Trip preparation

I did end up going out Monday and picking up a trailer for Matt, which I plan to use for the trip to KY on Friday.  This way I am not running a sketchy trailer (and I probably would not have put plates on it).  While I was at Tractor Supply I picked up the fluids needed for the excavator.  Based on how it towed, I will have to pull out my old draw bar with some drop though, this trailer rides low.  It should be in the shed.

Otherwise, I have mostly been doing interior work and getting all the ducks in a row.  I got most of my yard mowed yesterday, the last nice day before I am packing up the trailer.  The mower started without issue which surprised me, since it has been nearly a month since I last mowed.  It didn't run worth a crap though.  But still, the yard is mowed so the place won't look abandoned while I am gone.  

Last night I went and cleared up the front entryway so I have a clear path to start hauling the stuff out.  It has been a long time since this area was cleaned.  I even vacuumed, though it is probably a wasted effort.

The back isn't attached yet, but this is what the finished armoire will look like.  Boot tray on the bottom, the big compartment will be lined with hooks for hanging coats, two storage cubes, a shelf for hats, another for gloves, and then another shelf for whatever.

This is probably going to be the last post until after the 4th.  Tonight I will be finishing up the packing and tomorrow I will run to the dump and load up the truck and trailer.

Very stormy weekend.

The weekend was full of storms, so Friday I went out and bought a tarp for the excavator, though it was raining when I got home.  So I went out Saturday before that day's storms and got it put on.  

I noticed as I was putting it on that there seems to be something grabbing on this corner.  Next time I uncover it I will take a look and maybe put a piece of tape over it or something so the tarp slides on smoothly next time. 

I also covered the coupler on the little trailer.  It already has rust issues.

I also went and removed the random screws sticking up on the trailer floor.

After that I went and grabbed the stuff out of the shed that was going down to KY with me, like the scissor jack until I started getting wet.  

Sunday the storms were more aggressive in nature, but there were a few hours in the middle of the day that I had dry weather, so I tempted fate and worked quickly.  I pulled the back of the armoire out and got it stained.  

I used my "better" roller for it because I wanted to go fast, but this roller actually was worse than the dollar store roller.  While it didn't come apart like they did, it heavily aerated the stain because it held it in the roller, which was kind of annoying and required going over it again afterwards to pop all the bubbles so it didn't look weird.  It would probably work better for paint which it wouldn't absorb, but for stain the cheapo crap rollers is apparently the way to go.

While the first side of the back panel was drying I went and pulled the dust cap off the trailer.  To my surprise it appears to have been repacked fairly recently.  I would have liked to see more grease in there myself, but as long as I minimize the weight in the trailer and put the heavy stuff in the truck, I don't foresee any problems.  I didn't add more because whatever kind of grease that is I don't have more of, and mixing them is generally regarded as a bad idea.  I was mostly wanting to make sure it had grease and it wasn't chunky or water.

As I was doing the other side of the back, I realized I forgot the board for the back set of hooks.  So I got a piece cut for that and got it stained as well.  

I had to bring everything in before it finished drying though.  Wetness was imminent.

The first round largely missed, but the second round of storms were quite impressive.  It turned my driveway into a river.

Part of it washed out too.

During the rain, I got everything packed up into a tote, got my laundry done, and made a list of everything I need to do before I leave.  I will be headed up to Tractor Supply after work to pick up the hydraulic fluid and oil to change the fluids in the excavator.  Matt is also working on a trailer based project, so I might pick up a trailer for him and use it for this trip. 

New toy. Lots of heat and storms.

This week has been hot, humid, and miserable.  Monday it was 100 in Keene (only hit 94 in Sullivan according to my thermometer), and the humidity was high.  So I have focused on inside stuff most of the week.  At the very least, the armoire is now stained.  There were a few gaffs in the staining, most of which were caused by insufficient sanding, but it doesn't look bad outside of one spot where I had to a peel a sticker off of the board and apparently both cleaning and sanding it, there was still some adhesive that made the stain absorb differently.  Ugh.  All that is left is the back, which I need nice weather since I don't particularly want to stain the back inside.  Especially with the AC running; the rest was stained when I had the windows open.

But the combination of the heat and storms every day has forced them closed.  I really need to get some gutters or something installed so I don't have to close all the windows every time it sprinkles.  Tuesday's storms were angry, but at least short.

The storms yesterday were particularly nasty.  While hard to tell in this picture, it made 6PM look like 8:30PM

The big story for this week though is that I have a new toy.

