No I will never be able again.

          Our rental trailer had a tree fall it was healthy but the roots weren't deep enough .When It fell it crush an old Nissan truck and pinned our renters Jeep sport. I went up to help Jason cut it off his jeep. I took 3 large branches(1 1/2 ft around) off to reduce weight on his jeep. Once those were off we cut the 2 branches pinning the Jeep as they had no pressure now and backed the jeep out clear of danger. By then I was staggering Jason forced me to take a break and my son showed up and they finished without my help. I got to sit and point so they didn't have the trunk roll and pin them. Jason's jeep has 1 dent in the roof and I can press that out next weekend with a 2x4 and screw jack. The Nissan was going to be sold as a parts car so no loss in it.

     The work I did do showed me I need to take a slower approach to getting work done . Last night we had a pipe bust going through the wall to the shower. I went out with a crescent wrench to turn the water off at the meter. I couldn't budge it so my wife called her son the plumber. He came over and turned it off and  at lunch he spliced the break in 10 minutes and was off running to do 4 more jobs.  He is so hyper his boss has to tell him to slow down people get mad when they see him take 20 minutes to do a job (he does great work) and hand them a 380$ bill. I had a T cut  off in the toolbox that got stole on the truck ;( . I could have fixed the busted pipe but T J did it in a 10th the time.

      

Time to sell

          My front yard looks like Red Neck heaven . I have  both my yellow vending trailer's ready to paint sitting by the road. Next to it is my white truck (For Sale) then my daughters Honda(for sale) . My wife has 4 tables set up for a yard sale . I sold my sons camper yesterday and got it out of the yard . I pulled my Big grill next door because people ask if its for sale , its the only thing out there that's NOT for sale . If I get a good offer on the half finished grill its gone if I get a decent offer on the old Yellowstone camper it can go to.

       Now I did get one thing done that I am proud of today.  I repaired the air conditioner on our camper , kind of .  Last August when we were on the gulf our air conditioner motor was making a loud knocking and roaring like the motor bearings were going out . we couldn't run it 5 minute's at a time. I had found on amazon 2 replacements but needed the motor # to know which one. Now that I weigh only 180 I can get on the roof . I took the cowling off the A/C got the # off the motor. Once I had the # I removed the huge Dirt daubber Nest that was on one blade of the A/C fan got the wife to turn it on . It was quiet as a mouse  run great after I got all the wasp nests dirt dauber nests  pine needles and gunk cleaned out of the unit.

      While I was on top I did a good inspection of the vents and seams . I  need to do some caulking soon.  This summer it will be okay but will need to be sealed up before winter.

    If I had carried the camper to a shop the bill on the A/C would have been 500$ they would never have told me it was a nest and gunk. They would have billed me 350$ for a roof caulk and seal up.   It could use a seal job but I can do it for 40$ materials and an hours time max.


Update Saturday 4/7 its 48 and misty out NO Yard sale today . No traffic at all on the road.

OK some PIc,s of what i have been working on.

      Went and finished the roof at my daughter place today. This picture was taken this morning when we got there.

   As you see I had only 6 sheets to get in place but they were hard to screw in once I run out of room for me to stand.

 I was having to stand on top of an 8 foot ladder and still will need a few more screws put in by a skinner person.
    as you can see this place is rough. The crackheads did  number on the walls chasing a couple of dollars in scrap copper wire. The inner walls have 10 places they ripped around plugs and 2 ceiling panels .

  Here is what the outside looks like all the exterior metal striped except for that little on the top far end. We got that loose this afternoon.

   The open stud area is what we spent a week on . The A hole's had looped a chain around a fireplace and the central air and heat unit and yanked it out through the walls. The roof was collapsed to 4 foot floor to ceiling on the left hand corner. We used a floor jack and sledge hammered the studs in from the right to left . One ooops and the place would have been a total loss. We put the studs on 24 inch centers and all were cut using a 1500 watt inverter powering the skill saw.

   This pic shows about a fourth of the front yard and the 20+ feet we cut off the left end of the mobile home. The place is still trashy even after 4 pickup loads of hauled garbage plus the tore down end of the trailer. I didn't show it but I have a burn pile that's 15 foot round and piled 6 foot high to burn one day.

   These are all I took today. You see the back porch, there is front deck on the ground under the trash that I will put back for the front door later. Tomorrow the place will be wrapped with felt ,tyvek is way to much . I have to have the electrical run before the outer walls go on so I am just drying the place in for now.

Click on pics for a good view.

