Mud

This is mud. .

We seem to have a lot of it lately. It seems the drought is finally history.
This is a look at our "Driveway" into the trailer the other day. It was kinda slick. It has poured down rain several times since then. We plan on doing some work out there this weekend that will require moving some heavy supplies in there. Since our 4x4 is out of the picture for now, we will need to somehow get in there with a trailer and a normal automobile.

Here is a look at One of The Fuzz's attempts to improve this situation. Note, at the arrow, the large chunks of cement that he has filled in this mud hole with. We used a variation of this system at the house, and it was quite effective there. But that was a small thing in comparison to this "Driveway" which at this point is a muddy trail in the woods. This made for an interesting ride on The Fuzz's motorcycle the other day. Of course, we could simply have numerous loads of gravel brought in, but that would require numerous dollars which are needed elsewhere. But "They" claim the rain will stop soon. If we are lucky, the road may dry out enough by the weekend and we won't have to hand carry all that stuff in.

Hung Jury?

Well, for the Guilty Kitty, so far we are tied, 2 for A, and 2 for C. I suppose we could just hang them both. I mean, what's a couple kitties more or less?

And just so you have something to look at, The Fuzz wanted me to add this little pix of some kind of Rose he found in the woods and brought home.

Guilty?

Well, so far the vote is going against this little feller. His refusal to make eye contact is working against him. Maybe he needs a better lawyer. The jury is still out, but it looks bad.
If you haven't had a chance yet to voice your opinion, there's still time.
In the mean time, let's just say that the whole litter was banished from the porch, which seemed to have a good effect. But don't think of this as a cruel punishment thing, it was more of a chance for them to begin to experience the wider world out there.

On The Job

You may recall how The Fuzz had been working on a trailer hitch for this little car. With his truck seemingly out of action, and a pressing need to keep working on our new Home In The Woods, it seemed like the best plan.
Now, here is a look at this rig on the job. Of course this lacks the macho image of a 4x4 and all, but it seems to get the job done. And isn't that the point anyway?
But there are times when one does miss that 4x4 aspect. We had to move some plywood out there and that worked out just fine. But we have been getting a bit of rain lately, and this is a good thing when one recalls the passed dry years. It rained while we were there the other day and, as you can see, the ground was quite wet. But we were careful and made it back out OK.
We are hoping to get some underpinning and another "porch" done soon. After that we should be "approved" by the county, and can start the long process of actually making this place habitable.

Multiple Choice

Now that we've dealt with those troublesome "Monkey Pods", we can move on to more pressing matters.
To our right, you will see "Exhibit A". This is only one of these items being found daily on our back porch. For any who might be a little inexperienced, this is what is known as a Cat Turd.
Now this is not intended to be one of those "Cute Kitten" pix, although I suppose it could fall into that category. It is rather, a roundup of "The usual suspects". But the question remains, which is the perpetrator?

Is it suspect "A"?

Suspect "B"?

Or, suspect "C"?

This is the question we need answered. Not knowing how to determine this, The Fuzz suggested that we leave it up to some sort of a vote, maybe like that American Idol thing on the TV. And so, we leave it up to you, our many loyal readers. Which of these sneaky little Shitty Kitties is responsible. Which looks like the type that would commit such an act of desecration.

Albizia Saman

And just what is this "Albizia saman" you may ask, and why would we even mention it?
Well it did come up as a comment to a recent post. It is, in fact this mystery Monkey Pod! And you can read all about it Here on that wonderful source for all kinds of information, Wikipedia!


"Albizia saman is known under a wide range of common names, such as Saman, Rain Tree or Monkey Pod..."


Maria said...

"yay- we used to get Monkey Pods stuck in our tires in Hawaii - it does make a horrible noise...it scared me the first time i heard it...but i was glad that was all it was :)"

And then Maria said...

"haha -a monkey pod is this type of seed thing that falls from some of the tree's in hawaii...not sure which type. but when they are broken open they are every where!!! and they are a sticky mess!..which ends up in your tires...meh"

So now we know what is this Monkey Pod. But what am I doing up this late?!!

