Xmas Trees

It's taken awhile,

but I'm learning to listen,

finding present clues during conversation.

A couple weeks ago my mom mentioned 

she'd like an olive tree for their front yard.

"Hmm...", I thought,

I've seen trees on craigslist before...

The perfect excuse to hunt!

Surprisingly I missed out on at least 3 trees.

These things get swooped on fast!

Sunday night I had a lucky text.

A week had gone by,

I had thought this ad was a fake,

or were they just too big?

Two trees were ready for the pickin!

How hard could this be?

I researched online,

spoke with Chip the landscaper...

Easy!

Monday afternoon Jaxon and I got to it...

The drive was longer than expected,

giving my mind time to wander.

The ad pics deceiving.

25' trees!?

I was imagining giant hulking monsters.

These may be too much.

Thankfully they were manageable,

Kristine wanted an oak variety,

get these outta here!

Her landscaper Carlos gave us some tips,

and in three hours Jax and I had dug up the yard.

Now what!!??

These were way heavier than I thought,

and each had separate logistic issues,

a small hill and a rocky path.

The next day 

would use all our previous loading skills...

Like before,

our early Tuesday start began afternoon.

Loading up equipment and getting a trailer,

then the 50 minute drive in traffic.

Did I mention it was raining?

We brought out the trusty A-frame,

the garden wagon,

long wooden planks,

and our secret weapon Jakob.

We had the booty loaded within 3 hours!

The kids were amazing.

Nothing fazes them.

We couldn't have planned it better,

driving home in slow traffic,

limiting the brutal speed wind.

They better like these!!

We decided to dump them at their house early,

no use risking more shock trying to be sly.

I'd predicted a "WTF" facial expression from my dad,

followed by uncontrolled gnawing 

on a fresh cigar.

Yep!

Their grandmother was ecstatic,

and wanted them both.

Phew!!

Wednesday morning 

the kids planned a 7am start.

Nope.

Ahh 930 is fine...

Gave my parents time to figure where they'd go.

Unbelievably,

we had these planted by noon!

This included an A-frame and a wagon ride

down the sidewalk 

and up a skinny walkway.

Twice!

The trees really filled out the empty front yard,

Please live!!

We did as much as we could 

to help them survive,

now the torch is passed to my parents,

who now can finally finish 

the front yard project.

Thanks Kristine and family!!

TP

The killing machine

This about sums up our year.

Few hours away from leaving for wife's family for xmas...

And the washing machine quit on us,

clothes marinating in the soapy broth.

This old Kenmore washing machine is predigital,

it had to be something simple.

The lid switch had broken off.

Hmmm.

Here's a "how to" - fix a washing machine...

The quick fix.

A short jumper bypassing the connection.

A little safety tape 

and we were good to go.

Holey Chit now it's a killing machine.

TP

May the Force...

Continuing on with our 

freebie craigslist hunting theme...

Who could resist a free running outboard!?

There's always a catch...

We were eating lunch when this popped up.

I immediately recognized the boat as a Whaler,

just like ours.

On the back hung a Force 85 hp.

The boat was a recent purchase,

it had been on craigslist for a month.

The new owner wanted a repower.

When texting he recognized our boat.

Somehow he had found our whaler rebuild online.

This typing finally paid off!

There's a funkiness to Force outboards,

apparent in the wild graphics.

Holey chit who came up with the digi #'s!

Even for late 80's that's pushin it...

Under the cover was pristine,

thanks to the dry Palm Springs air

and fresh water use.

Why would Steve not want to run this?

The Force brand has never had a good reputation.

Online there's a ton of bashing,

tough to defend when bench racing.

The 3-cylinder engine is a solid Chrysler design,

updated with Mercury electronics,

really a bulletproof setup.

The problems being they were the house brand 

for Bayliner boats,

(kinda the entry level)

and also the cheapest outboard on the market,

usually stripped to the bare necessities.

Most failures were probably a result of first timers not flushing the engine,

bad 2-stroke oil mix,

over-revving etc.

