New car, it is even green for St. Patty's day.

During the week I didn't do much until Friday, mostly cleaning.  Turns out the pile of stuff I left in the guest room had developed a thick layer of dust on it. 

 

Friday I went out and filled in a hole in my driveway, since I had company coming this weekend.  I think it was caused by some rather unusual frost heave activity, where the driveway was only half frozen at this point.  

Saturday Aunt and Uncle came out.  They got a spiffy new car, and I really like the color.  It still has buttons too which was nice.  It felt narrower than it really was though. 

 

I am buying the old one.  I think it will fit better up here when I move all the sawhorses and stuff

 

Some pictures of the CR-V.  

 

They are letting me keep the organizer in the back.  

I definitely need to make a bit more room.

 

The tires on it are decent, though in the later half of their life.  I might consider changing them before winter, or I might not care and just drive the truck if the snow is bad.

 

The battery seems okay.  It feels a little weak, even when I took it out afterwards, but it is only a 500CCA.  

The clock works, but the date is off.  I knew about this, it is actually a really dumb Honda software error; their time/date is stored internally as time since an epoch point (pretty typical in software), but they used a smaller variable and it rolled over a couple years ago.

As I alluded to, I took it out to Otter Brook after Aunt and Uncle left to work off the big burger.  Their disc golf course was clear.  It was really nice out.

 

 

The water wasn't quite as high as I expected considering the rapid melting that was occurring.

The ice was beached on the rocks.

 

There has been a lot of nasty wind this spring.

I also finally got around to cleaning the air filter in my truck.  It looked a little rough.

 

I didn't realize that cleaning it washed out all the color, and the color is just the oil (some of it came back when I oiled it).

 

It was a nice sunset.  I am still thinking about cameras, but haven't decided on anything yet.  Pentax is for the most part dead, but I am still torn on mirrorless vs DSLR.  My use case strongly favors DSLR (better photos/bigger sensors), but mirrorless (better versatility, better video and speed) is where the industry is headed.  The lenses are not interchangeable between them either.  You can get adapters, but your mileage may vary as to whether the adapter loses the ability to autofocus or stuff like that (much like when DSLR replaced 35mm).  But when you consider that Pentax is dead in all but name, Olympus hasn't been a real player in higher end stuff in decades, Canon and Nikon are both saying they are not making new model DSLRs (only mirrorless), and the pickings are getting slim.  It also means I might be spending thousands of dollars that is obsolete in less than a year.  That all being said, any camera I buy will probably be fine for my uses for a decade at least (as long as the camera doesn't break; I am notoriously hard on equipment).  Speaking of being hard on equipment, mirrorless tend to get dirty and the sensors aren't in the back like DSLRs.  So no hard decision on that yet.

 

Sunday the storms rolled in, so I didn't do much.  Just my normal chores like laundry, and I also tried to clean one of the organizers that came out of the CR-V.  

 

It kinda worked.  It smells like laundry detergent now, and the stain is mostly gone.

 

The storms on Sunday were pretty nasty, and I had a tree come down.

 

 

I also started taking some measurements, but didn't finish drawing things up for the kitchenette thingy. After the rain on Sunday, my snow is all but gone, coverage is down to about 5%.  My yard is still soup though.

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
• 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