not handle the cage wrong, nor did I place him into the waters in trashcan of water in a way that allowed an escape.
I searched the house yesterdy and found a large plastic container larger than the live cage. I filled it with water last night. Hairy Houdini Squirrel went in horizontally that didn't release the doors and he didn't make an escape.
It was quick. 5 seconds of confusion, one blurp, and gone.
I have set the cage-trap up again, because my heirloom tomatoes are ripening, but I am VERY much hoping Hairy Houdini was the last of the squirrels who had learned to raid the garden.
I am designing a total 1" chicken wire garden enclosure for next year that will keep all natural animals around the yard out. I do not wish to kill anything again.
But I HAVE learned how to set a live cage on the top on a fence that doesn't fail. I will post tomorrow about that for people that want to know for their own reasons. You don't have to read it.
And this time I did not handle the cage wrong, nor did I place him into the waters in trashcan of water in a way that allowed an escape.
I searched the house yesterdy and found a large plastic container larger than the live cage. I filled it with water last night. Hairy Houdini Squirrel went in horizontally that didn't release the doors and he didn't make an escape.
It was quick. 5 seconds of confusion, one blurp, and gone.
I have set the cage-trap up again, because my heirloom tomatoes are ripening, but I am VERY much hoping Hairy Houdini was the last of the squirrels who had learned to raid the garden.
I am designing a total 1" chicken wire garden enclosure for next year that will keep all natural animals around the yard out. I do not wish to kill anything again.
But I HAVE learned how to set a live cage on the top on a fence that doesn't fail. I will post tomorrow about that for people that want to know for their own reasons. You don't have to read it.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Some Projects Are Hell, Part 2
I mentioned explaining the obvious solution to my problem with the light fixture yesterday. Here it is...
Had I seen the insides of the light fixture after the wooden frame was off, things would have been simpler. I sort of casually assumed that the wooden light frame was equally fitted to the light fixture at both ends. So I just chose the end least visible to attach the hinge. Had I chosen the other end, things would have gone as planned.
As it turned out, the wooden frame was attached tight to the light fixture at the other (most visible) end, meaning that when I attached the hinge to the opposite end, there was no freedom of movement. What I unknowingly did was pull the end of the wood frame tightly against the opposite end. When I installed the hinge and then pulled the opposite end of the frame down (with some effort), I couldn't push it back up. The wooden frame hit the metal of the light fixture from flex. Even levering the wood frame with a screwdriver could not overcome the problem.
Had I realized at the time that loosening the screw at the hinge end would have given me 1/4" clearance, I could have saved myself an hour of frustration and adjustments that had no effect.
Well, at least I know now!
The hard but sad rule of DIY home projects is that you could always do them better the 2nd time but seldom ever need to. That's where professionals get the edge; they made the same mistake the first time but have learned and done the same thing right afterwards a few dozen or hundred times.
But I'm still going to DIY it when possible... LOL!
Had I seen the insides of the light fixture after the wooden frame was off, things would have been simpler. I sort of casually assumed that the wooden light frame was equally fitted to the light fixture at both ends. So I just chose the end least visible to attach the hinge. Had I chosen the other end, things would have gone as planned.
As it turned out, the wooden frame was attached tight to the light fixture at the other (most visible) end, meaning that when I attached the hinge to the opposite end, there was no freedom of movement. What I unknowingly did was pull the end of the wood frame tightly against the opposite end. When I installed the hinge and then pulled the opposite end of the frame down (with some effort), I couldn't push it back up. The wooden frame hit the metal of the light fixture from flex. Even levering the wood frame with a screwdriver could not overcome the problem.
Had I realized at the time that loosening the screw at the hinge end would have given me 1/4" clearance, I could have saved myself an hour of frustration and adjustments that had no effect.
Well, at least I know now!
The hard but sad rule of DIY home projects is that you could always do them better the 2nd time but seldom ever need to. That's where professionals get the edge; they made the same mistake the first time but have learned and done the same thing right afterwards a few dozen or hundred times.
But I'm still going to DIY it when possible... LOL!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Some Projects Are Hell!
This is a long story about what OUGHT to have been a simple project..
It seemed like such a simple idea.
I had a 4' fluorescent kitchen light installed 15 years ago. It replaced the incandescent 2 bulb light originally installed and provides a lot more light It has a nice wood frame and a diffuser panel. Thoroughly attractive.
But in the heat of July and August, it doesn't want to come on. Multiple flippings of the light switch tend to get it on eventually at first, but on the very hottest days, it just won't. Something about the ballast getting hot from the hot atc above it. Adding more insulation didn't solve the problem (nor did removing it).
So, for years, I have removed the frame cover in mid July to late August and taken out the diffuser panel. That apparently let enough cool house air to let it come on.
2 years ago, I drilled ten 2" holes along the sides of the frame to let cool house air in (5 each on the 2 sides). That only helped a little. Removing the wood frame to take out the diffuser panel is a real pain.
Being just me here, I had to unscrew one end of the wood frame from the actual lamp fixture and then stick a nail in the screw-hole to keep that end in place temporarily. Then I had to walk across 3 chairs to the other end and remove THAT screw. Then I had to hold the whole frame up in the center to pull out the opposite nail. Then I could lower the wood frame down and remove the diffuser panel. Removing the diffuser panel DOES let enough cool house air DOES allow the light to come on. I should mention that I live in constant house air 72F year round.
But that sure makes the kitchen ungodly bright for July and August. I could actually live with that, but it seems to annoy visitors. So that's why I tried drilling the 2" hoes in the sides. I was SURE that would keep it cool enough to come on (and it almost looks like a design element) but that didn't work.
Replacing the diffuser on September 1st (the usual date for attic cooling) was the hardest part. Its one thing to hold up the wood frame in the center with one hand and pull OUT a nail and each end of the frame in July. It's an entirely different effort to replace the screws that hold the wooden frame in place while holding the 4" frame against the ceiling. Lets just say there are eventually Really Bad Words and eventual frustration-screaming involved. It DOES get done, but I am emotionally and even physically exhausted.
So this year, I decided there HAD to be a better way. I stared at the wood frame several times and decided that I needed a hinge on one end of the wood frame. I am "sort of competent" at most projects (I always have to make surprise adjustments to my plans), but my talent is being "creative". Eventually, things work.
The hinges I had wouldn't work. Most hinges have large round areas at the corner and there was no space for that. I found "piano hinges".
They fit into tight corners. So far, so good. I marked the holes of the 12" long piano hinge I bought onto the wooden frame, drilled holes for the enclosed screws and set in the screws. Then I marked the spots for holes into the ceiling for toggle bolts.
Toggle bolts
are weird things that have wings that fold down to go through a hole through thin material like a drywall ceiling and then open by springs. When you tighten them, the opened wings come down flush with the drywall top. It's as if you had a large fender washer above the drywall to tighten against. So after I attached one part of the piano hinge to the wood frame, I went to drill holes for the toggle bolts through the ceiling drywall.
No go!!! The toggle bolts were 3 inches long (It takes some length to fold the toggle wings down enough to get them THROUGH the 3/4" drywall to open up above, and the hinge would not allow that angle, being attached to the wood frame.
If this is hard to follow, just trust me on the statements and continue...
So I had to remove the screws holding the piano hinge to the wood light frame. But if I did THAT, it would fall down. And guess what I discovered I had overlooked? There was the screw holding the wood frame to the actual light fixture. And the hinge covered it! So I had to remove the entire hinge anyway. So I had to figure a way to hold the wood frame in place while the screw was removed.
I decided that I could take 2 boards and clamp them both so that one was set on the floor and the other was pushing the frame up and the top. But that was requiring 3 hands and I was short one. Then I noticed an "expander bar sitting in the corner of the basement. Thats a small pipe inside a larger pipe and so can pull the smaller one out and fix it in place (mechansms vary). Setting a metal can on the floor below the wood light frame, the expander bar reached the wood frame and held it in place.
Great. So I marked the spot on the ceiling where the toggle bolts had to go and removed the hinge and drilled the holes. Then I put the toggle bolts through the hinge tighten them and put the screws on the other half of the hinge back into the wooden light frame. I was DONE!
No. I wasn't... I still had to put the other end of the wood frame back in place and get the screw in. I thought that would be simple. The far end was hinged, just lift the other end into place and replace the screw. Nope. The wood frame hit the lightfixture too short and would not go over it to the ceiling.
I should have taken pictures, but quite frankly, I was not in the mood for that.
I eventually solved the problem by putting longer screws in the hinge end and leaving them 1/4" loose (to give some sliding room) and the whole wooden cover minus the diffuser fit well enough to attach again firmly.
But that's why I say I have the worst luck with what SHOULD be simple projects sometimes. I should be the Murphys Law (anything that CAN go wrong Will go wrong) poster boy... What SHOULD logically have taken 20 minutes took 3 hours! Worse, when I could see inside the wooden light frame, I saw the solution will simple, but was not observable until the effort was finished. I will explain about that tomorrow...
On the other hand, the light came right ON after I gave in 10 minutes to cool down with the house air. I turned it off and back on several times just for the pleasure of seeing my efforts work.
There are some things some people are naturally talented at. There are somethings some people will NEVER figure out how to do. And then there are SOME of us who are just unnaturally persistent and accomplish things we are not talented at anyway. LOL!
It seemed like such a simple idea.
I had a 4' fluorescent kitchen light installed 15 years ago. It replaced the incandescent 2 bulb light originally installed and provides a lot more light It has a nice wood frame and a diffuser panel. Thoroughly attractive.
But in the heat of July and August, it doesn't want to come on. Multiple flippings of the light switch tend to get it on eventually at first, but on the very hottest days, it just won't. Something about the ballast getting hot from the hot atc above it. Adding more insulation didn't solve the problem (nor did removing it).
So, for years, I have removed the frame cover in mid July to late August and taken out the diffuser panel. That apparently let enough cool house air to let it come on.
2 years ago, I drilled ten 2" holes along the sides of the frame to let cool house air in (5 each on the 2 sides). That only helped a little. Removing the wood frame to take out the diffuser panel is a real pain.
Being just me here, I had to unscrew one end of the wood frame from the actual lamp fixture and then stick a nail in the screw-hole to keep that end in place temporarily. Then I had to walk across 3 chairs to the other end and remove THAT screw. Then I had to hold the whole frame up in the center to pull out the opposite nail. Then I could lower the wood frame down and remove the diffuser panel. Removing the diffuser panel DOES let enough cool house air DOES allow the light to come on. I should mention that I live in constant house air 72F year round.
