Next project, who knows? It seems like there is always something that need done around here. I've been thinking for some time about getting a hose reel like the one below but holds 300-feet of hose.
There are lots of hose reels out there, I just want to make sure I get a good one. You know the saying, "You get what you pay for", though that's not always true. I had about two sections of about 100-foot hoses for years. They been in sheds (on the floor), in the basement (on the floor), and usually end up anywhere I can find to put them. Right now, I have two on the floor in the new shed, and another one hanging on the outside of the railing going around the pool.
As a matter of fact, the last 100-foot of hose I got for free just a few weeks ago. My neighbor across the road had the hose laying along the road with a sign that said, "Free Hose". I figured it probably had a hole or maybe one of the ends were messed up. The hose probably lay there for two weeks, and I then decided to grab it.
Turns out the hose was fine, nothing wrong with it! The hose I think is 5/8". It's not a bad hose though it kinks easy. My two old hoses are contractor hoses and are pretty good hoses, have to be as long as I had them.
Anyways... someday I'll get a hose reel, I just hope the one I get is a good one.
Song For Today: Blue Öyster Cult - Burning For You
Got everything in the new shed that I wanted to put in it and still have room for some other stuff if I need it. The whole purpose of the new shed was to get things out of the weather. This past year everything sat outside covered in them ugly blue tarps, but an ugly blue tarp is better than not be protected at all.
So, I got the woodchipper, snowblower, wheelbarrow, wood splitter (on a wagon), and another wagon all in the shed. At least now it's better protected from the elements.
Song/Video for Today: Buggles - Video killed the radio star 1979
If you didn't know, this was the first music video played on MTV.
Here are a few pics of the new shed I put up. It took about 2-3 day's which includes the foundation it sits on. The metal trusses, doors, etc., I put together right after the shed arrived so they would be ready and wouldn't have to mess with them later.
In the instructions it called for 2x4's for the floor joists which might be ok for some things, but I used 2x8's being there is going to be a lot of weight sitting in there.
Then of course the day I actually put the shed together it had to be a really hot sunny day so ended up taking a lot of breaks, jumping in the pool, and drinking lotas of water!
Song/Video for Today: Boston - A Man I'll Never Be
Tomorrow morning when I get up, I'll be going to get "most" of the lumber to make the foundation for the shed. What I won't be getting tomorrow is the 4x8x3/4 plywood for the floor. Don't want it laying around and maybe warping until I'm ready for it. It might lay around for a while until I get the blocks where I want them then build the foundation on top of the blocks.
What I will be getting tomorrow is:
9 - concrete blocks
7 - 4" flat blocks
2 - 2x8x16 cut down to 13' so I can haul them
11 - 2x8x8
18-2x8 hangers
Don't need nails or anything else that I know of. Originally, I was going to use pyramid blocks and build on top of them but changed my mine.
Are building on blocks any good compared to putting posts in the ground? Don't really know, but what I can tell you I dog holes in the ground for posts here on three sides of the house and digging in the ground here is hell, nothing but rocks most of the time, big rocks! It took a lot of time trying to bust up a cock down in the hole to get it out, and two or three times I set the post on top of the rock being it was to big to bust up... like giant rocks!
Another thing I can tell you, if you see the deck that goes out to the pool and around it, all of that decking is sitting on pyramid blocks, and I never had any trouble with them.
The idea of using 4" flat block is it has about the same if not bigger footprint on the ground as a pyramid block. All I'll need to do is dig down a few inches for a good firm footing for the flat block to sit on and tamp it down good.
In any case, looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me.... and that work will go slow if it's really hot out. Actually, making the foundation is going to be the easy part, the hard part will be putting the shed together.
Another Song For Today: Boston - More Than a Feeling
Everybody who has a dog calls him "Rover" or "Boy". I call my dog "Sex".
Now, Sex has been very embarrassing to me. When I went to get his license, I told the clerk I would like to have a license for Sex. He said, "Id like to have one too." Then I said, "But this is a dog." He said I didn't care what she looked like. Then I said, "You don't understand, Ive had Sex since I was 9 years old." He said I must have been quite a kid.
When I got married and went on my honeymoon, I took the dog with me. I told the hotel clerk that I wanted a room for my wife and me and a special room for Sex. He said that every room in the place was for sex. I said, "You don't understand, Sex keeps me awake at night." The Clerk said "Me too."
