Hello Everyone!
A brief introduction: Hi I am Jacob.
TL;DR: There is no tl;dr because you should have more patience and attention span than a gnat on a high wind.
Apocalyptic Homesteading Day 34-35!
Covidiot Free Shopping, Deviance Normalization, Predictable Surprises, Loud Music Achieved & Fencing Done Well
It is a few hours before dawn here so I will assuredly have enough time this morning to do some writing which was not the case yesterday because I woke up well after the sun was up and did not want to spend a warm day writing when I could be working. I know that my sleep schedule has been mildly erratic of late but what happened was that I went on my monthly supply run the evening before, ate entirely too much food afterwards and slipped into a deep slumber not long after that. As far as the supply run goes I opted out of ordering stuff online and went to a local grocery store instead and I guess that I made the trip at the right time because there was hardly anyone else at the store to start with and the folks that were there were predominantly wearing a mask (and keeping their distance) which was quite relieving to say the least. There just does not seem to be as many covidiots in this region as the last one that I was living in and it was nice being able to do some shopping without feeling the need/desire to mule kick anyone along the way.
I am feeling a bit sleepy but I will try to recap the last few days the best that I can. On Day 34 I worked on finishing off the remainder of the fencing installation along the eastern fence line of the new dog yard. Although I continued to make some amateur mistakes the remainder of that section of fence itself came out rather well. I was able to get it stretched taut by utilizing some pieces of oak, one of those tree stumps that I mentioned before and one of the fence post to form a crude 'tripod' that I then attached the come-along (hand winch) to and thus formed a pinion point. I am unsure how well that particular 'tripod' rig would have worked out if I had been pulling taut a longer section of fencing because of how I utilized an existing fence post as a part of it (and thus tugged on it as well) but in this instance it worked out super well. When I was sizing that piece of fencing I thought that I had left enough extra to marriage it properly to the fence post where the previously installed section of fencing terminated but I came up a few inches shy so I wound up face nailing the fencing to that post and then doing the usual wire wrapping to the other piece of fencing instead of wrapping the wire all the way around the post and then back to the fencing. It did not make for all that 'pretty' of a union (where the two pieces of fencing meet) but I think that it has plenty of integrity and will hold up well enough over time.
After all of that jazz was done I began prepping the northern fence line to get its mesh fencing installed and whoa did that turn into a heck of a lot of work. I began by digging on the trench along that fence line so that I would not encounter the same problems on it as I did on the eastern fence line and while digging I noticed that there were a bunch of roots that were going to get in the way of not just getting the fencing to lay flush up against the posts but also interfere with the bottom of the fencing resting at the right depth in the trench which was especially important because of the slope along that fence line and all the bumps and dips in the terrain itself. After learning the hard way on the eastern fence line just how important the trench being straight (and free of obstructions) is I spent a bunch of time cutting back roots with an axe and some of those buggers were as big around as my forearm. Honestly the roots were a mess and when I originally dug the trench I was nowhere near as critical with it as I needed to be but I guess that is all part of the learning curve.
There was also a bunch of stuff in the way of rolling out that section of fencing for the northern fence line so I spent some time moving the stacks of logs that I had in the area as well as moving the temporary PVC dog yard (again) so that everything was out of the way. I was a bit annoyed with having to do all of that stuff because it meant that I failed to foresee it being in the way when I put it all there to start with but I guess that it goes to show that I cannot always think of everything no matter how hard I try to do just that. It really did not amount to very much 'extra' work but I chided myself rather heavily about the need to do it to start with and that in the future when I am doing the kind of fencing that I have to roll out (before standing it up) that I need to not put stuff in the way of doing so!
The following day the sun finally came out and although there was a heavy breeze it was otherwise quite the beautiful and albeit 'warm' day (or at least much warmer than it has been of late) so I got an early start on working at the new shelter site and opted out of doing any writing because like I said before I had slept in quite late after 'feasting' on a bunch of food the night before. I always feel incredibly guilty when I miss a day of writing but considering that it is winter and that I need to maximize those good weather days... I did not have much difficulty rationalizing away the guilt in the name of progress. Because I wound up with a few minutes of free time in the morning (while waiting for things to warm up a bit) I was perusing a website and saw some blurb titled something like 'normalization of deviance' which lead me to a video and whoa was it an eye-opener and sort of summed up something that I had been struggling to word out to myself over the last few years. I do not want to get too side-tracked here but basically humans under pressure will generally take shortcuts (whilst ignoring predictable surprises) and what happens is that over time the shortcut(s) given no obvious disastrous effects becomes the standard. Which of course lowers the 'performance bar' and thus increases the odds of predictable surprises occurring. The moral of the story there is that I used that new information later in the day when working on the fencing project and whoa did it make an incredible difference not just in my workmanship but also in my general attitude about the project which has been suffering of late because of the learning curve involved and me making a bunch of amateur mistakes.
Back to what I was saying there. With all the stuff out of the way, the roots all removed and the trench dug/shaped as good as I could get it I was ready to roll out the fencing and cut it down to the size that I needed when I realized that if I rolled the roll of fencing downhill (from where we staged it at) that the fencing would have its red painted wire (that can technically be used for the top or the bottom but I have been using as the bottom) was going to be upside down in comparison to the other sections that I had previously installed. I am really glad that I caught that mistake when I did even though it meant that I had to move the heavy roll of mesh fencing downhill, turn it around and then roll it all out uphill which all sounds easier than it really was. Once that was all sorted out I built another 'tripod' (pinion point) with those same oak logs, an existing fence post and some conveniently located trees. It was all quite the rig and just to ensure that I did not put a bunch of load on the fence post I cabled the 'tripod' back to a set of trees outside the fence for good measure. I am not going to detail all the steps involved but basically I did like I did with the other sections of fencing and after stripping the horizontal wires (to wrap the corner post with) I got the fencing cut to size, attached the boards that I have been hooking the come-along to for pulling the fencing taut evenly and then stood the fencing up. This was by far the longest run of fencing that I have done in one fell swoop but once I got it stood up I used a bungee cord on every other post to help hold it up while I got the fencing attached to the corner post and all its wire wraps done before pulling everything taut with the come-along.
As much as I was unhappy with how the other sections of fencing had come out... that latest section came out frigging awesome and all the little things that I had learned doing the other sections really added up and made the entire process (while still tedious) go really smoothly and I was able to step back from the fence and be like 'whoa you did a damn fine job' which made me feel like all the struggles (and learning curves) with the project previously were well worth it. I also came to the realization that any smaller fencing that I do later will be a breeze in comparison to working with the two meter tall heavy gauge woven/wrapped wire fencing that I am currently working with. It makes for one stout fence and all but I sincerely recommend that folks have an extra pair of hands when doing it, be patient when trying to learn all the techniques and if at all possible use a tractor (or other vehicle) to pull the fencing taut. It is cool and all that I figured out how to do it by myself with minimal equipment but whoa there has been a lot of blood sweat and tears involved along the way. I am unsure if I mentioned it before but I knew going into this project that I had no idea what the hell I was doing so I started on the downhill (most non-visible) section of the fence first in the hopes that by the time that I got to the most visible part that it would come out perfectly and look beautiful... and although I have yet to do that section I think that at this point it is safe to say that I will accomplish both the former and the latter.