Vending BBQ Kitchen is framed pics.

     I felt 80% today and did a little work . My wife allowed me to work  4 hours an hour at a time with breaks of at least an hour between. She says she is to lazy to break in a new man if I stroke out. SHE LOVES ME . Before I started I snapped pictures of what I did yesterday.
  
    This is what it looked like yesterday morning.

 

 

       By the end of the day we had it to this stage.

     Not bad for a days work but still a ways to go . With my wife watching the clock I was afraid it would take a while to finish the frame . Seem I work better with supervision because I got it to this point in 4 hours work and 8 hours of breaks.

   Got it framed and the serving windows in, the door will be in the back tail end of the trailer. I should be able to have it blacked in and the sheet metal on by Wednesday . Here is a picture of the metal .

   The piece on the tongue is oxidized on the other side like the one leaned against the side. I hope it will look good enough till I can get the log siding.

Cooler weather means work.

     Today I got started back on the new vending trailer. The weather is perfect . Me and my son got the walls up and squared .Tomorrow we do the ridge line and start the sheathing of the outside. I had wanted to do it out of log siding but that is 800$  I cant spare it at this time. We are going to use salvaged tin that isn't rusted but oxidized for a patina on the exterior. It will be hung so I can remove it when I can afford the log siding. I didn't get to take pictures today but will in the morning and after its sheathed.
      I had planned on taking pictures but just before we quit I got light headed and the yard started spinning. I think my blood sugar dropped or my blood pressure spiked .That was the first time I have had that to happen. Normally I know but today it hit me quick. Will be fine for work in the morning if the wife don't bench me. She love's me in a strange sadistically way.

     I want to get this project done because I have a new one in the works. As I have wrote before my son has been looking for  tax property. The state sent us a price on a house that is 5 years past due. It is a 1200sq.foot house on 1/2 acre of land for 1,553$ . Crack heads have stole all the pluming and wiring. The kitchen floor is sagging and about 10 foot of outer wall is basically gone. I can do everything but the electrical for under 1,000$. Before it was abandoned it was valued at 28,000$ . The upside is to great to pass on. If it was sold I make 20,000 + or I have a 500 $ a month rental .My son cant afford this place and doesn't like the town its in but I can and do like it. This is why the log siding has been put off my security blanket of funds will be a sheet before I am done.

A few things to do before retirement .

    My last to 2 post have been kind of dark about retirement but retirement should be a happy enjoy able time. What brought on the bad mood is its tax time (property) insurance (cars and house), the holidays and a slow time for projects and BBQ . It has got me thinking about things I need to do so I don't wake up in 10 years and have an Oh Shit moment realizing I am retirement age and in trouble. While I wrote the other post I thought of a lady I once worked with that lives near here.
     Flo was 58 at the time she told me about this. I had just bought my house that's what started our conversation. Flo told me she was getting ready to retire at 62 so she was remodeling her house. A roof new appliances (I bought her used washer and dryer),painted inside and out. She got her a new car, had medical checks and dental took care of. She had a tree removed and her yard had beds removed so it was a flat straight mow job. She spent money as she got paid financed the car and the roof so it was paid off when she quit.
 She had a plan, NO payments and everything almost new to last her trough her retirement. She got to travel and last time I saw her she was mowing her yard. That car she had got was even in the drive .

    I have 10 years till I am of age to retire I guess I have already from real work . The house needs a lot of repairs we need a new truck the yard is a nightmare. The bad part is I am in the same boat as most that wake up and realize retirement has arrived and they didn't have a plan or income they need to get it done.Fortunantly I have 10 years to get things in shape Make a plan and get set to live on a Questionable income.

The cold weather and winter blues struck early.

     Well the artic blast has roared into town . Right now we have a steady rain that will be followed by low 20 and high teens . Thankfully the ground is still warm so I don't foresee any ice , but its still system shock . I am glad I took the time to clean up the yard and get things put away before last weeks cold came in.
     One thing I forgot to do was check the anti freeze in the cars and trucks so this morning I went car to truck and added enough to hold down to zero in all of them . I can only remember it being below zero for more than a few hours twice so I think im ok . My wife had picked up anti freeze for the camper last week and had supervised me putting it in.
      Can you imagine not having a daily weather forecast (I know they get it wrong a LOT)and having to make plans . I am sure most of us check the 10 day forecast when we sign online . Normally winter catches me with little done this year I was ahead of the curve.

