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WEEK 26 2018

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Saturday 30 June 2018

Saturday - Hot-ish. I finished cleaning up the garage.

I fastened a piece of mesh over the pet door from house to garage - I can now cool the garage with the house's primary swamp cooler without letting the dogs in or the cat out. It is supposed to be in the 100's late next week, so this should help. If necessary they can come in the house, but it's a hassle to do with the three cats.

The dogs were delivered in the morning, they seem content enough with things.

Jim is doing well, speaking of cats. He looks better, and has a healthy appetite. He only throws up when he sneaks food from Budd or Suzy, so I have to be careful about that...

I haven't done much reading - just some Japanese light novel translations, not really working counting. I have been watching "Blacklist" on Netflix in the evenings, it's fun, though not as tightly plotted as, say, Sherlock. It does have a lot of twists and turns.

Friday 29 June 2018 Friday - Medium hot, high 90's.

For the awning guys I used some chain, passed through some cinder block, and then attached to a bungee cord, which in turn is attached to the awning longitudinal poles. This allows me to set the angle and intensity of the guy supports, and get some shock amelioration at the same time. It seems to work pretty well. It's a temporary expedient, the dogs were supposed to arrive today (but because of certain issues won't arrive until tomorrow).

I was going to install the hot wire for the dogs, down near the base of the chain link, but had to clear the dry grass and tumbleweeds first - one doesn't want a spark in these conditions! This was several hours of stoop labor, after which I decided that we don't really need the hot wire - though to be honest I couldn't see bending and installing thirty or forty supports in 97F weather.

I cleaned all the remaining construction debris out of the yard, pipes, boards, wire, ladders, you name it. I then watered it, to keep the dust down.

By 6pm I was done, but it's safe for the dogs.

There was a nice full, or nearly full, moon. Very orange.

Thursday 28 June 2018 Thursday - Hot again.

I meant to paint the a/c thing, but got distracted by various other projects.

One of these was to put the small propane tank in place, and connect it. I'm down into single digits of capacity on the big tank, so I thought I'd make a stab at hooking it up. It wasn't too hard, I borrowed a good dolly from H and set it in a small hole next to the old tank, connected it up, and it worked fine. I had to relight the water heater though. I then went over to the local hardware and bought a piece of heavy chain and padlocked it to the big tank - someone with good bolt cutters can certainly cut it, but it will keep temptation away from the honest people...

I put end caps on the awning longitudinal poles, then drilled and used self tapping metal screws to keep the caps on, which in turn keeps the poles from sliding out of the awning pockets. This was kind of a bear to do, so instead on doing the support poles in metal I just used some 2x4's I had around. At the ground side I used a couple of pier foundation blocks, with a 1/2" through bolt to act as a bit of a pivot. The winds were gusting to 25mph and the motion and stress on the parts is a bit more than I anticipated. I need to set up some sort of guys, and maybe some shock supports.

Wednesday 27 June 2018

Wednesday - Hot-ish. Working away on this and that.

I gave the a/c panel another coat of primer, then installed it. I then cut some molding and put it around it. I needed to prime the molding as well, and then paint the panel and molding with some nice final coat paint, but it's good enough for now.

I gave the outdoor dog kennel another coat of primer, then moved it outside and attached the legs and some sides. I have to be careful not to be dragging really heavy things around.

Apropos of heavy things, I fiddled with various ideas for the awning supports. I also started cleaning up the debris in the yard, and cleaning up the garage - on very hot days the dogs will be in there and I don't want any sharp or dangerous objects laying about.

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Tuesday - Warm again, high 90's, cooling down into the 80's by 9pm. It was very slow to cool, so I left the swamp cooler on until about 3am.

I did do a 7.1 mile walk in the morning - I got out a bit early, 7:30am, so it was still only 88F when I got home. I was originally going to just do a few miles (things to do) but decided that since I'd missed last Thursday that I needed to push it a bit. As usual it was hot spots and foot issues that worried me - I ordered some new Wigwam brand hiking socks and some liners when I got home, seven miles is pretty much the limit for cotton crew socks.

I cut a plywood support/security panel for the little a/c unit in the office. It should be enough to keep the lazier burglars and the heat out, and the cats in. The pleated blind wings that it came with are loose and very very thin.

The cutout for the case was perfect...except for being 1" to the left of center. I don't know what it is about carpentry that makes me screw up the simple stuff... Anyway, I cut more wood out so as to center the unit in the window aperture and will cover the crime with some molding. Today I am priming the wood, tomorrow I'll install.

The other thing I did was to create another bench top, and prime paint it. What, another bench you might ask? Actually this will be a dual purpose counter/bench/scaffolding/dog house for the patio out behind the garage. The dogs will need something to protect them from wind and sun, besides the awning. I had some scrap 3/8" ply someone gave me, five sides to a collapsing 25" box, so I used that and some 2x4's.

Apropos of dogs, RIP Tegan. Her cancer got the better of her, despite $$$$ of surgery and medicine lately, and she was internally bleeding and not eating, so it was time. Hard on R&S, they've had her since she was a puppy. I'll miss her too.

Puppy Tegan and I, July of 2005.

Monday 25 June 2018

Monday - About 100F. The house a/c is struggling a bit, I haven't been on the roof to diagnose why it's not running on high. It could be the motor, it could be the switch. The house temperature crept up over the day to about 80F inside.

I made a quick trip into town and picked up a few things, then went by the library and picked up the books I had on hold.

Sunday 24 June 2018

Sunday - Warm. I went shopping with S, and we picked up a bunch of stuff for the coast.

We dropped off the stuff at her house, and she gave me and R a quick haircut, then I headed back to the Acres.

I then scrounged breakfast from the H's, and dropped off some Carne Asada meat and soda, my contribution to the larder. Then, honestly, didn't do much. It's the weekend, I'm allowed.

I am going back and forth on how to set up the awning. Even just hanging against the house the winds were enough to blow it against the ladder there and wear a hole in it - damaged even before it is up! Bah. I have cement and posts, but it's not really where I want it right now, so I hate to go through the expense and effort to install it in a certain way now, and then tear it out and do it again.

RIP Purrvis. Old age finally caught up with him, he stopped eating and drinking Friday and was gone by Sunday morning. They coddled him, made sure to keep him warm and hydrated and with company, but it was his time I guess. The boys are heartbroken of course, and I'm sad to see him go as well.

He was the H's cat, or, I should say, they were his people as he considered himself the master of the household - as old cats do.

Indeed, he would immediately sit on my lap the moment I came in the house, and growl menacingly when I wanted to get up. At the dinner table he would sit next to me, expecting a morsel or two as his due. He didn't want much actually, it was more the experience of bending the human to his will that he really liked.

Picture of the Week

Desert Boat

Done with the sea, he headed inland with the boat,
not stopping until someone said "What is that?"

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