One day I entered Sex in a contest but before the competition began, the dog ran away. Another contestant asked me why I was just standing there looking around. I told him I had planned to have Sex entered in the contest. He told me that I should have sold tickets. "But you don't understand", I said, "I had hoped to have Sex on television." He called me a show-off.
When my wife and I separated, we went to court to file for custody of the dog. I said, "Your Honor, I had Sex before I got married." The judge said "Me too." Then I told him that after I was married, Sex had left me. He said, "Me too."
Last night Sex ran off again. I spent hours looking around town for him. A cop came over to me and asked "What are you doing in this alley at 4 in the morning?" I said, "Im looking for Sex..."
My court date has been set for Friday...
Song For Today: Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought The Law (1966)
I still don't think they know if this guy was murdered or committed suicide.
For years, it has been believed that electric bulbs emit light, but recent information has proven otherwise. Electric bulbs don’t emit light; they suck dark. Thus, we call these bulbs Dark-Suckers.
The Dark-Sucker Theory and the existence of dark-suckers prove that dark has mass and is heavier than light.
First, the basis of the Dark-Sucker Theory is that electric bulbs suck dark. For example, take the Dark-Sucker in the room you are in. There is much less dark right next to it than there is elsewhere. The larger the Dark-Sucker, the greater its capacity to suck dark. Dark-Suckers in the parking lot have a much greater capacity to suck dark than the ones in this room.
As it is with all things, Dark-Suckers don’t last forever. Once they are full of dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the dark spot on a full Dark-Sucker.
A candle is a primitive Dark-Sucker. A new candle has a white wick. You can see that after the first use, the wick turns black, representing all the dark that has been sucked into it. If you put a pencil next to the wick of an operating candle, it will turn black. This is because it got in the way of the dark flowing into the candle. One of the disadvantages of these primitive Dark-Suckers is their limited range.
There are also portable Dark-Suckers. In these, the bulbs can’t handle all the dark by themselves and must be aided by a Dark Storage Unit. When the Dark Storage Unit is full, it must be either emptied or replaced before the portable Dark-Sucker can operate again.
Dark has mass. When dark goes into a Dark-Sucker, friction from the mass generates heat. Thus, it is not wise to touch an operating Dark-Sucker. Candles present a special problem as the mass must travel into a solid wick instead of through clear glass. This generates a great amount of heat and therefore it’s not wise to touch an operating candle-type Dark-Sucker.
Also, dark is heavier than light. If you were to swim just below the surface of the lake, you would see a lot of light. If you were to slowly swim deeper and deeper, you would notice it getting darker and darker. When you get really deep, you would be in total darkness. This is because the heavier dark sinks to the bottom of the lake and the lighter light floats at the top. This is why it is called light.
Finally, we must prove that dark is faster than light. If you were to stand in a lit room in front of a closed, dark closet, and slowly opened the closet door, you would see the light slowly enter the closet. But since dark is so fast, you would not be able to see the dark leave the closet.
Next time you see what is called an electric bulb, remember that it is really a Dark-Sucker.
Song For Today: Bloodrock - D.O.A
The chances of you liking this song is slime to not at all! When this song first came out, it was considered morbid, and a lot of radio stations wouldn't play it. Compared to today standards (if there is any), it's pretty tame
So, I did say I got the shed but have to put it together. Being I don't have the foundation made for it yet, I decided to put together what I could until I got the foundation made. For the foundation you can use concrete or a wood foundation, I'm using wood.
Right from the start I seen two things I didn't like. First, they used 2x4's for the joists. I guess 2x4's might be ok for some, but I'm going with 2x6's or 2x8's for the joists. The big deck out at the pool only has 2x6's but it's very solid no give whatsoever. Of course, they are spaced 16" on center and span less then 9-feet.
I'll probably go with 2x8's being there is going to be a lot of weight in the shed like the woodchipper, snowblower, log splitter, and hard to tell what else.
Another thing I didn't like that was shown is the way they put the plywood on the joists, as shown below.