On a different note. That old stereo amp of mine that finally 'gave up the ghost' never started working again like I hoped that it would (it has before so I was not merely hoping there) so I inquired about an unused amp that was already here and it was available which in an of itself was awesome because I kept picturing me trying to play music on new years and being disgruntled that it would not be loud enough with my tiny secondary monitor amp. I of course immediately got the other amp wired up and after listening to it for a short time (and fiddling with its settings) I was so impressed with the quality that I disconnected the monitor amp altogether and hooked all four speakers up to that other amp. Lets just say that not being able to be 'loud enough' will not be a problem... on new years or any other day for that matter! It is actually the loudest sound system that I have been able to play music on in many years and even at super high volumes I did not notice any distortion which was quite surprising considering that I was just using an old phone to play the music from and not my netbook that has a slightly better sound card. The source of the music (as well as the file type and compression) obviously affect everything 'downstream' but between the mixer and the amp itself I was able to clean the sound up quite nicely and I am sort of gushing with anticipation (and excitement) to hear what it will sound like from a better source.
Anyway, sometimes I just want to stop and express more than 'hey I did this thing and this thing and this thing and this thing...' and just divulge some of my more personal thoughts and although I mostly restrain myself from that inclination I often wonder what sort of narrative that I am painting here and if I am 'painting' it broadly enough to fully convey (for lack of a better way of putting it) my life. It probably seems like I am a rather extreme workaholic that just goes and goes and goes but that really is not the case. Sure I do a good bit of that during the warmer months but generally that gets offset by taking the winter off and although I am still productive my focus is more on creative endeavors that are not all that physically demanding but are mentally (and albeit occasionally emotionally) demanding. This particular cold season has been much different for me and I routinely find myself wanting to just hole up in the cozy tent and zone the fuck out and at the very least play some of my favorite video game. What I have been doing is making mental notes about the creative impulses that I have for projects and making time each night to play online with my friends on there and if I can finish the writing early enough in the morning I can play for a little while before it warms up enough that I can work pseudo-comfortably outdoors.
In other words I have been trying to squeeze in a few hours here and there of pure 'enjoyment' to help offset the workload that I have put myself under. Surprisingly I do not feel like some numb zombie after hitting the ground running here and I am in no way feeling burned out except for maybe in regards to camping in general but that just is what it is and I know that it is a temporary thing so I do not get too bent out of shape about it. I am actually pretty damn stoked about the overall progress here thus far, how accommodating the landowners have been and just how stress-free of a scenario that I have found myself in here. There are of course challenges and all because every site presents those on its own but overall it is super nice that when I need materials for a project (or the proper tools) those things appear and I can get the project (whatever project it might be) done without having to either 'work with junk' or abstain from doing a project altogether. Like I have said before the folks here 'knew what they were getting' when they extended the invitation for me to move here and they have put that 'something' (me) to good work which I am entirely grateful for after my latest string of adventures. It is hard to sum up all of my thoughts on that topic so just suffice it to say that I am looking forward to getting my new shelter site inhabitable and seeing what unfolds from there with the larger project of the land itself.
Well, I better get this all wrapped up and edited so that I can get on with my day. I was hoping to have enough time to get some gaming in but it is now nearly nine o'clock and I have been writing since a little after five and by the time I get all this posted it will undoubtedly be time to go work outdoors and continue working on the fencing project. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
Thanks for reading!
More about me: I have been doing property caretaking (land stewardship) for many years (decades) and live a rather simple life with my dogs doing what most folks would consider to be an 'alternative minimalist lifestyle' but what I often just think of as a low-impact lifestyle where I get to homestead and spend the majority of my time alone with my dogs in the woods doing projects in the warmer months and taking some downtime during the colder months.
Nearly four years ago I began sharing the adventures (misadventures) of my life via writing, videos, pictures and the occasional podcasts and although my intention was to simply share my life with some friends it undoubtedly grew into much more than that over the years and now I find myself doing what equates to a full-time job just 'sharing my life' which is not even all that glamorous or anything but hey folks seem to enjoy it so I just keep doing it!
The way that I look at it is that I give it all my best each day and while some stuff I write is better than others I think that for the most part I do a pretty good job at doing what I am doing which is simply 'sharing my life' as candidly as I possibly can and whatever folks get (or do not get) from it there is always the satisfaction of me doing what I set out to do... which is to simply share my life.
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