But that sure makes the kitchen ungodly bright for July and August. I could actually live with that, but it seems to annoy visitors. So that's why I tried drilling the 2" hoes in the sides. I was SURE that would keep it cool enough to come on (and it almost looks like a design element) but that didn't work.
Replacing the diffuser on September 1st (the usual date for attic cooling) was the hardest part. Its one thing to hold up the wood frame in the center with one hand and pull OUT a nail and each end of the frame in July. It's an entirely different effort to replace the screws that hold the wooden frame in place while holding the 4" frame against the ceiling. Lets just say there are eventually Really Bad Words and eventual frustration-screaming involved. It DOES get done, but I am emotionally and even physically exhausted.
So this year, I decided there HAD to be a better way. I stared at the wood frame several times and decided that I needed a hinge on one end of the wood frame. I am "sort of competent" at most projects (I always have to make surprise adjustments to my plans), but my talent is being "creative". Eventually, things work.
The hinges I had wouldn't work. Most hinges have large round areas at the corner and there was no space for that. I found "piano hinges".
They fit into tight corners. So far, so good. I marked the holes of the 12" long piano hinge I bought onto the wooden frame, drilled holes for the enclosed screws and set in the screws. Then I marked the spots for holes into the ceiling for toggle bolts.
Toggle bolts
are weird things that have wings that fold down to go through a hole through thin material like a drywall ceiling and then open by springs. When you tighten them, the opened wings come down flush with the drywall top. It's as if you had a large fender washer above the drywall to tighten against. So after I attached one part of the piano hinge to the wood frame, I went to drill holes for the toggle bolts through the ceiling drywall.
No go!!! The toggle bolts were 3 inches long (It takes some length to fold the toggle wings down enough to get them THROUGH the 3/4" drywall to open up above, and the hinge would not allow that angle, being attached to the wood frame.
If this is hard to follow, just trust me on the statements and continue...
So I had to remove the screws holding the piano hinge to the wood light frame. But if I did THAT, it would fall down. And guess what I discovered I had overlooked? There was the screw holding the wood frame to the actual light fixture. And the hinge covered it! So I had to remove the entire hinge anyway. So I had to figure a way to hold the wood frame in place while the screw was removed.
I decided that I could take 2 boards and clamp them both so that one was set on the floor and the other was pushing the frame up and the top. But that was requiring 3 hands and I was short one. Then I noticed an "expander bar sitting in the corner of the basement. Thats a small pipe inside a larger pipe and so can pull the smaller one out and fix it in place (mechansms vary). Setting a metal can on the floor below the wood light frame, the expander bar reached the wood frame and held it in place.
Great. So I marked the spot on the ceiling where the toggle bolts had to go and removed the hinge and drilled the holes. Then I put the toggle bolts through the hinge tighten them and put the screws on the other half of the hinge back into the wooden light frame. I was DONE!
No. I wasn't... I still had to put the other end of the wood frame back in place and get the screw in. I thought that would be simple. The far end was hinged, just lift the other end into place and replace the screw. Nope. The wood frame hit the lightfixture too short and would not go over it to the ceiling.
I should have taken pictures, but quite frankly, I was not in the mood for that.
I eventually solved the problem by putting longer screws in the hinge end and leaving them 1/4" loose (to give some sliding room) and the whole wooden cover minus the diffuser fit well enough to attach again firmly.
But that's why I say I have the worst luck with what SHOULD be simple projects sometimes. I should be the Murphys Law (anything that CAN go wrong Will go wrong) poster boy... What SHOULD logically have taken 20 minutes took 3 hours! Worse, when I could see inside the wooden light frame, I saw the solution will simple, but was not observable until the effort was finished. I will explain about that tomorrow...
On the other hand, the light came right ON after I gave in 10 minutes to cool down with the house air. I turned it off and back on several times just for the pleasure of seeing my efforts work.
There are some things some people are naturally talented at. There are somethings some people will NEVER figure out how to do. And then there are SOME of us who are just unnaturally persistent and accomplish things we are not talented at anyway. LOL!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Houdini Squirrel
There seem to be 3 squirrels in the Grove Tree Gang who attack my garden. The small grove of trees on the east side dont have food trees like oaks, so they have learned to raid gardens and fruit trees.
In desperation this year, I set up a live trap. I caught 2 of them in 3 days. But the 3rd one must be the mastermind. I keep finding the trap shut yet the peanut butter all cleaned off the trigger lever. Its been 13 days of resetting the cage and applying new peanut butter sometimes even twice per day.
Today I walked out to the cage and heard a rattling sound. I GOT it! I was excited. I loosened the rope tied to the cage handle that keeps it from falling over the fence into the neighbor's yard and went to carry it away.
Oops, I forgot the wire that holds the cage to the fence. It made me lose my grip on the cage and fall 2 feet to the end of the rope. That caused the wire that holds the doors closed to flip loose and Squirrel Houdini was out in a flash.
I said a LOT of Very Bad Words...
So I did what I have done every day the past 2 weeks and reset the trap. I'm sure Squirrel Houdini is going to be leery of the cage. But I also know it LOVES the peanut butter. So it is a game of squirrel gluttony vs patience.
I'll get it eventually. And when the last of the Grove Tree Gang is removed, I hope the replacements don't learn the same garden-raiding tricks.
I don't have anything in particular against squirrels. We coexisted peacefully for 23 years before this one group started destroying my garden (and I put 2 squirrel baffles on the birdfeeder pole years ago). I even like them in their natural habitat (living in trees and eating acorns - of which there are plenty here). But last year they pulled every green aple of my trees and ate all but 2 tomatoes. This year they have pulled up 3 plantings of corn, beans and cucumbers.
Here it is the middle of July and I have eaten just 2 beans (and just tonight). The cukes are only a foot high. The last corn seedlings died under the cover I put over them (too hot, I guess) and there is probably no point in replanting them at this point. There is a new planting of beans under a tent of 1" mesh chicken wire. I MIGHT get some beans from this planting
I don't have a problem with the squirrels on the west side of the yard. There are 2 huge oak trees there so they seem to have all the acorns they need, and apparently, the birdfeeder is in their territory. They eat the seeds the birds spill out and they are welcome to them. No squirrel of the west side has ever run toward the east grove. I never bother animals that don't attack my food.
My only fight is with the east Grove Tree Gang. Sheriff Cavebear IS going to get them...
In desperation this year, I set up a live trap. I caught 2 of them in 3 days. But the 3rd one must be the mastermind. I keep finding the trap shut yet the peanut butter all cleaned off the trigger lever. Its been 13 days of resetting the cage and applying new peanut butter sometimes even twice per day.
Today I walked out to the cage and heard a rattling sound. I GOT it! I was excited. I loosened the rope tied to the cage handle that keeps it from falling over the fence into the neighbor's yard and went to carry it away.
Oops, I forgot the wire that holds the cage to the fence. It made me lose my grip on the cage and fall 2 feet to the end of the rope. That caused the wire that holds the doors closed to flip loose and Squirrel Houdini was out in a flash.
I said a LOT of Very Bad Words...
So I did what I have done every day the past 2 weeks and reset the trap. I'm sure Squirrel Houdini is going to be leery of the cage. But I also know it LOVES the peanut butter. So it is a game of squirrel gluttony vs patience.
I'll get it eventually. And when the last of the Grove Tree Gang is removed, I hope the replacements don't learn the same garden-raiding tricks.
I don't have anything in particular against squirrels. We coexisted peacefully for 23 years before this one group started destroying my garden (and I put 2 squirrel baffles on the birdfeeder pole years ago). I even like them in their natural habitat (living in trees and eating acorns - of which there are plenty here). But last year they pulled every green aple of my trees and ate all but 2 tomatoes. This year they have pulled up 3 plantings of corn, beans and cucumbers.
Here it is the middle of July and I have eaten just 2 beans (and just tonight). The cukes are only a foot high. The last corn seedlings died under the cover I put over them (too hot, I guess) and there is probably no point in replanting them at this point. There is a new planting of beans under a tent of 1" mesh chicken wire. I MIGHT get some beans from this planting
I don't have a problem with the squirrels on the west side of the yard. There are 2 huge oak trees there so they seem to have all the acorns they need, and apparently, the birdfeeder is in their territory. They eat the seeds the birds spill out and they are welcome to them. No squirrel of the west side has ever run toward the east grove. I never bother animals that don't attack my food.
My only fight is with the east Grove Tree Gang. Sheriff Cavebear IS going to get them...
Monday, July 15, 2013
A Blast From The Past
I used to play a complex strategic computer game called Civilization 2 (not an action/shooter game). There would be a large map (unseen at the start) and you would slowly establish and improve cities with military, civil and science improvements. You would discover the map as you moved slowly. You started around 3,000 BC and very gradually moved to launching a spaceship to Alpha Centuri competing with up to 6? 8? other players. The game took many hours to play. I was obsessed by it.
But I quit when the new version (Civilization 3) of the game gave less and less control to the player and whole cities would switch sides to another player for no particular reason I understood ("through cultural influence"). And then I switched from Windows to Mac and my CD didn't work any more anyway. So I moved on to blogging.
Well, I suddenly developed a great desire to play the game again. I still had the old PC around and thought to have it cleaned and upgraded, but then decided that I liked internet multi-player competition, so I simply bought the Mac version of Civ 2. The CD should arrive in a few days.
But I wanted to review some of the game strategies and looked at the current Civ 2 discussion board. Its been 7-8 years since I played.
Imagine my surprise when the very first post I saw was advice FROM ME. LOL! And it was quoted by someone else as "from veteran player xxxxxxx", ME.
THUD!
It is going to take a while for me to get back into the details of the game. This rejoining the game is going to be VERRRY INTERESTING... I'm going to get KILLED at first until I remember the old strategies and catch up on the new ones. But that's the kind of thing that keeps the brain working, you know?
I could die of many causes. But brain boredom ISN'T going to be one of them. LOL!
[Update: The Civ 2 CD arrived today. I am devastated. The CD is too old to load on my up-to-date Mac... My anticipated thrill at playing Civ 2 again is stomped by technology failure. It looks like I will have to get the old Windows computer cleaned and working if I want to play Civ2.