It comes with a 16" bucket.  That is probably wider than I need, but for now I will probably just use it.  The thumb is manual, not hydraulic, but the plumbing is there if I want to upgrade it in the future 

And I mean new.  All 0.2 of those hours were from loading it onto the trailer, and unloading it at my house and driving it up to the back yard.  While these machines come with oil and stuff in them, it is strongly recommended to change them immediately.

A pretty standard Briggs and Stratton engine.  Hopefully it lasts, they aren't great engines anymore.

It came with a few goodies that I didn't expect.  Notably a floor mat and a toolbox.  There is something in it, but I haven't perused it too much yet.  

I have heard rumors that you can literally run over your foot with this and be unhurt because of how well tracks distribute/disperse the weight of the machine.  While I have no intention of testing that, It is worth noting that it only barely folded over the grass I drove it over, which had mostly stood back up before I went in.  Without blowing this picture up, it is difficult to see where I drove, and my grass is really long to boot (the backyard hasn't been mowed in a month).

Unfortunately, the aforementioned storms occurred after I got the excavator.  Hopefully it can take some rain.  I will probably go and buy a tarp for it today.

Something else that happened during the week: apparently a cover fell off my light.  I can't seem to find it either, and given that this is right above the counter next to the garbage can, I am guessing it fell into the trash.  Sigh

Time is running short and the weather is being very uncooperative to my trip to KY for the 4th, so I will have to work on the trailer this weekend regardless of the fact that it is supposed to storm all weekend.  Or alternatively take Tuesday off and work on everything then.  I wanted to load the trailer on Tuesday though, so I kind of need it fixed before then.  Ugh.  

Fun but not as productive as hoped.

Most of the week was pretty dull.  I ended up making a run into town Friday evening during a gorgeous sunset to get another cheapo paint kit for staining.

I came home to hundreds of fireflies.  I tried to take a picture of them, but apparently night mode thinks the lights from fireflies is noise or something and it post-processed them all out.  Oh well.  

Saturday was gorgeous weather.  I went up and played some laser tag for one of my coworker's birthdays, which was a lot of fun.  It was a pleasant surprise it was outdoors, which given the nice day I enjoyed.  I was pretty wiped when I got home though.  I also sold the wheeler on Saturday.  It turns out the wheeler doesn't fit in an S10, so I ended up delivering it to him.  He knows a guy who thinks he can fix it.  And I picked up some lumber for a coworker.  And taking a nap.

Sunday was warmer, but it started off really nice.  Turns out I completely forgot when I did the sealing with wood glue to go back and do where the beams were.  So I finished that up, and then moved on to the bondo.  I rewashed the cap, and put on the bondo.  I will say that working with tiger hair bondo is a pain.

I did the front as well.  This didn't look like it went all the way through, but I had some leftover after doing the back so I filled it in anyways.  I just need to glass the top and new support boards and the cap is done

I then started sanding and staining on the armoire.  This is as far as I got.  Shocker: cheapo rollers are cheap.  I do have a nicer set of rollers, but since stain is absorbed as opposed to coating, I would prefer to finish with the same type of roller to make the finish more consistent.  But it at least shows me what it looks like.  And also shows me that I didn't do enough sanding, you can see where the glue is because I didn't sand it down enough so there will be blotches because wood glue doesn't allow the stain absorb (it is a sealer).

Even with their premature failure, these are still cheaper than a nicer set anyways.  Two rollers for $1.25  I have to admit though, this isn't a failure I have seen before where the foam just comes off the core.

It wasn't quite dark when I brought the armoire back in to stain (I did the sanding outside for obvious reasons), but I got lazy and didn't do anything else.  I looked at my lawn, decided it needed mowing, but didn't do it.  I will do it later in the week when it is too hot to do anything else.  This week is supposed to be a cooker, up in the 90s for most of the week, even up the hill in Sullivan.  I really need to make sure the trailer is as ready to go though, since there is only one more weekend before I am headed down so I think that might get a bump up the priority list.  Even if all I do is remove the dust caps and pump a bunch of grease in and close them back up, I still want to do something.  I have been soaking the coupler in WD-40 every few days, so hopefully that won't be a problem.  

Current to-do:

• Design deck
• Build deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Refurb cap
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Back yard drainage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Storm doors

Quiet week.

Things have been pretty quiet of late.  I went and visited Aunt and Uncle last weekend, so I didn't work on any projects or anything.  I got excellent mileage on the way back.  

I finally got tired of the mess in the bedroom, where most of  my travel stuff was strewn all over the floor, so I picked up a couple of cheaper organizers, which came in during the week.  I have to admit, I was surprised at the sheer number of parts in the first one.  This wasn't even all of them, there were some behind me as well.  Some assembly required.