Why would you put plywood on floor joists this way? Is there any reason? Putting plywood on this way makes for weak joints at the seams (where the plywood meets). Plus, you have a small 4-inch strip at one end. Duh...? If you put the plywood in the other direction, the seams are staggered which make a much stronger floor. Plus, you won't have a small 4" piece of plywood at the one end. Either way you do it, you will still need four sheets of plywood.
When I first said about the shed arriving, I did say how instructions usually suck, and these instructions also do. Some of the pictures I have no idea what I'm really looking at, will try to figure that out when I get that far.
When putting the trusses together, they really confused me, again, bad instructions. I had one weird looking truss, two trusses with a notch on the one end, and one truss with no notches on either end, yet look at the picture below.
The picture is showing one truss with a notched end, and two trusses with no notches, that's wrong, it should be the other way around, two trusses with a notched end, and one truss with no notches. Nothing worse then bad instructions only to find out later after getting things together that you have to take it apart and redo it because the instructions were wrong.
In another part of the instructions, it says there were five of another part but there was only one or two, not five. As for the trusses, I had to keep looking over the instructions as to why I only had one truss with no notches instead of two. I finally did figure out that the instructions were wrong when I read about what truss to use were.
I'm sure I'll probably run into other problems, but hope I catch them before I try putting things together only to find the instructions were wrong and I have to take things apart to correct it.
Song For Today: Black Pus In His Hilarious Attic
I take it most of you won't like this, but I do. You do notice the big pile of broken drumsticks, right?
Got an email that the shed arrived yesterday and could go pick it up. My first thought would it fit in back of the truck or should I take the trailer? I decided to just take the truck. With the tailgate down the shed stuck out past the tailgate by about two feet. The shed arrived in two big, long boxes on a long skid, and yes it had some weight to it, over 600 pounds, probably closer to 700 pounds. Anyways I strapped it down and went home with it.
Next problem, getting it off the truck! The two big boxes were wrapped in plastic wrap, so I had to cut it off first. I then, with the help of my wife slid the top box off which wasn't an easy job being it weighed 300 pounds or more. The second box was harder being it was sticking to the skid, but we finally got it off too.
So, what's next? Being I don't have the material yet to make the foundation for it yet, I think today I'll start putting the trusses together being that's the second step after making the foundation. Also, there is a lot of nuts, bolts and pieces for the trusses, so I take it that might take a while. I'm sure it's going to be a nightmare, the way they make instructions anymore sucks.
Great! Just got a message that the electric will be off next Tuesday for six hours while they upgrade equipment!
Song For Today: Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun
I don't know if it's just me, or is everything taking longer than "normal" to arrive? Seem's like everything used to arrive in just a few days, now it's taking a week or more. Still waiting for my Oklahoma Joe's Bronco smoker cover. Also waiting on the shed to arrive. The shed has been sitting in a place less then 100 miles away now for about 3-4 days. What's up with that?
But then of course I don't know what all else they may have to do. Yea, I know how that goes, we see road crews leaning on a shovel or broom and think what an easy job! We might think that, but we don't know what all they have to do besides leaning on a broom or shovel.
Besides that, how about a "flag" person we seen along the road, easy job? Don't know what else they may have to do, but I wouldn't want that job. Who wants to stand around in the hot sun or cold winter holding a flag for how many hours? Not me, boring job.
One of my easy boring jobs, and one of my hard jobs... My hard job which I actually liked but for the pay at the time was all day long burning railroad track and swinging a 20-pound sledgehammer to break it in half. I probably had one of the easiest jobs in the world which I hated. At the time I picked up this job until I got something better. Any job is better than no job. No job doesn't pay the bills.
In this job I was working at a chicken plant where they kill and process chickens. Where I was working was in the defeathering room with a lot of big machines running. For 10 hours I would just stand there where there was a trough in the floor with water and feathers running through it. Where I stood was a grate which I would just stand there and make sure it didn't get clogged or a chicken didn't get washed down in the trough. If a chicken came by, I'd pick it up and hang it back on the hook.
So I just pretty much stood there for 10 hours doing not much of anything because the grate would never clog, and you only seen a chicken once in a great while. BORING!!!
My first day there when I came out of the plant, I couldn't hear a thing because of the loud machines running all day, no wonder I can't hear anymore.
As for the shed, no big hurry for it to arrive anyways being I didn't buy the blocks, lumber, etc., to make the platform it's going to sit on.