But I quit when the new version (Civilization 3) of the game gave less and less control to the player and whole cities would switch sides to another player for no particular reason I understood ("through cultural influence"). And then I switched from Windows to Mac and my CD didn't work any more anyway. So I moved on to blogging.
Well, I suddenly developed a great desire to play the game again. I still had the old PC around and thought to have it cleaned and upgraded, but then decided that I liked internet multi-player competition, so I simply bought the Mac version of Civ 2. The CD should arrive in a few days.
But I wanted to review some of the game strategies and looked at the current Civ 2 discussion board. Its been 7-8 years since I played.
Imagine my surprise when the very first post I saw was advice FROM ME. LOL! And it was quoted by someone else as "from veteran player xxxxxxx", ME.
THUD!
It is going to take a while for me to get back into the details of the game. This rejoining the game is going to be VERRRY INTERESTING... I'm going to get KILLED at first until I remember the old strategies and catch up on the new ones. But that's the kind of thing that keeps the brain working, you know?
I could die of many causes. But brain boredom ISN'T going to be one of them. LOL!
[Update: The Civ 2 CD arrived today. I am devastated. The CD is too old to load on my up-to-date Mac... My anticipated thrill at playing Civ 2 again is stomped by technology failure. It looks like I will have to get the old Windows computer cleaned and working if I want to play Civ2.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Let There Be Light!
No offence intended but my bathroom is interior and light has always been an issue. It came to a head when I bought a new sagegreen bath towel and it looked dead gray on the towel rack. So I also bought a bright blue towel that matched the fancy marine fish shower curtain and it looked PURPLE!
OK, I decided to get some daylight in there. No, not a skylight, just "daylight" bulbs. I figured there were regular incandescent daylight bulbs, but I couldn't find any. I had to get compact fluorescent bulbs.
WHAT a difference! The color of both towels sprung to life. Now, I don't want to suggest that the color of my towels defines my life. But it WAS annoying that they looked so different than in daylight and I never saw a problem I didn't want to fix.
And don't get me wrong about the towels either. I'm both genetically and by upbringing used to going "cheap", but my escape is that I go by value rather than price. The $13 towels at Walmart and Target are as good as the $30 ones at Bed, Bath&Beyond. Soft, absorbent, oversize and 100% top cotton. I'm glad to see the true colors of the new towels.
But, OMG, I'm going to need to clean the bathroom a lot more often!!! And forgive me if I won't explain why...
But the towel color with regular incandescent and "daylight fluorescent"?
Big difference, huh?
OK, I decided to get some daylight in there. No, not a skylight, just "daylight" bulbs. I figured there were regular incandescent daylight bulbs, but I couldn't find any. I had to get compact fluorescent bulbs.
WHAT a difference! The color of both towels sprung to life. Now, I don't want to suggest that the color of my towels defines my life. But it WAS annoying that they looked so different than in daylight and I never saw a problem I didn't want to fix.
And don't get me wrong about the towels either. I'm both genetically and by upbringing used to going "cheap", but my escape is that I go by value rather than price. The $13 towels at Walmart and Target are as good as the $30 ones at Bed, Bath&Beyond. Soft, absorbent, oversize and 100% top cotton. I'm glad to see the true colors of the new towels.
But, OMG, I'm going to need to clean the bathroom a lot more often!!! And forgive me if I won't explain why...
But the towel color with regular incandescent and "daylight fluorescent"?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
More Critter Trouble
All is NOT quiet on the Garden Front!
OK, It seems I pretty much have the Grove Gang Squirrels at a stalemate. But to review: They started by pulling up most my corn, bean, and cucumber seedlings (but not eating them) 2 plantings. I attached the live cage on the top of my fence (their highway to my garden). I caught one in the live cage and dispatched it. A second one pulled up my 3rd planting, so I covered the trellis bed with a tent of 1" chicken wire and covered my block of corn separately. Some squirrels penetrated the mesh tent and also got at the corn again (I had uncovered it for some afternoon sun and forgot to replace it). I then caught a 2nd squirrel and dispatched it.
In addition, I had had 2 groundhogs move in under my toolshed earlier. The first was live trapped and relocated. The 2nd was driven away after I filled 3 different burrow entrances with used cat litter. I thought I was done with them for the year (in the past, they have only showed up in the Spring).
So there I was trying to catch the 3rd garden attacking squirrel, but also having fixed the spots it/they got into through the mesh tent. I thought I only needed to catch the 3rd squirrel and then protect my developing tomatoes in another garden bed.
After catching the first 2 squirrels in just a few days, I expected to get the known 3rd and possible 4th easily. The peanut butter bait smeared on the trip lever was working well. However, I have since found the trap tripped daily with nothing inside.
I have figured out that its mostly my fault. There are 2 wires that need to be set in place after the doors are set open that lock the doors shut when snapped closed. That may be confusing; what it means is that a frantic squirrel CAN push back out through the spring-shut doors if 2 wires down lock them down. I HAVE found a couple of times where I forgot to set the lock wires. I know a squirrel has been in the cage because the peanut butter is licked clean.
But I may have outsmarted myself on a few other attempts. Trying to be clever, I put a small dot of peanut butter at the front of the cage to lure the squirrel in. I realized that when the cage was closed and no squirrel was inside, the dot of peanut butter was missing. What probably happened was that the squirrel grabbed the front of the cage to get at the dot on peanut butter hard enough to trigger the doors.
It must have gotten a wicked strike on the head, but was able to pull itself out. But it keeps coming after that peanut butter!
There is also a situation after I stopped putting the dot of peanut butter on the front of the cage and the cage is closed with the trigger lever still having the big smear of peanut butter on it. I suspect that a squirrel is jumping onto the cage just to get over it, and triggering the doors to spring closed. I may have to attach a circle of chicken wire around the outside of the cage to encourage them to go through it.
But I have learned to make sure the door-locking wires are in place each time lately and that the only peanut butter is sure to get them at the door trigger lever. In fact today, I smeared the peanut butter on a small stone and set it PAST the trigger lever. If THAT doesn't work, I will try the mesh wire surround to encourage them to go through the cage instead of jumping on it. I expect to be successful soon.
So what's the "MORE" problem? Well, as I was quietly walking to check the squirrel cage this evening, I surprised a HUGE FAT GROUNDHOG in the back yard. As expected, it ran to the toolshed. I looked around the shed at the previous burrows. None of the previous burrow entrances had been re-dug.
I wasn't surprised at THAT. I use scoopable cat litter and the stuff is slimy when wet and cement-like when dry. Plus it is full of cat pee and poop! I doubt any herbivore is going to mess around with THAT! But I looked around carefully (it's a bit overgrown with weeds and vines) and found the new burrow. They all seem to like the same spot (NW corner for some reason. It was dug this morning (I check around the toolshed every day at least once). So I went back into the garage and took out 2 plastic shopping bags of used cat litter and emptied them into the burrow entrance. I'll be able to tell if it digs its way back out (doubtful - not one has done THAT yet) or digs a new hole elsewhere. If neither of those happens, it either suffocated or had a panic heart attack, LOL!
One last odd observation. As I was walking back to the house, I noticed a 3' arc of eaten clover where I saw the groundhog. I know they like clover. If I thought that was all they would ever eat, I would leave them be. But I have, in the past, caught them eating my ripening heirloom tomatoes. And I love those at least as much as Hobbits love mushrooms!
So the new groundhog has to go too. I HOPE it leaves from the offense of the used cat litter. But if not, I will live-cage and dispatch it too.
OK, It seems I pretty much have the Grove Gang Squirrels at a stalemate. But to review: They started by pulling up most my corn, bean, and cucumber seedlings (but not eating them) 2 plantings. I attached the live cage on the top of my fence (their highway to my garden). I caught one in the live cage and dispatched it. A second one pulled up my 3rd planting, so I covered the trellis bed with a tent of 1" chicken wire and covered my block of corn separately. Some squirrels penetrated the mesh tent and also got at the corn again (I had uncovered it for some afternoon sun and forgot to replace it). I then caught a 2nd squirrel and dispatched it.
In addition, I had had 2 groundhogs move in under my toolshed earlier. The first was live trapped and relocated. The 2nd was driven away after I filled 3 different burrow entrances with used cat litter. I thought I was done with them for the year (in the past, they have only showed up in the Spring).
So there I was trying to catch the 3rd garden attacking squirrel, but also having fixed the spots it/they got into through the mesh tent. I thought I only needed to catch the 3rd squirrel and then protect my developing tomatoes in another garden bed.
After catching the first 2 squirrels in just a few days, I expected to get the known 3rd and possible 4th easily. The peanut butter bait smeared on the trip lever was working well. However, I have since found the trap tripped daily with nothing inside.
I have figured out that its mostly my fault. There are 2 wires that need to be set in place after the doors are set open that lock the doors shut when snapped closed. That may be confusing; what it means is that a frantic squirrel CAN push back out through the spring-shut doors if 2 wires down lock them down. I HAVE found a couple of times where I forgot to set the lock wires. I know a squirrel has been in the cage because the peanut butter is licked clean.
But I may have outsmarted myself on a few other attempts. Trying to be clever, I put a small dot of peanut butter at the front of the cage to lure the squirrel in. I realized that when the cage was closed and no squirrel was inside, the dot of peanut butter was missing. What probably happened was that the squirrel grabbed the front of the cage to get at the dot on peanut butter hard enough to trigger the doors.
It must have gotten a wicked strike on the head, but was able to pull itself out. But it keeps coming after that peanut butter!
There is also a situation after I stopped putting the dot of peanut butter on the front of the cage and the cage is closed with the trigger lever still having the big smear of peanut butter on it. I suspect that a squirrel is jumping onto the cage just to get over it, and triggering the doors to spring closed. I may have to attach a circle of chicken wire around the outside of the cage to encourage them to go through it.
But I have learned to make sure the door-locking wires are in place each time lately and that the only peanut butter is sure to get them at the door trigger lever. In fact today, I smeared the peanut butter on a small stone and set it PAST the trigger lever. If THAT doesn't work, I will try the mesh wire surround to encourage them to go through the cage instead of jumping on it. I expect to be successful soon.
So what's the "MORE" problem? Well, as I was quietly walking to check the squirrel cage this evening, I surprised a HUGE FAT GROUNDHOG in the back yard. As expected, it ran to the toolshed. I looked around the shed at the previous burrows. None of the previous burrow entrances had been re-dug.
