Sigh. I'm wondering if I should really post this...



So. Yesterday I removed the carport roof again and added more plastic sheets underneath as a moisture barrier. I noticed during this year's first rain fall (almost anyway) that the roof leaked in several places, both due to the roof having several old holes from before and due to holes/rips in the plastic I put up a few weeks back. I knew I was too hasty with my work when I did it last time so; do it again and do it right!


Really happy with it so far. The plastic is whole and covers everything much better. I also added some woodwork to better support it at the edges and all I need now is a new roof. I will get it tomorrow and put it up and hopefully this is the last time I do all this!

New roof is up! Went well although I did miss with three of the screws. No biggie, I just left them in. They still seal against water. Proper length of the metal sheets this time too. Last time (2011) I forgot that I needed some overlap so I took four sheets that were 3500mm and four that were 2500mm (cheaper). So not much overlap to speak of, plus the roof didn't quite cover as it should front and back. But now it does while also cover better to the side.

Thank the LORDS it's finally done!

Pic one
Pic two

Nice work, mirocu. I can tell you're glad it's finished!

Third time's a charm!



And now it's time for a new roof, one over the saw we use to cut firewood. We've grown tired of moving it under cover every fall and then moving it out again in spring so now it's gonna stay where it is instead. Got the first support beam up with the second going up on Saturday. Then some extra bits to screw the roof into and some plastic before the actual roof comes on.

Ongoing project: Upload Transport Fever Scenic Ride-Along episode 6. Began a bit after 0700. Now circa 0930 I've still over two hours to go...and it's a short video. Should have uploaded Wednesday night, but wasn't feeling well enough to want to bother with it. Last night I could and should have uploaded. Was feeling about as well as I'm apt to feel these days. Played Transport Fever from just after supper until bedtime so had no internet usage conflict. But no, it didn't dawn on me to to upload until too late.

Have been killing time 'filming' footage for what will be ep7. Have pretty much everything shot except a closing Goods Station departure overhead view.

I'll likely launch the game when done typing this and either try for that final scene or do some actual playing.

As to game play, I spent much time yesterday adding a second pair of tracks along part of my so-called main line, a stretch of tracks between Dunwich and Morley, with Eastleigh sandwiched in between. Man o man are those tracks congested. Too many trains traveling too few tracks. What I did helps somewhat but is far ideal. I just hope I didn't botch something in the process that's gonna come back and bite me. A particular concern is "the gauntlet," a nasty stretch of tracks between Morley and one of the map's edges. Lots of lines converge there. It's caused almost unsolvable traffic jams twice now. Following the second I sorted things out just enough to avoid future jams. Yesterday I altered the gauntlet somewhat and fear I'll start getting jams again. I swear there must be some fix for that mess. If so I've yet to stumble on it.

Slept in late yesterday morning due to taking an OTC sleeping pill the night before. Decided to forgo my exercise walk, though I could have squeezed it in had I rushed things a bit. I of course walked today. Not gonna miss two days in a row, barring bad weather, health issues or an unforeseen conflict.

ADDENDUM: TpF Scenic Ride-Along episode 6 is available for view. It can be found via link in our "What are you playing?" thread.

We just moved some furniture in. Secondhand, look to be Ikea pieces.

Had to repair one of them. Drawer front came off.

@Decrepit - Nice to know you're still going strong(?) and not just sitting in a lawnchair telling kids to get off said lawn

@Saki - IKEA furniture is always so much fun to put together, innit?



Firewoodsaw roof is done. Almost anyway. Got everything in place except the metal sheets. We'll try to do it tomorrow but we have to cut them into proper length first. I'll take pics this evening and tomorrow and post them for everyone to judge

Always fun. I haven't bought anything from there new in ages though. Haven't been to one yet since I got here either. I know, blasphemy.

Someone stick a fork in me, I think I'm done. Well done. Charred. The lawn is mowed. Sad thing is, it didn't really need it. I could have held out some days. But there are no reasonably tolerable days in the forecast for quite some time. Every day is a scorcher. That being the case I wanted to get it over and done with. The mow really took a lot out of me, more so than any mow in the past two years. On a positive note, a heart reading taken almost immediate afterward was easily within safe levels. A tad high for me, but lower than what many might consider "normal."