Slight Hitch Cont....

Enlarging the access hole didn't seem like the best approach since this might weaken what goes for a frame.
Perhaps this would be insignificant, but since this area would have to bear the additional strain of a (possibly overloaded) trailer The Fuzz decided to use another approach.
The piece on the left A will take a ride on the bench grinder, the one on the right B has already had it's turn and now is able to slip up into this "frame". This stuff has to go in one hole and end up with the bolt sticking out of the other.
This could get tricky.
But there is a little trick to accomplish this amazing feat. They have provided this ingenious technique utilizing this "Fishing" wire to pull the bolt into the flat thing which will already be inside the "frame".
Note how securely the bolt threads into this specially designed wire. The Fuzz was expecting the worst, like maybe loosing all this stuff inside that "frame". But I'm happy to report that he was disappointed, and every thing worked just as planned. The bolt slid into that flat piece and then the whole thing slid right down though the proper hole with only a minimum of jiggling. This was repeated on the other side, and then the hitch was lifted and bolted into position.

And here is the finished project.
Now we'll have to find a suitable trailer.

But There Was a Slight Hitch

With all the trouble we've been having with that sorry truck, we thought it might be time for a backup plan. So The Fuzz went online and ordered this Trailer Hitch Kit from a famous Mail Order Automotive Outfit whose motto is "Everything Automotive". It arrived pretty quickly. (But we're still waiting for the motorcycle tire.)

The rather large box also included these instructions.

After carefully reading them, The Fuzz thought, "This should be easy" and crawled under the car. This was when the rain began. But The Fuzz is not one to be intimidated by a little shower.
The first thing was to lower the muffler. This turned into quite a struggle, but was eventually accomplished. Next the now saturated Fuzz turned his attention to the actual installation. The holes all lined up perfectly, but now, there was a slight hitch. The part at the left (also seen at B on the diagram above) was just slightly too wide to slip up into the "Access Hole" at A. Unlike the diagram, this bit of what goes for a "frame" on these little cars, is completely boxed in. The instructions called for running a "Fishing" wire in one hole, and out the other thus pulling the bolt and this "Square Hole Spacer" across to the other hole, and then down into position to bolt the hitch to the "Frame". But this of course, presupposes that one can actually get the piece in there.
This was the point where the now thoroughly soaked Fuzz packed it in for the day.

To be continued.....

Tiny Troubles

I believe it was mentioned that The Fuzz and His Sweetie sometimes have a night out at the Local Coffee Shop.
Some times this can lead to an adventure of sorts. A couple weeks ago, the were on their way back to the house after getting all caffeined up when the wheel on their fine motor vehicle began making a terrible racket. After that initial Sinking Feeling, the noise quit. They figured perhaps something had gotten somehow, briefly, stuck in the wheel. Since the noise was no longer there they just continued happily on their way.
But, 2 weeks later, as they neared the house after another evening of ingesting that powerful drug, that terrible noise returned. (Along with that Sinking Feeling I might add) There was nothing left to do but check it out. As The Fuzz crawled under the vehicle with his flashlight, he found that the cats had been busy in this area. At this point he realized that this would be better dealt with in the morning.
Unfortunately, if one is (like The Fuzz) a contributing member of society, "the morning" often involves going to work. This also means that anything like this must be taken care of first. It is still quite dark at 5:30 AM. But The Fuzz rolled out of the bed and into the yard. There was no obvious problem, so the only thing left was to remove the offending wheel for a better look.
He toted the heavy floor jack up to the shitty driveway and wedged it under the vehicle. There seems to be some sort of air lock in this thing which causes it to quit just before it's high enough. But The Fuzz is a resourceful guy and he knows how to use blocks of wood and bricks to make things work.
By now you have no doubt seen this little pebble we posted here. The Fuzz found it there in that dust shield at the disk. Now this particular pebble was not in a position to cause any of this trouble, but he seems to think it is indicative of what the actual problem was. He believes that the offender was already dislodged, possibly by his early morning endeavors.
At any rate, the vehicle is doing fine, with no terrible noises and no sinking feelings. And, he made it to work on time!

