10-25-2010 Wisdom learned and ignored…

Might say I wised up some rather quickly this afternoon having actually gotten some smarts the hard way, two of them in fact it took to wise me up. It all started with a couple loosened yellow pine 4”x4” posts, standing either side as a part of s HM head gate in the upper barn, having come loose of a 8”x8” fir roof support beam they had originally been nailed to.
Nailing was out of my questionable ability to have gotten the job done these advancing years. I had another strong method idea of holding all the pieces together. So, looking around in the back of the shop I found one of several all-thread rods either in ½” and 3/8” diameters. Finding a drill bits long enough for drill chucking plus the wood drilled required maybe 14” length drill bit. Had to settle for a 3/8”by over two feet in length drill to go along with a heavy duty ½“ drill motor. Not even marking the 4”x4” post had had to come up with a better idea for making my needed holes. Back down to the shop closer study I found a whole ¼” the extra long drill bit had been ruined. I was in for a long standing by a drill stand working some battered end of the poor drill bit away until it been shortened enough for a retargeted cutting a hole end. Back up to the barn the bit’s end renewed I continued to have trouble. The wood to hard for my having traction or pull enough one way or another. I took to using a ¼” inch extra long bit first. It had worked. Drilling less wood at a time was going to be easier than all of it at once. Or, though I had thought. Working the 3”x8” bit in and out of the a second time as I had the first ¼” hole. The idea, the necessity requires withdrawing the drill, a drill every inch or so to clear the flutes (spiral grove the side a drill bit) of wood chips. Failure to do so will over heat the bit and likely wedge the bit on the beam making it retrieval not about to happen.
It was while drilling the first hole the second time with the second bit, it was more difficult to with-draw the bit from the hole than pulling in. It was while I was pulling I got my face and cheek a little bit to close to the turning/whirling drill chuck it had grabbed some hair, the hair of my chinny chin-chin a little further up the side burn and pulled a whole tuft off or out by the roots, not once, but twice. Byuppin, byinimee, that hoit twice! The doubly drilled second hole I drilled it without incident. I had learned and wised up awhile doing the first one. Two all threads cut 14” were put into the holes and tighten up with nuts and washers from both sides.
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I’m beginning to suspect we’re part time living in Camelot. The deck and ramp were wet again this morning and all the water puddles and the barnyard creek had been replenished with rain water during the night. As for the rest of my day? Forget it. I already have!
“Rainbows”
Fernan