Pot-Hole

Last night, I left you as I was going to help Ron appraise and make temporary repairs to the holes in the fence - caused by the neighbor's exuberant, escapist, dog.  We managed to make temporary repairs and I had a pretty good time.  Ron and I decided the best course of action was plywood, screwed to the upright fence posts, on our side. 

I left a 2x4 on top of a broken horizontal strut - more on that later.  The neighbors came home and heard us working and screwing away.  They have seen a lot of Ron as he's repeatedly gone over to ask them to please secure the dog and repair the damages to our fence.

We just worked, and didn't say anything.  Their dog had gotten out of their yard yesterday and the kid had to chase it all over the place, again.  She kept trying to push through the fence as we worked. 

I have gotten rather creative; I'll post photos, but I have various improvised patches.  The most common is a piece of plywood, braced against the fence, with... something.  Perhaps a cinderblock; a large plant pot, and the wheelbarrow.  A bag of mulch, etc. 

So, we measured the worst sections of fence and evaluated the needs.  We determined a 4x7 foot patch would cover the main fence body, with an additional 1x7 segment across the bottom.  5 feet high is plenty of coverage.  We want to keep intruders, and prying eyes, out of the yard. 

Problem solved.  We picked up the tools and went into the house.  Pretty soon, I heard odd noises.  Dragging sounds.  Hammering. 

The man was apparently embarrassed the blind cripple was repairing the fence.  He nailed my "brace" into place, and tacked a 6 inch wide board across the hole.  Wow.  6 inches out of 70 feet, fixed!  [laugh]   Really funny, he split the board. 

Exhausted, he went into the house.  We knew OUR fence was dog proofed, at least for the night, but I knew the boards on the other side of their yard were equally old, brittle, and loose.  I figured the dog would get out on that side. 

I was right.  A joyous bark greeted me as I got up and turned on the kitchen light.  Yes, the dog was on the porch, again, sitting in the chair. 

I did my morning stuff and got ready for the day.  When we left the house, the dog was gone.  It's 8 PM and she's STILL gone.  I suspect someone said "If that dog gets out one more time" - and she did.  A few possibilities.  Since the family does not seem concerned, I think they got rid of her. 

Ron is upset.  He had a love/hate relationship with the dog.  He loved the adoration; hated the barking and invasion of our property. 

All I know is she's gone and we had NOTHING to do with it.  Good.  I am selfish enough to hope she stays gone. 

When we got to work, I discovered someone had attempted to break into our stockroom.  I reported it, then helped Ron.  I fixed the coffee machine, but another machine is acting up so we plan to have the guy out to look at them both, anyway.  Ron is really impressed the soda machine continues to hum smoothly.  I fixed it last week. 

Our friend Chuck met us at work.  I was kind of dopey but Chuck was very kind. 

First, we went home and measured the worst sections of fence (we didn't see the dog, but didn't know she was gone - at any rate we still need to fix the holes).  I named them after the props I used to hold the wood in place.  "Pot-hole is 78 inches wide, Wheelbarrow hole is 80".  We went out to Burger King and had a great meal. 

Then, Home Depot.  I found some good plywood at $7 for a 4X8 foot, by half-inch, board.  We got 4 boards and had them all cut to specs.  We have some nice leftovers. 

I got another "paint cup", as I planned (and did) weatherproof the boards.  We also got a 5-quart bucket for the cat - he loves to drink out of a bucket but his old one is pretty battered.  Ron fell on it. 

We were pestered by a man who kept wanting to "help" us.  At one point, Ron got out of the pickup to stretch and walked towards the man as he loitered.  Either that, or the kissy noises Chuck and I kept making at Ron, scared the man and he left. 

We took the wood home and put it up in the backyard.  Ron was having a bad neuropathy day and said he had to lay down.  Chuck knew I needed to go to Walmart and offered to take me while Ron rested. 

We did that and I got everything I needed.  We also got 2 plastic chairs for the backyard.  Ron and I had a nice time sitting out back; I weatherproofed the boards and we chatted. 

It was so peaceful.