A Projest Needing to be Done

We’d been living with a decaying front entry for a long time. It wasn’t gonna repair itself and I wasn’t certain that we were going to be able to do it. Hiring someone might’ve been expedient, but it also would have require money that we don’t have even though the cost of groceries has gone down . . . oh . . . wait . . . the cost of groceries has not gone down!

The deck was rebuilt about ten years ago and over the past five or six years had become less and less usable until it looked pretty damn bad and dangerous. Builder error? Or F L A high humidity and baking sun climate?

We’d talked about removing most of the deck and creating a kind of grotto, but such plans didn’t deal with the obvious problem; entering the house was dangerous. I finally resolved to make some changes when SigO came home after her ACL surgery and had to navigate the the steps and decaying plywood.

One obvious obstacle was getting wood, but eight feet of wood fit in the Corolla and that made it possible to repair the first two steps. Ten feet might also fit and we’d need boards of at least the length to do meaningful repairs. Twelve feet was preferable. A brief impasse.

Did we have “appropriate tools”, as the Clymer Manual often called for when working on the 1967 MG-B in 1968, 69 and ’70, to do the job? Basic stuff? Mostly “Yes”. Big Ol’ Craftsman Circular Saw. Black & Decker corded Drill. Phillips and Torx Head Bits. I figured I’d have to drill pilot holes then change to a screw bit.

But wait!

A few months ago I bought a Ridgid Hammer Drill, Battery and Charger, an old one, an 18 Volt. Like $10. And I left without the Charger! Went back next day an’ the Charger was not there. Argh! The Battery had a bit of a charge so I knew the Drill worked, but . . . The Drill and Battery sat around as a reminder or my mistake. Considered selling them and found that it’d found that they didn’t sell for much and cost a lot to ship because of the weight and batteries have limitations and it was gonna be a frustrating deal so I learned to live with the reminder.

I’d looked for After Market Chargers as I did when wanting to add a bigger Battery (8 amp) and Charger for our DeWalt stuff and it was easy and inexpensive. Getting a second Battery was critical when the DeWalt branded 5 amp Battery began refusing to take a charge. DeWalt replaced the defective Battery. Good timing during an ebay search got us a Used Charger suitable for the old 18V Battery for a little more than $20 delivered. I doubt I’d’ve complete the repair of the Deck if I hadn’t had the Ridgid. Good decision making!

No pilot holes and well controlled power made the screwing almost easy . . . almost.

Removing the old and decayed boards was a combination of unscrewing, also made easier with the Ridgid, and pulling decayed former boards loose. We found a Three-Way Wrecking Bar that made removal and replacing easier. Every home should have one! I'll take a picture of it and add it eventually.

The meaning of all of this is that it’s been satisfying to find that I can still, within well defined limits, do stuff that matters. Know what I mean? The project isn’t completed, but it is functionally done.

Here I Go Again.

For a lotta years I posted things here mostly related to riding a bike. Then, I didn’t. There might be catching-up to do, but that’ll come slowly. For now I’ll include the essentials; two metallic knees and a minor stroke can compromise pretty much everything one does.

No, the knees are the compromising element, the need for knees was. As i say about aging; being old is cool, but getting old is not.

A year and a half ago I apparently had a minor stroke. I say “apparently” because the definitive diagnosis would need an MRI and my personal history with them is not positive, so the nerve study and a neurologists opinion is adequate.

The consequences of the possible minor stroke was compromised balance and ability to walk well. I’m still unsteady, but have made significant progress and that’s all that matters now.

I anticipate riding again, but years of backlog tasks need to be managed and there’s been good progress there, too. Instead of riding as a physical outlet, something that has been invaluable during my healthiest periods, will happen again. For now it’s about gardening and maintaining a green environment and catching up with long neglected around-the-house maintenance.

To document this stuff I’ll have to relearn how to put things online as well as I used to and that’ll be a tedious thing. Mostly, initially, I’ll rely on words. Eventually I’ll figure out how to include pictures and not have them disappear.

We’re entering the real growing season here and that means there’s much to be done both in anticipating and preparing. Yesterday I took my self to the edge of “I’m too damn old to do this” while preparing to plant a couple of Cucumbers.

In the past I would have used the Chameleon Cultivator to loosen the dirt and finish pulling accumulated weeds in the former Lettuce bed. The approach now is to pull large stuff then run the string trimmer to eliminate small stuff. I then cover the area with layers of Cardboard and Mulch. Finally, I add a layer of Compost.

This Cardboard/Mulch/Compost idea is my adaptation of “No Till” and “No Dig” gardening, both of which require an interval of time between preparation and planting. I’m too old to wait as long as is suggested and, so far, the results have been satisfactory. Weeds are much less frustrating and because they are superficial they can be removed relatively easily using a Wire Weeder that is easy to make . . . if you have heavy enough Wire, an Anvil and a big Hammer. We do.

Peppers, Okra and an earlier Cucumber planting have done well using this approach. A source of Mulch, Cardboard and Compost is basic. Because we’ve been invested in Composting and have two lengthy driveways where falling leaves and woodsy stuff accumulate we have a consistent supply of Mulch. Cardboard accumulates and we have room to keep it. There’s some debate about what kind of cardboard can and cannot be used and I’ll discuss that when I get into specifics in the future.