Here We Go Again

We've had 3 days of sun. I've almost finished the installation of the walkway in the garden area of the back yard. 

From where the pathway ends almost to the top of this picture, it extends to the right out to the gate. I'll do a picture when it's finished hopefully a little later this morning. 

I'm trying to beat the next storm that's coming tomorrow. This is a somewhat unique storm as it's two low pressure systems converging into one and then slamming us. One from the North bringing cold air, one from the South bringing moisture. What does that mean? A whole lot of rain down country where we live and a whole lot of snow upcountry. Just when those around the Tahoe area are finally digging out, they're about to be buried again. 

So, have I been fishing, magnet fishing, or metal detecting? Nope. 

I've been trying to finish the pathway whenever we've had a clear day. Unfortunately I just don't have the energy to "get'r done" as Larry the cable guy would say. I can put in about 3 hours and then I'm shot for the day. Here's an example: Yesterday I went to Lowes and picked up 3 more bags of sand. I'm using playground sand for leveling the pavers. Each bag weighs 50 pounds dry, but I haven't seen a dry bag for weeks. When they're wet just from moisture in the air, they weigh about 80 pounds. Kind of hard to move around one handed. My other hand is on my cane. So after I got the 3 bags into the back yard via the Gorilla Cart (you should get one) I installed 4 more pavers. At that point, I was done for the day. 

Now I'm at the point where I only have a small area to cover. Since the pavers are 18x18, I have to "cut" them down to size. I'm not paying $60 or $70 dollars for a saw blade to cut two or three concrete pavers, so I'm using the old chisel method. Works great splitting them in half along the crease, but doesn't work at all cutting them down to a 7 inch x 18 piece. Subsequently I've demolished 3 as they split exactly where I don't want them to. 

So on to Plan B. I'll section them off with edging and fill in the small space with gravel. The Gorilla Cart will roll over it and so will the green recycle can. Then I can move the last planter and get the watering system on line. It's getting close to planting time. 

Maybe I can even sneak in a day of fishing soon. 

Stay tuned.      

Oh That Damn Rain

OK, I'm sick of rain. If you follow National News, California has washed into the ocean. 

Once again the Atmospheric River is bearing down on us. Here in beautiful downtown (and wet) Jackson, it's due to start raining, again, about 2pm. It's really sad when you're elated about being able to run to the supermarket without getting soaked, like I did this morning. And yes, I was elated. 

Woman who checked me out said they haven't had electricity for about 3 weeks and they were down to the last 2 gallons of gas for their generator. They were finally able to dig out and get to town this morning. 

We're fortunate that our house is above the flood plain. We used to live upcountry. Glad I live in town now. 

Remember I mentioned the apartments around the corner that flooded a while back. I noticed all the cars are parked on the street and not in the parking lot this morning. 

You've got to feel for those that are in the flood plain. Here's a couple photo's I picked up off the net. 

 

No matter how many times you tell them that cars do not run under water, they still try. I know this from personal experience. 

Oh, and let us not forget the mud slides that come with a bunch of rain. 

The picture above is in Plumas County. About a 3 hour drive North of Sacramento. 

See, an SUV submarine. 

Orange County (Southern California). they don't listen either. Ah hell, I can get through there. 

The one thing people don't realize is that the differentials on a car/truck/whatever have a breathing port. You get in deep enough and water seeps into your gear box and next thing you know, you're in the auto repair shop with a big repair bill.  

The California Government has finally had an epiphany. Maybe we should trap some of that water and replenish the depleted ground water. Duh!

OK, enough whining. The Shack Nasties have arrived. 

Stay Tuned. 

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

OK, we've been hit hard with the rain and snow. 

Jackson's elevation is 1200 ft. above sea level.

In California you measure the amount of snow you'll get by the elevation you're standing at. 

My son Ken lives at 3200 ft. He got about a foot, as you can see in the photo below on 2/27/2023. 

On the other hand, we at 1200 ft. got dusted as you can see in the 3 photo's below. 

Not to be outdone, the passes (Donner Summit on Highway 80, Echo Summit on Highway 50, and Carson Pass on Highway 88 got about 10 feet. But keep in mind as you read further, that the passes are at or around 7000 ft. The higher you go, the more snow you get. 

So then I get an email from my son showing me his truck on 3/1/2023 after he had cleared the driveway the previous day. Damn good thing he's a lot younger than me. I couldn't shovel that. 

But, we got our share. When we woke (that's not the political bullshit that the Republicans are throwing around) up on 3/1/2023 we had about 2 inches on the ground that fell overnight as the little bit from 2/27 was gone. 

The passes are currently sitting at about 15 or more feet of snow. Many are stranded and can't get out. One would think the snow plows would come by and clean the roads, but a lot of those people live on dirt roads way back in the nowhere and their roads have never seen a snow plow. Then again some of those at, say 7000 ft. are having trouble just finding their buried vehicles.

See what I men. That's somebody's house.

Which brings us to today. 7am this morning the sun (I think it was the sun as we've not seen the sun in 

about a millennium or seems like it) was shining only to be replaced by clouds and rain by about 2pm. this afternoon. 

According to the National Weather Service Guessers, we can expect some type of rain everyday through March 20th and who knows how far beyond. 

That type of forecast is putting a major crimp on my 3 hobbies (fishing, Metal Detecting and Magnet Fishing). I've purchased a metal detector to go along with my magnet fishing gear. If you've watched any of these guys or gals on YouTube you'll notice they also use a "pinpointer". It's a hand held metal detector about the size of a banana. I got one of them too. I'm ready and raring to go, if it will ever stop raining. 

The picture below is a Pancky model PK0075. Most say this is a good one for a rookie. That's me. It got 4.3 out of 5 rating by 3144 people. It has all the goodies for finding metal from a pop top to a gold nugget using the all metal mode. They also say it can find a quarter at the depth of 10 inches. Must be the reason they included a cool little shovel in a belt holster.       

Maybe I'll find something that qualifies as treasure. I've already found a bunch of "junk" magnet fishing including the top portion of a fishing rod and an active 410 shotgun shell. Who knows what's around the next corner.  

So stay tuned for the life and times of a gimping old guy.