Baby steps...

Been pretty busy. Ditches need dug, brush needs cut, electric needs turned on, garbage needs picked up, whats left of the trailer needs cleaned, the list goes on and on.

Spring flooding. Even though this looks pretty bad, I'm reasonably happy with the performance of the bridge. It's still above flood level and you can see that as level as the land is it would actually have to spread over the whole area in order to rise the foot needed to wash it out. That has happened before, but not on a yearly basis. I do believe that I have built this bridge strong enough that it would survive that event pretty well. You can also see that the driveway itself is flooded, but that will take a long time to fill in.

In the picture above you can see the line of cut out tires I've placed to form the edge of the driveway. I will be filling these in with dirt and going at least another layer higher before planting them with something. You can see in the top photo that the tires in the middle are mostly submerged. That gives you an indication of how deep the water is as well as how much fill is needed. It'll get there.

Electric. I've called to get info about getting it turned back on, and it's not going to be too bad. Well, I thought that before I found out somebody cut off the lock. Great. I have no idea what this means now. Anyway, I've been cutting the brush back so the electric guy can come check it out. You can see in the background how thick the brush is, if I'd have waited longer to cut this, the green growth would have made this a job for a chainsaw. Gotta love that crappy old mower, it really takes a beating but keeps on cutting. I love tools that do their job well.

Due to circumstances beyond my control...

I have decided that relocation is in order. I have done my best to withstand the brunt of a negative reaction to my presence and to counteract that front, but find that the potential benefits no longer make that effort worthwhile. Plus, I'm tired. I am supposed to be retired and enjoying life, my children, and my grandchildren, not preparing to be attacked every day when I wake up, securing my belongings the best I can against theft and destruction, and putting up with verbal and mental abuse. I don't need it.
So, I am relocating to my other property, hopefully far enough away to have some peace. There's a lot of work to be done, as the place has actually collapsed. There is garbage everywhere, and the living is going to be rough for a while.
But it's sure looking better than what I have right now.

Wish me luck.

Tire Wall

On the other side of my bridge the land slopes down before it starts climbing the mountain up to the cabin site. This creates a not so small pond when the creek floods. In order to alleviate this issue I'm going to fill it in. However, without some way to stop the fill from washing away it would be a losing battle. To stop that from happening I'm building a wall out of tires. Now these tires have to be packed with dirt so they don't float away themselves. Usually the method to do this requires pounding dirt up into the tire sidewalls so they are solid. I'm going to take a little easier approach by cutting out one of the sidewalls so the tire resembles a large "bucket" and then filling it with sand, rocks and gravel and whatever else I can find.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the cut out sidewalls yet. I could use them in the driveway proper, just tossing them in low spots and covering them, which would add a little flotation in the mushy spots. The other purpose I'm thinking of is for the garden. I understand they can be used around plants to help warm the ground and keep down weeds.
Definitely have to get the rest of the wood on the bridge. I tried carrying one of the large tires over the  metal beams. My balance was off and that water is way too cold to go swimming just yet.

Changes

This is what I was anxious to see. I'm showing some significant erosion around one end of the beams. The ballast that I put in, concrete wash, was a little powdery. the powder washed away. leaving the concrete chunks and gravel. I'm definitely going to have to do something here before the spring floods. Still have about a foot of beam supported, but I'll feel better with a little more.

The day the Internet died.

Control of the media by the government. Would you like the government to stop you from getting the news or communicating with your family and friends? Don't you depend on the internet as much or more for communication and news than television or radio? Haven't you heard about the "Internet Kill Switch"? Think it can't happen? It's happening now, and we could be next.

The day the Internet died. 

Heroes and Victims

In today's society we hear about victims every day. The media puts this in our face constantly. We are victims. There is nothing we can do. We must rely on the government and their multitude of agencies, the police, anybody but ourselves.

Out of this last tragedy of some maniac gunning down a politician, then picking off the crowd, who did we hear of? An intern who held a bloody rag to the congresswoman's head.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad he was there. But his story is basically that he saw his boss was bleeding and held a rag to her head. So he's the big news?

What about Judge John Roll? Here is his story.

Why aren't we hearing about this hero? Where is mainstream media and why aren't they reporting about what this man did? I believe it's because we are to remain victims. If given an example of this man's heroics and many other untold stories like it, we may stand up as one and put an end to this culture of victimization.
We may start acting like men.
And they wouldn't like that. Not at all.

I am TJIC

I am TJIC, and why you should be too.
I'm not saying he is right. I am saying that he has the right to say it. If the first amendment falls, the rest mean nothing.