In the desert we
have become the last few years, any moisture finds the welcome mat out. So Tuesday’s
half inch drizzle fell on grateful grounds.
But coming on the
heels of the switch back to standard time, where the afternoon turns into
evening in the afternoon, such days are hard on us Vitamin D addicts. Plus, the skid steer was sitting in the
circle drive waiting to go to work on the cement steps and porch. The attempt to get the cement work removed on
Monday afternoon, before the predicted wet weather, fell victim to the time
change. Darkness fell and the steps didn’t.
Wednesday to the
rescue. It dawned clear and afternoon
temperatures reached the 60’s. On with
the outdoor work.
Steps to the
basement and from the garage into the house have never had handrails. Well, we aren’t getting any younger, you
know. The weather had cooperated enough
earlier in the week to do the staining and varnishing outdoors. Newell posts had to be installed on cement
floors in both cases, necessitating drilling holes in concrete to secure support
plates. Wednesday morning was a perfect
time to do that in the garage.
I added one step
and reduced the risers from seven inches to five inches in the garage. The addition of the “mop handle” (British
slang for handrail) will make this entrance to the house pretty accessible.
Thirty minutes
later, the work is done. The destruction work that is. Quite a bit of cleanup had to be done, a couple
of yards of dirt to remove.
And the ruts. The skid steer didn’t do the yard any favors.
Fair weather
held out through the weekend, so out with the wheel barrow, and the ruts got
filled, the north foundation got a kinder gentler slope, and the south ditch
got a temporary dirt pile.
Two yards of dirt gone, time to cover up the wound left by the porch removal.
Metal flashing,
two strips of ¼” Styrofoam insulation, and a 10” siding piece cover a lot. It was warm enough to apply a coat of metal
primer to the flashing. Two holes in
the block foundation got a little masonry work.
A coat of blue ought to make the scars disappear.
The house is now accessible
only through the garage. But the welcome
mat is still out.
I was looking at the skid steer and remembering a Frank Horack quote from about 60 years ago: "Where'd yuh get the (bleep)?"
ReplyDeleteA former student who liked my English I class so well he took it twice, or as he says, I flunked him. He worked for a few years as a city cop. Then he went into the dirt-moving business. He has the skid steer with all kinds of attachments, backhoe, snowblower, blade, etc., truck, trailer, the whole business. Now he spends most of his time helping his 80-year-old dad do the farming. I had to wait for him to get done with milo harvest. An older brother who used to do the farming now teams with his wife in over-the-road trucking. Their company hauls for the military, so he has lots of interesting stories.
ReplyDeleteI know a lady and her husband who also do otr trucking. Somehow they fell into the business of hauling cars - EXPENSIVE cars - sometimes for celebrities. They were called to pick up a car in the Coors Field reserved parking lot a couple of years ago - belonged to Ubaldo Jiminez. He was waiting there to supervise the loading and at the end gave them a big tip for being careful not to scratch his car and for being, as the woman reported, "nice people."
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