     Now I am not sure if I had the winter blues the last 2 weeks or just 2 bad weeks. First our washer craped out then my son came to the house for a week and my jeeps water pump goes bad . The washer had me worried October was a bad income month . Then my wife remembered we had a washer in the back junk room . Yea my back junk room is that bad , under about 20 boxes stacked in the corner was my old washer . We had been using her washer and I forgot I had stored mine 12 years ago.
     As for my son showing up he hasn't changed . With winter almost here his camper was just like the last time he hadn't done anything to it . He has been living with friends till they run him off .So last week I clear a 1/4 acre of brush move the camper make a shallow septic tank fix the roof , fix the stove buy a battery and hook up a solar panel . As soon as the weather forecast is 30s and 40s his butt is going to stay there . Yea I will get him back for the holidays but he needs to suffer a little discomfort so he will be motivated to improve his living arrangement.
     The jeep was an easy fix 85$ in parts ,pump hoses and new belts 50$ for my mechanic to put them on . Yes I could have but was worth every penny to not have to. 

He was down to rice but alive.

     Left to go find my son early this morning.Now i admit i don't use GPS i had directions from my son in law.Not to bad he just had one right that should have been a left i figuired it out.When i pulled into the clearing where the old travel trailer was my son stepped out with a pot in his hands shocked to see me.He ate a few bites of rice and said it was all he had left to cook for the last 3 days.We walked around HIS place down to the creek and around the overgrown property.He was kinda proud that it was his but it needs a lot of clearing and leveling.As we talked he told me of an incident last week a man came and told him he was on the wrong lot.My son didn't know where the property lines really where.A BIG mistake in my book.I gave him some in put on a few things to help him out (his cat hole was to close to his trailer) and make life easier with so little.We loaded up for a run to town for groceries and a few other items i knew he needed.
      One thing my son wanted was more buckets.He said those things come in handy.We also picked up screw lid large canisters for sugar flour and other food he says never underestimate piss ants they get into everything.I took him to pizza huts lunch buffet so he could eat his fill and we could talk.Solitude seems to have mellowed him a bit,he acts like he may straighten up time will tell. Regardless its time for me to help and give him the tools to make a go of it.
     Before we went back to his place we went to the county courthouse and got a Plat map that showed his lot the property lines and road and creek.Once back i paced off and found he was right and well on his own property.We selected where his camper will go and what we will need to do to make this place livable.I think 2 days with a chain saw and my tractor will do 80% of t and he can do the rest.He has the time i have the tools.If he stays on track I will dad up and help get him set.

A word of advice !

      Recently my wife was watching HGTV (may this channel rot in #$%^^) and she said we needed to re do the bathroom.I admit it needs some work but she wants to go over board.I had a smarta$$ idea so i told her if she hired this contractor i mite be interested.
   

She failed to see the humor!!!

Just back from the lake.

      Sorry  for not posting we took the camper and had a long stay at the lake. Where we were at had no internet.This trip gave us a chance to check out all the features of the camper.We are impressed with the funfinders storage and now have itstocked and ready to go anywhere.I will be moving a few prepps into it for storage.The wife has said i can have one dinnette seat storage area.It should hold a couple of buckets of dry goods and a box of can goods. Will be posting a few pics later just have a lot around the house to catch up on.

Survivalism Trash Talk Part 1

     Yesterday i was in the back burning the trash.We use a 55 gallon burn drum to dispose of the garbage here at home.Rural pickup runs almost 20$ a month around here i go 2 the dump every 6 to 8 weeks and empty the burn barrels for 8$.Every time i go to burn i fish out the cans that was in the trash from before.In regular times we have a lot of cans.To cut down on the bulk i crush them and throw them in a bag till its time for the dump.Burnt tin cans are easier to crush than just emptied.As i was doing this chore i looked around and wondered if the SHTF how many more cans there would be!

     Now most peppers have a large number of can goods in there food storage.I have read a lot of blogs on food storage but i have never seen any one write about the trash.Have you thought about it?Look at your food storage how many cans will you have to open per day to feed your family?Do you have any idea what your going to do with the cans,have you ever tried to crush a # 10 can ?I have its not easy.Would it be safe where you live to burn your garbage in a SHTF situation?Do you have room to store your waste boxes cans,bottles and other packaging.Will putting bags on the street and risk someone knowing you have food or store them in the corner of your property and risk your families lives?

   

30 years of clutter.