I wasn't surprised at THAT. I use scoopable cat litter and the stuff is slimy when wet and cement-like when dry. Plus it is full of cat pee and poop! I doubt any herbivore is going to mess around with THAT! But I looked around carefully (it's a bit overgrown with weeds and vines) and found the new burrow. They all seem to like the same spot (NW corner for some reason. It was dug this morning (I check around the toolshed every day at least once). So I went back into the garage and took out 2 plastic shopping bags of used cat litter and emptied them into the burrow entrance. I'll be able to tell if it digs its way back out (doubtful - not one has done THAT yet) or digs a new hole elsewhere. If neither of those happens, it either suffocated or had a panic heart attack, LOL!
One last odd observation. As I was walking back to the house, I noticed a 3' arc of eaten clover where I saw the groundhog. I know they like clover. If I thought that was all they would ever eat, I would leave them be. But I have, in the past, caught them eating my ripening heirloom tomatoes. And I love those at least as much as Hobbits love mushrooms!
So the new groundhog has to go too. I HOPE it leaves from the offense of the used cat litter. But if not, I will live-cage and dispatch it too.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
I Caught A Squirrel
WARNING: Squirrel death ahead... Read or not, your choice.
Yeah, it was one of the Bad Grove Gang, at least from the direction it entered the live trap. I baited the center release lever with a smear of peanut butter, but I also placed a small dab on both ends assuming it would lick that off before going for the large smear. So I know the direction it came from. It has gone to Happy Squirrel Acorn Acres...
Peanut butter works...
I don't really want to kill any animals. I stopped hunting 40 years ago because causing unnecessary pain seemed wrong. If the squirrels had limited their hunger to fallen sunflower seeds and acorns, I would have just admired their antics and left them alone. I even forgave them stealing all my apples. I didn't spray the apples so none were ever really worth eating anyway. When they started taking my heirloom tomatoes last year I got angry about it. But when they wouldn't even leave bean, corn, and cucumber seedlings to grow this year, I drew the line. I have a right to a garden.
I have read many websites about the lack of success of relocating squirrels and humane killing methods. Relocation doesn't work well. First, most anyplace suitable to a common animal like squirrels is filled to capacity. Most young resident squirrels are driven out to unsuitable places and starve.
Second, any newly introduced squirrel that does succeed means that just one more resident squirrel won't. It's a zero-sum game for the squirrels.
Third, relocation of varmints is generally illegal. The idea is that you can't transport your problem to someone else. Its like trying to get rid of a color on a Rubik's Cube by moving the pieces around.
I am vaguely disturbed by the idea that I am actively eliminating the MOST successful and adaptive squirrels. I LIKE evolution. But I suppose that is entirely the point of this effort. I want DUMB squirrels here...
The live trap allows me to catch varmints with causing them the pain of a snap trap or the danger of catching a cat. That doesn't mean I use it to let them live. I can't shoot them through a small mesh cage, I can't inject them with a forever-sleep drug, and I can't stab them fatally fast
My wheelbarrow holds JUST enough water to cover the live trap. The squirrel was gone in 15 seconds. Its the fastest way I can use and they don't seem to know what is happening until a very sudden end. It didn't even move around.
I don't want to draw this out and I probably won't give details again. I know I can't kill all the squirrels; I don't want to. I just need to eliminate the few squirrels who have learned to attack my garden. I would be perfectly happy just to have new squirrels who live off the acorns from the 2 massive old oaks and the nuts from the beech tree on the property.
I've given this post a lot of thought (1.5 hours). Best I can do...
UPDATE: 7 am 7-3-13.. Make that 2 evil squirrels.... If I can find the smallest bit of good news, they apparently breathe fast. The 2nd was dead in less than 10 seconds. I force myself to watch this so that I know what I am doing. The faster the end, the better, and they go fast! But the live-trap is reset with fresh peanut butter...
Yeah, it was one of the Bad Grove Gang, at least from the direction it entered the live trap. I baited the center release lever with a smear of peanut butter, but I also placed a small dab on both ends assuming it would lick that off before going for the large smear. So I know the direction it came from. It has gone to Happy Squirrel Acorn Acres...
Peanut butter works...
I don't really want to kill any animals. I stopped hunting 40 years ago because causing unnecessary pain seemed wrong. If the squirrels had limited their hunger to fallen sunflower seeds and acorns, I would have just admired their antics and left them alone. I even forgave them stealing all my apples. I didn't spray the apples so none were ever really worth eating anyway. When they started taking my heirloom tomatoes last year I got angry about it. But when they wouldn't even leave bean, corn, and cucumber seedlings to grow this year, I drew the line. I have a right to a garden.
I have read many websites about the lack of success of relocating squirrels and humane killing methods. Relocation doesn't work well. First, most anyplace suitable to a common animal like squirrels is filled to capacity. Most young resident squirrels are driven out to unsuitable places and starve.
Second, any newly introduced squirrel that does succeed means that just one more resident squirrel won't. It's a zero-sum game for the squirrels.
Third, relocation of varmints is generally illegal. The idea is that you can't transport your problem to someone else. Its like trying to get rid of a color on a Rubik's Cube by moving the pieces around.
I am vaguely disturbed by the idea that I am actively eliminating the MOST successful and adaptive squirrels. I LIKE evolution. But I suppose that is entirely the point of this effort. I want DUMB squirrels here...
The live trap allows me to catch varmints with causing them the pain of a snap trap or the danger of catching a cat. That doesn't mean I use it to let them live. I can't shoot them through a small mesh cage, I can't inject them with a forever-sleep drug, and I can't stab them fatally fast
My wheelbarrow holds JUST enough water to cover the live trap. The squirrel was gone in 15 seconds. Its the fastest way I can use and they don't seem to know what is happening until a very sudden end. It didn't even move around.
I don't want to draw this out and I probably won't give details again. I know I can't kill all the squirrels; I don't want to. I just need to eliminate the few squirrels who have learned to attack my garden. I would be perfectly happy just to have new squirrels who live off the acorns from the 2 massive old oaks and the nuts from the beech tree on the property.
I've given this post a lot of thought (1.5 hours). Best I can do...
UPDATE: 7 am 7-3-13.. Make that 2 evil squirrels.... If I can find the smallest bit of good news, they apparently breathe fast. The 2nd was dead in less than 10 seconds. I force myself to watch this so that I know what I am doing. The faster the end, the better, and they go fast! But the live-trap is reset with fresh peanut butter...
Monday, July 1, 2013
Squirrel Games Again
Well, the bad news is that I uncovered the block of 9 corn seedlings in the afternoon yesterday (an opaque plastic bin) so that they could get some sunlight (the squirrels seem to stay away in the afternoon), and I forgot to put the cover back on them last night. 7 of the 9 seedlings were pulled up and most uneaten this morning. I meant to form a cover for them out of leftover chicken wire, but I got distracted by housework and putting the recycle bins out by the street, etc.
So I put the cover back over the surviving 2 plants and set 7 more seeds soaking overnight to replant tomorrow. I will use the bin I am covering the block with and use it as a form for a chicken wire cover BEFORE I replant them the 4th time. I should have done that the 1st time. But one time is happenstance, and the 2nd time can be coincidence. 3rd time is "enemy action" and I am at 4th.
Other bad news is that the squirrels are not going for the dried corn cob chunk in the live trap near the birdfeeder (I placed it there so I could easily see if, and how fast, it worked). It didn't get any attention.
So I decided to follow the advice of one website and use peanut butter smeared on the trap release lever. I put the trap on top of the fence the squirrels use as their highway from the tree grove to my garden. I attached a wire from the trap to the fence so that if one was caught it wouldn't fall into the neighbor's yard. Then I put some peanut butter on the release lever and tiny amounts in front of the trap and just inside of it.
The good news is that a squirrel followed the peanut butter, but tripped the trap while outside of it. But there are 2 wire bars that keep the doors from being pushed open from inside and I might not have secured those. And when I approached the trap, there was a squirrel right there, and it WANTED that peanut butter. So that bait might work if I set everything up correctly. I reset the trap before coming inside for the night. I hope to see a squirrel in there tomorrow morning.
I have high hopes for the peanut butter. And I really hope it works, because my tomatoes are starting to produce fruit and I don't want them stolen.
Enclosing each raised bed in chicken wire would be ridiculous, might prevent pollination, and be hard to access each time I needed to weed or harvest.
The alternative is to redesign my raised beds into one single large bed and enclose the entire thing with chicken wire, sides, and top (with a door of course). That would be a lot of work, it would be a bit ugly, and expensive. 1" mesh chicken wire isn't as expensive as some other garden fencings, but it isn't free.
So those individual talented garden-thieving squirrels just MUST go...
So I put the cover back over the surviving 2 plants and set 7 more seeds soaking overnight to replant tomorrow. I will use the bin I am covering the block with and use it as a form for a chicken wire cover BEFORE I replant them the 4th time. I should have done that the 1st time. But one time is happenstance, and the 2nd time can be coincidence. 3rd time is "enemy action" and I am at 4th.
Other bad news is that the squirrels are not going for the dried corn cob chunk in the live trap near the birdfeeder (I placed it there so I could easily see if, and how fast, it worked). It didn't get any attention.
So I decided to follow the advice of one website and use peanut butter smeared on the trap release lever. I put the trap on top of the fence the squirrels use as their highway from the tree grove to my garden. I attached a wire from the trap to the fence so that if one was caught it wouldn't fall into the neighbor's yard. Then I put some peanut butter on the release lever and tiny amounts in front of the trap and just inside of it.
The good news is that a squirrel followed the peanut butter, but tripped the trap while outside of it. But there are 2 wire bars that keep the doors from being pushed open from inside and I might not have secured those. And when I approached the trap, there was a squirrel right there, and it WANTED that peanut butter. So that bait might work if I set everything up correctly. I reset the trap before coming inside for the night. I hope to see a squirrel in there tomorrow morning.
I have high hopes for the peanut butter. And I really hope it works, because my tomatoes are starting to produce fruit and I don't want them stolen.
Enclosing each raised bed in chicken wire would be ridiculous, might prevent pollination, and be hard to access each time I needed to weed or harvest.
The alternative is to redesign my raised beds into one single large bed and enclose the entire thing with chicken wire, sides, and top (with a door of course). That would be a lot of work, it would be a bit ugly, and expensive. 1" mesh chicken wire isn't as expensive as some other garden fencings, but it isn't free.
So those individual talented garden-thieving squirrels just MUST go...
