So yesterday there was this big spring windstorm, right? And I did what I’m paid to do, wandered over to J&H’s former hacienda to make sure everything’s still bolted down. Which, as it happens, it wasn’t.
J built a greenhouse, roughly 30X12, by bending pipe into a semicircle and stretching plastic over it. Works fine as long as: a. UV doesn’t degrade the plastic, and b. the wind never gets a fingerhold under the plastic. That second thing happened yesterday. About eight screws snapped right in half and a corner of the plastic pulled up, breaking the board it was wrapped around…and then miraculously the whole thing didn’t just shred.
I found it in late afternoon, having added the chore to my chicken walk-arounds. Tried piecing it together with duct tape but even though the wind was moderating it was still too much for such half measures. Went home and got tools and long screws.
One thing I’d like to acquire soon is a reasonably good cordless drill. I could afford a cheapy, but they’re good for maybe a year and then the batteries become useless. Around the Lair it’s easier to just string extension cords. But the greenhouse was rather far from a working outlet. Fortunately by stringing together every cord I have I was just barely able to reach H’s tack shed, which has its own small inverter. Didja ever wonder, how did civilization function when people needed to use actual screwdrivers?
Anyway, greenhouse saved. Me good caretaker.
Attaboy Uncle Joel the caretaker! You’re lucky that was the extent of the wind damage and you discovered it quickly. Years ago we had a big 12×24 storage tent that the wind got to. Wind picked it up and turned it over – the whole thing. Learned about anchoring it with railroad ties in the future, but it was a real bear to get back uprighted and in position.
Hah! Hermit, you got lucky. LOL Years ago in the Mojave desert, I was foolish enough to put up a metal storage shed myself. No railroad ties or anything to anchor it. That was simply beyond my ability, and such is life. A dust devil came along a year or so later and simply screwed it into the ground. There wasn’t a single strip of the metal that could be salvaged, and most of the stuff that had been inside was strewn across half a mile of sand and cactus. What a disaster. The next shed I had built was wood, with a floor, and serious cable anchors as well. That sucker is still there more than 20 years later. 🙂
And yes, Joel. Great save! Love the picture. He did a TV program my oldest son just loved.
Joel – I hear you on the good cordless drill thing. At work, I get to use something like a Binford 2000 (continuing the Tool Time theme), but at home I often turn to something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Antique-Millers-Falls-Auger-Brace-Hand-Drill-No-1662-/291461292304?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43dc726110
And with a #2 Philips chucked in it, it’s a cordless screwdriver, too!
Where there is no power, a 3/8″ drive speed wrench with a phillips driver works much better than a screwdriver when you need to drive a few screws.
You might have to have a 1/4″ deep well socket to hold the screwdriver bit tightly.
Vintage Millers Falls tools are the very best, and if the person who stole one of mine reads this I hope everything you make with it rots in your hands. If you sold it on ebay, remember the universe is watching and will catch up with you.