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Blogging to you from the Northeastern Badlands of The County of Lake, in the state currently known as Fatmanistan, DEEP DEEP DEEP DEEP DEEP inside the heartland of the Banana Republic formerly known as the USA, WELCOME TO THE NEXT CHAPTER! WARNING! ALL FORMS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ARE ADDICTIVE; EXCESSIVE USE MAY LEAD TO MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS, REDUCED JOB PRODUCTIVITY, INSOMNIA, SOCIAL ALIENATION, GENITAL ULCERS, BLINDNESS, POLITICAL EROTICISM, AND / OR DEVIANT FUNAMBULISM. NOTICE: NO GUNS OR AMMUNITION ARE FOR SALE VIA THIS BLOG. (No, I will not trade my Colt Python for some lubricious adventures with your trophy wife and a future first-round draft pick.) CAVEAT: This blog is not suitable for viewing while at work, while inside a public library, while inside any public or private school, or while inside any public or private restroom. Do not view this blog while driving a motor vehicle or while piloting an aircraft. Viewing this blog may be illegal inside the EU, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, and other parts of the Third World. THIS BLOG CONTAINS (albeit often very childish) ADULT-CONTENT. DISCLAIMER: This blog is a hobby, it is not a livelihood. Even though much of what I blog about relates to firearms collecting and recreational shooting, I am not an expert (by any measure) on any facet of guns, shooting, hunting, or personal defense. Entries at this blog are akin to good old-fashioned campfire chats or post hunt bourbon-fueled barroom-bluster; I offer no opinion on what you should or should not purchase, or what you should be using or doing. What does or does not work for me could be rugged-country-miles away from your tastes and your needs. All products, places, and miscellany that I review for this blog are purchased / rented / leased at retail price by me. I do not accept payment, gifts, discounts, freebies, products on loan, distilled spirits, recreational pharmaceuticals, plea-bargains, probation, parole, Papal Blessings, Presidential Pardons, or sexual favors for doing any review or blog post. TRACKING COOKIES: Google et al stick tracking cookies on everybody. If you are online, you are being spied on via one method or another, for one reason or another; 'nuff said. You may be able to minimize your online DNA residue by using Tor and Duck Duck Go. Vive la liberté! Vive all y'all! Ante omnia armari. To each of you, thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ‘cause I can’t go; I have to finish this patio…

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I lost track of how much material I hauled in my old all-wheel-drive 1999 GMC Safari Van for my yard projects this year. A glance at the tickets for last month alone shows 1200 lbs of boulders and 6000 lbs of gravel. I try to limit the weight per trip to no more than 1000 lbs, for the sake of my back and the longevity of the old van. As consideration for my neighbors, I only bring in enough material for two or three days work. Having stockpiles of bricks, boulders, sand, and gravel in the yard would be an eyesore.

Both the old van and I need a break. Next week the GMC goes in for a host of repairs including a coolant leak, tie-rod ends, front and rear brakes, drive belt, etc. After she gets out of the repair shop, I will then mosey her down the road and purchase new tires. Once she is again roadworthy, on every fair weather day that remain in this year, I will either be down at the landscape center loading up or back home putting it all in place.

I sure hate to keep putting money into a vehicle that I could not sell for half of what I will spend on these repairs but even with 163,000 miles on the odometer, the old GMC continues to be the perfect mule for what I need to do. After the repairs, I still will not trust it for long trips. However, for muscling material and equipment around locally, and for clawing through winter snow, I cannot readily find anything better.

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2 comments:

  1. Greetings from Texas,
    Some projects take on a life of their own. This sounds like one of them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You got that right, Art. It started out as just a pad for me to store a rolled up garden hose... then grew and grew and grew...

    ReplyDelete

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