Sunday, June 30, 2013
More Squirrel Games
Determined to grow some flat italian style beans (Romano), I ordered some seeds from Burpee. The shipping cost more than the seeds, but it was the principle of the thing. They arrived yesterday and I soaked 12 seeds overnight.
I planted them today. The chicken wire covering the trellis soil wasn't too hard to lift. I had some garden clips (like round clothespins) to hold it up while I planted the new seeds. I also planted 5 new cuke seeds. The previous 6 came up but there were still gaps, so I filled them.
The squirrels don't seem to bother seedlings more than a few inches high (why they don't, I have no idea). Well, I'll make a guess that the new seedlings still have most of the growing seed and that's what the squirrels are after. But pure guess. I can't really know how squirrels think.
But under the 1" chicken wire cover, the beans and cukes should grow. The beans should begin to ripen in 60 days (sept 1st), so I could get 2 months of harvest even at this late date.
Now I have to figure out how to protect the tomatoes. That's trickier. I'll try draping the tomatoes in row cover cloth I think. If they chew through that (and they can), I will have to get more serious and lethal. I don't like "more lethal" things but anything that kills rats ought to kill squirrels...
Of all the plants I grow, I want the heirloom tomatoes the most. Last year, I didn't get a single one; the squirrels took them all before they were ripe. That will not happen this year if I have to trap and drown every squirrel within several properties.
I am considering a few designs to rebuild the garden beds and enclose them in chicken wire if I can't eliminate those few squirrels who have learned to depend on my garden for food.
If I redesign the garden beds to get them smaller and eliminate the spaces between them to make one large bed, I could build a frame to enclose the entire garden bed with a door for entry. I want a garden THAT much.
I planted them today. The chicken wire covering the trellis soil wasn't too hard to lift. I had some garden clips (like round clothespins) to hold it up while I planted the new seeds. I also planted 5 new cuke seeds. The previous 6 came up but there were still gaps, so I filled them.
The squirrels don't seem to bother seedlings more than a few inches high (why they don't, I have no idea). Well, I'll make a guess that the new seedlings still have most of the growing seed and that's what the squirrels are after. But pure guess. I can't really know how squirrels think.
But under the 1" chicken wire cover, the beans and cukes should grow. The beans should begin to ripen in 60 days (sept 1st), so I could get 2 months of harvest even at this late date.
Now I have to figure out how to protect the tomatoes. That's trickier. I'll try draping the tomatoes in row cover cloth I think. If they chew through that (and they can), I will have to get more serious and lethal. I don't like "more lethal" things but anything that kills rats ought to kill squirrels...
Of all the plants I grow, I want the heirloom tomatoes the most. Last year, I didn't get a single one; the squirrels took them all before they were ripe. That will not happen this year if I have to trap and drown every squirrel within several properties.
I am considering a few designs to rebuild the garden beds and enclose them in chicken wire if I can't eliminate those few squirrels who have learned to depend on my garden for food.
If I redesign the garden beds to get them smaller and eliminate the spaces between them to make one large bed, I could build a frame to enclose the entire garden bed with a door for entry. I want a garden THAT much.
Monday, June 24, 2013
OK Squirrels, Game ON!
I've had it with the squirrels pulling up my romano bean seeds, cucumbers, and corn. I LOVE those flat Italian beans and they are harder to find fresh than Giraffes at the North Pole. So after the squirrels pulled up most of the bean seeds again a 3rd time, I decided, as Bugs Bunny used to say "This Means War".
I went to the local hardware store and bought 50' of 3' wide chicken wire (aka "poultry netting"). I cut two pieces of it 20' long. It loves the way it is rolled up so I manually bent it flat and that took some effort. Then I made a tent of the two pieces along the trellis to shield my seedlings and the newly-planted new seeds.
"But", I hear you say, "they will find a way in". I'm EXPECTING that! Where they find a way in, THAT'S where I will cut a small opening and set the live-trap to just fit. And then I'll drop the live-trap in a trash can of water and drown the little %$@*#s ... And then I'll feed them to the cats!
Bwa-ha-ha-ha...
But seriously, for 20 years the squirrels and I mostly lived in peace. I put 2 baffles on the pole where I put sunflowers seeds for the birds and they can't get at the feeder. They were welcome to the seeds that the birds spill on the ground.
A few years ago, some squirrels in one tree grove started taking all the apples. I didn't mind that much because I never sprayed the apples and insects ruined them. Besides, it was funny watching them running along the top of the fence with apples in their mouths.
But then 2 years ago they started taking my tomatoes. I don't grow heirloom tomatoes for squirrrels... There are few enough fruits on an heirloom tomato as it is. Last year, I only got 2 ripe tomatoes from 8 plants.
This year they started pulling up the corn and bean seedlings for the tiny remnant of the planted seeds. I WILL have a garden. If I have to completely redesign the garden so that it can be enclosed with 1" mesh chicken wire and I have to pollinate the plants manually, I will do that! But killing those few squirrels who have learned to take my fruits and seedlings will (I hope) be easier. And I will not stay up nights unsleeping worrying about a few drowned squirrels...
I went to the local hardware store and bought 50' of 3' wide chicken wire (aka "poultry netting"). I cut two pieces of it 20' long. It loves the way it is rolled up so I manually bent it flat and that took some effort. Then I made a tent of the two pieces along the trellis to shield my seedlings and the newly-planted new seeds.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha...
But seriously, for 20 years the squirrels and I mostly lived in peace. I put 2 baffles on the pole where I put sunflowers seeds for the birds and they can't get at the feeder. They were welcome to the seeds that the birds spill on the ground.
A few years ago, some squirrels in one tree grove started taking all the apples. I didn't mind that much because I never sprayed the apples and insects ruined them. Besides, it was funny watching them running along the top of the fence with apples in their mouths.
But then 2 years ago they started taking my tomatoes. I don't grow heirloom tomatoes for squirrrels... There are few enough fruits on an heirloom tomato as it is. Last year, I only got 2 ripe tomatoes from 8 plants.
This year they started pulling up the corn and bean seedlings for the tiny remnant of the planted seeds. I WILL have a garden. If I have to completely redesign the garden so that it can be enclosed with 1" mesh chicken wire and I have to pollinate the plants manually, I will do that! But killing those few squirrels who have learned to take my fruits and seedlings will (I hope) be easier. And I will not stay up nights unsleeping worrying about a few drowned squirrels...
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Watering Trees
A neighbor has an orange bucket next to a tree he planted 2 years ago. I had wondered about that. Then today, I remembered a watering trick from a gardening magazine. Its funny how the brain can dredge up old information.
The idea was to slowly drip water from a small hole in the bucket onto the roots of a tree so it wouldn't run off. AHA! I have a few 5 gallon buckets around for various uses. So I took a green one (blends better into the background), drilled a very small hole into the bottom and set it next to the Sourwood tree I an trying to bring back to growth.
I love the Sourwood Tree. It has red and gold seeds and leaves in Fall. I planted 3 when I first moved here. 1 remains and it is only 3 feet high. I don't water the front yard as well as the back. Well, I live in the back and don't care about the front much (I'm changing that).
So I placed the 5 gallon bucket just uhill from the tree, filled it up with a hose, and watched what happened. It took 2 HOURS for the water to drip out the tiny hole. RThat means every drop went down into the root zone.
I LOVE this idea and will use the bucket all around the front yard plants. The advantage is that the bucket has a 5 gallons of water, but no more. I used to leave a hose dripping water out very slowly but I never knew how much it was getting (and forget it was going overnight sometimes.) THIS way, its 5 gallons and no need to remember it later.
What a great idea!
The idea was to slowly drip water from a small hole in the bucket onto the roots of a tree so it wouldn't run off. AHA! I have a few 5 gallon buckets around for various uses. So I took a green one (blends better into the background), drilled a very small hole into the bottom and set it next to the Sourwood tree I an trying to bring back to growth.
I love the Sourwood Tree. It has red and gold seeds and leaves in Fall. I planted 3 when I first moved here. 1 remains and it is only 3 feet high. I don't water the front yard as well as the back. Well, I live in the back and don't care about the front much (I'm changing that).
So I placed the 5 gallon bucket just uhill from the tree, filled it up with a hose, and watched what happened. It took 2 HOURS for the water to drip out the tiny hole. RThat means every drop went down into the root zone.
I LOVE this idea and will use the bucket all around the front yard plants. The advantage is that the bucket has a 5 gallons of water, but no more. I used to leave a hose dripping water out very slowly but I never knew how much it was getting (and forget it was going overnight sometimes.) THIS way, its 5 gallons and no need to remember it later.
What a great idea!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Plagues?
I'm beginning to get a bit suspicious at the series of "troublesome critters" this year. First there was the groundhog. I seem to get a couple each year for the past few years. I usually live-trap and relocate them miles away, but that is tiresome (and possibly illegal), and replacements always arrive for a while. This year I decided to just start dumping the bags of catbox scoopings into the burrow entrances. This groundhog dug 2 more new burrow entrances that I kept filling up before it gave up and moved away. At least, I can't FIND any new entrances and I haven't seen it out on the back lawn at dusk.
But perhaps it made a deal with the squirrels. As soon as IT vanished, the squirrels started pulling up my new bean, cuke, and corn seedlings. I've tried to live-trap THEM, but no luck yet. I attached the live-trap to the top of the fence they use as their personal highway, but I think they just run over top of it. I may have to encourage them to go THROUGH the live-trap with a small chicken wire wall above it.
Meanwhile, I was invaded by small ants. As mentioned in a previous post, they don't seem to be coming FROM anywhere or going TO anywhere in particular, just wandering around near the deck door and the kitchen backsplash. No trail of ants going back and forth, no food being targeted. They don't even bother the cat's food!
I think that the invasion is over, because I didn't see one for 2 days and then just one this morning.
But perhaps they all turned into houseflies! Yesterday morning, I woke up to find a dozen of them all buzzing at the living room window looking for a way out. The source baffles me. I haven't had any windows open, there are none in the garage where I keep the garbage, there are none in the small compost collection bin, there are none in the basement where some mouse might have gotten in and gotten killed by the cats.
They are easy enough to kill against the windows, but I found just as many there again TODAY! Killed those too of course.
What's next, a rain of frogs?
But perhaps it made a deal with the squirrels. As soon as IT vanished, the squirrels started pulling up my new bean, cuke, and corn seedlings. I've tried to live-trap THEM, but no luck yet. I attached the live-trap to the top of the fence they use as their personal highway, but I think they just run over top of it. I may have to encourage them to go THROUGH the live-trap with a small chicken wire wall above it.
