First, let’s get this out of the way. I have clothes in the dryer I haven’t put up for two weeks. OK, onto the good!
Saturday, I got our new Ring camera up and going. I was very pleased with myself. I’ve missed having the camera. I’ve meant to replace it because they are 1,000% worth it! So when they were $100 off for Amazon Prime Day, I had to pounce. I’m super happy with the improvements to the Ring Pro too. Here’s what I had to say about it on facebook: “This is a newer version than I had. I’m pleased with some of the changes (over 7 years). There is far less packaging, for one. I also like that they don’t include all the faceplates anymore. That was so wasteful (my previous Ring Pro came with 4 different colored faceplates). You can still order one free faceplate, but now you don’t have that waste. They also include a wedge mount now, which nearly everyone needs (I bought a different one not knowing). They also include the pro power kit with it. Previously, this was an add on that nearly everyone needed. It was free, but you had to call customer service to troubleshoot and find out you needed it and then wait for it to arrive.”
Sunday, I got some more cleaning done in the garage! I’m super proud of myself for having finally collapsed all the huge boxes that were pilling up in there. So this weekend, I immediately collapsed the huge ladder box I had delivered, AND broke down the TV box since it’s warranty expired last year. I put ALL that cardboard in my car so I could get rid of it. I listed it with my old wheelbarrow on facebook market place and got rid of it all today! I was able to move around the “gardening and tools” area in the garage too. Lots of leaf blowing. Looks so much better. I also took the long broken hose reel off the wall. There just needs to be a hose pot in there. I’ll get a nicer one for the deck and move that one in there eventually. Clean garage makes me happy. Only area left to clean is my stained glass desk.
Speaking of the new ladder… I had to get it out to the garage. So I figured, why not use it to put the cap on the sunsail post before I put it away? So First thing this morning, I did it. I climbed up HIGHER than my 6 foot fence on a ladder! It’s still not painted (and won’t be until it’s had at least one month to dry out). It will be painted brown like the fence. But even with just the cap on top, it looks a lot better.
My new ladder is heavy and a little unwieldy. A lot of Amazon reviews complained about that. But if my 254lb ass if going to climb up a ladder, I want it to feel sturdy! Was it a pain? Yes. Do I hate climbing ladders, hell yes. But once I got to the height I needed, I was pretty comfortable up there. I didn’t feel like I was going to break the ladder and die. So A+! I even had to climb higher than the bend joint! So I feel like when I have to paint it, it won’t be the end of me.
The sunsail is already ready for a bit of tightening but I have no idea how I’ll be able to access the ratchets since they’re not at the anchors, but in the middle of the wires. I think I’ll text my neighbors and see who has a giant A-Frame…
REVELATION! A few hours after writing this, I had a look at the post and looked at the pictures from the previous post. It’s such a pretty deck. And I realized — holy shit. So I have a ladder that can now easily reach the mount points when we need to take the sail down for winter. The problem is, the ratchets are in the middle of the lines. So, like, we’ll need an A frame to reach those. And someone will have to be standing on a ladder with two hands doing the ratchet. UNLESS! I can take the corner down — take my time to get it safely shortened, and then rehang it! I’M A GENIUS!