Life and Times III

I enjoy building things, and I have a lot of projects to attend to over the summer. Every year, I replace part of my deck for a few reasons: 1) I hate the paint. It's expensive, and it's messy. 2) The deck is slowly rotting, so I've been replacing boards and applying linseed oil. In addition to the deck, recent windstorms have damaged two of my gates. They weren't installed correctly (from the previous owner) to start with, and so I've got to take them apart. I have also wanted to to work on various small tasks such as building a small bathroom shelf.

I have a miter saw that is very heavy, and each time I lift it from the shed, I risk throwing out my back. I usually roll out a table to place it on, but it's a lot of work. This year, I decided to build a table with wheels to support my miter saw.

The project took 2 1/2 days as I am still an amateur. I used 7 inch steel wheels, wheelbarrow support handles, a ton of 3/8 carriage bolts, nuts, and washers. It's pretty sturdy. I put in four carriage bolts on the sides to support a tarp, and bolted the saw down. I can roll this beast across the yard without hurting my back. I plan on securing some goggles, gloves, and various other tools to the table.

Life and Times II

I was running late for work. As I put the car in reverse and backed out a few feet, I noticed that my side sprinklers were still on! "What the hell" I mumbled to myself. Actually, I probably said something far worse. I was tired, these sprinklers should have shut off hours earlier, and my mental faculties were exhausted. I have an active mind, it doesn't shut off when five-o-clock rolls around, and stress at work affects how I deal with small problems such as this one.

Solenoid and valves

After spending nearly ten minutes trying to figure out how to manually shut off the sprinklers, I found the answer was to loosen a plastic screw near the black solenoid to let water flood a chamber which should cause the solenoid pin to withdraw. (I'm assuming this is how it works). Colleagues at work would tell me the problem was due to this thing or that thing. Some would blame the solenoid, and others would say it must be a broken o-ring. The only thing I knew about o-rings was from the Challenger explosion.

Dirty

Anyway, on my first attempt, I was unable to do much as the valve cover (nut) didn't want to come off. The second attempt went much better. I turned off the secondary water, and was able to remove the solenoid and valve cover to take a look into the murky depths of the valve. It was filthy, and that was clearly causing the solenoid pin to have issues. Good, no splicing for me! I replaced the valve cover (nut), filter, spring, o-ring, and tested the station for a good while. It was finally shutting off as requested.

Life and Times Vol. I

About a month ago, a severe windstorm affected Northern Utah. Gusts reaching above 80 mph muscled into my neighborhood just after midnight. That morning, I had discovered that my vinyl fence was completely destroyed, as well as one of the sections of my wooden fence facing the North. Some church boys offered to help remove my posts, and with the aid of my farm jack - we were able.

FYI - When we removed the slats, we found wasp nests covering every square inch.

After spending a week removing the remains of concrete, I was lifting a bucket of Sakrete mix when I felt a sharp pain in my back. I didn't know it then, but I was the victim of a bulging disc. Years of bad posture, being very tall, and just having a weak back/core culminated at the worst possible time. It came weeks after I had started running at the gym 6 days out of 7. I had felt that my body was becoming stronger, but I guess I had an Achilles back. 

I was unable to tie my shoes the next day, and the days subsequent it became difficult to move. Going to work and sitting at a desk for hours became extreme. Ibuprofen came to be my best friend. I started a daily routine of icing my back, laying on my stomach, and sleeping on the side polar to the bulging disc. I bought a posture pillow for my work chair, and will probably pursue more for home. I've also been targeting my back at the gym. It will be a long recovery.

What would have normally taken two days, took two weeks to install the posts (w/ Sakrete) and horizontal beams. I would recommend using Quikrete in the future. I used treated wood with linseed oil. Images below: