Good Morning!!!! 56F @ 5:00AM. Sunny. High 83F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
A new Fire Weather Watch starts late tonight, running through Monday. TV weatherman said it would likely be upgraded to a Red Flag Warning at some point. So much for firing off the burn pile. Humidity was down into the teens by the time I got the rocks moved yesterday, so mowing is still on the agenda for today.
Maybe it's time for some security/game cameras, RS?
Those are some startling statistics, Don. Very disturbing that this isn't being covered in the usual media sources.
Sure you got enough bar clamps on that speaker housing, Paul?
Swapped the forks out for the grapple, and for once got the hydraulic fittings to lock without having to relieve pressure by breaking connections.

Hour meter said it was time to grease the FEL, which also went off without a hitch. I've switched from the Tractor Supply red grease to some sticky green stuff from Lucas. It's a bit more expensive, but supposed to have better staying power and be better under impact loads, and it's got no moly in it. I hate getting grease on my clothes, but I do every time I touch the grease gun. That's bad enough right there, but the moly won't come out in the wash. I've got some grease nipple caps on the way from Lock'n'Lube. It'll be interesting to see how long they last before something rips them off.
The smoke alarms here are going on ten years old, and needed replacing. Got a three pack of new ones that are supposed to work with the new alarm system, but it turns out there's an undocumented incompatibility. Once that's worked out by the alarm people's programmers, I won't need the adapter I mistakenly purchased and can get a small refund. Finding this out took a swarm of phone calls to both the alarm manufacturer and the alarm monitoring outfit, and I was pleased that the wait times were short, and the folks on the other end of the line were more or less helpful. All with only a small bit of trouble understanding some of the accents, if you know what I mean.

Told the monitoring outfit to put the system on test mode and to ignore the alarm triggers for a couple hours, then did some testing. Everything worked, with boat loads of alarm messages going into the system logs and out via email and text. What I wasn't happy with were the tiny images taken by one of the motion triggered cameras. Quality was far worse than the examples shown in the catalog, not even good enough to make a positive ID of anyone caught in the photo, so that device will also be going back for a refund. It's redundant anyway because of the security camera network. Which seems to have benefited from the WiFi tuning I did earlier this week.
I still hadn't heard anything back on the building permit, so I logged into their online system and found that it had been approved, but not issued. Shot an email off to the person I'd been working with there, who got back to me promptly to let me know the approval had just come through, and to please fill out and e-sign a couple of documents. Which I did, and now I have to speak with the chief inspector to find out what inspections are required, and when to call them to make those arrangements.
Based on that, I ordered a 10,300 gallon water tank, and will swing by that outfit this afternoon to pay for it and make delivery arrangements. They said they have a tilt trailer that will drop it right where I want it. Now all I have to do is get busy with the backhoe and cut the terrace where it will sit. And order gravel for the pad. While I'm at it, I'll get enough to extend the solar panel pad the rest of the way around the house. Thanks for the landscape rake tips, Billy, and Ted, you're welcome to drop by and supervise/demonstrate.
TGIF gang!


