My little trip went as expected, no surprises and plenty of lifting and hauling. The pallet racks came apart very easily, but oh those 3/4" x 4' x 8' sheets of particle board were HEAVY! It all fit nicely into the back of the SuperDuty, along with gallons of solvents, miles of compressed air lines, and a box of fire brick that couldn't have been left behind. Found a new pair of shoes at a new REI outdoors store in my old home town on the way to the current home, and enjoyed a burrito lunch at an old favorite hang out. Then it was back to the long drive, and with transits of two major metro areas, there were several demonstrations of demented driving by the natives. No actual metal-to-metal contact ensued, but it was close. No wonder insurance rates keep going up!
Yesterday, unloading the truck went much more easily, as I was able to back it up to the trailer that will be a temporary home for the racks and mostly just slide the pieces from one to the other. Then came a neighbor with his ancient DR brush trimmer, badly in need of a new deck to cover the whirling blade. He was accompanied by a friend, who with an almost identical SuperDuty to mine quickly became one of my new friends, and who contributed the steel for the project. He left us on our own, and with one cutting and the other welding we were done in a couple of hours. Didn't quite have enough material for the top of the deck, so I suspect he'll be back.
Right about then the PG&E man showed up to replace the "smart" meter, which was the excuse for the recent $140 power bill. It seems it wasn't reporting reliably, and the power company had been under estimating the usage for the last 6 months, so naturally they decided to catch up all at once in a month I expected hardly any use at all. Regardless, this meter has a much stronger radio in it, and I was shown other meters and relays on the meter man's PC that could be "seen" through the new meter's wireless network connection. I'd also asked about dimming lights when the well pump started, and his less than inspiring response was to shake the wires where they connected to the meter box and pronounce them sound. Sigh. I should have pulled the meter before his arrival and tightened all the connections myself while the power was interrupted. Now I'll have to work with the top half of the service panel hot, one handed with the other in my pocket for safety.
Today it's back to the tractor and the FEL project, and with a little luck it'll be done this afternoon. A nice Tri-Tip found its way into my grocery cart on the way home, so I'll start the smoker about noon to celebrate another TGIF at the start of a long, and hopefully quiet-at-home, Memorial Day weekend. While you're enjoying the time off, spare a few moments to appreciate the sacrifices of those that have gone before us, and that enable the life style that we take for granted today.
