Sunday, September 17, 2006

Spent Saturday cutting another new trail around the hill we live on. Goes from below the shop around to below the house. This one will take a little longer as there is more dirt to be moved. I want the trail to be fairly level and wide enough for two people to walk together so I had to cut into the bank. The little tractor’s blade has hydraulic lift and pivots side to side but does not tilt. The angle of the tractor on the hillside is the angle of the blade. I have found that if I hand dig a trench along the topside of where I want the trail I can cut the rest with the blade.
Saturday night I went to Dad’s to check on him, make sure he is all right. This afternoon I unloaded the truck and packed all of the scaffold down to the south wall of the house. Now I have to get the scaffold set up on a sloping hillside. I think I am going to make some vertical and horizontal supports out of 2x6 then do some bracing down the hill. With three sets of double high Jacks I hope to space them out to have planks the entire 40 feet of the house and at least make it to the second floor. Not sure how I will get to the third floor but it will probably be ladders on top of the scaffolds. The T-1-11 siding between the rows of glass is deteriorating and I want to skin the non-glass areas with the same green standing seam metal we used on the roof. I hope it all looks good when it is done. Actually not many people will see that side of the house unless they take a walk on the trail I am putting in. That side of the house overlooks the wilderness and valley. No one can see it because of the distance and the trees. The metal will also help if there ever was a wild fire to come up the hill. This morning I finished up book three of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Kind of like a Tolkien story but different land, different creatures, different plots. All good reading. Another Good against Evil plot, Light against Dark. So many different characters weaving in and out of the story that it was hard to keep track of them at first but there is a glossary that defines words and explains who people are. There is also a map of the land like in Lord of the Rings. With his descriptions of the different peoples and the behaviors I think he might be making a few tongue-in-cheek social statements. Stayed up late last night reading then read in bed until noon today to finish the book. These are not books I would normally read but the writer tells a good tale, concludes enough in each book to satisfy but leaves enough unfinished that you feel compelled to pick up the next one. I see there are 10 books in the series, not sure I will keep the interest until the end but then I said that after book one and found I picked up boof two when I got curious enough about what happened to the characters. My wife borrowed enough of the series from a friend to get me through book five then I am on my own to find six through ten. Have not been watching near as much TV since I started reading again. My eyes are suffering for all the reading but my wife thinks that is hogwash. When I get off line here I am going to grab a quick bit to eat, take book four and settle in for a few hours of reading. I have not read like this in years. I just have to remember to put the book down early enough so I can get up in the morning for work without being too tired. Have a great week.
Sunday September 17, 2006 - 10:36pm (PDT)