I was trying my hardest to make some headway in my studies when the dimming light outside told me it was time to do the evening chores before sundown arrived. I went to the extension shed to get some feed for the chickens and to water the plants in there and found one of the boards on the shed porch had come unscrewed and popped up. It was sticking into the air above the others. It was a trip hazard. I knew it wouldn’t do to leave it. So i hurried to the tool shed and then the house and gathered the 3 inch screws, an extension cord, various bits, and my drill. I realized the job was going to be more complicated than i would have liked when i noted that at the time the porch was constructed there was no railing. The railing was now blocking my drill’s access to the screws in question. First i removed the spent screws. Then i set about trying to make new holes for new screws to go through the board. It was still attached to the metal frame on the other end of the porch. I felt that to unscrew the other end would be a mistake as then i would need to make 4 holes in metal with inadequate tools for the job rather than 2. So i left the other end of the board screwed down. This meant i hadn’t enough space to make a hole directly in the metal frame before driving the screw through the board. I hoped if i applied enough speed and force i could carve a hole in the metal after driving the screw through the board. I tried and tried but was only stripping the bit. So, i took the bit out of the drill and put on an attachment that was meant to grab any size or shape object and turn it. The screw was too little and smooth for the pieces to grab hold. I had to alter it. So, i used duct tape to meld a rock to the screw and after enough turns of the drill it became a sticky paste that adhered to the rock like a mess of glue. Now it was gripping and turning again even though the screw had gone through the wood and hit the metal of the frame. Try as i might, pushing with all my strength, though the screw was turning, i could not make it go through the metal frame. I was confused about the reason until i examined the tip of the screw and found it to be flat rather than pointed. I had completely worn off the tip of the screw and not even made a dent in the metal frame i was trying to drill through.
At this point the sun was getting lower, the light was fading, it was getting colder, and my studies were going nowhere. None of the evening chores were done. I dumped all my tools, went to the shed, grabbed my hand saw and the scrap wood, cut a piece, screwed it into the wooden boards of the porch, trapping the broken one and mashing it down with its brothers. There. Project over. Do i care what it looks like? Not in the slightest. I needed the board down. The board is down.
Regarding the weather issues…I hope all is going well for you.
The well has been repaired so water is back, electricity is back, i’m here on the property trying to get a/c/heat back on the property. The dogs are boarded. The chickens are with me. I hope to bring them home in around 10 days or so. Waiting on a shipment of window units to the local home depot. 58 people died. Though there’s lots of repairs to be made to the property i feel very blessed all 5 chickens, both dogs, and myself survived. In the midst of things we abandoned the property and went one town over to shelter with a friend who still had power. This was epic and i never want to see anything like it again but i have seen peoples hearts moved to help others in their community in the aftermath and its like a beautiful ripple effect, everyone’s helping each other and sharing what resources they have. I’ve never seen anything like it.