Meanwhile, I was invaded by small ants. As mentioned in a previous post, they don't seem to be coming FROM anywhere or going TO anywhere in particular, just wandering around near the deck door and the kitchen backsplash. No trail of ants going back and forth, no food being targeted. They don't even bother the cat's food!
I think that the invasion is over, because I didn't see one for 2 days and then just one this morning.
But perhaps they all turned into houseflies! Yesterday morning, I woke up to find a dozen of them all buzzing at the living room window looking for a way out. The source baffles me. I haven't had any windows open, there are none in the garage where I keep the garbage, there are none in the small compost collection bin, there are none in the basement where some mouse might have gotten in and gotten killed by the cats.
They are easy enough to kill against the windows, but I found just as many there again TODAY! Killed those too of course.
What's next, a rain of frogs?
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Da Squirrels, Da Squirrels!
Well, I have pretty well confirmed that it's squirrels that have been
pulling up my bean and corn seedlings. The past 2 mornings, I have
slipped out of the house quietly in the morning and rousted several
squirrels from my garden at the right spots.
They all run away in the same direction. There is a grove of trees in the east neighbors' yards that direction that don't seem to produce much that a squirrel can eat. They seem to be aspen and birch. The trees on the west side are oaks, and I never see squirrels from the garden run in that direction.
Squirrel families are territorial, so I gather that the East Side squirrels are outcasts who are starving. I ALMOST feel sorry for them. Still, they pulled up 10 of my 12 bean seedlings, 18 of my 18 corn seedlings, and 6 of my 12 cucumber seedlings. It may also explain why most of my crocuses on the east side of my lawn have been dug up. Maybe I've been blaming the voles overly much (not that they are innocent either).
But the point is that there seems to be this one group of squirrels that have learned to get their food from my garden. I have been here 26 years and only started having a problem with squirrels 3 years ago. At first they only took the green apples from my 2 dwarf espaliered trees. I didn't mind that much because I never remembered to spray them and the insects always ruined the apples anyway. Last year, they started taking the green tomatoes. This year, its even the various seedlings. I have to stop this group before they teach others squirrels these damaging habits! I know that sounds silly, but local groups animals do learn successful feeding strategies not common throughout the species. So I am after one small group of squirrels.
I tried using a live trap several times, but I haven't caught a squirrel yet. I tried it on the ground next to the beans, on the ground just before the beans, and finally on the top of the fence where the squirrels run along. No luck! Well, I caught a young possum, and it won't be tripping my trap any more...
Well, maybe my bait was bad. I tried cashews, I tried a slice of peach, I tried a small apple picked from my tree. A couple of times the bait was simply gone with the enclosure doors closed, but most times the doors were shut with the bait still inside. I assume the squirrels ran over the top of the live trap and triggered the release lever.
So I went to a site that discussed the right bait for attracted squirrels into live traps. It said the best was peanut butter with peanuts in the shell stuck down onto it. I didn't have any of either. But I did had some dried corn on the cob. I bought a cheap bag of it to bribe the squirrels away from my garden, but hey if they like it that much, it should get them in the trap, right?
I sure hope so. One web site I found said that squirrels are gluttons and easy to trap. Right... I'll settle for ONE first.
They all run away in the same direction. There is a grove of trees in the east neighbors' yards that direction that don't seem to produce much that a squirrel can eat. They seem to be aspen and birch. The trees on the west side are oaks, and I never see squirrels from the garden run in that direction.
Squirrel families are territorial, so I gather that the East Side squirrels are outcasts who are starving. I ALMOST feel sorry for them. Still, they pulled up 10 of my 12 bean seedlings, 18 of my 18 corn seedlings, and 6 of my 12 cucumber seedlings. It may also explain why most of my crocuses on the east side of my lawn have been dug up. Maybe I've been blaming the voles overly much (not that they are innocent either).
But the point is that there seems to be this one group of squirrels that have learned to get their food from my garden. I have been here 26 years and only started having a problem with squirrels 3 years ago. At first they only took the green apples from my 2 dwarf espaliered trees. I didn't mind that much because I never remembered to spray them and the insects always ruined the apples anyway. Last year, they started taking the green tomatoes. This year, its even the various seedlings. I have to stop this group before they teach others squirrels these damaging habits! I know that sounds silly, but local groups animals do learn successful feeding strategies not common throughout the species. So I am after one small group of squirrels.
I tried using a live trap several times, but I haven't caught a squirrel yet. I tried it on the ground next to the beans, on the ground just before the beans, and finally on the top of the fence where the squirrels run along. No luck! Well, I caught a young possum, and it won't be tripping my trap any more...
Well, maybe my bait was bad. I tried cashews, I tried a slice of peach, I tried a small apple picked from my tree. A couple of times the bait was simply gone with the enclosure doors closed, but most times the doors were shut with the bait still inside. I assume the squirrels ran over the top of the live trap and triggered the release lever.
So I went to a site that discussed the right bait for attracted squirrels into live traps. It said the best was peanut butter with peanuts in the shell stuck down onto it. I didn't have any of either. But I did had some dried corn on the cob. I bought a cheap bag of it to bribe the squirrels away from my garden, but hey if they like it that much, it should get them in the trap, right?
I sure hope so. One web site I found said that squirrels are gluttons and easy to trap. Right... I'll settle for ONE first.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Those Darn Ants!
For 2 weeks, I have had very small ants wandering around the TV room and adjacent kitchen. They show up just inside the deck door, the kitchen windowsill, and on the backsplash board on the counters.
OK, ants seek food and sometimes they find their way into the house, but they aren't acting normal! There is no trail of ants going anywhere. There is no sign of them outside the house. There is no paricular entry point I can detect. There are never more than a few at a time, but there are ALWAYS a few any time I look.
They aren't in the pantry at some loose food box (I moved everything around and looked with a flashlight), they aren't at the cat food bowls, they aren't in the cabinets (flashlight again), they aren't even at the compost bin which is the main thing I would think would attract ants.
They aren't in the ceiling of the basement below the kitchen or the TV room.
Hey, this is vaguely sounding like a Dr Seuss poem... I'll have to work on that idea!
I sprayed only once right under the base of the deck door inside and out (and then cleaned the exposed floor because the cats found the smell interesting). I'm not too worried about the effect of the (organic) ant spray on cats because the stuff won't even annoy wasps and wasps evolved FROM ants (or vice versa) so they are very closely related, but why take chances. But the limited spraying had no effect on the few ants visible at all times.
The point is that I can't figure out WHERE they are coming from, WHY they are in here, WHAT is keeping them searching around, or WHEN they are most commonly seen. It seems completely constant, yet completely random.
I've probably killed over a thousand by finger and shoe. It doesn't seem to make any difference if I kill them or not. When I crush all the visible ones, there about as many in 10 minutes. Yet after not bothering them all night, there are still ONLY as many in the morning.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I haven't yet had a fruit fly (aka fungal gnats) yet this year, and I usually have problems with them by now. I'm pretty sure the ants aren't catching the fruit flies, but bigger theories have been proposed on such coincidental observations, LOL!
I expect the ants will simply stop appearing in a few days and I will never know why they where here or why they left. It will be one of those mysteries of nature; those "Ants In My Midst".
OK, ants seek food and sometimes they find their way into the house, but they aren't acting normal! There is no trail of ants going anywhere. There is no sign of them outside the house. There is no paricular entry point I can detect. There are never more than a few at a time, but there are ALWAYS a few any time I look.
They aren't in the pantry at some loose food box (I moved everything around and looked with a flashlight), they aren't at the cat food bowls, they aren't in the cabinets (flashlight again), they aren't even at the compost bin which is the main thing I would think would attract ants.
They aren't in the ceiling of the basement below the kitchen or the TV room.
Hey, this is vaguely sounding like a Dr Seuss poem... I'll have to work on that idea!
I sprayed only once right under the base of the deck door inside and out (and then cleaned the exposed floor because the cats found the smell interesting). I'm not too worried about the effect of the (organic) ant spray on cats because the stuff won't even annoy wasps and wasps evolved FROM ants (or vice versa) so they are very closely related, but why take chances. But the limited spraying had no effect on the few ants visible at all times.
The point is that I can't figure out WHERE they are coming from, WHY they are in here, WHAT is keeping them searching around, or WHEN they are most commonly seen. It seems completely constant, yet completely random.
I've probably killed over a thousand by finger and shoe. It doesn't seem to make any difference if I kill them or not. When I crush all the visible ones, there about as many in 10 minutes. Yet after not bothering them all night, there are still ONLY as many in the morning.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I haven't yet had a fruit fly (aka fungal gnats) yet this year, and I usually have problems with them by now. I'm pretty sure the ants aren't catching the fruit flies, but bigger theories have been proposed on such coincidental observations, LOL!
I expect the ants will simply stop appearing in a few days and I will never know why they where here or why they left. It will be one of those mysteries of nature; those "Ants In My Midst".
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Some Evil Squirrels
Some evil squirrels are about to die. I do not find pleasure in this. I admire squirrels in many ways; they are clever, agile, and adaptive and I generally respect that. I even think they are "cute". I set up two squirrel baffles on the bird-feeder and I thought we had reached an understanding. They couldn't reach the birdfeeder, but they were welcome to the seeds that fell.
But one one small group of them in a particular community learn to survive by eating every unripe apple, pull up every pole bean seedling, dig up every corn seedling, and pull off every heirloom tomato fruit , I have to put a stop to it.
I had squirrels around for the first 24 years here and never had a problem. 2 years ago , they suddenly learned to eat my tomatoes. Last year, they started to eat my bean seedling. This year, they are tearing up any plant I plant.
I wasn't sure it was really squirrels until yesterday when I caught them in the act. There were 3 squirrels in the garden at the places where I am losing plants that I am growing for my food! I know the direction they come from.
I seriously think it is just one group of squirrels. I intend to kill them as serious varmints.
I have several Hav-A-Hart live traps and one is sized for squirrels. But I must mention that I am only using Hav-A-Hart traps so that I won't catch innocent animals like my cats or other cats. Any squirrel I catch in the direction of the cadre that destroys my garden will die.
They have pulled up all my corn seedlings 3 times, my beans 3 times and half my cucumbers up twice. I admire squirrels a lot, but when it comes to MY food, they are going to lose. Its not ALL the squirrels; its only the ones that come from one direction and I'm going to get THOSE!
