What did you do today? - 2021 version

[1242Vintage]

Scary day here in my corner of Northern CA. Was coming back from the gym this morning and passed three small wildfires on the road 1/4 mile from the house. Crews were already at the largest fire. The biggest of the three took out a neighbors fence and an acre of his vineyard. The Air assault … two fixed wing and a helicopter … were overhead in a matter of a few minutes and had the flames contained quickly. No structures burned thank goodness.

 

[Walt34]

Mowed the front half of the yard starting at 8:30 AM, something I normally never do, but made an exception because of the heat. I am sure the neighbors would understand why. At least I picked a weekday instead of Sunday morning. I was still drenched in sweat by the time I was done.

Spent the rest of the day inside with the A/C on.

 

[street]

Up at 430 and started irrigating the yard again. So, dry here and now we are having 90's for the next 3 or 4 days.

I left for ranch early to start picking wild berry's while it was cool. Always a pain to pick berry on those side hills and all rough country, but is always a pleasure to eat the reward.

The good part of piking berry is the solitude and all the sounds of nature and beauty that goes along with the outdoors.

A great day in paradise.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Cleaned 3 Mud wasp nests from my foyer. Amazing how they can build them overnight, it is that time of year. I scrape them off, brush them with LA's Awesome and squirt them with the hose. Good as New.

 

[11522914]

Right now I'm sitting at a hotel pool that I just booked this morning in the same city.

Wife is sunbathing while I sit in the shade.

Very relaxing.

Why am I doing this? Because I'm shooting for a Southwest airlines companion pass and this is one of the ways to get fast relatively cheap points other than the credit cards.

Plus we get to enjoy the hotel away from everyone!!!!

Explained to wife we still have about 4 more spontaneous visits to go.

Once we get companion pass both of us will be able to fly free numerous times for about 15 months.

[emoji16][emoji41]

 

[Walt34]

After the rain I emptied the rain gauge of an inch of water. Other than that we stayed inside and pretty much did nothing. Temperatures are pretty nice, better than usual this time of year.

 

[REWahoo]

Finished my last quarterly Consumer Price Index phone interview with the Census Bureau yesterday. Roughly an hour and a half of detailed questions about what we spent last quarter and what we spent it on. Although I keep pretty detailed records, some of the questions were tough for me to answer with what I felt was total accuracy.

Example: "What was your average monthly spending for restaurant meals and how much of that amount was for alcoholic beverages?" For some reason, "I was too sh*t-faced to remember" doesn't work as a response.

 

[Sue J]

We also just had our Census interview. Ours is twice a year and it’s about crime. Crime wise we had nothing to report but still had to answer all the questions. Then there were all new questions about online security and cyber crime.

Have we ever had someone else use our credit card without our knowledge? Do we pay for credit protection? Have we changed passwords? Do we shred documents with personal info?

These calls usually take 20 to 30 minutes and are annoying but we do it and get it over with. I just wish our Census caller had a better phone, it’s very hard to hear her clearly.

 

[Souschef]

This is a sad day for us. I just got word that our dear DIL just passed away. I am waiting to hear from my son to find out what arrangements have been made.

 

[ivinsfan]

This is a sad day for us. I just got word that our dear DIL just passed away. I am waiting to hear from my son to find out what arrangements have been made.

Oh my goodness I am so sorry for your loss. could you start a thread on this so we can properly express our sympathies

 

[street]

Souschef, that is so sad, I wish you and your family the best.

 

[Walt34]

Fired up the pressure washer to clean off the front porch and sidewalk, both concrete. The front of the house faces north so it never gets direct sunlight and mold slowly accumulates. I have to love the brute force of an 11 hp engine pumping water at 3,000 psi and 4 gpm. My style of cleaning! I also tried out a new surface cleaner attachment, a device that has rotating nozzles under a shroud to keep the spray in check. I forget the brand name but it looks similar to the one in the link.

I did have to dial it back quite a bit to clean the back porch and deck, made of painted wood. The surface cleaner didn't do so well there so I went back to the tried-and-true wand, even if it is slower. I guess since it's designed for 3,000 psi it doesn't do well at 300 psi. By the time I was done with all that and put everything away my back was killing me so I went to bed for two hours to rest.

It was worth the effort though, everything is noticeably cleaner.

 

[NW-Bound]

Fired up the pressure washer to clean off the front porch and sidewalk, both concrete. The front of the house faces north so it never gets direct sunlight and mold slowly accumulates. I have to love the brute force of an 11 hp engine pumping water at 3,000 psi and 4 gpm. My style of cleaning!

Yeah, if the jet is strong enough, one can just blow away everything, and there's nothing left to worry about.

 

[Ronstar]

DW ordered a ceramic grill from QVC. Came damaged. So I brought it to a UPS store today. Printed some photos for MIL of one of her great DGD’s. Putzed in the workshop.