And How About This?

Ain't technology great?

This just in!

"Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent"

"A Saudi Arabian inventor has filed for a patent on a potentially lethal science fiction-style human tracking microchip, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) told The Local on Friday."

But, not to worry-

"...the macabre innovation that enables remote killing will likely be denied copyright protection."

This is, certainly a big relief.

As can be seen from this detailed diagram, this involves tracking by satellites, implanted chips and stuff like that. The future is looking better all the time.

Fuzzy News, we report, you decide.

Mobile Generosity

There's a lot of "Neat Freaks" in this world. Now there's nothing wrong with that actually. If it weren't for these Neat Freaks this place would really be a mess. I must confess to not being one, myself. A bit of "clutter" doesn't bother me too much, although, it can get out of hand at times.
Living as we do on this fairly busy road, a lot of these Neat Freaks pass by every day. I can understand how they might want to clean out a bit of the "clutter" in their cars. Too much "clutter" in the car can cause complications in certain situations, like, routine traffic stops.

And so, The Fuzz was not particularly surprised to find this item in the yard the other day.
He did want me to inform you all, that he was in no wise responsible for this. He claims he wouldn't drink this stuff unless he was totally parched and there was no suitable substitute available, like maybe water.
We are hoping that when we finally make it out to the woods, these unfortunate incidents will be a thing of the past.

After an Evening....

The Fuzz and His Sweetie sometimes spend an evening at the local Coffee Shop. They don't believe in Decaf.

Fancy Fixtures

The Fuzz may be having troubles with vehicles lately, but he hasn't let that keep him down. Check out these brand new kitchen faucets here.

Notice the cheap plastic crap that was removed.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie slipped over to the Home Improvement Store for a quality fixture. They've been slipping over there a lot lately. Pretty soon the Home Improvement Store will have all their money. But they have been very patriotic, and are doing their part to stimulate the economy.
The Fuzz says that with the government printing all that new money, we might as well spend ours now, while it's still worth something, and have something to show for it.
They also purchased a bunch of paint and a shower curtain rod. This ingenious device does not require any sort of mounting fixtures. One simply twists this thing, and an internal spring applies tension against the wall, thus, holding it firmly in place. The Fuzz was somewhat concerned that it might poke a hole though the thin wallboard, but so far, every thing seems to be OK.

In Passing Through

Tach It Up

Things have not been going well lately in regards to mechanical matters. The other day, The Fuzz was riding back from the trailer on his motorcycle. As he neared the house the tach fell off. This was a bit of a bummer, since due to another situation which I'd rather not go into right now, this bike is his main method of transport. Now this is not as strange as it may seem, since so much of this machine is constructed of (now aging) plastic. But The Fuzz admits, he was not expecting it.

Realizing that this would surely be an expensive part to replace, he gave it a bit of thought, and the wheels began to go click-click-click. Here is the result.
A hose clamp (A ) was purchased at the Home Improvement Store. This was then cut open and bent to fit the mounting on the bike. Appropriately sized holes were drilled for the screw, and it was fastened to the bike. Of course there were complications. Since the tach was slightly tapered, it had a tendency to slip out of the clamp when tightened. First a bit of old inner tube was tried unsuccessfully. Finally, he resorted to adding a clamp (B) made out of an unused scrap of the hose clamp. This was more successful.
Now there are many folks who would probably be disgusted by this crude expedient, but this is not a $50,000 Chopper or any thing like that. As The Fuzz has said he "Got it to ride on, not rub on". And so far, it hasn't fallen off again. And as you know, it's hard to argue with success.

Walking Down

Modern Facilities

Although we are living close to town, we have been able to maintain a somewhat simple lifestyle at least in regards to Facilities. This is because of what is known as a Grandfather Clause.
One of the Kinfolks once joked that we were the only people he knew with a mac computer and an outhouse.

