The last minute rush and holiday shenanigans.

There was a flurry of things that I got done before going to KY.  I was taking the truck, so the first thing was to empty it out.  So I turned the tractor into the worlds most expensive wheelbarrow.

 

Apparently that was too much weight though.  I haven't dropped the snowblower off it yet, so there was more than enough counterweight, but it was more than the hydraulics could lift.  Oops.  It could still rotate though, just not lift, which was all I needed to dump it.

The truck is empty now though.  I just put them in a pile over by the sawhorses.

Then I had to get the steps into the truck.  I haven't finished the drainage yet, so I used the excavator to get it to the ditch.  It had no problems lifting it, though I would say they were near the weight limit.  The hydraulics had plenty left, but if I leaned on the steps it would lift the back of the excavator, it needs more weight.

 

It did have problems balancing it though.  The controls on the excavator are very jerky because it is cheap, and it was sliding around quite a bit and flopping to the side.  I had to add more stability straps, which only sorta worked.  

 

Sorta worked was enough though. From the ditch I could transfer it to the tractor, which holds it in the bucket a lot better.

 

I discovered something about the excavator while doing this: the weird intermittent electrical issues I have been having are because of the key.  I got agitated when it wouldn't start, gave it some percussion maintenance, and discovered as long as I held the key down it worked fine.  I switched to my other key and it also works fine.  They are just cheap universal keys, so I might have to pick up another set, but at least I know the cause and won't have to tear apart the wiring harness which is a relief. 

 

I was out of light by the time I got it to the ditch, so I started loading the truck instead.  The big dresser was also going down.

 

The next morning before work I grabbed the tractor and finished the handoff.  I should also note that the hydraulics on the excavator are now tight enough that it didn't completely drop overnight, which is a significant improvement.  Funny how things work better when they don't leak...

 

The tractor is a lot more gentle and had no problems putting it in the truck, even as precarious as it was since I was lifting the light end and left the heavy end waay out.

 

My truck made the trip almost without issue.  I had a TPMS sensor fail on the way down, which was really annoying because every time it tries to read the tire pressure (about once an hour or so) it dinged and brought up an error.

 

Despite the late start, I made it to Maryland before I stopped for work.  It was miserably hot, and so humid that it was too hot to sleep despite me grabbing the fan I bought for the CR-V camper, so I didn't sleep long.

 

Since I naturally had to drive through some storms on the way down, I at least got to see a nice sunset afterwards. 

 

I didn't have a ton of projects to work on while I was down in KY, so I mostly worked on the shed that I started last year.  It still needs soffit wire and the trim pieces.  I am regretting my decision at this point to build my own soffits instead of just buying one.  They aren't that expensive; it would have cost twice what the wire did, but it is literally just screw it in and you are done.  Oh well. I also installed some shelves and got my old tiny home dishwasher back up and running so my sisters have a dishwasher again. 

 

We did get to try one of the things I picked up on my last trip.  Cranberry maple syrup.  It was surprisingly good.  I got it on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

 

The drive home was a little bit cooler, so I slept better, but I did get to see some rather fearless trash pandas, errr, raccoons at one of the rest stops in West Virginia.  They literally walked right up to me, and out in the lane of traffic.  I expect they will be splat soon.

 

There was also a random cat on the prowl there as well.

 

I also noticed that the failure of the drip edges I bought online is now complete.  One of the back ones has a clip failing, and the adhesive already failed.  The front ones I had to rip off because they screwed up the sensors in the windows that detect whether there is an obstruction.  It did make it home without completely falling out though, this picture was taken when I stopped for gas in Morehead in KY.

 

Everything was fine at home, other than I really need to make a run to the dump, I didn't have time before I left, and you could smell the bags outside if you are withing ten feet of the can.  Apparently we lost power at some point while I was gone too, all the electric clocks like the one on the stove were way out of whack. It drizzled on me a little when I got home, but it looks like the bulk of the rain has been taken out of the forecast for the next day or two, so there is still a chance it will stay dry enough for me to finish the drainage pipe.  Getting rid of the steps wasn't on the list, but it is now complete, and my sisters now have nice stairs at their back door as well.

