So... How'd Your Day Go?

[Olly Buckle]

Kevin, I would go with 'rein', I think it comes from giving the horse a free rein and not directing it rather than anything to do with monarchy.

You talk about concrete for vertical walls, are they retaining walls holding back earth? If you look at such walls on places like rail embankments you will see that brick ones use English bonding, every other brick a header, the strongest bond. They need strength, the earth will always gradually move down hill and the pressure build and build, to hold it back you need a decent foundation and some steel in the wall if it is concrete

[Kevin]

I was thinking horse's reins, too, rather than anarchy... Wasn't sure.
Olly, these are short walls at two ends. The soil here a foot down is rock hard so even exposed unprotected sharp drop offs hold their form for years. One slope to be retained is 24" tall and I think I'm going to go with a standard concrete /rebar reinforced 'cinder block' faced with the nice stone.o
We were thinking just some treated 8x8 beams (she first mentioned railroad ties *bleh!* if you've every cut one of those they're awful to work with) with pounded in pipes to hold them. The ground beneath is so hard I'd have to really pre-dig/ drill or something- it to pound anything in which I dread. Seems like that defeats the whole purpose of pounded stakes which is supposed to make things simpler. I was hoping to do a mortarless stacked type construction out of the stone since the other end wall is shorter- 2' to zero ala Machu Pichu. Concrete/steel mortared stone is always my fallback.

I hate doing things twice, and I've already got some older flatwork- red brick on sand- that I have to pry up a section and re-level ( gophers)which is a pain because I've got to break a brick to get access to pry up the others.

We're under a push here because wifey has quit her lease and is moving the salon back to herlittlebuilding in the yard. We need yard lights, some hand rails ( rebar 'skeleton', simulated oak-branch plaster outter). The salon needs a new floor, I'm taking the door off, flipping it, and swinging it to open outward, stucco patching, trim, drywall patching; I'm replacing the cedar yard fence with a simulated wood, same with the entry arbor, and I have to weld some new gates ( wood ones sagged).

May Day, that's the first, right? That's the deadline. Mayday-mayday (I'm going down..)

[sas]

Geez, Kev, we’ll miss you. Looks like you’ll be lost in your yard for months. You know TL Murph does construction. Maybe he has some advice, too.

[Winston]

Our chickens are laying again. God, did we miss those big, brown delicious eggs with the bright yellow yokes. Who would think a simple egg could be delicious?
We might get a break in the weather to plant veggies, tomorrow. The plant starts in our kitchen really need to get outside. This cold wind and rain sucks.
So, we're off to Costco today. Our cats eat a lot. Our geriatric dog... less and less every day.

[TuesdayEve]

Blustery winds woke me up early and should continue
to roar and blow branches around, not good for a
tennis match. My sports trips were canceled last nite
and today due to rain and wind. But that has given me
the opportunity to re-arrange the living room today.
A new perspective, a new view from a new angle, with
four cups of coffee in me.
I’ve also been writing this a.m. Took some older lines
I’d written and stored and made new poems.
now.... thinking about lunch...still low carbs... had
a few cheats but back on track. Hello celery.

[Olly Buckle]

@ Kevin:- Railway sleepers (ties) had a fashion here for supporting raised beds. People told me they were wonderful, 'They get treated for years and never rot.' It's true, some of the older ones you can saw in half and see there is a tiny circle of wood colour in the centre, the rest is stained with years and years of creosote which poisons everything in the bed. They won't even sell that stuff any more, it is so toxic, yet they splashed it liberally over thousands of miles of railtrack for about a hundred years, then people made raised vegetable beds with them and ate the contents thinking it was better than stuff treated with insecticides and herbicides.

[The Green Shield]

​22,314 Words in my fantasy. Gargoyles, a nasty deal being struck... What has my poor character gotten herself into?

[Kevin]

Railroad ties are toxic...
That's a new one, but it makes total sense. They never mention that here. Another reason not to use them, besides being hard to cut, not very straight, really heavy- and you get black-tarry stuff all over you handling them.

[LeeC]

Railroad ties are toxic...
That's a new one, but it makes total sense. They never mention that here. Another reason not to use them, besides being hard to cut, not very straight, really heavy- and you get black-tarry stuff all over you handling them.

There're a lot of things that many aren't aware of. You might find the following worth reading:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...brains/284466/

[Olly Buckle]

There're a lot of things that many aren't aware of. You might find the following worth reading:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...brains/284466/

You talk like it is all bad, Lee. Just think, would those young officers ever have gone out and conquered the world and given it the benefit of British benevolence if they had not spent their childhood playing with lead soldiers? Wouldn't the proletariate be rioting and causing trouble if we couldn't keep them stupid, fat, and contented on all that pesticide permeated food? There are benefits, for some.