Nicer than expected weekend, short update.

I didn't do a whole lot over the weekend.  Friday night and Saturday morning I went and helped Liz move.  Saturday turned out to be much nicer than expected, which was kinda nice, though I was pretty wiped by the time it was finished up.  I did spend some time outside though.  Sunday I didn't do much either, though I started creating a bill of materials for the deck.  I went to Home Depot and looked, and while I haven't totaled everything up, it looks like this deck will come in well above my initial guess of 3-5k.  Especially since I don't see myself here for more than about 5 years, regular planking will hold up well enough, even if I have to roll some protectant on it every year (captains varnish or whatever I decide to use).  I had wanted to use something like Trex on it, but that is just not palatable.  Not at these prices.  20 bucks for 4' of coverage when I am looking at a greater than 400 square foot deck is over two grand for just the trex alone.

 

Deck planking is less than half the cost.  

What is odd to me though is that PT 2x6 boards are still cheaper than deck planking (which are 5/4 thick).  I am not opposed to using 2x6, though I would have to fill in the knots and stuff if they are bad with epoxy or something. Maybe run them through my planer before installing them or something, which wouldn't be a big time sync.  Plus I would be buying enough to get the bulk price (I will need north of 100 boards)

Even concrete is a lot more expensive than I remember. 

These things are stupidly expensive for what they are too, these go in the concrete and give you a tie in to the 4x4 support.

My outside thermometer's batteries died over the weekend.  Weird things happened when I replaced them though.  At first I thought maybe the whole thing was toast.  It was definitely not that warm outside.

 

After I completely disassembled and let it dry for a day though, it eventually came back.  The reconnect button doesn't work, but it does automatically come back eventually.

 

Otherwise not too much has gone on.  Just some other odds and ends: I also finally decided to get an air fryer to replace the crock pot, which I just finished up cleaning a spot for on the counter last night.  I will have to figure some things out, like why they say you can't use spray oils (they explicitly say not to use things like Pam, and instead get squirt oils).  It isn't clear if the oil is even required though, I will have to play around with that and find out.

 

I was a little hopeful that the basket for it was bigger than my toaster oven but oh well.  That is the crisper tray sitting in my toaster oven pan.  They are literally identical in size.  I might start using this for baking, since my toaster oven is starting to show its age a little bit.  I made some muffins last weekend, and the ones in the back were golden brown, the ones in the front were still gooey.  My toaster oven is about 10 years old now though.

 

I started reworking my spring trip to include going to KY instead of doing two separate trips.

 

I got to see some nice sunrise on my way into work earlier in the week.  I didn't get a good picture of it though.

The last two days have been really warm and rainy.  And apparently very windy, my trash can went for a ride.  

The driveway is about 50% clear now, which considering how thick the ice was a mere week or two ago is melting off fast.

 

I found something when I was shopping Monday that I haven't seen in a really looong time.  This is the tea I used to get in college that is the reason I started playing around with different brews (instead of just plain black tea).

The head to head I did of trailer vs U-Haul is now published, it is the last section in https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TPmOZVWpyrdDiDJX1aT6EfcOTY5JMYSiyDgLekX11U8/edit?usp=sharing
Here was my Synopsis: 

 

This is tough. The pros of the UHaul make it superior for traveling. But this is also my full time dwelling, and the pros of the hand built trailer very clearly favor that. Both are acceptable for the other scenario (the trailer travels fine, and I could live in the UHaul without issue).


Overall, I would give the edge to the U-Haul just because the intent is to travel, not stay in one place (though that will happen when I run out of traveling money for the year). The trailer has more space and storage, but not significantly so assuming I put boxes all around the bottom of the truck which I do intend to do, and I lived with a murphy bed for years in the tiny home, so that doesn’t bother me.


Given the budget constraints (I still don’t have a working budget for after I quit), I think the money it saves traveling has a lot of value, and I think that money and time it saves for the initial outlay is very beneficial.

I do still plan to poke around at trailers some more though, since I have thus far only found one place that had a trailer acceptable for building on, and it was more trailer than I needed and very expensive.  If the trailer place in KY (Arnett's if I remember the name correctly) has what I am looking for at a reasonable price, maybe this equation changes a bit. 

 

It is supposed to be nice, albeit chillier this weekend, so I am planning on doing the cap.  I think the easiest way will be to just rip the window off (should be easy with how much it is falling apart), and then just take reciprocating saw and cut it into pieces as it sits on the truck.  By the time it no longer has enough structural integrity to stand, I should able to pick it up and move it around myself.  I will probably get another cover of some sort, but it will likely be a cheap roll up cover or something.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Deck design complete.