The most humane way I know to kill varmints is drowning. I tried stabbing them with arrows through the cage screen, but it didn't work fast. So I just drown them. Its not as bad as you think. They move around confused for a minute, then blurp an exhalation. Then they are gone.
I expect some complaints, but I've tried different ways and that is the fastest I've found.
But if it is a contest between my growing veggies for my own food and allowing the squirrels to stop me from growing my own food, the squirrels are going to lose gradually and eventually.
But one one small group of them in a particular community learn to survive by eating every unripe apple, pull up every pole bean seedling, dig up every corn seedling, and pull off every heirloom tomato fruit , I have to put a stop to it.
I had squirrels around for the first 24 years here and never had a problem. 2 years ago , they suddenly learned to eat my tomatoes. Last year, they started to eat my bean seedling. This year, they are tearing up any plant I plant.
I wasn't sure it was really squirrels until yesterday when I caught them in the act. There were 3 squirrels in the garden at the places where I am losing plants that I am growing for my food! I know the direction they come from.
I seriously think it is just one group of squirrels. I intend to kill them as serious varmints.
I have several Hav-A-Hart live traps and one is sized for squirrels. But I must mention that I am only using Hav-A-Hart traps so that I won't catch innocent animals like my cats or other cats. Any squirrel I catch in the direction of the cadre that destroys my garden will die.
They have pulled up all my corn seedlings 3 times, my beans 3 times and half my cucumbers up twice. I admire squirrels a lot, but when it comes to MY food, they are going to lose. Its not ALL the squirrels; its only the ones that come from one direction and I'm going to get THOSE!
The most humane way I know to kill varmints is drowning. I tried stabbing them with arrows through the cage screen, but it didn't work fast. So I just drown them. Its not as bad as you think. They move around confused for a minute, then blurp an exhalation. Then they are gone.
I expect some complaints, but I've tried different ways and that is the fastest I've found.
But if it is a contest between my growing veggies for my own food and allowing the squirrels to stop me from growing my own food, the squirrels are going to lose gradually and eventually.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Playing Risk Online
After practicing by myself for a few weeks, I rejoined online play. It was weird. The first 4 games I tried to join were apparently started by people who only start games to have inactive games. Those games never actually start. But the 5th game was weirder.
There were 4 other players, all who had many more game points than I did. And I had a terrible position (scattered around Central Asia, which is about the worst place to be). But 2 of the players had some sort of personal feud and I got Australia (barely).
Then they went to war over North and South America, so I took over Asia (while they also killed the other 2 players). It may have helped that I had just watched 2 hours of US Civil War battles because I would have made a general proud with enclosing moves and attacks on weak places.
So there were the 2 "strong" players still fussing with each other in North America and FOR ONCE I kept my forces carefully organized and only attacked with strength slowly and had Australia, Asia, Africa, and finally, Europe. And they both went "Hey wait, whats he doing?"
It was too late for both of them. LOL! Most satisfying game in quite a while. I wiped them both out while they were trading incriminations about each other's poor play.
The race may usually go to the swift and the battle to the best generals, and that's the way to bet. But the quiet and the sly also win sometimes. LOL!
There were 4 other players, all who had many more game points than I did. And I had a terrible position (scattered around Central Asia, which is about the worst place to be). But 2 of the players had some sort of personal feud and I got Australia (barely).
Then they went to war over North and South America, so I took over Asia (while they also killed the other 2 players). It may have helped that I had just watched 2 hours of US Civil War battles because I would have made a general proud with enclosing moves and attacks on weak places.
So there were the 2 "strong" players still fussing with each other in North America and FOR ONCE I kept my forces carefully organized and only attacked with strength slowly and had Australia, Asia, Africa, and finally, Europe. And they both went "Hey wait, whats he doing?"
It was too late for both of them. LOL! Most satisfying game in quite a while. I wiped them both out while they were trading incriminations about each other's poor play.
The race may usually go to the swift and the battle to the best generals, and that's the way to bet. But the quiet and the sly also win sometimes. LOL!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Ticked Off
My backyard is not mostly lawn. 2/3s of it was wooded and under-brushy when I moved in and I have gradually removed most of the trees. Its not that I dont like trees (I do) but the neighbors let trees grow so tall all around my property lines that I was desperate for some sunlight for my flowerbeds and veggie garden. So there are actually MORE trees in the general area.
But one consequence is that the open formerly wooded area is growing all sorts of junk; briars, spurge, burdock, mock strawberries, vines, and tall grasses. Ticks love that stuff. I have to thoroughly check the cats when they come in. I check myself too, but I'm pretty sensitive to anything moving on me.
(Warning, possible TMI alert - You may want to stop reading)
But some places are less sensitive than others. Like the (ahem) "base of the spine". I idly scratched there a couple of times the other day before realizing that there was a tick. Upon divesting myself of some clothing I realized I must have chased it around a bit. I had 4 bite-bumps in just 4 sq inches! I pulled it off before it drew any blood and put it on the counter where I put a drop of rubbing alcohol on it. That always kills them. Not to be gross, but I then scratched all the bumps a bit raw and put Neosporin on them. The Lone Star ticks don't carry the worst tick diseases, but I like to be careful. even though the literature says it takes 12 hours before they can transmit any disease.
I did some research tonight, and it seems my yard has Lone Star Ticks (aka Seed Ticks). They are fast little suckers! Deet is supposed to repel them, but it doesn't according to some videos I watched. On the other hand, they seem to get me where I don't use Deet. I should mention that we have Asian Tiger Mosquitos here in MD (the only kind that I can't detect when they are on me) so I use a 7% Deet spray on my arms outdoors (which is generally sufficient) and I wear long tan twill pants even in Summer. So when I find a tick on me it is usually behind my knees or on my back. Hmmm, maybe the Deet DOES work. I think I will start spraying it on my pants legs and socks.
I rarely find a tick on the cats (although Iza famously had one right on her butt once). And I found a dead shell of one in Marley's earfolds once. He is touchy about me exploring there, so I tend to avoid it.
Well, anyway, the tick-bite-bumps have gone away now, I don't see any reaction, and the tick was too flat to have started to get any blood yet.
But watch out for those things. Most ticks move slowly but the Lone Star ticks run like ants! I wear the tan twill pants when working outside partly because it is easy to spot them. But these ones can get over your socks and on your legs before you check.
The backyard, other than the gardens is mostly a wasteland of scrub growth. I used to rather like the wildness of it. I keep the gardens organic, but I am not so fussy about the non-edible areas. I'm going to spray Roundup around a lot of the area. And trap the voles which seem to be the tick vectors here.
I'm sure you will forgive me for not taking pictures of the tick-bites, LOL!
But one consequence is that the open formerly wooded area is growing all sorts of junk; briars, spurge, burdock, mock strawberries, vines, and tall grasses. Ticks love that stuff. I have to thoroughly check the cats when they come in. I check myself too, but I'm pretty sensitive to anything moving on me.
(Warning, possible TMI alert - You may want to stop reading)
But some places are less sensitive than others. Like the (ahem) "base of the spine". I idly scratched there a couple of times the other day before realizing that there was a tick. Upon divesting myself of some clothing I realized I must have chased it around a bit. I had 4 bite-bumps in just 4 sq inches! I pulled it off before it drew any blood and put it on the counter where I put a drop of rubbing alcohol on it. That always kills them. Not to be gross, but I then scratched all the bumps a bit raw and put Neosporin on them. The Lone Star ticks don't carry the worst tick diseases, but I like to be careful. even though the literature says it takes 12 hours before they can transmit any disease.
I did some research tonight, and it seems my yard has Lone Star Ticks (aka Seed Ticks). They are fast little suckers! Deet is supposed to repel them, but it doesn't according to some videos I watched. On the other hand, they seem to get me where I don't use Deet. I should mention that we have Asian Tiger Mosquitos here in MD (the only kind that I can't detect when they are on me) so I use a 7% Deet spray on my arms outdoors (which is generally sufficient) and I wear long tan twill pants even in Summer. So when I find a tick on me it is usually behind my knees or on my back. Hmmm, maybe the Deet DOES work. I think I will start spraying it on my pants legs and socks.
I rarely find a tick on the cats (although Iza famously had one right on her butt once). And I found a dead shell of one in Marley's earfolds once. He is touchy about me exploring there, so I tend to avoid it.
Well, anyway, the tick-bite-bumps have gone away now, I don't see any reaction, and the tick was too flat to have started to get any blood yet.
But watch out for those things. Most ticks move slowly but the Lone Star ticks run like ants! I wear the tan twill pants when working outside partly because it is easy to spot them. But these ones can get over your socks and on your legs before you check.
The backyard, other than the gardens is mostly a wasteland of scrub growth. I used to rather like the wildness of it. I keep the gardens organic, but I am not so fussy about the non-edible areas. I'm going to spray Roundup around a lot of the area. And trap the voles which seem to be the tick vectors here.
I'm sure you will forgive me for not taking pictures of the tick-bites, LOL!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Don't Shop For Colors On A Rainy Day!
OK, I'm a guy, I can remember about 16 colors in my head when I shop (but interestingly, I know 64 compass directions). But at least when I'm looking at them in a store, I can tell slight differences. So there I was deciding to get a new bath towel to (sort of) fit with the shower curtain with bright colors and the green floor mat. I thought a generally olive color would look OK. I selected one a computer color chart says is "dark moss green". I got it home and hung it on the towel rack. It looks gray with a hint of blue! I can't even FIND that on the computer color chart (well computer monitors are limited).
I also wanted some deep green casual button shirts and found one that was definitely green but pretty dark, but I thought it would do. At home? It looks charcoal! Maybe it will look OK outside in sunlight...
One of my first post-college jobs was as Manager of a department store shoe department. One aisle was of ladies fashion shoes. I ALWAYS used to insist that they bring the shoes they chose to the front of the store to see the real color in daylight. I would have done that myself today, except the Menswear Dept of the Target store is about 1/4 mile away from the front of the store, and it was raining anyway.
I should know better. Men buy things one at a time and hope they match. A mat here, a curtain there, when some item needs to be replaced, etc. Women buy "outfits" or "rooms". Someday, I will learn to do that.
But for now, I am cursed with bluish-gray towels that SHOULD look moss green. Well, the cats don't mind. Maybe I will buy real-daylight bulbs to put all over the house.