     Wednesday i started trying to clean out the garage.There was 4 truck loads of scrap metal that went to the dump.The scrap paid over 240$ total and was welcome. Dragged a bunch of stuff out side so i could start the clean-up made a big mess

    I did found  set of Michelin tires for my Chevy truck 15,s are hard to find used  pull offs for it.Have a man coming for that riding lawnmower am trading for 2 push mowers and will buy the rider back if he can fix it for less than 250$.Did manage to clear the small side for my brew room.

Made progress on the roof

    Got the lean to roof on and the garage roof stripped.Not a bad days work for a lazy fat man.

This is the old leaky roof and the lean to that was made out of 20 scrap pieces of tin.

    Here is the lean to made with 6 sheets 18 ft long.If you look at the wood on the garage it is over 80 years old and only had 1 board  rotted.It holds my 260 pound butt!Next is to put felt down then the Tin.

    The whole garage is sheathed walls and roof with 1 and 1/2 inch ruff cut pine can still see the blade marks on the planks.

P.S. Smoking is still at only 2 cigs most days its getting easier.

A few pics

A lot of junk piled in the front and it looks worst inside.

this is the lean to on the side.

A shot of the roof that will be replaced.

Here is the salvaged metal from the old barn. It is dirty and rusty but will clean up and be painted.This is 14ga high V industrial grade. Spent most the day next door cutting the bushes and branches off my fence and garage. The garage sits dead on the property line to the inch.So while i have no neighbor's I'm trimming everything back a few feet on that side.The old metal roof will be tore off  i think i have a use for it but i better wait a while before i ask the wife.I was given 4 rolls of insulation R25 and 20 sheets of 4x8 foam sheeting with the pull off metal i may make a nice tractor shed and brewing room.

Sheet metal salvage.

      Today i started salvaging  an old pole barn.I am not sure what i am going to do with all the metal but it isn't going to be scraped.The metal off the roof is the thick kind that is self supporting.It looks like about 40 sheets 16 foot long.The metal looks like it was part of an old Butler building that was salvaged.The old man that built the pole barn was a funny fellow he probable got it free 25 years ago when he built the pole barn.May be tomorrow i can post some pictures,I have to decide if i want to re-roof my old shed and clean it out or do i want to build a new work shop.Its the cleaning out that i would dread.When you have lived in the same place for 28 years a lot of stuff accumulates.As bad as it sounds it would be easier to build a 16x16 metal workshop than to clean the old garage out.
      My dear wife has informed me i cant have a new workshop i have to many out buildings as it is.I do have a few 6 to be exact, she may have a point.When i shut down my store i stored 2 coolers 2 quarter pushers and 2 ice cream freezers in the garage.This was added to 2 beds a ton of display racks and a 4000 lb wire forming 4 slide from a past business.Yep life accumulates junk I guess i can scrap the old roof and the wire former for cash and sell the coolers freezers and quarter pushers.The garage is bigger if its cleaned out its 20x36 so this barn metal will be enough to re-roof the garage.The old roof has a few leaks that need fixed anyway.The price is right for the new roof     FREE  all i will have in it is blood sweat and tears.

The scrap haul and other stuff paid.

    Well i made the scrap run on Tuesday and it was worth the time made 42$ off the junk and cleaned up some of the yard.Now i am not like most scrap scroungers i don't go looking for it.Most of what i haul off is dropped here by family and friends.Everyone has something to scrap from time to time but rarely enough to justify a trip to scrap yard some how a lot seems to make it to my yard.I just put it under my lean to till i have a trip or need gas money.I like to think of it as poor mans precious metals.I do not sell any lead or cooper.I feel the long term increase in price is worth the wait.
      After i had sold the scrap i took my brother in law a gallon of distilled beer:) .When i got home a friend of mine came by and asked if  i would be interested in making 10 $ an hour cutting his grass (his mower and gas)he was hurting in his back.Sure i know it takes him most a day.Now he is a friend and i felt bad to be paid but knew if i refused pay he wouldn't agree to it.I cut 3 acres in 4 hours.Will do the weed eating tonite.My buddy was happy with the cutting and he didn't nit pick the work so i know he had to be hurting.Now a year ago if i had started  week broke i would have been in panic mode but i have learned there is always something someone needs done and stuff that will sell. It may not be as regular as a payday i had 6 hour involved and netted over 140 dollars.still have 3 hours of weed eating to do and 2 more days for odd jobs to pop up.I am ready for this weekend plan on working Friday,Saturday,Sunday and Monday.Last Monday i laid in 20 Boston butts 9 slabs of ribs and 4 chickens(was the reason i was broke)this cost me almost 200 more than a normal weekend.