Wow, you are all tuned up in firewood for the next winter!







Be careful, heat can be doing more damage below the surface than you realize until later. (heat stroke is very serious). Next time stay in the cool and play video games!

Yup


New roof over woodcutter is done and I have to say it turned out great. Metal sheets were cut into proper length and old holes filled with goo and then all four were hauled up and secured. Unfortunately I can't provide you with pixies. Imgur has undergone changes now and they are so severe my computer shuts down and restarts. It's happened twice now. Looks like I need a new pic dump again. Sigh.


I wonder if I can piggyback on ghastley's site?

My current project is a home gym. So far I have this:

- Concept 2 Model D rowing machine
- treadmill
- adjustable multibench (inclines to about 85 degrees)
- set of barbells and dumbbells and weight plates plus a rack to store them in
- bench for ab and back exercises
- protective floor tiles
- a bench for relaxing on
- a Tv and a little media box that you can play music videos on

So this is all pretty good and I'm getting good results but I want to get into some serious lifting, and lifting with barbells is somewhat risky if you're doing it all alone without a spotter or anything.

So I wanna buy a power rack.

For those that don't know what that is, it's a metal cage, usually about 2.2 meters high (7.2' ish) and it has contraptions for putting down the barbell and most importantly, it has an adjustable safety bar that you can set to a hight that, if you lift the barbell above your body -such as when benchpressing- and your strength fails, it will crash on those bars and not on you. So a pretty good thing. Also, some of them come with or offer as an upgrade option a lat pull addition with a pulley system so you can do exercises for your back and shoulders as well as cable curls and stuff like that.

Today I've pondered whether to get a full rack or a half rack, and whether or not to add a lat pull option, and if so, whether it should be plate loaded or plug weights. I've actually been pondering this for quite a while, also the question if it will actually fit in the room at all.

Have any of you build a home gym with stuff like this? If so, I'd be very interested in hearing of your experiences!

I’ve been a gym rat for most of my life, fueled in part by my career in the US Marines. So I’m well familiar with gyms.

You are wise to focus on safety as a concern, and the Smith Machine you describe is one I use even in full gyms due to the safety stop feature where can set a hard limit on how far down the bar can go. The Smith Machine also prevents another hazard – losing balance with a heavy barbell aloft, resulting in potentially a hazardous fall.

I’ve toyed with the idea of trying to make my own gym but always abandoned the idea due to space, cost and good access to full gyms. To get what you envision is a significant investment. I’m guessing you’ve looked at all that and perhaps don’t have convenient / affordable access to a full gym.

Sorry not of much help beyond endorsing the use of a Smith Machine for heavy bar work.

I've been to gyms in the past. I'm sorry to have to say this, but there just aren't any good ones anywhere near, neither in convenient range (I'm living in the countryside) nor in the next bigger town (which would be Brunswick (not counting Peine here)). I've been to gyms there and all of them have exercise bikes, treadmills, cross trainers and if you're very lucky a small amount of rowing machines. Beyond that, it's machines for muscles. Not one of them even had a half rack. One had a single pullup/dip bar which was constantly in use. They all had some dumbbells and barbells and benches, but nothing approaching anything you'd consider useful for functional training.

There's that, but more importantly, I'm working out every day before work for about an hour (30 minutes cardio, 30-45 minutes of free weight lifting). It'd be almost impossible for me to integrate that into my daily life if I had to drive somewhere first as I'm usually already pressed for time. Also, this way I can watch music videos of my choosing while I work out, which has proven to boost my motivation a lot. There's nothing like working the treadmill to the beats of some good eurodance music, like 2 Unlimited, or other music with a good beat.

And then, I don't know if that's just a problem here, but there are really weird people visiting the gyms here. Not all of them are weird, but the weird ones are certainly sticking out

PS: it's a power rack I want to get, not a smith machine - the idea of it offering much safety of course being pretty much the same:

Makes good sense in your circumstances. I'm spoiled with nice weather and my gym an easy walk away.