Let's see, where to I start? First off, I went out and turned on the pool pump. Later on, I did sweep the pool and changed the earth in the filter. I went up to the firepit and took the lid off so what was in there would burn more to ash, which it did. We get a big fire going at night and its always still hot the next day. We put a lid on it but it smolders through the night. Next day, take the lid off and it will start burning again. I then got everything ready, and power washed the back of the house, it was looking pretty green from algae.
After that was all done, I mowed the yard but only half of it because the mail came and it had the two new flat free tired for the wagon, so I put them on which worked out pretty good and at least they fit! I then finished mowing the yard, and put both lawn tractors away, then went in for lunch.
After lunch I had to gather and wind up 300 feet of garden hose (thee hoses), that's always fun. One of these day's I'm going to get a hose cart that hold 300 feet of hose. After that was done, I grabbed the wagon I put the new wheels/tires on and took a wagon full of kindlin wood I cut up from old board, then took two wagon loads of split firewood up to the fire pit an unloaded it.
I'm sure I'm probably forgetting some, always to much to do. The last thing I'm going to do here before long is turn the pool pump off for the night.
Song/Video For Today: Benny Benassi - Who's Your Daddy
Today was grocery run day, that's always fun, right! Being I wanted to get the trailer ready to haul them 13-foot 2x8's, I needed to get a deck board for holding up the 13-footers in the back of the trailer. But before I could work on the trailer, I had to get rid of the aluminum can's that were in the back of the trailer. So I loaded the cans (in plastic bags) into the back of the truck and took them to the scrap yard, got $50.00 for them.
After that I went to Lows and got the deck board I needed, took it home then go the Jeep and went to Walmart for groceries. While at Walmart I got a new griddle cover4 for the Blackstone Griddle. I did order a new cover for the Oklahoma Joe's Bronco Smoker the other day. This past winter the Blackstone and smoker were bother covered under one of those ugly blur tarps. Being it was new, it held up pretty good.
Then also the woodchipper and wood splitter are both under a blue tarp, that's why I want the shed. I was going to go with 2x6's for the floor joists but decided to go with 2x8's being there might be a lot of weight in the shed before it's all said and done. The woodchipper itself weights over 600 pounds! Should have seen me getting that out of the back of the truck when I got it!
Anyways, when I got home, I got the trailer fixed up and ready to go.
When is the rain going to quit? I get tired of it raining all the time. We'll get one, maybe two nice days, then it will rain for a number of days. We were to get a half inch of rain last evening but this morning when I woke up, we ended up getting 1.5 inches. So, the weather doesn't look so great the next ten days.
Guess you can't do much about it. I don't even mind a little rain in the morning or evening, but an all-day event sucks, can't do anything outside.
Anyone ever notice how bad they predict the weather? It seems like when I was young and they didn't have all these computer models predicting the weather, they were much more accurate. Is that true or is it just me?
I remember just a few years back they said by morning we would have 10-inches of snow. Woke up the next day and nothing! I read about a year ago that the groundhog is as accurate at predicting the weather as weather people.
Any more you can't make plans according to the weather because they seem to be wrong more than they are right. Now days you can look at the weather for your plans, but you can only take it with a grain of salt and hope for the best.
Nothing worse then making plans for a certain day but you cancel it because you are supposed to have bad weather that day only to find out when that day arrives it's a pretty nice day.
Song For Today: The Equals - Baby Come Back (1968)
Before I get to the problem, my shed has been shipped and is on its way. Now the problem, how do you haul 16-foot 2x8's in an 8-foot trailer? You don't or can't. I do have a solution though... I think. I need two 2x8's by 12.5 feet. The plan is to get Lowes to cut them to 13-feet, that I think I can hall on an 8-foot trailer.
The plan is to take the ramp in the back and lay inside the bed instead of using it like a ramp. The ramp will swing both ways, out or in. Ill then take a board and mount it at the back of the trailer so it's level with the front of the trailer.
I can then take the 2x16 I had cut to 2x13 then lay them on the front of the trailer (on the railing) and on the board I mounted in the back. This way the boards will sit pretty even on the trailer. I'll have about 2-feet out past the front of the trailer, and about 3-feet sticking out the back of the trailer. So, 2-feet out the front, 3-feet out the back, and 8-feet for the length of the trailer, that makes 13-feet.
