Ever have one of those days when you feel like you just can’t sit still? Normally, I have trouble getting motivated, not today. Today, I felt like getting things done. Where to start was my only question…
I decided that since it was a cool 65 degrees outside, I would work outside. I had a couple things on my list that needed done: Organize the shed, put driving lights I got for Christmas last year on the truck or mow the grass to name a couple. I got outside and it was extremely humid. So much so, a fine mist hung in the air. I guess its organize the shed then…
I call my shed ‘the barn’ for a couple of reasons. First, its almost three times the size of my old shed. Secondly, I painted it barn red with white trim. I got ‘the barn’ last fall to accommodate my ATV, Motorcycle, yard tools, lawn mower and other things that just didn’t fit in my old shed. As fall passed, I played with different ways of putting the motorcycle and ATV in since they are the things that are most used and hardest to move if something is in the way. I finally came up with a layout that worked well. There was only one problem… Tools.
Tools ended up everywhere. The racks of the ATV became a work bench and/or catch all for tools and parts as I worked to get “Maggie”, my 28 year old Honda Magna V65, up to the condition I wanted her in. I bought her used from a friend. She’s a runner but like with any machine that sits for long periods of time, she needed a little TLC to get her back in shape. “Rubi”, the Honda Rubicon ATV, needs her attention too from time to time. I’ve finally gotten tired of paying the Honda shop big bucks to change the oil and do things I know I can do. This means many of the tools that have been sitting in my tool box are now used frequently. I needed a place to keep all these tools so that I can actually use the ‘girls’ without having to rearrange the shed to get them out. That IS the reason why I bought ‘the barn’ after all.
I have been looking at tool chests for some time. I didn’t want some monster thing. Just something with enough space that I could keep my frequently used tools organized. I found it last night at Walmart. The chest pictured at the right is exactly the same as the one made by Snap On except for grey drawers and doors on the lower half. The Snap On one is all black with no doors on the bottom. The caster bolts and everything are exactly the same placement and type. I had one of the ‘associates’ (he was more ass than sociable… ‘nother story) if he could check the price since the barcodes did not match any of the tags on the shelf in description or item number. He begrudgingly had to figure out how to check the price. We had to drag it a couple aisles away because he didn’t have a price gun and wasn’t sure where to find one. $99.00!!! The Snap On one was $209.00! He went to slide the box back to the shelf. I told him “Just load it on the cart. Its what I’m looking for.” That made him happy… less work. I should have made him carry it out to the register but …. again… ‘nother story.
I put the chest together last night and roughed out my plan for where it would sit in ‘the barn’. When the mist changed my plans to working on the shed today, I knew right where I was going to start… with the tool chest. I spent about an hour or so shifting things around and gathering up tools. I needed a couple things to finish out my plan which, by this time, has now changed from last night’s final plan. Cool! This will work out great! It was uptown for lunch. Then over to Lowe’s for a couple things I needed to complete my goal. I finished everything up around Three O’clock, very satisfied with the results.
One other task I had for ‘the barn’ was to get some kind of light up so I could see at night in the yard. There were two reasons for this. Number one, I’ve come in late from motorcycle or ATV rides and wanted to put the machines away but have no light in the yard. There are lights in ‘the barn’ but they don’t catch up along side the house. Secondly, there have been times when folks have walked through the yard. A couple of those times they have messed with my stuff because the yard is so dark. They’ll get a surprise next time. Dad found a set of flood lights with motion detector at a yard sale for something like fifty cents. They weren’t exactly what I was looking for, but the price was right and they would do the job.
Typical of my projects… no matter how well I plan… something runs amok and I end up running to the store at least once more than planned. “Not happening this time!” I told myself. Bulbs… Check! Wire… Check!… Mounting hardware… Check! All gathered in one trip! YAY! Go me! I drilled the necessary holes for the wire and opened the junction box where I needed to tie in. Woo Hoo! Room for the wire and everything! Groan… The stupid mounting screws gave me fits. I didn’t have enough hands to mount the light and hold it in place… reach for the screw… hold the screw in… get the screwdriver.
After a bit of struggle and some choice words, TA DA! It’s up! Shwew… overall not too bad… until I turned to power on to test the lights… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHH! One light wouldn’t light. I swapped the bad bulb to the other socket that was working. Both bulbs good. Crap! After all the struggle with getting the mounting screws in … I had to tear it apart to fix what turned out to be a bad socket. They were probably selling it so cheap because they couldn’t get that one light to light. Another trip back uptown to acquire a replacement socket and the lights are finally up and working. I will go out after dark and make sure I have them aimed the way I want. There is also a sensitivity setting which will need adjusted so they don’t go off when cars go by like my neighbor’s lights do.
A cool down period and a bit of time to gloat to myself about the way this all worked out better than my plan from the night before and it was time to find some dinner. After dinner, I thought I would lay down and rest my back. It was aching from all the bending and stuff I did last night and today. No such luck. Laying down hurt as well. I decided that I might as well go uptown again and walk around Big Lots or some other place. I walked for a bit then returned home a bit frustrated that my back was bothering me that much from all the more straining I did. Oh for the days when I could practically stand on my head installing car stereos and audio gear in all kinds of weird places.
I have to admit, some of the frustration didn’t come from my back. It came from a phone call I got as I was leaving to go walking. I am a person of extraordinary patience. I have been told this by numerous boss’s and colleagues. This makes it REALLY difficult for me to tell someone off. Everyone has those folks in their past that just won’t seem to go away. Well, the phone call tonight was from one of those type individuals. I broke ties for a reason and haven’t gotten back in touch for my own reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate them, but they have lost my trust in a working environment so I’d rather keep my distance so I don’t get suckered back into the same circumstances. This individual, knowing my experience with computers and networks, decided that I would be the ‘Help Desk’ for their computer outage tonight. While I probably should have lost my temper or at least told them no… I didn’t. I fell into my business mode. You may have a mode like that. You know… Where you have to be helpful whether you want to or not because its the right thing to do. I hate doing home support for people. Once you fix one thing for them, they tend to come back again and again. Turns out it was nothing broken on their end. They needed support from their ISP.
I am pleased that I got so much accomplished and it turned out better than what I had thought it was going to. It’s getting dark now so I should go out and check the aim and sensitivity on the motion sensor for the lights. Tink has been in several times giving me ‘leg hugs’. She would like my presence too I guess. Off I go to see what other trouble I can get myself into this evening. Laundry at least… Maybe go out… We’ll have to see, won’t we. Catch me on IM if ya want… smartphone is always logged in.
===== Update =====
I went out to test the lights. A little tinkering put them about where I’d like them to be. You might have wondered why I didn’t just buy a new set of lights instead of fixing the ones Dad bought. The set he bought had a couple features I liked. It could be mounted vertically or horizontally. The motion detector has multiple joints so it can be aimed in a wide variety of directions. The new ones are much more limited. The lights Dad bought also have this receiver that plugs into an outlet inside your house. You can plug a lamp into it that will turn on when the motion lights turn on. It also makes a chirp (or 4) depending on how you set it. This will prove invaluable in the overall fine tuning of the sensor as I am alerted to the action of the lights without having to see the fixture turn on. Once they are working the way I want, I can just unplug the inside gizmo.
After all was fine tuned, I went over to the local bar to get out of the house. I’m still restless. I didn’t feel like sitting around. I finally came home after being so bored that I turned the Olympics on via my iPhone and Dish Network Link. I really suck when it comes to going out I guess. No wonder I’m still alone. Le Sigh.
~Cappy