!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

Phew, I'm glad you see the issues too.  I use a straw hat to keep the sun off and ventilate a bit.  I'm far from a videographer but I either talked from behind the camera or used a tripod.  I have an old Sony Handycam that I got at a pawn shop and it has pretty good shake reduction

I've been contemplating a replacement hat. I require something that offsets my sideburns. Oh! And additionally it must protect me from the sun. Should you have any leads, I'm all ears (when the sideburns don't cover them, that is).

Didn't this guy in the charro hat have similar sideburns?

BEL #730

Monday. I feel kinda beat-up after this one. But a good night's rest ought to fix that.

First half of the day: this was dominated by the transfer of gravel up to the Boneyard: a storage space up at the Lab. Working solo (as Alex has changed to being a SEPPer for the time being), and that means that I have to follow the classic, time-tested hauling rule: GOAL: "Get Out And Look."

Hook up Judy to the dump trailer, drive to the Lab, enter the Boneyard, select a dump spot, put the vehicle in position, dump the gravel, roll out. Sounds easy, until you have a dump trailer attached and you have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to backing up a 4x4 with a trailer load of approximately 4+ tons behind you. So I was able to put in a lot of practice today....!

GOAL helps you to not run over things like these: a pallet of fire bricks.



I was able to eventually dump all the extra gravel, cleaning it out of the back of the dump trailer.



Made it down the mountain and dodged a FedEx truck. It seems like Judy's power steering and brakes need an examination after today. Something for another day.

Meanwhile, I switched to digging in the afternoon. It had been snowing and sleeting and sun-shining in irregular intervals throughout the day, and nothing changed about that even after I politely asked. So after some quality time grading the driveway, I decided to work on the Berm Shed, where there's more shelter from the elements.

The plan here is to shore up the one side of the vertical log with a "knee brace" fixed to a deadman log on its opposite side. Once that's in place, I'll take out one of the house jacks and replace it with the much-vaunted "sister log" I'd been working on a couple weeks ago.

Here's where the deadman will go:



Here's what things looked like after an hour. I removed that angled long log, despite my initial safety concerns, so I could dig more. I was loading the removed earth into a wheel-barrow, then dropping that in an area that needs to be raised, close to the supports for the Bobra Line. ...Some folks reading this might not have the slightest idea of what I'm talking about there.



I really think it was the wrestling with Judy and the trailer today that has me winded, mentally as well as physically. Time for bed.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:...I do completely agree that it was shaky and I need to think of something. I still need to replace that lens as well, as it's become scratched-up over the past couple years and it's a more obvious problem on a sunny day.

Maybe a selfie stick would help with the shaking.

BEL #731

Here's this week's GAMCOD 2025 update:



Thanks for watching, and enjoy your day...!