Then went kayaking. At which time I realized that I need a new dock. One specifically for getting in and out of a kayak. Difficult with the current dock. Got approval from DW for a new dock. Now in the design phase. Not sure whether I’ll build it myself or have someone build it for me. But I’ll probably take out the old dock myself.

 

[finnski1]

This is a sad day for us. I just got word that our dear DIL just passed away. I am waiting to hear from my son to find out what arrangements have been made.

So Sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what that must be like.

 

[EastWest Gal]

We just walked back across the development and returned from a local fireworks display. Our development is right next to a farm, where they raise goats and grow a variety of crops, rotating them and leaving patches fallow as well. The farm has its own farm market, and they are an amazing addition to the neighborhood. Last year the farm put on a professional fireworks show, not well advertised. This year, we all got postcards in our mailboxes, announcing the fireworks show and asking that donations towards the cost be brought to the market.

The whole neighborhood walked to the end of a tiny road that opens onto the side of the field. Lots and lots of kids there. It was an excellent show. There were two drones flying overhead, probably recording the event. Part way through the show a group of small girls, maybe ages 6-10, started singing the national anthem. They were terrible singers (I don't think they were really trying to sing) but they knew the lyrics better than the pros.

It was raining most of the day today, so it was rather cool, and the field was wet. Perfect night for fireworks. We live in a nice community. This little farm is a real asset to the community.

 

[street]

DW ordered a ceramic grill from QVC. Came damaged. So I brought it to a UPS store today. Printed some photos for MIL of one of her great DGD’s. Putzed in the workshop.

Then went kayaking. At which time I realized that I need a new dock. One specifically for getting in and out of a kayak. Difficult with the current dock. Got approval from DW for a new dock. Now in the design phase. Not sure whether I’ll build it myself or have someone build it for me. But I’ll probably take out the old dock myself.

Keep us updated on your project. Sounds interesting and would be a fun build the way it sounds.

 

[Ronstar]

Keep us updated on your project. Sounds interesting and would be a fun build the way it sounds.

Weird thing. I built the current dock around 2005 out of 2x8 treated for joists with trex decking to match our deck. Very heavy. Used 10' long 6" pvc filled with concrete for piers.

The surface has held up reasonably well. But I have a frost heave issue. One wouldn't think that parts of the dock would rise with all of that weight, but the part nearest the shore has been rising about an inch per year lately. Looks like the shoreline side is about 8-10" higher than the water side.

I'll have some fun getting 10' long 6" dia concrete filled pvc piers out of the lake.

 

[street]

^ getting those piers out of the lake will keep you young and fit. Lol It will be challenging that is for sure.

 

[street]

Went to ranch early to pick wild berries got about 3 gallons, and they are just starting to be ready for picking.
I then used the trash pump to irrigated some trees from the crick. I did some mowing and took a good look at the old shop (16x28 foot) that I want to rebuild when I get the land deal done.

 

[Koogie]

I'll have some fun getting 10' long 6" dia concrete filled pvc piers out of the lake.

Can't you just cut off the piers near the waterline if they are under the deck ? It sounds like mother nature will complete the removal process for you over a few more years.

 

[Ronstar]

^ getting those piers out of the lake will keep you young and fit. Lol It will be challenging that is for sure.

Can't you just cut off the piers near the waterline if they are under the deck ? It sounds like mother nature will complete the removal process for you over a few more years.

Part of the plan will be to cut off at the water line. Or slightly above it.

Then I'm going to leave some joists intact to other piers to use as a support for a pulley. And attach my atv winch cable to the lower portion and pull it up and out.

Lake bottom is sand. I can use my pressure washer to jet out sand around bottom of piers to make the bottom portion of the piers easier to remove.

But I plan on removing the whole pier.

Along with this, I'm going to beat on them with a sledgehammer - that may break up the concrete in the pvc. And I have access to a jackhammer if all else fails.

But I'm waiting until September for cooler weather and lower water.

 

[street]

Ronstar >>> I have seen that method to pull a longer pole then what a digger derrick, had derrick length for a longer pole. I actually have been involved in that process of setting and pulling longer units then what the right was capable of doing.

If I understand your drawing that pulley support riser will set right by the pier you are pulling out.

The only thing we did when using that method was from that top pulley cable went down along that riser to another pulley. That way when you tighten up that cable back to your wheeler the cable is horizontal/parallel to water/ground and pulls straight.

I'm not telling you or saying you have to do it that way. It is just the way I have used and seen it done.

Have fun and be safe.

 

[Souschef]

My older son came over to help us, as I cannot do anything with this fractured vertebrae.
We did a water run, filling 14 one gallon jugs from machines. He then assembled the new sewing table for DW and moved it into the bedroom.
On his way out, he dumped all the packing material and also the strange package we received of wooden parts with no instructions or hardware.
Bless his heart for helping.

 

[Ronstar]

Went for a mosquito infested hike and cut a hole through our brick exterior and installed a receptacle for our deck.