What did you do today? - 2021 version

[TrvlBug]

Ahh, yes! I am familiar with the usefulness of baby wipes when it comes to cats!

I have the opposite problem with one of my 14.5-year-old orange tabby sisters - I'm trying to put weight on her. But her sister has no such problem, that's for sure!

I hope your vet has some connections and can rustle up some senior food for you. These shortages are getting very old very fast.

Finally found some senior cat food, 2 brands, at PetSmart . Will start the transition tomorrow. I'm hoping they'll like one then will order a few cases! I was amazed at the inventory PetSmart had...much, much more than either Petco or PetFoodExpress. And talked to the vet and she said, no kitten food is not an acceptable substitution for senior cat food.

 

[Ronstar]

At the beginning of 2021, I set some goals just for fun. One was to hike 100 times in 2021. I made it today. And then did some woodworking. And finished a map I was working on.

 

[finnski1]

At the beginning of 2021, I set some goals just for fun. One was to hike 100 times in 2021. I made it today. And then did some woodworking. And finished a map I was working on.

Congrats. I usually get about 50 a year in. At 42 to date.

 

[Calico]

Finally found some senior cat food, 2 brands, at PetSmart . Will start the transition tomorrow. I'm hoping they'll like one then will order a few cases! I was amazed at the inventory PetSmart had...much, much more than either Petco or PetFoodExpress. And talked to the vet and she said, no kitten food is not an acceptable substitution for senior cat food.

I'm so glad you found some foods to try - I know that feeling of relief!!

Good luck with the transition. Been there, done that many times.

 

[street]

!

At the beginning of 2021, I set some goals just for fun. One was to hike 100 times in 2021. I made it today. And then did some woodworking. And finished a map I was working on.

That is outstanding! I hike a lot but have not kept track through the years. The miles vary but most are in the 3 to 8 miles depending on the season we are in.
I never get tired of it or never gets old when I hike in the back country. When I walk in town it isn't much fun and can be almost boring.

I do log ~ 300 days a year fishing, hunting, trapping and hiking. Sometimes I do two or three of them in one day.

If we concentrated on the really important stuff in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles and hiking shoes.

 

[NW-Bound]

Weather has been great so decided to start digging, by hand a shallow water well. I made a 2-inch auger and got down about 7 feet in less than a couple of hours. I will putz at it till freeze up and will finish it in the spring.
I also worked on the old shop and took a walk in the back country.

How deep is the water table there?

I don't know about the depth in the metropolitan Phoenix, but at my high-country home, you would think it's easier to drill for oil.

Finally closed out the storage unit we rented when consolidating homes. Started at $200/mo and last $330, due to increased demand from business owners affected with covid shutdowns and needing to store inventory and supplies. Guy told me they have over 500 units and all full.

Well they now have an open, and the dough will buy the boat slip and my internet and phone bill -

That's expensive, and way more than I thought. How big is the unit? 1000 sq.ft.?

 

[RobbieB]

Nope, just a 10x20 "garage" unit with roll up door. One light, concrete floor garage. But you can't park a car in it. That costs extra.

 

[street]

NW-Bound, I'm hoping for water about 16 to 22 feet. Where I'm digging and driving this well is in bottom ground. It is about 1/4 mile at the most from the river. There is oil beneath me I can tell you that. If I could drill that deep, I would hit black gold! The bad part I would have to give it to the legal owner. LOL

My goal is to auger/dig to ~15 feet, then see if I have some h2o. I really don't want to go through the cost (~250$) in suction head and pipe to find out I don't have watah. I'm going tomorrow to work on that hole (2 inch) and hoping to reach a total 10 plus feet tomorrow.

I need to hit have water at less than 24 feet. Otherwise, I will need to go to deep well equipment to get water to the surface. I will have to debate and contemplate that result.

I got an old house I barely been in and not sure if it had a well drilled. There may be one inside and I will be able to recue it for water source for trees etc..

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of water, when I dug up the PVC water line in the backyard that was broken by the neighbor's tree root, I took the opportunity to add a second faucet to the side yard, and also ran a stub line deeper into the yard for a later expansion.

Yesterday, I finished extending that line to the furthest corner of the yard, and added two more faucets. My plant-loving wife now has 4 faucets spaced out in the back and side yards. She will no longer need to drag a long garden hose from the original single faucet. I will get her short 20' hoses, one for each faucet.

