One advantage to living 30
miles from the "landfill" (the new nice word for "dump") is that folks dump lots of good stuff in the desert
just outside town instead.
This shed floor, once home
to pack rats and termites, (http://cheapdudejones.blogspot.com/2011/12/pack-rat-redemption.html) is being rebuilt completely free of charge. Out running, walking,
and occasionally stumbling, through yonder desert, I find stuff, and, if it’s
good enough, fire up the Old Truck and get it. Often I force a son to help,
under threat of video disconnect.
The sand for this project
came from a nearby “wash,” a desert river that is completely dry 363/365ths of
the time. The road is vicious and the sand inconsistent, but all you pay is gas
and your labor. Get the kid to help again, he may still be angry and in need of
an outlet. Making a kid do some work is not child abuse yet.
The cement was free too
since I work at a cement plant. I took my found brick and a few rocks, and leveled
them as best I could without any construction doo-dads. Walked on them a few
months. Leveled them again. Too busy with other stuff, waited a few more months,
good thing bricks and stuff don’t rot or mold. Then I had to wait for warm
weather.
You mix the mortar dry and
sweep it into all the gaps, then water it a few times. It’s not perfectly level
but screw it.
%$#@!
This afternoon the swamp cooler started a
rhythmic scraping noise, metal on metal. No way was it going to let me do
anything else. Folks back east boo hoo about heat we endure routinely. But us
bad-ass desert rats boo and hoo too without some sort of electrical home
cooling device.
Yet another searing summer dance
on the roof, greasing and checking stuff, made it worse. The second dance
discovered a rusted part on the fan where it meets the axle or shaft or whatever.
So the third rooftop flamenco was with wire and pliers, to tie the fan in
place. Close enough, anyhow; the scraping ceased.
Home repair tip: By
looking, and fiddling around, and thinking about it, you can solve more crap
like this than you think. Fixed with an old piece of wire and pliers; it really
happens folks.
How long it will last is
another question. Which begs another: buy the part needed and fix it properly
soon? Or have a nice afternoon and wait till it starts making a racket again?
These are the decisions householders must make based on evidence and thought.
Evidently I’m tired, 'cause I think I’ll take a nap.
%$#@!
Dept. of Projects Best
Left Undone
This old folding church
bench was almost free. One son sanded and varnished it for pay, back when the
Cheap tribe had money for such nonsense. Soon three boards fell out as that
seat split apart. I liberally glued them back and ‘clamped’ it with twine. In
about a year that repair failed. There it sits. Behind it and to the right, a
crossword puzzle magazine, speckled with fresh rain water, is delicately placed
in a pie plate last used to feed the cat.
%$#@!
Hot Dog haiku
Sunshine, juicy meat
so wretched--eyelid, anus,
but so delicious!
 |
| Camping tip: When no camp fires are allowed, a cold pooch can be impaled on a spork, and heated over a backpacking stove inside your vehicle. |
No comments:
Post a Comment