SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
I've been lazy lately and I haven't cleaned out the gutters in a month. It's been windy and dry as a bone so the pine needles have been coming down like snow.
When I poked my nose up over the edge of the roof I glanced at the roof and all I could see was Pine Needles. The roof was covered with them. I'm beginning to grumble as I come back down the ladder and gather what I need. Two pieces of 1/4 inch Plywood, the small rake and a couple of yard bags.
I work my way to the end of the roof of the trailer and start working. It's hot and th sun is blazing down on me. I start picking up the pine needles while kneeling on the plywood. (It spreads your weight out and your not kneeling on the 6 inch tall roof rails.) I fill the bags, look at the roof and head back down to get more bags. It's going to be a long day. There's only one problem, we're out of bags. I drag on some jeans, my jacket and helmet and take the bike to get the bags. When I get home I don't bother changing, I'm back up on the roof wearing my boots, jeans, Sunglasses and a Do-Rag.
At one end of the trailer we have two Palm Trees, one on each corner. There are fronds hanging over and onto the roof. This isn't what I want to see but I'm not there yet. I keep working tossing the bags down as I fill them. My wife sends up bottles of water by throwing them at me. I drain them and toss the empties back down to be refilled. I have my wife toss up the Caulking Gun with the sealer in it. Every time I see a potential leak I stop and seal it.
At the half way point I take a break. My wife is being nice and tosses up a Cigar already stripped out of it's wrapper. I grab a seat on the plywood and light up while working on yet another bottle of water. This time my wife had added some Lemon Juice. AS I'm sitting there my neighbor comes waddling by and asks me what I'm doing up there. When I tell her she just shakes her head. I glance over at her roof and it too is buried. Hell it's buried to the point the needles are pushing the flashing away from the edges. I didn't say anything though.
11 Lawn and Leaf Bags later I have finished the roof and gutters. Now it's time to take a look at the mini jungle growing over the southern end of the trailer. (I had to fight through it to clean that end.) After looking things over I make my way back to the ladder and climb down. Moving the ladder I set it up against the trailer and climb back up, only this time I have my secret weapon. Cutting Palm Fronds is a pain in the ass. They are fibrous and tougher than hell. I'm planning on trying something a bit different. I drag up a Reciprocating Saw and the power cord. I check everything over and set the saw into place against the first frond. I pull the trigger and damned if it didn't work like a miracle. I cut through a frond that normally takes me two minutes to cut in about 10 seconds.
I cleared the offending fronds then climbed down and started in on the fronds blocking the back door. These are also a pain in the ass. I can trim them back once a month and they always seem to grow back in.
21 Fronds later I'm putting things away and smiling to myself. It's not yet 1000 and I've wiped out the Honey Do List. I'm thinking about what I want to do and most of this list has something to do with riding. Then my wife comes over with a lady from down the street who wants to ask me a favor.
Now this lady is about 85 and her husband is all stove up. She wants to know if I could possibly clean out their gutters. I've helped her and her husband out before, they don't have much but they are willing to pay if the price isn't too steep. How could I say no? I grabbed the box of lawn bags and the ladder and wandered over. Their roof was in the same shape as everyone elses. Covered in Pine needles. Back to work I went. I've got it down to a science now and I'm moving right along. As I toss a bag down my wife grabs it and drags it off to the side then goes back to chatting with the older couple. When I'm roughly halfway done the old lady calls up and tells me it's time for a break. Then she tells me to come to the edge of the roof and she'll hand me up a snack. I like the sound of this as I haven't had breakfast. She sends up a couple of Empenadas she had made. Man did they hit the spot. As I'm finishing the job one of their neighbors came by and asked what was going on. When he heard he liked the idea and asked them how much they were paying me. Before my wife could say anything the old lady told the guy she was paying me $100.00 for the job, plus food and water. He thought about it for a minute then asked my wife if I would do his roof for the same fee.
By 1630 this afternoon I had cleared 12 roofs and been paid $100 for each. I had been fed I don't know how many times and went through several gallons of water. I also went on a couple more short rides to get trash bags.
All in all a good day even though I didn't get in a long ride.
Now I'm sitting at home thinking about how much I loath Australian Pine Trees with their long needles.
Cat
When I poked my nose up over the edge of the roof I glanced at the roof and all I could see was Pine Needles. The roof was covered with them. I'm beginning to grumble as I come back down the ladder and gather what I need. Two pieces of 1/4 inch Plywood, the small rake and a couple of yard bags.
I work my way to the end of the roof of the trailer and start working. It's hot and th sun is blazing down on me. I start picking up the pine needles while kneeling on the plywood. (It spreads your weight out and your not kneeling on the 6 inch tall roof rails.) I fill the bags, look at the roof and head back down to get more bags. It's going to be a long day. There's only one problem, we're out of bags. I drag on some jeans, my jacket and helmet and take the bike to get the bags. When I get home I don't bother changing, I'm back up on the roof wearing my boots, jeans, Sunglasses and a Do-Rag.
At one end of the trailer we have two Palm Trees, one on each corner. There are fronds hanging over and onto the roof. This isn't what I want to see but I'm not there yet. I keep working tossing the bags down as I fill them. My wife sends up bottles of water by throwing them at me. I drain them and toss the empties back down to be refilled. I have my wife toss up the Caulking Gun with the sealer in it. Every time I see a potential leak I stop and seal it.
At the half way point I take a break. My wife is being nice and tosses up a Cigar already stripped out of it's wrapper. I grab a seat on the plywood and light up while working on yet another bottle of water. This time my wife had added some Lemon Juice. AS I'm sitting there my neighbor comes waddling by and asks me what I'm doing up there. When I tell her she just shakes her head. I glance over at her roof and it too is buried. Hell it's buried to the point the needles are pushing the flashing away from the edges. I didn't say anything though.
11 Lawn and Leaf Bags later I have finished the roof and gutters. Now it's time to take a look at the mini jungle growing over the southern end of the trailer. (I had to fight through it to clean that end.) After looking things over I make my way back to the ladder and climb down. Moving the ladder I set it up against the trailer and climb back up, only this time I have my secret weapon. Cutting Palm Fronds is a pain in the ass. They are fibrous and tougher than hell. I'm planning on trying something a bit different. I drag up a Reciprocating Saw and the power cord. I check everything over and set the saw into place against the first frond. I pull the trigger and damned if it didn't work like a miracle. I cut through a frond that normally takes me two minutes to cut in about 10 seconds.
I cleared the offending fronds then climbed down and started in on the fronds blocking the back door. These are also a pain in the ass. I can trim them back once a month and they always seem to grow back in.
21 Fronds later I'm putting things away and smiling to myself. It's not yet 1000 and I've wiped out the Honey Do List. I'm thinking about what I want to do and most of this list has something to do with riding. Then my wife comes over with a lady from down the street who wants to ask me a favor.
Now this lady is about 85 and her husband is all stove up. She wants to know if I could possibly clean out their gutters. I've helped her and her husband out before, they don't have much but they are willing to pay if the price isn't too steep. How could I say no? I grabbed the box of lawn bags and the ladder and wandered over. Their roof was in the same shape as everyone elses. Covered in Pine needles. Back to work I went. I've got it down to a science now and I'm moving right along. As I toss a bag down my wife grabs it and drags it off to the side then goes back to chatting with the older couple. When I'm roughly halfway done the old lady calls up and tells me it's time for a break. Then she tells me to come to the edge of the roof and she'll hand me up a snack. I like the sound of this as I haven't had breakfast. She sends up a couple of Empenadas she had made. Man did they hit the spot. As I'm finishing the job one of their neighbors came by and asked what was going on. When he heard he liked the idea and asked them how much they were paying me. Before my wife could say anything the old lady told the guy she was paying me $100.00 for the job, plus food and water. He thought about it for a minute then asked my wife if I would do his roof for the same fee.
By 1630 this afternoon I had cleared 12 roofs and been paid $100 for each. I had been fed I don't know how many times and went through several gallons of water. I also went on a couple more short rides to get trash bags.
All in all a good day even though I didn't get in a long ride.
Now I'm sitting at home thinking about how much I loath Australian Pine Trees with their long needles.
Cat