I also wanted some deep green casual button shirts and found one that was definitely green but pretty dark, but I thought it would do. At home? It looks charcoal! Maybe it will look OK outside in sunlight...
One of my first post-college jobs was as Manager of a department store shoe department. One aisle was of ladies fashion shoes. I ALWAYS used to insist that they bring the shoes they chose to the front of the store to see the real color in daylight. I would have done that myself today, except the Menswear Dept of the Target store is about 1/4 mile away from the front of the store, and it was raining anyway.
I should know better. Men buy things one at a time and hope they match. A mat here, a curtain there, when some item needs to be replaced, etc. Women buy "outfits" or "rooms". Someday, I will learn to do that.
But for now, I am cursed with bluish-gray towels that SHOULD look moss green. Well, the cats don't mind. Maybe I will buy real-daylight bulbs to put all over the house.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Well, That Was Fun, But A Surprise!
Last night around 10:30 pm, I lost access to one of my 3 email accounts.
I spent the better part of 12 hours trying to get it working again and only managed to lose access to ALL 3 accounts. I boiled, I steamed (taking an hour off at 6 am to rip the grass away from the front yard trees and prune a few wayward branches in frustration management). I had tried to find a way to reach Verizon but could only get a dumb computer assistant that was worthless. Verizon does NOT want you to reach an actual human being...
I was so angry I was QUIVERING. I wanted a HUMAN on line to solve this problem! I am sorry to say that I wouldn't let any of the Mews up on the computer desk. I couldn't handle the distraction.
About 9:30 am I finally remembered that I had old paper bills from Verizon and THOSE had a customer service telephone number. AHA! I had a telephone number, and it got me right through to a human (probably few people have that number now)!
It took HIM (matter of chance) an HOUR to fix the problem after I let him take over my computer (and I have to say that almost every serious computer problem I've ever had has been solved SMOOTHLY that way). I had to keep entering a password (must be Verizon policy since he could see what it was) but it did make me feel involved and gave me the illusion of privacy.
Watching the onscreen typing from the Verizon rep was a hoot. He types as badly as I do. He kept deleting keystrokes, LOL! But he fixed it and that's all I really cared about. My emails accounts are working again.
But you won't guess the sweet part of the frustrating hours on line...
Iza put her precious purple softy-mouse at my feet while I struggled.
When she comes in from the deck sunpuddle, I will start a DVD nature show and give her as much laptime as she wants... And she is getting extra treats tonight.
I spent the better part of 12 hours trying to get it working again and only managed to lose access to ALL 3 accounts. I boiled, I steamed (taking an hour off at 6 am to rip the grass away from the front yard trees and prune a few wayward branches in frustration management). I had tried to find a way to reach Verizon but could only get a dumb computer assistant that was worthless. Verizon does NOT want you to reach an actual human being...
I was so angry I was QUIVERING. I wanted a HUMAN on line to solve this problem! I am sorry to say that I wouldn't let any of the Mews up on the computer desk. I couldn't handle the distraction.
About 9:30 am I finally remembered that I had old paper bills from Verizon and THOSE had a customer service telephone number. AHA! I had a telephone number, and it got me right through to a human (probably few people have that number now)!
It took HIM (matter of chance) an HOUR to fix the problem after I let him take over my computer (and I have to say that almost every serious computer problem I've ever had has been solved SMOOTHLY that way). I had to keep entering a password (must be Verizon policy since he could see what it was) but it did make me feel involved and gave me the illusion of privacy.
Watching the onscreen typing from the Verizon rep was a hoot. He types as badly as I do. He kept deleting keystrokes, LOL! But he fixed it and that's all I really cared about. My emails accounts are working again.
But you won't guess the sweet part of the frustrating hours on line...
Iza put her precious purple softy-mouse at my feet while I struggled.
When she comes in from the deck sunpuddle, I will start a DVD nature show and give her as much laptime as she wants... And she is getting extra treats tonight.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
RSS Readers and Cable TV Nonsense Rant
The Old Reader makes me log in every time I want to check it, doesn't store my name/email/blogname for wordpress sites, and seems to dredge up multiple posts from blogs that aren't active.
Feedly lists all posts from all blogs individually so there seem to be 100s if I miss a day of visiting, and their icons are odd. Why a "check mark" should mean "its been read" is beyond me. Why not just have the button say "mark as read"?
Too many apps try to be too hip/cute/clever. We dont need that. We need simple functionality.
I don't really like either site. I am desperately hoping that some site will simply host Google Reader (with any name they like) so I can get back to visiting our friends easily an understand what I am seeing on the reader site.
It reminds me of the time I was on vacation and visited a restaurant that only had 2 different flowers identifying men an women bathrooms. I had to wait until a lady opened one door and asked inside "Is this the right room"? Then I used the other. Men/Women is functional, Buoys/Gulls is cute at a marina, 2 flowers is just stupid.
My TV is gonna go whacko in a few days. The Verizon FiOS folks just told me about an "improvement". Instead of the TV just coming on to the last channel watched, I will have a "helpful" screen full of choices. Like the temperature/weather outside at the time, advertisements of services I already know about from weekly junk mail I dont want and "channels" in the onscreen TV Guide that offer pay-to-view movies, and a description of the channel I last watched.
Gee, I can guess the current weather by looking out the window and I have a thermometer. I know all the services they offer. I find the idea that I need to be told the basic concept of the last channel I watched rather insulting. Who dreams up these ideas?
They brag that I can see the last channel I watched by just clicking "exit" on the remote. But I had that before without having to do the extra click. Some "improvement"...
I suspect that most businesses have a department dedicated to "what can we think of to change today to justify our existence". The only real change I want from my cable TV service is a la carte channel subscription. I want my cable service to divide up the exact current monthly bill by channel and let me choose the ones I will pay for. I'd even let them add 10%. I really only watch 12 channels.
The current system is ridiculous. It's as if you bought a blanket at Walmart and it was bundled with a blender, a bag of potting soil, 6 mismatched spoons, a kids shirt, and 2 videotapes from the clearance rack!
End of rant...
Feedly lists all posts from all blogs individually so there seem to be 100s if I miss a day of visiting, and their icons are odd. Why a "check mark" should mean "its been read" is beyond me. Why not just have the button say "mark as read"?
Too many apps try to be too hip/cute/clever. We dont need that. We need simple functionality.
I don't really like either site. I am desperately hoping that some site will simply host Google Reader (with any name they like) so I can get back to visiting our friends easily an understand what I am seeing on the reader site.
It reminds me of the time I was on vacation and visited a restaurant that only had 2 different flowers identifying men an women bathrooms. I had to wait until a lady opened one door and asked inside "Is this the right room"? Then I used the other. Men/Women is functional, Buoys/Gulls is cute at a marina, 2 flowers is just stupid.
My TV is gonna go whacko in a few days. The Verizon FiOS folks just told me about an "improvement". Instead of the TV just coming on to the last channel watched, I will have a "helpful" screen full of choices. Like the temperature/weather outside at the time, advertisements of services I already know about from weekly junk mail I dont want and "channels" in the onscreen TV Guide that offer pay-to-view movies, and a description of the channel I last watched.
Gee, I can guess the current weather by looking out the window and I have a thermometer. I know all the services they offer. I find the idea that I need to be told the basic concept of the last channel I watched rather insulting. Who dreams up these ideas?
They brag that I can see the last channel I watched by just clicking "exit" on the remote. But I had that before without having to do the extra click. Some "improvement"...
I suspect that most businesses have a department dedicated to "what can we think of to change today to justify our existence". The only real change I want from my cable TV service is a la carte channel subscription. I want my cable service to divide up the exact current monthly bill by channel and let me choose the ones I will pay for. I'd even let them add 10%. I really only watch 12 channels.
The current system is ridiculous. It's as if you bought a blanket at Walmart and it was bundled with a blender, a bag of potting soil, 6 mismatched spoons, a kids shirt, and 2 videotapes from the clearance rack!
End of rant...
Monday, June 3, 2013
Trailer Rebuild, Part 2
So there I was, back to the original framework (except for having some holes drilled through the metal - I tell you those step-bits for drilling metal are great)!
It was time to put on the new stuff. I had decided to raise the sides from 18" to 24". Most of the material I want to haul these days is fairly light - mulch and compost and tree debris. And if its heavy (like sand) I'll just keep the load below the metal framework.
First, I bought all new stainless steel bolts, nuts, washers, split-washers, etc. And a special purchase I will mention later.
Then I started with a solid floorbed. No more tarps of the bottom to damage when I shovel material out of the trailer. The side there is merely clamped down to hold the bottom sheet in place and to see how it would look.
One single 4x8' sheet and then custom fit strips off a 2nd sheet because
(surprise!) the trailer is off square by 1/4" and I didn't want any
gaps. I got that strip so accurate I had to stomp it into place! And then I couldn't push a fingernail in anywhere along the length. Given a long history of bad circular saw cuts, that may be a personal "best". It helped that I used a neat clampable straightedge tool (and measured 3 times before cutting).
Here is the clamping straight edge. It comes in two 4' lengths that can be connected to 8'. Very nice for cutting plywood! Mark the cut line and then 1 1/2" more (for MY circular saw - other brands may vary) and it's hard to go wrong.
So, with the bottom in place, I could attach the sides...
Since the sides stick up higher than the metal framework, they need some support. And the back is designed to be supported by 2x4s sticking into those small frames you can barely see on the back. They work, but they don't quite fit 2x4s; you have to plane or cut them at th corners. but I want better support at the top of the back anyway. And I don't like the exposed edges of the P-T plywood.
So I will show part 3 when I figure out the details. I know WHAT I want to do, but the measurement tolerances are tight so I may think about it a couple days. But if what I have in mind works, you'll like it.
It was time to put on the new stuff. I had decided to raise the sides from 18" to 24". Most of the material I want to haul these days is fairly light - mulch and compost and tree debris. And if its heavy (like sand) I'll just keep the load below the metal framework.
First, I bought all new stainless steel bolts, nuts, washers, split-washers, etc. And a special purchase I will mention later.
Then I started with a solid floorbed. No more tarps of the bottom to damage when I shovel material out of the trailer. The side there is merely clamped down to hold the bottom sheet in place and to see how it would look.
So I will show part 3 when I figure out the details. I know WHAT I want to do, but the measurement tolerances are tight so I may think about it a couple days. But if what I have in mind works, you'll like it.
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