Today, I installed a new watering line for a long 50' planter. The plan is to automate as much of the watering as possible, so that we can leave the house unattended in the summer without coming back to see dead plants. I did not do the old watering line correctly, and the coverage was uneven.

 

[Ronstar]

Congrats. I usually get about 50 a year in. At 42 to date.

Thanks - great to hear from another hiker. 50 hikes a year - A great way to spend a day a week. I have a state natural area 3 minutes from home. So instead of walking the streets of my neighborhood, I drive 3 miles and hike there. Not overly scenic, but still way better than the streets.

That is outstanding! I hike a lot but have not kept track through the years. The miles vary but most are in the 3 to 8 miles depending on the season we are in.
I never get tired of it or never gets old when I hike in the back country. When I walk in town it isn't much fun and can be almost boring.

I do log ~ 300 days a year fishing, hunting, trapping and hiking. Sometimes I do two or three of them in one day.

If we concentrated on the really important stuff in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles and hiking shoes.

I agree - hiking never gets old in the back country. I told SIL yesterday that you never know what you're going to see out there. Your last sentence is so true.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Speaking of water, when I dug up the PVC water line in the backyard that was broken by the neighbor's tree root, I took the opportunity to add a second faucet to the side yard, and also ran a stub line deeper into the yard for a later expansion.

Yesterday, I finished extending that line to the furthest corner of the yard, and added two more faucets. My plant-loving wife now has 4 faucets spaced out in the back and side yards. She will no longer need to drag a long garden hose from the original single faucet. I will get her short 20' hoses, one for each faucet.

Today, I installed a new watering line for a long 50' planter. The plan is to automate as much of the watering as possible, so that we can leave the house unattended in the summer without coming back to see dead plants. I did not do the old watering line correctly, and the coverage was uneven.

I bet your wife is appreciative- I would be!

 

[street]

Speaking of water, when I dug up the PVC water line in the backyard that was broken by the neighbor's tree root, I took the opportunity to add a second faucet to the side yard, and also ran a stub line deeper into the yard for a later expansion.

Yesterday, I finished extending that line to the furthest corner of the yard, and added two more faucets. My plant-loving wife now has 4 faucets spaced out in the back and side yards. She will no longer need to drag a long garden hose from the original single faucet. I will get her short 20' hoses, one for each faucet.

Today, I installed a new watering line for a long 50' planter. The plan is to automate as much of the watering as possible, so that we can leave the house unattended in the summer without coming back to see dead plants. I did not do the old watering line correctly, and the coverage was uneven.

I have been thinking of doing that same thing. Adding more faucets and burying more transmission line. I messed up years ago not into bury a 2-inch PVC pipe under cement driveway. I than could of run power or water line through pipe to get to the other side.
Wife has flowers on other side of driveway and the rest is rock.

 

[W2R]

My dentist wanted to check my teeth again today. I hit them very hard on my hardwood floor about 4 weeks ago when I had a bad fall, but apparently the damage to them is less than we feared! Yay. So, my dentist charged me nothing and said they will be fine but to come and see him if I have any further concerns about them.

BTW I got to drive there, and as always the practice was helpful as I re-learn driving after my hospitalization. Frank went with me so we could get lunch at the Chinese place near my dentist. That was great (I ordered their lemon chicken! ). After lunch I drove the 7+ miles of winding roads back to our side of the suburb.

This afternoon I listened to livestreaming news videos on Youtube and worked on getting my financial/investment spreadsheets repaired. There was a lot missing in them since I neglected them completely for 3 months during my evacuation/hospitalization, and recovery. So, they need some attention.

Right now it's 2 AM and I should be sleeping - - F will be knocking on my door with coffee and those blueberry muffins that I love from Dunkin Donuts at 9 AM, so I'll have sweet dreams about that. Good night!

 

[NW-Bound]

I have been thinking of doing that same thing. Adding more faucets and burying more transmission line. I messed up years ago not into bury a 2-inch PVC pipe under cement driveway. I than could of run power or water line through pipe to get to the other side.
Wife has flowers on other side of driveway and the rest is rock.

One problem I do not have here in the low desert is freezing temperature. Else, my exposed copper riser pipes up to the faucets would not survive one winter.

This reminds me that we occasionally get one or two freezing nights each year. I will have to be sure to watch out for that, and run a dribble from the faucets into the pool.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I messed up years ago not into bury a 2-inch PVC pipe under cement driveway...

