Monday, September 14, 2015

Laying Low

It's a cow's life.
I'm sure we've all done it.
Have a small project that can be remedied with some minor supplies and a few labor intensive hours. 
There, job done. 
Ah... not so fast, my friend!
Once you get a little demolition underway, you realize there' a bit more in the offering than you bargained for. Well, case in point. My woodshed, attached to the back of my garage, has been begging for a little TLC the last couple of years. The front edge of the shed gets a lot of snow and ice accumulating in the front over the winter months. I hang a large tarp over the opening to keep the snow and ice away from my wood, but it still piles up there and melts big time in the spring. In 26 years, I've had to replace the plywood flooring once and now a second time. What I didn't realize until I had the old flooring up was that the weight of the cords of wood, a pesky woodchuck and the water damage had seriously damaged the main 2x6s running beneath the floor. My friend Curt, who had done some major work here at the homestead, stopped over to survey the damage and is going to take care of it this week. A job, that I thought I could take care of easily, now will entail some major work. Now, where am I in all of this? Well yesterday, while ripping up the rotting flooring, I threw out my back or something. No problem sitting or sleeping, but at the moment, any up or down movement is out of the question. So, I won't even be able to assist him this afternoon. 
Not good.
Not good at all.
I'll be laying low for a few days.
See, little jobs often do turn into so much more.
Not good at all.
Moo.
*(shot taken on outer Stroudwater Street... yes, cows in the city proper.)

19 comments:

  1. All I can say about your physical impairment is boo! Or moo! And I think it's udderly ridiculous!

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  2. It's so easy these days to throw the back out of whack. You will have to take the supervisor's role.

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  3. OW! very painful. And so frustrating where you know there's a job to be done and you can't do it yourself.

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  4. I learned my lesson years ago. I also learned not to do a lot of things a second time. When I lived in Flagstaff AZ (elevation 7,000, winter eight months out of the year) I decided to paint the exterior of my house - all of it - by myself. I think it took me three years to get the whole thing done. Never again. In Phoenix I lived in an old house. I had a very large kitchen and all the cabinets had been painted. I decided to paint them but the last paint job they had received had not been a good one so I decided to strip them all down to bare wood. Unfortunately the bare wood was about a half-inch below all the paint. This project lasted about two years and when it finally came time to hang the doors back on the cabinets, they didn't fit! I guess they had been off the hinges and laying around so long their shape actually changed (kind of like mine). I had to call in a professional to rehang the all those cabinet doors! So now I just don't undertake big projects because I know I will never win the war.

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  5. I learned my lesson years ago. I also learned not to do a lot of things a second time. When I lived in Flagstaff AZ (elevation 7,000, winter eight months out of the year) I decided to paint the exterior of my house - all of it - by myself. I think it took me three years to get the whole thing done. Never again. In Phoenix I lived in an old house. I had a very large kitchen and all the cabinets had been painted. I decided to paint them but the last paint job they had received had not been a good one so I decided to strip them all down to bare wood. Unfortunately the bare wood was about a half-inch below all the paint. This project lasted about two years and when it finally came time to hang the doors back on the cabinets, they didn't fit! I guess they had been off the hinges and laying around so long their shape actually changed (kind of like mine). I had to call in a professional to rehang the all those cabinet doors! So now I just don't undertake big projects because I know I will never win the war.

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  6. Hey BM. I have a Husqvarna self-propelled mower...and an Ariens riding mower. I'm pretty sure Ariens is made by Husqvarna or vice versa. Love it! You probably got a good deal this late in the season, right?

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  7. What William said. Also, it's a shame you can't put that woodchuck to work.

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  8. BIrdman, take care of that back. Sore backs can be really annoying. Tylenol, rest, and don't pick up anything heavy. If pain persists, go see a doctor.

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  9. Oh no. I hope you feel better soon. Back problems are not fun.

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  10. Actually, it may all be for the good. Someone else gets to do the work.

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  11. I think Murphy's Law was written to describe exactly this sort of situation. It sounds right up there with tearing off a roof just in time for an epic summer storm. Take care of that back of yours. It seems even easier to mess it up further once you've tweaked it.

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  12. Your cows 'in the city' surprised me, and I am very sorry for your back.You described very well how these things happens, usually when you are off guard with small chores...

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  13. My whole house screams "work needed" Perhaps I should look for some urban cows and get my mind off of it.

    Janis
    GDP

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