Ah yes, I've seen similar power racks - something like that should be perfect. Nice addition having the stuff up high for pull ups. And are those adjustable dip bars on one side? Very clever if so.

Yes, they're adjustable. They come off and on the same way as j-bars

It's finally finished uploading and ready for view, Transport Fever Scenic Ride-Along ep7 - Goods for Dunwich.

In this one we ride the rails carrying Goods to the city of Dunwich then return to the Goods Complex with a load of food for eventual delivery by truck to Kidderminster, Goodstown and Farmland Village.

Otherwise I've done no projects worthy of the name. Still feeling run down from that lawn mow just over a week ago have done practically nothing other than mope about the house. Felt decently better yesterday, but partial relapsed after missing most of last night's sleep due to the upload. (Stinking Windows keeps putting my PC to sleep even though I told it not to in Settings.)

Gonna mow the lawn later this evening. Dread it. Haven't fully recovered from the last mow. That said, this is our "coolest" days in and for some time. Even the "feels like" temp will be several degrees below 90F when I start. Can't afford to pass up this opportunity.

Got a clean bill of health from the Neurologist. Scored 34 (out of 38?) on the memory test, which I take almost every year. Better yet, I'm now officially allowed to take my sure-file migraine ender Zomig again!!!! The nurse I started out with turned me to an OTC electrolyte restorer. Bought two containers of it during today's grocery run. Have already taken a few swigs, but am saving most of the first bottle until after today's mow.

Prepared this year's termite insurance renewal payment for mailing tomorrow. (Need to remember to buy more stamps. I've one left.)

As mentioned, made a grocery run this morning. Total, just over $41US, including electrolyte restorer. Not bad at all. No surprises or splurging. Just stuff I purchase week after week after week.

Over that past several days I "filmed" what might well be the main video and most prelude clips for episode eight of my TpF Scenic Ride-Along series.

Mowing went well. If anything I felt better at the end than when I started. Certainly no worse. Felt well enough this morning to trim my one remaining "real" tree and a few emerging weed bushes. Still need to trim a super big weed tree in the back yard and some trees/bushed along the fence bordering my back yard and a low-rent apartment complex. Carted removed limbs to the neighbor's burn pile. He gave me carte blanche to do so some years ago, but I'm gonna check with him later today to make sure it's still okay.

No other "productive" projects for the day come to mind. Well, maybe work a bit on my next TpF ride-along video.

Sounds good, Decrepit. Nice to know you are still in shape to do yard work



We just changed coolant in tractor. Much needed as it was more sludge than coolant/water at this point

Your neighbors and friends will be knocking on your door day and night to see if you "don't mind if they use the equipment for an hour,"

I haven't seen the vid yet, but I will come back to it. Really glad to hear your medical report, that sounds like it went really well!













Glad the roof is done, don't want the little yellow 'Cavator getting rained on! But...I came here seeing you saying something about sludge in her? GAAAAAAAAH !!!! Better take better care of her than that! Poor baby 'Cavator!







GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! "NOOOOOOOO!"

Yupp, well, I had it all planned. Then the gf, who has been kept informed of all plans all steps of the way steps in and lets me know she feels uncomfortable with all that sporting equipment stuffed into that room. That's the end of that, I guess.

@mALX - Tractor and Cavator is not the same thing

Tractors are sexy; Cavators are cool. There ya go!

For the first time since that lawn mow in super hot weather over a week ago I felt up to attempting an exercise-walk this morning. Went well. Maintained my "normal" pace so far as I could tell. Even managed a decent burst of speed at the end. Only negative I noticed is slightly more labored breathing. Hope it's temporary. Might or might not resume dumbbell exercises this afternoon. If not today, tomorrow. <crosses fingers>

Putting together TpF SRA ep8. Still need a short Eastleigh Station closing video and most text narrative. It's slow going, not helped by the fact that Eastleigh Station has no added scenery on one side. Considering the point of this series is scenery that's sort of hard to work around. And no, I can't add scenery there. Well, I could. But. It's part of Eastleigh proper. I expect the city to expand and overwrite anything I add there. Hmm....I suppose I can add a hedge row highlighted with occasional trees bordering the tracks on that side. I won't mind those being overwritten. Better than nothing?

