I had such big plans for Sunday. 🙃
I got good and important things done, just only like 25% of what I had hoped to get done.
I started off by getting the AC recharged in my work then. Summer has hit, and it’s hot and humid. The AC working simply by recharging the system was pretty much the best case scenario for getting my van comfortable for the summer, so that was super nice! Honestly, I didn’t expect that at all. But I filled it up, and it’s blowing cold, and I’m grateful. 🥳
After that, I spent the next couple hours or so mowing the lawn, and cleaning up all the branches that I had trimmed off from last week That didn’t make it to the grand burning party in the ditch by the driveway.
Oh, a fun little thing my mom and I have been watching since last week is this 10 ft log on a fairly large, probably 14 to 18 in in diameter that’s just been smoldering all week. It started out as a 10 ft log, and over the course of the week it’s just kept smoldering and smoking and smoldering and smoking until it whittled itself almost down to nothing I think.
Kind of fun, and pretty surprising, honestly.
From there, I began tackling the problem of my work van. It’s been giving me so many issues with the shelving because of how much weight is on the shelves that it keeps pulling the anchors out of the van frame itself– Even tearing through the frame. 😬
So I needed to build some sort of reinforcement to keep it from doing that. The simplest way that I could come up with was just to use 2x4s and bolt a frame together to keep it so it couldn’t really move much.
But before I even got started with that, I got distracted by building a platform to hold my rain/sun canopy on. But the more I worked on it, the more I change the design again and again, turning it into a multi- shelf unit to be able to carry all of the oils and many of the other fluids that I carry with me, in addition to housing the canopy on top.
I measured and re-measured in planned and replanned and changed my mind and changed designs over and over, but finally created something that I was happy with after lots and lots of frustration and probably 7 hours of work.
But after all that time, I went to put it in the van, and it was two or three inches too long.
😶
But how?!?! I measured several times.
How?!?!?!
Then i realized… The van tapered more than i realized at the upper and, and I was measuring at the bottom.
😔 (dejected)
What on earth could I do?
Fixing it would be almost complete disassembly and rebuild.
7 hours, up in smoke.
😣
Ugh.
After a very long, very frustrating day, that was a massive blow.
You can’t just unbolt a couple things and fix that.
But no, I was determined. Yes, determined to find a way to make it fit. 😅
So I got a hammer and chisel and started chiseling the entire ends off… But that was taking too long, so I grabbed my chainsaw, and though destroying my chain in the process, managed to shave off enough of each side of the shelving unit to just barely squeeze it inside the van.
🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Yay!!!!!
After something like 7 or so hours, I finally finished that part up And turned my attention to the most important part of finding some way to brace the shelving I already had.
Funny, I spent seven or whatever hours working on that other shelving unit which wasn’t even on my to-do list, and I missed doing a bajillion things that were on my to-do list, including doing the bracing for the shelving so I didn’t have my shelves, full of all their contents, crashing down and destroying themselves and my equipment and materials.
So I spent the next hour or two creating a brace for the shelving, bolting a couple of vertical 2x4s to the shelving units themselves and then a cross brace across the top of the van to keep the shelving from moving.went inside and ate
Cross your fingers, I hope it works. There’s a lot of weight in those shelves, and it’s super top heavy.
While I was working on the bracing part of it, my mom had let me know she’d made dinner. That was super nice of her to do while I was outside frustrated and cursing.
After dinner, I went back outside, got my van loaded up with all my stuff, and was ready for the next day.
Phew!
I didn’t get much of anything from my list done, but the things that I did get done were very important and very helpful, so that’s something, at least.
Before going to bed, I spent a bit of time studying for that AC EPA exam, I’m hoping to take that by the end of the week.
🤞
What a day!
Love and hugs. 😊
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 