But I got it put together.  This is the corner it is intended to help clean out.  

This was the other one.  I knew it was cheap, but it was a little cheaper than expected.

One of the other organizers came in later in the week.  I had to make a second order when I realized that I didn't have the gasket for the cap.  Looks like I didn't measure it properly.  It doesn't slide out, it is about 1/4" too wide.  Sigh.  I still have a use for it, just not the intended one.  

One the armoire front, I have been a bit lazy, but the bulk of it is all glued.  I should be able to finish putting the finish nails and sand the front tonight.  Then it is staining time.  I think I am going to stain it first, then put the back on, it will make the staining process sooo much easier.

It is looking like a nice weekend, so I am hopeful I can finish up the cap base and get all the holes plugged and glassed in.  I also want to do a little bit of poking on the trailer.  I do have some stuff going on this weekend though, so that might be a bit ambitious.

Current to-do

• Design deck
• Build deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Refurb cap
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Back yard drainage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Storm doors

Short armoire update

It has been either really hot and humid this week, or wet and rainy, so I haven't done too much outside.  The bulk of the work has been on the armoire for a change.  I finally got all the shelves glued together.

 

I also got the base of the shelf glued in yesterday.  With any luck, I will get the rest of the smaller shelves glued to the side today.  It has been slow going because I don't have enough clamps, so I have been doing it one shelf at a time, and the glue takes a full 24-28 hours to cure.  It is still coming along nicely though.  

I had been just opening the windows at night, sucking the heat of the place out and closing it up in the morning, but this week I finally turned on my AC.  I don't mind sitting on the couch when it is 75 inside if I have the ceiling fan blowing on me, but earlier in the week it was still 74 in the bedroom when I went to bed since it didn't cool off outside.  The near 100% humidity most of the week hasn't helped either.  One thing I find interesting though is that the ACs are perfect this year.  I set it to 70 and it actually holds 70.  I don't recall if the AC had the weird inability to hold temperature or if that was just the heat though.

I had a visit from a rodent this week.  I will have to keep an eye out to see if there are any holes in my yard.  

 

I am planning on visiting Aunt and Uncle this weekend, so there might not be an update Monday (or it will be short).

Current To-do:

• Design deck
• Build deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Refurb cap
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Back yard drainage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Storm doors

Not a lot of progress.

I didn't feel too great over the weekend, and didn't get much of anything done outside of some cleaning and organizing on Saturday.  Sunday I decided to drag myself outside regardless of how I felt though.  So I pulled out my cheapo disposable wood sealing kit.  

It worked surprisingly well.  I got the whole underside that was exposed done in about 20 minutes, which is a fraction of what it took to do the sides.  Hurray for dollar store rollers.

I waited about an hour to let the glue dry, then went and washed the holes in the cap.  It was dirty.  

Unfortunately I got a little too careless and the glue wasn't as dry as I thought, so I left it alone afterwards.  You can see on the bottom that it reactivated the glue.  Oops.

After a brief nap, I went out and mowed.  It should hopefully be good for another couple weeks.   

I also took what was left of soapy water and washed the bird poo off the tractor.  The water was dirty from cleaning the cap, but it still looks better than being so covered in bird poo that you almost couldn't read the name.

Another note on the birds, there are little ones in the nest now.  One of them was watching me.

After that I pulled out the big tractor.  I wanted to repaint the bucket this year and I also wanted to paint the snowblower to at least slow the rust on it before I dropped it off the back because I can't move it once I do.  I started washing the bucket, but my hose nozzle tried a new failure mode, all the modes go all at once now.

Unfortunately, it looks like my old wire wheel doesn't fit my new grinder. So much for 4.5" being 4.5".  So I ended up running into town and grabbing a new one.  

I did get another couple shelves installed on the armoire, so the inside structure of the armoire is almost complete.  It is rather slow going only being able to do one shelf every other day.

Today is supposed to be nice but warm, but starting Thursday it is rain every day for the remainder of the 10 day.  I haven't had to turn the AC on yet, but I expect I will this week; I can't leave the windows open when it rains since there isn't enough overhang.  I might add gutters to the list of projects.  I was planning on visiting Aunt and Uncle this weekend.

Matt brought up something interesting.  I don't really want to go through and refurbish the trailer that I bought, so I am considering making it a one time use and leaving it down there and just resell it down there.  I only bought one because it is cheaper than renting one, and I sold my old one because I never used it.  This one is not beefy enough to carry my tractor, and I have a truck with an 8' box.

Current To-do:

• Design deck
• Build deck
• Build armoire.
• Install whole house filter.
• Refurb cap
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Back yard drainage.
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Storm doors