Back at it yesterday. First kudos to myself was not dismantling the sections before I was ready to install. Like I said, they were screwed together during the original construction, an once you unscrew them they tend to want to twist up. Well overnight it rained about 19 inches in Ridgeland, okay, about 2 inches in an hour, and when I got there in the morning the humidity was about 150%.
The street, and apron, around The Fly Barn is obviously the low spot on the corner. You can see by the collection of dirt and leaves that when it pours the water sits and then quickly drains, thanks to the soil being most sand. It's unsightly for sure.
I have spoken with the Town who advised me that the road is a State road and they are responsible for its maintenance. I don't know what they can do about it but some type of culvert or drain needs to be installed. This was once a sleeper kind of run down neighborhood but that has changed. Lucky for me, my neighbor works for the Town's Public Works Department so she's in the know. We spoke about it yesterday and at some point I'll make some inquiries and calls.
Today's session, more like a hard labor camp, was to install the posts and finish putting up the boards. In one section I forgot to screw in the bottoms and I paid for it as the boards twisted up, so they had to be removed and trimmed. They swell with the water and humidity, and shrink in the sun and heat.
On Friday I had phoned a friend, my Dad, for some help with the layout. I don't have a transit, and there's different elevations, so I needed him to guide me on how to do it with a six foot level and some string. We didn't connect so I did my best, but, as left meets right, I'm fearful it might be off a bit.
There's level, and square, and then there's "level with the world", meaning that although it might be off, and it is, is kinda looks like it should. I had to work off of both existing sides and have the "new" fence meet up in the middle, where the dreaded gate sits.
No matter how hard I wracked my brain with the level, string, and tape measurements I couldn't get it right. And 1/2 inch off here, a little out of true there, and frustration building with on how to correct it, I just cut it all down.
So with the strings down and levels away I just went with eyeing it up. It is what it is, and it will be fine. My goal was to do the work during the weekend so I wouldn't have a constant set of eyes watching and every move being reported back to the offices at Town Hall. The last thing I need is an inspector dropping by.
When they roll into work this morning they'll see there's no more fence where it was and now sits where it should have been. The bear of the project will be that 10 foot gate section which I'll tackle tomorrow with Theresa. Today I'll install the double post which will hold the non-swinging end of the gate. This I have to get correct, the elevation differences I'll have to work around.
I bought Luke with me thinking it would be fun for him. He'd be able to roam around without being on a leash like he has to be in Sun City. Basically it was hot, and he sought refuge by sitting under the skiff, which is under the barn, with the floor made of cool concrete. I basically think he's an air-conditioning kind of dog, with the bi-day long walks.
And just like that the NFL season has begun. I'm not a big one-team fan but do enjoy a good game. I would say, partly because of my Father, that I was a Giant fan. Then that kind of morphed into following the Eagles when we moved down to Titusville, and now, down here, it's the Atlanta Falcons or Carolina Panthers.
So I listened to that game on Sirius yesterday and will probably hit a local hang tonight to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Giants and the Los Angelos Rams. I refuse to get caught up in all the streaming channels, and am not paying $90 a month for You Tube TV, so if I can listen to it on Sirius, or watch it for free at a bar, I'm in. Our Roku plays NFL games, but repeats only.
After about 6 hours I was done, and so was Luke. I readied things for today and dropped him off at home. There was about two hours left on a weak incoming tide so I went and took a long walk and a look. I was looking for heads, or tails, or anything, but I didn't. There was a lot of clatter from the fiddlers, and a head from a turtle that I thought was a tail, but nothing else.
And on my way home from a long and sweaty trudging through the marsh I looked over and saw that my baby was back from the truck hospital. She was sitting in the used car lot. I've been creeping on her waiting for the call from the owner to take a look at my Suburban to see if a trade is possible.
I was told by the salesman that they were going to put in a new tranny, one that would come with a warranty, so we'll see about that. They probably threw in a refurbished transmission with such and such miles. One thing is for sure it's super clean, although the inside now needs a day at the spa, which is basically the covered area just above the hood. My hopes are high to get this done, but, time will tell.
And the new diet and working in the 1,000 degree heat and humidity? Well, going pretty good. I'm three pounds away from slide in under 200 which was my first goal in my new healthy life.
I probably have to give a little credit to Luke who now has us trained as to what a dog walk really means. I swear he holds his stuff until he's ready to be done, which seems like a mile after we started. There's no just opening the door and letting him out to roam down here, so the steps help as well.
We're ten days away from heading back to New Jersey for a month. There's a lot to do before then. Then it'll be a long stretch down here in the Lowcountry before heading back up there in late April or May, to open up Cape May, and hit the Delaware River. At least there I know how to find fish.