I have run a water line under the driveway twice, by using the "hydraulic" method. I dug a trench, then rammed a long pipe under the driveway, with a water hose attached to the other end. This works well when the soil under the driveway is not rocky.

 

[Ronstar]

I have run a water line under the driveway twice, by using the "hydraulic" method. I dug a trench, then rammed a long pipe under the driveway, with a water hose attached to the other end. This works well when the soil under the driveway is not rocky.

I always wish that I would have put a sleeve or 2 under our driveway. One to run gas to my workshop. I could use the pipe and hose method, but I have an electric line to cross. I suppose I could squeeze it in between the bottom of the drive and above the electric line.

Back in my working days, we were working on putting a gas pipeline (around 18"-36"?) under an interstate highway. First jack a 300' long casing pipe under the 2 roadways and median, then weld up sections of pipeline and push the pipeline through the casing to the other side.


Something went wrong and the casing rose out of the ground while it was being jacked. Probably veered off alignment due to rock. Luckily it came up in the median. I can't remember how they fixed that.

 

[street]

I have run a water line under the driveway twice, by using the "hydraulic" method. I dug a trench, then rammed a long pipe under the driveway, with a water hose attached to the other end. This works well when the soil under the driveway is not rocky.

Yes, jetting it in, would work. I have asked my wife many times, if she would like to have a facet on that side and she says, she is fine without one.

I been around boring equipment and large boring/vac jobs a lot in my working years. I had one contractor that did some amazing difficult bore jobs. His talent in boring was unmatched.

Yesterday, I did go and work on that shallow well I'm digging. I got a total of 13 feet in a total of about 5 hours. My new auger I built works really well.

I'm in sand right now, for about 16 inches. I will go down about 3 to 4 feet more and see if I can hit water or evidence of water being at that (~16 feet) depth.

I will take today off, and hike and get trucks oil changed. My old arms ache some to from all that auguring and lifting/pulling the 2 inch auger attached to the 3/4 inch 17 feet of drilling rod out of hole to clean. Lol Great exercise and tired sometimes feels good.

 

[braumeister]

I live less than three miles from the downtown heart of a major city, so I was a bit surprised to see this very healthy, well-fed coyote in the back yard this afternoon.

We've had some scrawny ones in the past, but this guy has it all figured out. I've alerted my neighbors who have pets.

 

[aja8888]

I live less than three miles from the downtown heart of a major city, so I was a bit surprised to see this very healthy, well-fed coyote in the back yard this afternoon.

We've had some scrawny ones in the past, but this guy has it all figured out. I've alerted my neighbors who have pets.

These guys just love house cats. (Ask me how i know) LOL!

 

[travelover]

Looking through a desk drawer today I came upon an envelope of EE bonds. Two of them quit earning interest this summer, so I'm gonna cash them in. Better than finding quarters in the couch cushions.

Back in the day, MegaMotors used to coerce the employees to buy these, so I invested the minimum per paycheck toward the largest denomination. Still ended up with a stack of them.

 

[1242Vintage]

Worked my part-time job as a material testing technician today at a local rock quarry. Love being outside and working alongside mechanics and equipment operators. Came home tired, a little sun burnt, and very dusty.

 

[street]

A day late but yesterday, I did go back and dug some more on the well. I'm in sand and very porous soil. I'm down 16 feet with slightly damp sand but not wet sand.

I went down 3 feet, in about an hour, so very easy drilling now. I thought I had another 5 feet of pipe rigged to attach to my hand drilling apparatus, but I didn't. Lol

So, one more time to go see if I can hit water with another 5 feet extension of pipe. I might go today and give it a try.

 

[pacergal]

Running errands, putting up the inside Christmas decorations today, and the tree tomorrow.

 

[Walt34]

Bummer day. We tried to make an appointment to get DW's car inspected (WV has an annual inspection) and found out the shop we had been going to for the the last 19 years closed. The owner was one of the nicest and happiest guys you'd ever want to meet and he ran an honest shop, sometimes hard to find. The last time I asked him about retirement was about two years ago, he was 71 then, and he said he loved what he was doing, had been working on cars since he was 14, and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

The owner of the pizza shop next door said he had cancer and had to retire for what time he had left. That's a definite downer for quite a while here, we really liked Roger.

 

[braumeister]

Sorry about your mechanic friend, Walt. That's a hard blow.

I went out and did my annual shopping trip for what I like to call my "holiday beers." I always pick out some special brews to enjoy during December. Got a nice assortment from the US, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany.