Monday, June 30, 2008

The G.C.S (Gus Containment System)

Here's some first pictures of the Gus Containment System. Top is the new fence on the east side of the house. The design is cedar up four feet (following the contour) with a two-foot wire panel above. The wire and post caps echo details on our existing decks and blend nicely. (The caps will be painted trim green.)

The whole system consists of two side fences and a boatload of woven wire fencing attached to the split rail fence that mostly encircles our back .40.

Had to run new split-rail along the east edge.

The west side fence runs from the edge of the garage. The wire will connect here, cross the creek and carry over to the existing split rail on that edge of the property. Hopefully, it won't look too bad, and because it starts a goodly distance in from the street, won't cut off the view of the creek much. Ran a few boards short on the gate, which will also be curved like the other.

Dogs is not cheap.



Friday, June 20, 2008

Hasn't Changed Yet....

Not a lot to report. Gus still likes water and is learning to tolerate the car well, since it leads him to the water. He'll swim after a ball for a while, then get tired and just sit chest deep in the lake. It's funny.

I spent a day and a half this week running about 100 feet of new split rail fence between us and the nearest neighbor. In the near future, that open split rail will be joined by four- or five-foot woven wire encircling our big damn yard. Not cheap or easy, but when we're done we'll have a fenced back yard to contain the dogs (even if I have to cross a creek twice with the wire fence.) The coolest section of the rail fence jumps straight across a large rock in a relatively ingenious manner (if I do say so myself...)

Oh, one-man augers are evil machines, especially when used on hillsides.

My automotive plan hasn't changed since last week, which is both nice and unusual. I got a few restoration books from Amazon today, and am looking forward to this project. There's a 1976 2002 in Stockton for sale for $1,000, but it's not in the budget this month. (The '73s and '74s are better anyway...)

The book editing goes well, and I'll have the second draft sent back next week. Em dashes and ellipses will be my downfall, I'm afriad.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

You Realize, of Course, This Too Will Change...

As you will soon see, my long-term automotive project plans remain in flux.
Here's the latest: It's a BMW, model 2002. Made from '68 to '76, the immediate predecessor of the 3-series.
Seems like it could be a fun project, fun car, and maybe even an occassional autocrosser.
Expect a new plan next week....

Monday, June 02, 2008

Still Unstimulated

So we remain unstimulated. (Actually, the check may come today, so who knows.) I thought we were being stimulated last week when a letter from the IRS arrived, but it was mearly a pre-stimulation warning, promising we would be stimulated soon.

As you might be able to tell from the inanity of this posting, sleep hasn't been a top priority lately. We did get both of our big projects turned in last night, however, so now we await feedback and further forward progress!