Some things that weren't on the checklist but should have been. Carport only partway there.

Friday night was shopping night like normal, but I picked up a new coax cable.  Even with a brand new coax cable and direct connecting them, thus taking the house's coax out of the equation, I am not seeing great speeds.  I think I might just return these and run ethernet.  The only room I can't directly run ethernet to from inside is the master bedroom; I will worry about these if my wifi isn't good enough down the road.

Saturday I got a bit of a pleasant surprise.  The fiber guys showed up to do the run from the road to the underside of the house, in preparation for the install on Wednesday.

They left the skirting open where they put the spare fiber underneath, and I saw something interesting.  I might be poking my plumber; the water lines under the house aren't insulated.

I also went up and got the last quote for snowblower.  This was the one that they had at Pinnacleview, and they wanted 4k for it.  Not a chance. So I think I am going to with this one instead: https://woodmaxx.com/product/woodmaxx-sb-48/

After that the project for Saturday started; the platform for the front stairs.  I busted another drill bit, so I didn't put in pilot holes.  

I was putting in pilot holes because I picked up a box of Deckmate screws.  People like these, but I can't see why.  This is the second box of them that I have gotten, and they are awful.  They are self tapping, but the groove they cut in for that is completely filled with paint and useless.  The heads are overpainted as well.  The bit they give you is crap (but works because it is tapered), and a decent T25 bit doesn't fit well because of the paint.  The point on them is also really crappy and doesn't bite well.  I might have to go pick up another box of the ones I already have.

But the platform is built.  That last step is no longer a doozy.

I also finally got around to putting down the Sevin dust.  During the assembly, I noticed that there were a lot of ants around, so I picked some up.

The next project for Saturday was mowing.  It was overdue.  As per the usual, I had to put my charger on it to get it to start.  I got the whole front mowed, even the really bad part that hasn't been mowed since either end of May or early in June.  That part was tall.  It was still very wet, but I wasn't mowing water at least.

It didn't come out great, but it is knocked down at least.  It will get better with the next mowing. 

This time I parked the mower where the extension cord will reach so I don't need to push it partway down the hill to get the battery charger on it.

I also had a visit from Anx and we built him some sawhorses.

In a rather unusual twist, the storms Saturday night missed Sullivan, so I took advantage of that Sunday.  The big project for Sunday was the carport.  I took Dad's tow strap and wrapped around the bottom plates to pull with.  

Hooked it up to the tractor using my tow strap.

And then made holes in the yard.  Sometimes I think I should have gotten the Ag tires...

I ended up pulling it up onto the driveway with the truck.

The truck is not nearly nimble enough, nor can I get it out from the back if necessary, so I pulled it the rest of the way with the tractor.  I had some trouble getting it around to the side of the house though.  

I tried to pull the front over directly with the lawn tractor, using the tractor as an anchor to keep the back from moving.  That ended poorly.

The tractor was able to pull the front around, but without the anchor on the backside it was rotating on the casters.  I did briefly bump up against the house.  Metal is sharp, so I will want to double check that I didn't slice up any shingles at some point.

So at the present moment the carport is sitting here.  

I have the tractor tied to the back to anchor it and keep it from rolling back down the hill.

It actually rolled quite well on the redone upper portion of the driveway.  

It did leave more big ruts in the yard though.

I will probably go out tonight and see if I can find a winch and maybe a bigger/extra towstrap or something, so I can anchor the back with the winch and pull the front to the side with the tractor.  The problem is that at this point it really needs to go directly sideways which I can't really do with just one person and tractor.

I also had a visit from Uncle on Sunday, so I just did some cleaning and chores for the rest of Sunday.

Current To-do:

• Before winter:
• Move carport
• Final grade - get gravel and drainage pipe.
• Buy a real bed and living room furniture.
• Get a gun cabinet/safe.
• Fix driveway.
• Install drainage in the backyard.  Remove the backflush hose.
• Get heat pump installed.
• Get a snowblower for the tractor.
• Build a platform for the steps.
• Winter projects: 
• All the cabinet upgrades (bathroom, pantry, and kitchen)
• Design deck
• Build armoire
• Build dresser
• Shelving upgrades in master closet.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• 2024 Projects:
• Deck
• Entertainment center
• Storm doors