 

Available Projects and annual tasks:

• Dunks and bug repellent.
• Clean up yard
• Take scrap metal away
• Finish cleanup on the pile in the back 
• Do something with the trailer.
• Fix excavator
  
• Finish drainage
• Build deck
• Push back trees
• Install concrete pilings
• Install landscape fabric and gravel underneath
• Build frame
• Lay decking
  
• Set up hot tub and pool
• Build insulated platform for hot tub
• Put down pool sand to level spot for pool
• Get water delivered for both
  
• Fix mowers and equipment
• Get tractor serviced
• Build travel station for CR-V/prep CR-V for travel
  
• Move carport
• Build the roof extension over to the rocks
• Fix front stairs 
• Test travel options (rent u-haul and test that, rent trailer and test that)
• Install storm doors
• Build overhangs for windows
• Insulate the water lines
  
• Front yard drainage
• Fix snowblowers (broken grease fitting on big snowblower, gas leak on small one)
  
• Gravel/hardpack driveway
• Fix grade to the shed
• Level a spot for a lean-to up the hill
• Build a small lean-to for off-season equipment
• Make shed mouse-tight 
• Create walking trails (put up markers, maybe put down some gravel).
• Clear and level a spot for orchard
• Build a bridge over the creek
• Build a gazebo or something on the other side

 

Mmmm. Brisket.

Most of the weekend was spent eating brisket (more on that in a minute), but I did pick up my bike on Thursday before going down.  You may recall that it had problems with the pedals.  Because of all the loc-tite and other various attempts to keep if from coming apart, they couldn't reuse the pedals, but they got everything drilled out and tapped correctly and new pedals installed.  Time will tell how this holds up.

 

Friday was the drive down to Long Island for the barbeque.  I decided to take the ferry.  On the way down, I arrived early enough that they tossed me on an earlier one, which was nice.  It was rather enjoyable.  Driving through CT to get to it less so.  

 

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the water was only a few feet below the surface for the cars.  If I hung off the side, my feet and probably a good chunk of my legs would have been in the water.

 

The ferry itself was actually really nice, and reminded me how much I miss being out on the open water.  When I would on cruises, I would often sit on the front deck for hours, and then follow that up by watching the waves and smelling the ocean on the balcony of the room before going to bed.  The front part of the deck on the way to Long Island I had to myself, probably since it was rather windy and cool out.  

 

It threw off some big wake, but then I suppose the ferry was probably pushing >120 tons; it had 70 cars on it, plus whatever a ship built like a parking garage weighs.  

Port Jefferson in the distance.  

 

The cookout was on Saturday.  It turned into a nice day, though it started off a bit soggy.  The brisket was excellent, and probably the best brisket I have had outside of the guys in Texas when I was at Big Bend.

 

I didn't arrive early enough to get put on the earlier ferry on the way back, so I had to wait for mine a little bit.  It was a good thing I had just eaten round 2 of the brisket, because the shrimp that they were cooking over there smelled really good.

 

I got to watch the ferry unload as sunset started.

 

It was still quite pretty when we took off.

 

The picture sucks because Google doesn't know how to stitch a panorama (thanks phone...), but one other thing I miss about being on the water is being able to see the entire horizon.  This was taken well after sunset (and at the very end of twilight), and you can see in the west the little bit of color and light, but as you pan to (presumably) Rhode Island on the right, it gets dark, it is pretty cool.  I got a bunch of pictures with the big camera too, which I haven't uploaded yet.  It should blow up if you click on it.

 

The drive back made me hate CT even more, but I made it back around 1:30AM, and pretty much dragged stuff in and went to bed.  I did have one issue with the conversion on the trip; the bungee cord across the top and the few inches of netting that went across the top were not enough to make the microwave stay on place across the terrible roads in CT.  It isn't clear, but I think just replacing the bungee with an actual strap might be sufficient to prevent it in the future, but will have to play around with it.  I haven't tried it yet to see if it was fatal.  Which would be a shame, and would likely mean I have to move my microwave back and forth instead of it just always being there.

 

I won't likely get the pictures uploaded before I go to KY for the 4th, since I was hoping to leave tomorrow, but I will try to.  This will probably be the last post until I get back though since I have a lot of stuff and not a lot of time to do it in.  I have a couple things to pick up tonight shopping since I cancelled my food service for this week.  I froze a couple of last week's meals, so I will get to see how well they handle that.  The manufacturer recommends against freezing, but the alternative was to toss them, so into the freezer they went.  So I should have something to post when I get back anyways.  But I still have to get all the sand bags out of the truck (which you saw above in the bike picture...), get the steps into the truck, and basically only have tonight to do it, and I have to go into town to pick up my prescriptions and stuff for the longer drive.  I will note that since I have gone on the blood pressure and heart medicine, I don't get as sleepy when I drive though, which is nice.  I was only starting to get sleepy when I got home at 1:30AM, so maybe I won't need to caffeinate as heavily as normal for the drive down, but I want it with me just in case I do need it.  

 

Yuck

This week has been miserably hot, and just as humid.  Monday I decided to go shopping, even though I didn't really need to, mostly because I wanted to go somewhere cool.  The house got up to 82, and even inside the humidity was around 80%.  It was still 89 in Keene when I was done shopping...  At 9PM.  The sunset was nice though, watching it from an air conditioned car.  Thankfully the AC in the CR-V still works great (better than my truck actually...). 

 

As I alluded to in the last post, the window unit actually helped quite a bit.  Tuesday was even hotter (my car said 103 in Keene, and that was after driving a half mile to get rid of the pent-up heat) and it was only 77 inside when I got home.  It also probably helps that the humidity had dropped a little.

Yesterday, I did do some little things until sweat was pouring into my eyes.  I got the bungee installed to hold the table in place.  I don't like how I got the hook eye in on the right side (crooked into the corner of the board), but for now it will work.

 

I noticed after I did that I could easily put a trash can or store something up on this shelf.  At the present moment I don't need the storage, but as I continually put more crap into the car it is a potential storage expansion option.

 

One of the main things I had noticed is that the stove falls out every time I go around a corner, and it rattles like hell.  I attempted to fix the rattle with some carpet squares I had lying around.  They helped tremendously and got it to the point where I didn't want to throw the stove out the window as I was driving, but didn't get rid of all it.  I might swap those for oven mitts and/or pot holders (more function) when I put some in there.

 

I also tried pulling some of the slack out of the cargo net.  It helped, the stove only slides partway out now, it doesn't fall down anymore.

 

Last night was mostly vegetating and consuming more AC and I began packing for the trip, I am headed to Krass' this weekend for a cookout.

 

Available Projects and annual tasks:

• Dunks and bug repellent.
• Clean up yard
• Take scrap metal away
• Finish cleanup on the pile in the back 
• Do something with the trailer.
• Fix excavator
  
• Finish drainage
• Build deck
• Push back trees
• Install concrete pilings
• Install landscape fabric and gravel underneath
• Build frame
• Lay decking
  
• Set up hot tub and pool
• Build insulated platform for hot tub
• Put down pool sand to level spot for pool
• Get water delivered for both
  
• Fix mowers and equipment
• Get tractor serviced
• Build travel station for CR-V/prep CR-V for travel
  
• Move carport
• Build the roof extension over to the rocks
• Fix front stairs 
• Test travel options (rent u-haul and test that, rent trailer and test that)
• Install storm doors
• Build overhangs for windows
• Insulate the water lines
  
• Front yard drainage
• Fix snowblowers (broken grease fitting on big snowblower, gas leak on small one)
  
• Gravel/hardpack driveway
• Fix grade to the shed
• Level a spot for a lean-to up the hill
• Build a small lean-to for off-season equipment
• Make shed mouse-tight 
• Create walking trails (put up markers, maybe put down some gravel).
• Clear and level a spot for orchard
• Build a bridge over the creek
• Build a gazebo or something on the other side

Toasty weekend, but excavator lives.

Last Thursday mother nature turned on the sauna.  My two portable units couldn't keep up.  It was down to 83 when I got home (the high was 86), but the house got toasty.

 

I ended up closing off all the other rooms.  It helped.  I still have concerns about when it gets to the 90s later this week.  The humidity has been obnoxious too, the dewpoint is now up in the 70s.

 

Friday I managed to get a couple of things done.  I got the support cut and sanded for the bed platform. 

 

I also got the drawer rollers installed on the drawer, and a couple of bolts just to make sure it holds together.  I don't trust the glue. 

 

Friday after work I went to pick up some free sand.  There is more there I could take, but it is well over an hour away, it is a bit further than I thought.

 

It was located at a power station.  There was some interesting stuff there, like a ginormous impeller.  

 

The view was quite nice. 

 

We had our first dry Saturday since about March.  Saturday was excavator day.  I got the charger put on it.  The charger said it was almost full, which was odd.  I left it on float for a couple of hours.

 

I also filled the hydraulic fluid.  I might have seriously overfilled it; everything I read online said it took 2 gallons, but this took at most 1.5 gallons.  Oops.

 

I got the trench finished.  At least kinda.  I need everything to dry out and get my level out to double check. 

 

Sunday I awoke to a thunderstorm since we can't have a weekend without precipitation.  All it did though was increase the humidity.  While everything was drying out, I took a short trip into town.  I needed a flat spot, so I went and brought my used oil to get it out of the carport.  I wanted to see how level the conversion was, and there isn't a single level spot in my driveway.  It was as bad as it looked.

 

When I got home I made some more minor modifications.  This is just so it isn't pressed against the driver's seat.   

I got another board put under the front to help level it.  It looks pretty good now.

 

The last thing was to get the cargo net over it.  This is supposed to keep the stuff from falling out.

I went out for a bit once it started to cool off.  Got to watch the sunset.

 

I was still roasting when I got home though.  My AC was struggling so I borrowed the fan I bought for the car.

 

This morning before it got too horrible I went out and loaded things into the conversion.  

 

My new sleeping pad arrived today too, which was faster than expected.  The other thing is a camping washer; a laundry washing bag.

That was the last piece, so I got the sleeping side all set up too.  The blue thing is the pad from my cot.  I have a sleeping bag I could put on top as well, but I don't think I will need that in the summer.

Today was brutally hot, the first of our days in the 90s.  Despite the ACs, it still got up into the 80s inside.

 

The only other AC I have is a window unit, and all my accessible windows have portable units in them, but I still tried installing it.  If it gets the second room down below the inside I will open the door and take any excess BTUs it has into the main living area.

 

All that really remains on the CR-V conversion is tweaks and customizations, which require testing.  I am hopeful that I will get to do that this coming weekend.

 

Available Projects and annual tasks:

• Dunks and bug repellent.
• Clean up yard
• Take scrap metal away
• Finish cleanup on the pile in the back 
• Do something with the trailer.
• Fix excavator
  
• Finish drainage
• Build deck
• Push back trees
• Install concrete pilings
• Install landscape fabric and gravel underneath
• Build frame
• Lay decking
  
• Set up hot tub and pool
• Build insulated platform for hot tub
• Put down pool sand to level spot for pool
• Get water delivered for both
  
• Fix mowers and equipment
• Get tractor serviced
• Build travel station for CR-V/prep CR-V for travel
  
• Move carport
• Build the roof extension over to the rocks
• Fix front stairs 
• Test travel options (rent u-haul and test that, rent trailer and test that)
• Install storm doors
• Build overhangs for windows
• Insulate the water lines
  
• Front yard drainage
• Fix snowblowers (broken grease fitting on big snowblower, gas leak on small one)
  
• Gravel/hardpack driveway
• Fix grade to the shed
• Level a spot for a lean-to up the hill
• Build a small lean-to for off-season equipment
• Make shed mouse-tight 
• Create walking trails (put up markers, maybe put down some gravel).
• Clear and level a spot for orchard
• Build a bridge over the creek
• Build a gazebo or something on the other side