The tongue on the trailer is long enough that two feet sticking out the front of the trailer should cause any problems.
Using a little sump pump to pump water from the creek to the pool took about 8 hours total. I started filling the pool about 2:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon and about 9:30 p.m. it was pretty close to being full. Being it was dark I unplugged the sump pump and finished filling it this morning while we were uncovering the pool.
The water in the pool from last year looked crystal clear, that was until we added the creek water. Even with all the rain we had the water still doesn't look too bad. I do see a little silt in the center of the pool, but I'll get that when I sweep it plus in a day or two the water should be crystal clear again.
We did have one or two years the pool looked like crap. I remember the one year the creek was pretty muddy looking, and the water looked brown, but it to cleared up in about three days. The other time (was probably the worst), tree leaves was laying on the pool cover and when it lays there in the water, it turns green and stinks! Well, that year the pool cover decided to rip and all then rotting leaves, and Alge went into the pool! What a mess that was, the water was green, and everything was on the bottom of the pool. We got it cleaned up though.
Here are a few pics of the pool uncovered. We still have to put the steps in as well as a few other little things, but it's pretty much ready to go.
Song For Today: Adam & The Ants - Stand And Deliver
I think this is about the only song I like from Adam & The Ants.
I say not much, but I always have things to do. I did finish cutting up the privacy lattice framework today to take to the fire pit. The lattice I just busted up with my hands by leaning it across a sawhorse then breaking it off. I'd break off about a two-foot length then break that in half. Did I get any splinters? One or two.
Talking about work... I don't get it with people wearing gloves all the time, what's with that? Gloves to play golf, gloves to drive car, gloves to work on cars, hunting gloves, gloves. gloves, gloves! Drives me nuts! What is it, did everyone turn into a wimp or what? I never wear gloves unless it's really cold outside, or if I'm working with jagger bushes. I like to feel what I'm touching. Anyways, to each his own, I guess.
Other than cutting up the framework today, we did put out a lot of the summer stuff that goes on the deck. As for the wood I cut up, I'm still waiting for the wheels I ordered from Amazon for the wagon. Another hold up...
The weed eater string I ordered from Amazon came the other day. Remember I said I got 10 loaded spools for $10.00 while Lowes wanted $10.00 for one spool! The line and spools from Amazon look ok, the spools are exactly the same as the old one, just don't know how the line is.. yet.
Also started to fill the pool at about 2:30 p.m. today, It might get filled by 11:00 p.m. I just use a small sump pump I put in the creek and pump the water up to the pool. It can take a while, but I'm in no hurry. Still haven't uncovered to pool, maybe in the next few days if it's not raining. I can still run the pump and filter the water with the cover on, so that's no big deal.
I was told a few people uncovered their pool so rainwater would help top it off. I thought that was a pretty dumb idea. The pool won't be full enough to run the pump and dirt, weeds, bird crap, etc., will get in the water and will be dirty and stagnate. Oh well....
Song For Today: The Honeycombs - Have I the right (1964)
Never knew they had a girl drummer until I seen the video.
I decided to go with the 12.5x8 foot shed. I was looking over the manual to put it together and it looks like a nightmare! 96 pages of instructions!
Now I'm going to have to make a foundation for it which will be posts on pyramid blocks then made of 2x6's and 3/4" plywood. It all sounds like a lot of time and work to me! I figured I was done building stuff years ago.
Song For Today: The Offspring - "Self Esteem" (1994)
Seems like you never have enough sheds for storage. I'd like another shed to store the snowblower, woodchipper, log splitter, and other stuff in. I decided to go with another resin (plastic) shed rather than a wooden shed. If for nothing else, just because of the time and labor involved. Nice thing about building one is you can make it any size you want. Could buy a wooden shed already made but you couldn't get it where I want it plus a lot more expensive.
So, I'm looking into resin sheds, and it seems most larger sheds are 8x something. Originally, I was looking into maybe a 12x15, guess what? Can't find one that size. Can't find a 10x either, but did find a 11x11, but the price was twice the cost of an 8x10 or a 10x8.
