Friday, May 22, 2015

Progress in Paradise...

Progress in Paradise...  This morning saw fine weather again, so I headed out early to burn some more of the brush collected by the Mormon horde last Saturday.  I made good progress, getting about half of the brush burned.  The remaining brush should be easier to deal with, as it's quite a bit smaller diameter, on average, than the stuff I've already cleaned up.

The fire today was quite hot – hotter than I realized at first.  When I got done for the day, my glasses were hard to see through.  I cleaned them, to no effect.  Only then did I notice that the heat had distorted the surface of both lenses, in a spot near the center and covering about a third of the lens.  I can see clearly through the top (distance) and bottom (near), but in the center it's all fuzzy.  Who knew that plastic lenses were less resistant to heat than my own skin?

After finishing up with the burning for the day, I drove Debbie's truck down to Hyrum Tire to get the new rubber installed.  I'm really impressed with these guys.  I drove in without an appointment.  They asked if I was going to leave the truck or wait for it to be done.  When I indicated the latter, they swarmed my truck with three workers (see photo at right).  In no time at all they had the truck up on a lift, and all four tires removed.  They had two tire machines plus a balancer going, and very quickly had the old tires off the rim, new tires on, balanced, and mounted back on the truck.  It was fun to watch a competent bunch of guys do their thing.  They teased each other and bantered away as they worked.  Competent workers, good advice, cheerful folks, quality products, and good prices.  Pretty hard to beat!

After that it was off to Macey's grocery store to pick up some essentials for Debbie and I.  She's making chicken soup, hoping that the “Jewish penicillin” will conquer the virus that's giving her a sore throat.  She's making her usual 5 gallons, so I will be the accidental beneficiary of this effort :)

Partly cloudy, no rain in sight until early this afternoon...

Partly cloudy, no rain in sight until early this afternoon ... so I'm headed out to burn some brush piles.  Got my burn permit in my pocket, and I'm going to fire up the tractor after I take the dogs for a walk.  Debbie's out with a cold, mostly manifesting as feeling like crap and a sore throat.  Sure hope she doesn't get the nasty cough she's prone to...