Last week was pretty nice. It started off chilly, but warmed up towards the end.  I even started going out for walks during the week.  I am hopeful that the rodent was wrong; I can hear birds and stuff in the mornings again.

 

I walked to the bank on Thursday and made another big payment on the mortgage.  I noticed on the way home (probably because I was hungry) that the clouds looked like mozzarella pearls...

 

Saturday was all about cleaning up the driveway.  I still hadn't cleaned the top, and it was rough parking the truck.  I did have a minor casualty (one of my cheapo sawhorses from Harbor Freight got in the way when the tractor suddenly became unstuck), but the top is cleared now.  I still had significant traction issues, and I had to dig with the bucket, scraping with the bucket was inadequate, but I got several inches peeled off.  

Since I was digging, I ended up dumping it over behind the parking spot.

In a couple of spots, you can actually see gravel again.  

Most of it though is compressed into ice at this point.  I bought a thing of salt last time I went to Home Depot, and put most of it out.  Hopefully it helps. 

I didn't get this side done as good, but it is still a ton better than it was.  

More importantly, I got the truck up the driveway in 2WD.  Kinda/barely.

After clearing, I went to work on the deck design.  I ended up with a deck that is around 20x20, which seems awfully large to me, but I guess not unreasonably large.  I could shave a couple feet off if I find that the deck is going to cost something like 10k.  I am expecting it will run about 3-5k, most of which is fill.

Sunday was even nicer.  I decided to go to Otter Brook, but apparently despite them bringing a loader and clearing out the front and parking area, they hadn't cleared the road through the park yet.  There was only a little trail running down the hill.

I followed it until it split, and the packed trail was no longer strong enough to support me and I started sinking in with every step.  I didn't bring snowshoes because I didn't think I would need them.  But I still watched the brook for a little bit before heading back.

My phone didn't really have enough zoom, but the little opening was full of stalactites and stalagmites.

On the way back the ice on the cap broke and scared the crap out of me.  

I also started comparing the trailer and u-haul ideas head to head.  I narrowed the uhaul options down to a 10'.  I am working on a document, but that isn't quite finished yet.

Other than that, I did some more of the cleaning.

The deck design is pretty much done, though I might want to do some pricing for it before I cross it off.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Next year I am installing chains

This weekend was pretty much all abysmal weather.  Saturday snowed all day, though admittedly not as hard as expected.  Sunday was a mess and whatever whim of the clouds felt like at that minute; it was changing between snow, sleet, freezing rain, and gale.  Monday was also windy, but at least dry for the most part.  

I woke up early enough on Saturday to test the campfire in a can.  It took a little bit to light, but it took off once I did.  It put out a fair amount of heat (more than expected anyways), but still far less than a campfire.  It wasn't terribly smokey, but I still don't think I would want to use one indoors or without ventilation.  It would be okay in a tent though, or at least mine which is well ventilated.  

To put it out, just put the lid on (the lid on my ammo can is removable) and close it.  I only burned it for about 5 minutes, but the ammo can itself didn't get hot, though the very edges didn't catch.  I imagine it will eventually burn out the seal, but when that happens it was only a 10 dollar ammo can from Harbor Freight.  

The rest of the weekend was mostly playing games and cleaning.  I got all the carpeted rooms cleaned up  and vacuumed (except the third bedroom, though I did make headway in there as well).  All that left is to swiffer the floors.

For reference, this is what the bedroom looked like before I cleaned it up.

I did a little bit of cooking, and I think it might be to call Time of Death on my crockpot.  This is the second or third time it has burned the crap on one side, and the other side didn't cook well at all.  I might start looking at new ones, or perhaps something like a sous-vide or something; I don't use the crockpot that often.

I worked from home yesterday, so I waited until yesterday afternoon to do the clearing from the weekend weather with the faint hope that the wind would die down a bit.  There was so much wind that it had almost erased my driveway completely.

I had to do some digging but I found my winterizer stuff for the diesel, the tractor was running low.  

Unfortunately, I quickly realized that my tractor didn't have enough traction.  I spun out three times just doing this little bit so I could get the tractor out of the carport.

So I figured this might be a good opportunity to get the walk behind out.  I put gas in it, and it started pouring out all over the ground.  Great....  It didn't do that when I put gas in it when I bought it. it was dry so the guy let me put some in it to make sure it ran.  So that is something to look into.  Ugh.

I ended up doing it with the tractor a few feet at a time.  The biggest problem was steering, though having chains on the back would have helped the few times I started spinning pushing the snowblower.  Because of the steering I couldn't do the top part of the driveway pretty much at all.  I did a couple of passes with the bucket, but I literally had no control over where it went and slid sideways several times.  I was lucky a couple of times I didn't get the tractor stuck and had to push the tractor back using the bucket.  Yuck.

I had a casualty while I was out snowblowing.  It is annoying because this was off my new fake fur hat.  Grumble grumble.

None of this stuff is on the checklist, so no movement there.  I am still leaning towards the smaller deck with the pool behind it, and maybe I will draw up something more formal for it.  Thankfully there is currently no snow in the forecast for the 10 day.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Getting ready for another snowy weekend.

When I went shopping on Tuesday, I stopped by Harbor Freight (they finally put out a coupon for it) and picked up the last piece for my next piece of curiosity.  The goal is to make a campfire in a can.  In theory, it is a self contained fire, so while somewhat gray, should be legal to use during burn bans (I say gray because the rules for burn bans vary from state to state).  And for short periods, should even be safe to use indoors, though I don't think I like that idea.  I have seen people use them for heating tents and stuff though.  

In a nutshell, it is a massive candle.  The cardboard acts as a wick.  Cramming it all in there made a mess.

I had to do a bit research on the wax.  Most said you had to use a double-boiler, but I decided to risk it and melt it in the microwave.  It wasn't clear how well it would wash out, so I used disposable bowls.  It seemed to work okay, and I didn't light the wax on fire in my microwave.  

I put 5lbs of wax in it, and didn't light any of the wax on fire in my microwave.  Pro tip - make sure your cardboard is shorter than the sides of the container.  I made a mess on my counter where it ran off the side.  The center is full, and almost all the cardboard is at least covered, if not filled.  I have no idea is sufficient, but we will find out.

The storm that came this week was a sloppy mess.  It started off as snow, and then changed over to freezing rain.  It looked cool when I left work though.  A single star, and the clouds on the left being backlit, and the clouds on the right lit up by Keene.

My curl is now flat as it has gotten heavier.

I didn't clear the snow hoping that the rain would just form a crust on it, but it didn't go that way.  It completely saturated it and turned the whole thing into a frozen mess.  My driveway is still passable, but without a 4WD, notsomuch.  The fun will come this weekend when we get a foot of snow, what will the snowblower do to it.

All that is left on the deck is to make a decision.  Right now I am leaning towards integrating the pool and making the deck shorter.  It will be much cheaper to build (because it will be a fair bit smaller) and I still end up covering the area that doesn't grow anything, just with pool sand instead of deck.

Chances are I will not be doing much this weekend, since it is supposed to snow all weekend from mid-day Saturday onwards through Sunday evening.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Snow is piling up.

Last week was  bunch of paper work, things like filing taxes, renewing my license, and so on.  The weekend was rather snowy though, so I was inside pretty much all day Saturday.  I am debating on moving this and putting it up in the project room above the work bench.  

I also got around to making the flaps that hold the two different access panels in the closet closed.  I am still debating on putting a clear panel in the one in front of the water filter, that way I can see the display on it, but for now this will suffice.  

My "wingnut" is actually just some mending braces with spacers...

I also went and took a look at the back deck design.  You may recall I at one point looked into it before.  

I have two finalists for arrangements, which will impact the design.  The one on top basically has the deck be large and go all the way back.  This would give me a monstrous deck, but means I am sacrificing yard for the pool.  The second option basically cuts the deck short, but instead I would level the area with pool sand and put the pool behind the deck.  This means the pool size is essentially fixed, but I don't think that really bothers me.  If I want more pool, I am more likely to want depth than diameter.  

For reference this is my current pool.  If I am not mistaken, it is the same size pool that I brought down to KY, though I don't think it was ever set up down there.

Sunday was pretty peaceful.  I did pick up some pizza and stuff for the game, but I didn't actually watch the super bowl.  I had the game tracker up on my phone and finished up the game I bought for this year (Celeste in case anyone has heard of it).  I typically buy one game a year for something to do when I don't want to go outside.

The only other thing on Sunday was to clear the snow.  I have to say though it is nice that clearing snow takes the same amount of time whether there is 3" or 12".  We got more than expected; these are 12" boots.

But the snowblower didn't flinch.  I did have a few minor traction issues, but it handled it no problem, still full speed.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.