I'd think everyone is breathing heavier in this weather when doing any kind of physical activity. I certainly do. My home gym was at 30C this morning

Decrepit, you'd think when it got hot enough the grass would be considerate enough not to grow!

Stargelman, does this mean you'll be adding 'air conditioner' to your list of required home gym equipment?

The only place I have air conditioning is in my car. Nah, I'm doing my morning routine in 30C as well. It just means I need to drink more and I'm even more tired afterwards.

Our grass is long dead. lol

Our front lawn is dead, too. It needs a complete makeover anyway so I didn't bother watering it at all. The other lawn areas are green as can be, because they've been redone at the start of the heat period and we didn't want to let that go to waste, so I'm watering that for 2-4 hours every day

Bermuda loves heat it seems. It's been a bit of a dry spell lately which has thankfully slowed growth somewhat. Not enough, but better than nothing.

Quite a few years ago we had a super dry super here. That year grass indeed all but ceased growing. I think I bowed a total of five times the entire mowing season. Oddly, that same year, an hour drive to our north folk experienced one of the wettest summers on record. Severe flooding from there northward. Rivers major to minor seriously overflowing their banks for extended periods of time. A real mess, with us bone dry the entire time.

Below. Yeah last summer was so wet we needed to mow more than once a week but couldn't because wet grass.

Just when you thought it was safe to return to the water, I present Transport Fever Scenic Ride-Along Episode 8 - Dunwich to Eastleigh Passenger Shuttle. My VLC video looping trick works. The PC did not go into sleep mode during the upload!!!!!!

As to the video itself, this episode for the first time finds us on the "mainline" traveling between two major game-placed cities.

Episode nine will revisit the train route taken during episode two. That line has seen marked alteration to track-side scenery on the Chesham side of the river. Enough so to make a second video worth the effort in my opinion. Filming has not yet started.

ADDENDUM: Just viewed ep8 online. It seems excessively blurry during the ride-long portion when the train is in motion. More so that ep7 for sure. Or so it seems to me. It is that way for you guys?

Just fenced in all Thujas, about 50 meters or so. Wasn't planning to do that until late fall but as it turned out they were already under attack by the deer. They don't eat them, but they grind their antlers against them. Marking territory and rub off the skin I reckon. Bah. Jerk faces. They have all the wood to be in but they just have to mess with my plants!

You created a boundary. They need to mark that boundary, too.

They need to have a date with my .30-06, that's what they need

You built a "Tunnel of Love" for them, now you complain when they come to use it?

Deer are jerks.

SPEW!!!


We did have trouble with them eating our strawberries, lol.

Birds ate mine.

Rabbits are bad for eating them too. I learned not to even bother trying to grow them unless you have a hot house to keep them protected, lol.

I honestly don't know if we even have rabbits.

I've yet to see one that isnt the neighbor's pet Flemish Giant. Now THAT'S a big bun.

Blower motor for my car’s HVAC system had been slowly going downhill until finally last Thursday it just completely stopped functioning. Let this one tell you, driving around in this heat with no AC is brutal. Anyway, Khajiit decided to learn how to replace it himself and so ordered a new compatible blower motor from Amazon for $40. After looking up instructions online, it was simple (luckily Khajiit is rather tiny so he could fit and work under the passenger side dashboard) to just switch the parts out. Operation was a complete success! Really glad we didn’t have to get a mechanic to do this as it would’ve cost a whole lot more than $40.

Good good. No roasted Khajiit.

Holy Cow! 40? My son drove around for five years with his AC broken, I am going to frame this post and hang it on the front of his monitor or TV so he will see what he COULD have done about it!!!! Awesome, Khajiit!!!!

Yeah and it was only like a 5-10 minute job too. That said, it may have been more expensive and/or more difficult for a different vehicle, Khajiit is not sure.

Well, he doesn't have that car anymore, but he drove it for years suffering (and complaining constantly) about the lack of AC before he finally wrecked it. He has a new car now, and is MUCH happier.

What car do you drive, Khajiit?