When I woke up this morning, I decided that trimming trees along our road — in preparation for the arrival of our cabin on Wednesday — was gonna happen today. Waiting ’til tomorrow would be just begging for one or another problem to crop up, and this’d give me a little cushion.
I tackled it solo, since Deb was at the laundromat in Gassville. Choosing the Ranger over the truck, I brought along only a DeWalt 20V pole saw, a DeWalt 20V chainsaw, three batteries, a jug of bar oil and a chain file. I began at the bottom and worked my way up The Mountain.
The sun had cleared the trees on the upslope side of the road by the time I got started, so I did my best to work (and park) in the shade as much as possible. I took a half-dozen breaks over the half-mile stretch I pruned.
In addition to cutting back branches, I took down ten or so small trees, “leaners” that proved poor candidates for just trimming, and one had the audacity to fall on my head while I was making an undercut. (No harm done.) The last thing I addressed was the massive brushpile at the end of our driveway, the place where the delivery rig will make its sharpest turn. I created three or four feet of additional width at that spot.
To my surprise, it all went quickly. I was done by 11am. It didn’t hurt that we’d pruned for the fifth-wheel in May.
I did most of the work with the pole saw, resorting to the chainsaw only for felling and some of the heavier cuts. The 4AH battery I swapped between the tools still showed two-thirds of a charge when the work was done, and neither chain needed any touch-up during the job.
Perhaps most impressive was one cut I made with the chainsaw on the brushpile. A ten-inch hardwood log — oak, I think, or maybe hickory — surrendered surprisingly easily to the little electric saw with the little 12-inch bar. I’m tellin’ you, that thing’s a real keeper.
So now, other than drooping overhead power lines, we’re ready for our cabin. Saying that out loud feels pretty good.
I waited ’til Deb got back from doing laundry to deal with my other chores — waste water out and, because I’d be drawing four or five gallons to prep the black tank, fresh water in. There was nothing complicated about either task, so after chugging a couple of bottles of Gatorade and chillin’ for a while in the AC, I went outside and got started.
First I pulled the black-tank valve and sat down on a three-legged camp stool while waiting for it to drain. Several minutes in, I heard a disturbing THUD from the outlet pipe. Looking at the clear elbow that connects the outlet to the Stinky Slinky, I saw a large chunk of solid waste stuck right at the valve. Liquid was still getting past the blockage, and I hoped that’d wash away the clog.
It didn’t. What the flow did do was expose the culprit behind what I’d seen initially — a plastic bottle.
Specifically, it was a bottle that once held 12 ounces of Aqua Kem, a popular RV tank treatment. Apparently, a previous owner accidentally dropped it down the toilet, and it had been trying to escape the black tank ever since.
Naturally, we suspect that bottle was responsible for the poop-tank problems we had shortly after moving into the rig. We’re just lucky that when it left, it scored a bullseye on the outlet of the tank.
Today, there was only one thing to do — wait for the tank to finish draining liquid, disconnect the elbow from the outlet and (with gloved hands) remove the obstruction. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t fun, but that’s what we did. And, I might add, we did it without making a bigger mess.
With that taken care of and everything hooked up again, I pulled the gray-tank valve. That’s when I noticed that a section of belly panel cut for service back in July had fallen down. That meant crawling under the trailer with a roll of Gorilla Tape and re-attaching it.
Then I moved on to topping-off the fresh water — pump what was left in one barrel, move the hose to the full barrel and finish. The connection on the end of the hose nearest the tank inlet, however, was spraying water everywhere. When I pulled it apart I saw that a rubber washer had taken flight, so I found a replacement and installed it.
And then it was done. What should’ve taken 15 minutes had consumed over an hour.
This afternoon it blew hard on The Mountain, and it rained buckets for a while, as if to erase any trace of what we’d dealt with. We’ll take it.
Tomorrow, I hope, will be easier. I’m confident that it’ll smell better.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB