The Slow Motion Retirement Plan

[dhagood]

another couple of days off, more time building fence. i'm getting close to finishing now, with one more section to complete after this one.

why yes, i did mess that up.

i tried (really hard) to get this properly lined up with no reference other than a post set at the top of the slope (which is behind where i was standing when i took the above picture). live and learn, i guess. i normally would have rebuilt the h brace, but i am too much of a perfectionist. this is a stinking barbed wire fence, almost nobody will see it, and the cows don't care one way or the other. that's my story, and i'm trying to stick to it.

 

[dhagood]

last month (and the month before that, and the month before that, etc) i was working on completing the fencing project i had started along the northern property line. this month i am working on completing... that same fence. but i'm closer!

this is the last section of fence, although there is a wire gate that connects this line of fence to the fence running along the western boundary. and speaking of gates:

in all it was a really fine day. a little on the warm side perhaps, and the blasted mosquitoes are out in force in the evenings, but a very pleasant day. lunch was nice as well, with my faithful green companion looking on

and the view will suffice, i guess.

one more day of work should complete this fence, and then it's on to other projects. next up: loafing shed.

EDIT: oh yeah. in other news, i retired as of august 18th. this will be an interesting transition and i'm not totally sure how it will work out. however, if i don't get more done on the property, i'll know i'm doing it wrong.

 

[brin]

Congrats on your retirement....On the tops of your fence posts...around here we use a saw and taper the tops so the rain does not sit on the flat tops and rot the posts...even if they are pressure treated....If not that then round pieces of tin tacked to the top of each post....Just what we do around here...may not apply in your climate...Enjoy your retirement and project....

 

[aginn]

Congratulations on the retirement. I hope you enjoy it.
4.5 years and I will be joining you.

 

[txdon]

You have now officially join the TBN retired person society. Your certificate is in the mail.

In Texas we do not call that a gate, we call it a gap. I hate gaps because that's all my Dad and Grandfather used and I had to open and close them and they always made them tight, (or over the years the corner post moved out a tad) some even had a pry stick attached…aarg. All my openings have gates, even though some I have never used, but can be, if a cow needs to be chased back from the neighbors property.

 

[vtsnowedin]

last month (and the month before that, and the month before that, etc) i was working on completing the fencing project i had started along the northern property line. this month i am working on completing... that same fence. but i'm closer!

this is the last section of fence, although there is a wire gate that connects this line of fence to the fence running along the western boundary. and speaking of gates:

in all it was a really fine day. a little on the warm side perhaps, and the blasted mosquitoes are out in force in the evenings, but a very pleasant day. lunch was nice as well, with my faithful green companion looking on

and the view will suffice, i guess.

one more day of work should complete this fence, and then it's on to other projects. next up: loafing shed.

EDIT: oh yeah. in other news, i retired as of august 18th. this will be an interesting transition and i'm not totally sure how it will work out. however, if i don't get more done on the property, i'll know i'm doing it wrong.

Yup that view will surely do. Don't sweat the retirement thing. If it don't get done today there is always tomorrow. Other then keeping Her happy do things when you want to.

 

[dave1949]

I dunno, your FEL bucket still has a shipping label and all of its paint. That's pretty slow, so I'd say for your retirement performance appraisal you are meeting or exceeding your goals. :laughing: Congrats on your retirement!

Nice fence and nice view.

 

[gnawbone]

last month (and the month before that, and the month before that, etc) i was working on completing the fencing project i had started along the northern property line. this month i am working on completing... that same fence. but i'm closer!

this is the last section of fence, although there is a wire gate that connects this line of fence to the fence running along the western boundary. and speaking of gates:

in all it was a really fine day. a little on the warm side perhaps, and the blasted mosquitoes are out in force in the evenings, but a very pleasant day. lunch was nice as well, with my faithful green companion looking on

and the view will suffice, i guess.

one more day of work should complete this fence, and then it's on to other projects. next up: loafing shed.

EDIT: oh yeah. in other news, i retired as of august 18th. this will be an interesting transition and i'm not totally sure how it will work out. however, if i don't get more done on the property, i'll know i'm doing it wrong.

Congrats on the retirement - I'm envious!

The last picture is beautiful! You have a special place!

 

[PhysAssist]

last month (and the month before that, and the month before that, etc) i was working on completing the fencing project i had started along the northern property line. this month i am working on completing... that same fence. but i'm closer!

this is the last section of fence, although there is a wire gate that connects this line of fence to the fence running along the western boundary. and speaking of gates:

in all it was a really fine day. a little on the warm side perhaps, and the blasted mosquitoes are out in force in the evenings, but a very pleasant day. lunch was nice as well, with my faithful green companion looking on

and the view will suffice, i guess.

one more day of work should complete this fence, and then it's on to other projects. next up: loafing shed.

EDIT: oh yeah. in other news, i retired as of august 18th. this will be an interesting transition and i'm not totally sure how it will work out. however, if i don't get more done on the property, i'll know i'm doing it wrong.

Mucho Congratulations on your changeof status and on finishing your fencing!

I hope your gainfully unemployed status suits you.
Thomas

PS: All those pictures are beautiful.

 

[dhagood]

not much going on out at the property these days. i got the fence mostly complete, and decided to spend a little time working on my pickup truck working off a 'to-do' list that wasn't all that big. i had a little slop in the steering i wanted to get rid of, i thought i might as well finally get around to replacing a bunch of fluids, fix a bad u-joint, etc.

at this point i've basically dismantled the truck's front end. new bearings, races, and seals in both front hubs, new upper and lower ball joints, new tie rod ends, new u-joints in the front axle half shafts, and on and on and on. "while i'm in there" is really an evil phrase

one thing that really lengthened the repair time is that this particular 97 f250 has the dana 60 monobeam front axle from a 97 f350 installed. it's one of the reasons i bought this particular truck as i have never been a fan of the semi-independent suspension provided by the articulated beam axles (ford calls them a twin traction beam axle). if you go to ford for parts for this thing, they ask for the vin which doesn't get anybody anywhere because according to the vin the truck has a dana 50 ttb axle. nope, i say, i need parts for a dana 60 monobeam with a dana bill of materials number (the axle tag) of 610610-2. this greatly confuses everybody because the ford parts system pops up the wrong axle and nobody could find the correct one. after at least 10 days of irritating every ford parts guy in the rocky mountain west i finally went to napa where it took them 45 seconds to plunk the parts i needed down on the counter and take my money.

the other big issue i had was getting both front spindles off the axle. all the bolts came out easily enough. i took my 3 pound hand sledge, got a piece of 2x4 about 3 feet long, and proceeded to systematically pound the 2x4 into splinters without so much as budging either spindle. i tried penetrating oil. i tried heat (mapp gas, pfft). i tried 2 jaw and 3 jaw pullers. i tried another 2x4. i tried foul language, evil looks, and obscene gestures. i finally had to buy a $60 tool that threaded onto the wheel bearing adjustment threads and allowed me to thread a 5 pound slide hammer into the center of the tool. the race then was whether or not i got the spindles off before my hands got so swollen that i couldn't grab the slider weight anymore. i did prevail, but it was pretty close. my hands were sore for several days. the scary thing is there really wasn't all the much rust in there, so it could have been much worse.

it's going back together finally, and then i can use the darn thing to haul the lumber i'll need to build the loafing shed.

also, thanks for all the kind wishes and encouraging words. i do appreciate them all. and brin, thanks for reminding me to cover the tops of the posts. i had planned to do that, but had completely forgotten it.