You know you’re a manly man when people send you gifts like this…
Nylon rope! This stuff is expensive.
It’s been a busy couple of days, so I haven’t taken the time to uncoil this and see how long it really is. But good nylon rope is like gold. This won’t get left on some hillside, that’s what cheap rope is for. This is going in the Jeep kit, so it’ll be around when I need it.
Hey, you wanna know what a four-inch tow strap looks like? Dude:
That UPS truck wouldn’t have dared stay stuck if I’d showed up with this puppy. Probably would have backed itself right out of the sand and asked me not to hurt it.
Alas, it’s not really the sort of thing you want to need every day. I also got a regular tow strap, which I bought myself. But I’m hanging on to the big one. Because there will come a day…
There were also gifts of food and goodies and let’s not forget cash. I spent $200 of it on drywall today! Yes! I’m actually going to finish a room, floor and walls and ceiling, before I move in. Big Brother sent me a whole new coil of heavy-gauge landscape cable and a bunch of small perplexing components for building a bigger, more elaborate indoor voltage readout, and I sure hope he survives Irma’s visit because I think I’m going to need coaching to put it together.
But that’s for later. Speaking of the addition, I have to get to the really cool thing. This is an actual gift that a reader sent me.
Dig it…
What could be in that big heavy box, he wondered…
An honest-to-gorsh vented, thermostat-controlled propane furnace. Yeah, baby.
I’ve got its spot allll picked out. And wire armored in iron conduit in its vicinity, and cement board to keep it from setting the Lair on fire. I’ve got thermostat wire run all the way to the closet wall. This furnace probably won’t get used a lot, because propane is dear and has to be hauled to the Lair in little 7-gallon bottles. But there’s many a winter evening when I wished so very much I could have heat through the night, and not a few mornings when I wished somebody else would get up and build the fire, then wake me up in an hour. Hey, I may be a manly man, but still. It gets cold outside at night in the high frickin’ desert. So in all likelihood it’ll get used as much as I can possibly afford to use it. 😉
You guys rock.
At the heart of this bedroom project is the idea of Joel not having to climb that awkward ladder at exactly the time of day when he is least able to safely do so.
But the SOUL of this project will be that furnace and its wonderful thermostat! I salute the generous person who provided it.