Tough to knock that bottom barrel stigma.

Man wouldn't it be fun to make stacker pipes?

And burn through San Diego bay on the whaler!

For now all I did was repaint the oversized cowl,

numbed up in basic white,

keeping the small Force emblem incognito.

This is the perfect engine to swap on the whaler,

in case of a fire sale,

then build around the yamaha 90.

Or find a stripped hull,

and build another boat.

Yeah another project...

Thanks Steve!

TP

Shop Life - episode 5 - the pavers

Lets keep up with the freebie craigslist theme.

The winter winds have started,

blowing our canopies away in the process.

This was the second time for this frame,

probably on it's last legs.

Now the work spot looked barren.

Until a chance posting showed up.

This was Saturday morning,

Macey's birthday.

We had already scheduled a sleepover,

so timing was tight.

Ay 26 minutes posted,

we were lucky to be the first.

On the texts,

I could tell the giver, Fausto.

was getting other interest.

"We'll take them all!!"

Walking up to the stash was a true

HOLEY CHIT moment.

These were not bricks,

but pavers.

Each one like 3 or 4 normal bricks 

in weight and size.

In addition the pavers were 100 ft away,

over a grassy berm and down a path.

Fortunately Fausto helped out with his wheelbarrow,

and Team Perich used the wagon.

The first day was two fat loads,

about half the pile.

The van was a trooper.

How much weight does it take compress

the front suspension this much!

The poor tires...

We drove 45 mph on the short freeway jaunt.

So much for the birthday boat ride!

We rushed home and the boys busted

even more a$$ decorating the house girlie style.

The night was about the exact opposite

of moving two tons of bricks.

The next morning Jaxon and I 

resumed the transport.

Fausto and his crew had did the hard work,

moving them to the sidewalk.

Still a daunting task.

Hey if your gonna have a one ton E350,

ya better use it...

Two loads finished the job,

instigating another.

Stacks of pavers were everywhere.

The Great Wall of Barrio.

The following weekend we started the lay,

changing the previous bricking layout.

These were taller,

and interlocked.

Jaxon again pulled through.

He must really want his drivers permit!

He's a true workhorse.

Over thanksgiving vacation,

we spent a couple hour bursts bricking.

The dirt is hard packed,

lots of picking and shoveling,

as there's a 2 inch shake-like oil pack to break.

(edit pic tonight!)

The cool thing is Jason got off his a$$,

and finally paved his side too.

Although he's not as picky...

Now it's a race to the end.

Good times...

Thanks Fausto for the load!!

TP

Dang...craigslist misses...

Let's see...

To start off this month,

we'll clear out some snapshots,

of some sorely missed deals...

This was tonight,

right after dinner.

24 minutes up,

and the guy already had multiple takers.

24 minutes posted,

means it was visible for about 10-15,

as there's a little time lag.

Supposedly had a seized engine.

In San Diego ya gotta be fast!

Ya know I'm into the bricks.

This was up for about 45 minutes.

Way too late!

Now who could resist 48 boxes 

of yum Girl Scout cookies!

These were the tasty thin mints and samoas.

We'd give the raisin ones to the homeless...

This one hurt.

An arcade sized air hockey game,

located in a nicer part of San Diego,

so I'm sure it was perfect.

This was a Brunswick Leisure Fitness model,

probably 3-5000 new.

I was 2nd on the list at 31 minutes!

Man that would have been fun...

I almost offered them a little $$ 

to change their mind!!

I'm not sure if this one was for real.

I never called the number.

What would we do with a friggin monkey!?

We already have three...

This was flagged in about 25 minutes.

Wonder if he had any luck...

Let's wrap this up with the "dang it" award.

Who among us wouldn't want a life size

Velociraptor costume.

Ya know you would...

Ridiculously cool.

I'd just walk around the neighborhood with this...

Well there goes a tiny percentage of the

free awesomeness on craigslist!!

TP