Saturday...
Was freakin' Africa Hot! I helped a friend in Lawrenceville put a retractable awning on his house. If you think I may be nervous about drilling a hole into the side of MY HOUSE...It ain't even close to how nervous I felt drilling into his. I read and then reread the instructions. I went in and watched the DVD. I then went out and read the instructions again. I even started to refering to the instructions as "He". Like "HE said it was supposed to have 8" clear of any obstructions." And "Let me check one more time...Bring HIM over here." After a while Greg started doing it too. I finally after measuring about nine times and doing another 12 dry fits, drilled the first hole into the siding. Then the second hole and the first bracket was fully installed. It probably took me 90 minutes. The next two took about 15 minutes each.
Only one accident nearly happened and yes it was me. The ladder corkscrewed as did my back when I tried to lift my side of the awning into the bracket. Now since my side also included the glass storm door, I did not drop it. The ladder had twisted and I was leaning towards the house on 3 legs. I kept my cool and was able to handle each section of the problem. I stopped Greg from lifting any higher. Once he was aware of what the problem was he froze up with his mouth agape. Next I was able to lift the awning up and place it not in the bracket but on top of. Which then let my hands be free to grasp the ladder and do a quick hop which untwisted the leg. I was then able to get down, straighten the ladder out, pull it closer to the house and get back up before Greg Unfroze. We got it all together, adjusted and cleaned up. It looked pretty good. I have thought about one for the back of the house for years, but to me it's just not something I want to spend the money on right now. I got other plans.
I then got a cache that was on my DNF list so it is now ready to be crossed off. GoodWill Hunting Alligator. I don't get the name and it's not that great of a cache. But I was able to combine caching and Dropping a box off at the donation center. So I guess there was some redeeming value. I'm sure I will appreciate the time spent there more around next years tax time. But now, not so much.
As for "77...Not a clue.
I have heard of what "71" is though.
Only one accident nearly happened and yes it was me. The ladder corkscrewed as did my back when I tried to lift my side of the awning into the bracket. Now since my side also included the glass storm door, I did not drop it. The ladder had twisted and I was leaning towards the house on 3 legs. I kept my cool and was able to handle each section of the problem. I stopped Greg from lifting any higher. Once he was aware of what the problem was he froze up with his mouth agape. Next I was able to lift the awning up and place it not in the bracket but on top of. Which then let my hands be free to grasp the ladder and do a quick hop which untwisted the leg. I was then able to get down, straighten the ladder out, pull it closer to the house and get back up before Greg Unfroze. We got it all together, adjusted and cleaned up. It looked pretty good. I have thought about one for the back of the house for years, but to me it's just not something I want to spend the money on right now. I got other plans.
I then got a cache that was on my DNF list so it is now ready to be crossed off. GoodWill Hunting Alligator. I don't get the name and it's not that great of a cache. But I was able to combine caching and Dropping a box off at the donation center. So I guess there was some redeeming value. I'm sure I will appreciate the time spent there more around next years tax time. But now, not so much.
As for "77...Not a clue.
I have heard of what "71" is though.