I think I could get the size I'd like if I went with a metal shed, I think, but metal sheds made of pretty thin metal, though I can't complain being the big shed out back I put up years ago is still holding up and it's 20 something years old and is something like 14x24.
As for right now, I have my eye on one of the two sheds below.
The first shed above is an 8x10 which is probably a good size being I have to leave room on the left and in the back for air-conditioners sticking out windows in the house.
This second shed is a 12.5x8 This to would fit. Whichever shed I get, I need the doors in the front being there would be no access on either side or back because of the house on the left and back, and the steps coming off the deck on the right. But who knows, buy the time I'm ready to get a shed I might come up with some other size or style.
Song For Today: Amboy Dukes - Journey To The Center Of The Mind 1968.
You do know that's a "young" Ted Nugent playing guitar?
Starting tomorrow it's supposed to start raining, not just tomorrow, but for the next 10 days! The good news is that it's not going to be heavy rains, but mostly rain, showers, and thunderstorms. The most rain I see for any one day is like about a half inch. Still, rain is rain and not sunshine. Still have a lot to put out on the deck as well as soon uncovering the pool. Just hope when we uncover it the creek isn't muddy, being that's where we got the water4 for the pool from. When it's time to top off the pool, I put a sump pump in the creek and pump it up to the pool.
Here's a picture of the one side of our small flower garden. The other side looks a little bare yet, so I didn't take a picture of it. The second picture is what we did with an old hand pump we bought. You can find these old hand pumps at sales, flea markets, antique places and they are all nuts what they want for them. $140-$200 or more for an old pump that doesn't even work?
We bought this pump at a marketplace where people have stalls set up inside. We paid $90 for this broken pump which has a small piece on the one side broken but you probably wouldn't notice it if you weren't really looking. The pump already had the pipe connected to it, but the guy had the pump mounted on a piece of 2x12 with to pieces of angle iron welded to the pipe so he could then bolt it to the board so it would stand up.
So, I had to "cut" off the angle iron then grind it down to where the pipe was flush again where it was welded to the pipe. We then bought a half barrel, put a flange on the end of the pipe and mounted it to the bottom of the barrel as well as drill some holes in the bottom of the barrel for water to drain out. Seems like a lot of work and money for something to just plant flowers in don't you think?
Song For Today: Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (1976)
What's with the song for today? Nothing really, just give you an idea of what kinds of music I like. When it comes to music, I have a very limited number of songs or music I like. Sorry, but you won't hear or see any rap or country music here. I like some country music if it's the "old" country music, none of this newer stuff in the last decade or two. As for rap... like they say, rap, short for CRAP!
Finished power washing the deck today, glad that's done! I said I took "part" of the privacy lattice down, below are two pics, one with it on and one with it off. In the first picture you can see we got part of the railing and privacy lattice done, the second picture shows what we removed. All the privacy lattice on the roadside was left up.
Of course, now everything has been power washed.
About the Cub Cadet ZT1 Mower.
As for cutting grass, it seems to do a good job, but for me there are a few drawbacks. For example, you have to stop to take a drink, light a cigarette, etc., being you need both hands on the controls. I've done both by using one hand to control the mower on a flat straight away, though that's nort a big deal stopping for a few seconds.
Another thing that concerns me is mowing at the edge of the culvert by the road, were talking about a few feet two maybe 5-6 feet deep. Being you have no front wheel steering, one act of putting to much power the one way will send the front of the mower right into the culvert, ouch!
I also have a small bank I have to mow; you can't go up or down it, you have to go across it. So going across this small bank you have to give more power to the one rear wheel to keep the front of the mower rolling down the hill. Remember, the front wheels on a Zero Turn Mower just hand there and go wherever, just like on a grocery cart.
The same holds true when getting the mower out or putting it away in the shed. I use two 2x12's made into ramps, 8-foot long and it's a pretty good slop with the ramps in place... it's not really bad, but bad enough using a ZT mower.
Again, the problem is no front steering, so when you go up or down the ramps you need to give each wheel the same amount of power else it will shoot the front end right off the ramps. With the old mower with front steering, you don't have this problem because the rear wheels are receiving the same amount of power, and you have control of the front wheels. On a ZT mower you have no control of the front wheels. The front wheels on a ZT mower are like two dummies' just hanging there going in whatever direction the rear wheels push.