But in moving out to the woods, we will ironically lose this Grandfather status. This means plumbing, and as Murphy's Law is still in effect, plumbing problems.
One of these involved the feed line to some of the new "facilities". Now The Fuzz has actually had to deal with plumbing in a somewhat under the radar manner, but he prefers to work with that PVC stuff that one simply cuts and glues together.
But the plumbing in trailers, it seems, is of a different type. You may have noticed, if you are the observant type, that the plumbing in question, is secured by some sort of crimped things.
Now The Fuzz had never had to deal with this sort of thing, but the Son-in-law knew just how to handle this situation. So it was off to the Home Improvement Store*. There they found all the things necessary for this important repair. There was this nifty white hose-thing that simply screws onto the tank inlet. And since the cut-off valve was not quite cutting anything off, we got one of those too. And to attach all this great stuff to the existing plumbing, this special tool** and the little rings for crimping it all together.
And so we put it all together and we are pleased to report that there are no leaks (at least here) and the floor is now quite dry. It would be nice if this were the end to our plumbing adventures but now we have to tackle the kitchen sink. But with all this experience, it should be a piece of cake.



*The Home Improvement Store was only a few minutes drive from the old place, but many miles from the "Woods".

**Very expensive

Coming Up In The World

Here is our new "hill".

This is at the "Landfill". And it has been pretty well "Filled". What we are looking at used to be a rather large hole in the ground. As you can see, it is nothing like a hole now.
We thought we'd check up on the Garbage Business, and got The Fuzz to sneak his camera into the landfill. (These things used to be called dumps and were good places to find stuff and shoot rats.)
This is a view from up on top. At one time this spot was actually lower than that pond down there. The Fuzz made this picture from a truck while making a deposit. You can get some idea of the scale from the utility pole down there. Anyway, that's a lot of trash.
Some years ago, they built a Dog Pound on top of one of the older "Landfills". It didn't work out. After a while, one end of the building started to sink into the earth. Eventually, they had to tear it down and build a new one in a different place.
This is a look in another direction. You can see the trestle over there, in fact you could say "Down there". That pile of stuff in front is a bunch of well composted wood chips. They use these to dry out the mud so the trucks can get in (and get out) in wet weather. In dry weather it makes a nasty dust that clogs the truck radiators and makes them run hot. Sometimes, like today, they must be cleaned out twice a day.
The Fuzz wonders just how high this will be before it's over. Already there's a pretty good view from the top. Maybe someday it will be a tourist attraction, and a great boon to the pitiful local economy.

Roofing & Shingles 3

Did we mention they were calling for rain?

This is the sky we woke to. At this point the roof is not finished yet. But first we needed to get things moving.
In situations like that, the traditional method works pretty well. Of course there were also stacks of pancakes, sausage and that local delicacy, Livermush.
And then, it was back to the task at hand. There were a few sprinkles, but we got a break, and the rain held off 'till the shingles were all installed. As folks began to hit the road, we finished up all but some chimney flashing.
And here is a look at the final product. Another job, well done!

And so we headed for home and a well earned rest.

Roofing & Shingles 2

About midnight more help began to trickle in, and in the morning we were back on the job. The edge boards were finished and some drip guards were installed. As more and more help arrived, the old shingles were stripped. This reveled a few more rotten spots which were then replaced. Here's a look at the "Naked Roof".

And here's an "Inside Look".

This is trippy to look at, but would not be much good under some rain. Rain was in fact being predicted.

All this hard and thirsty work could build up a good appetite. Fortunately, we had been well supplied with suitable refreshment.
Fortunately, those hard workers kept their beer consumption within "Up On The Roof" limits, and the entire roof was tarpapered before dark. There was also a good start on the shingles.
Finally it was kickback time.
Everyone had brought a contribution to the feast, and our host grilled some BIG FAT burgers. After a few of those beverages, The Fuzz risked his life, and climbed back to the roof for this shot of the neighborhood.

I am happy to report that he survived this foolishness.