30 July 2012

Woke up at my “usual” time, circa 6:30, only to discover that it really was already 9 o’clock!  Guess that’s what happens when you get debauched and have two beers.  Finished digging the trench in which will be buried the low voltage wire to power the deck lights on the lake (or west, if you prefer) side of the lower “driveway”.  For obvious reasons, had to dig the trench below what will become the driveway grade level.  After awhile, felt that if the trench went any deeper on the upper end I’d have to start learning Chinese.  Surprisingly easy digging: mostly soft sand with only a few small rocks, though with lots of pesky roots.  Most un-Leicester-like!  That is until I got ⅔ of the way across and ran smack into a very large rock.  How large, you ask?  Though it was clearly labeled 600 pounds, you just can’t trust those Chinese.  Actual weight, once I got that sucker out of the ground, was better than 750 pounds.  Why not just go around the (fill in your own adjective) thing, you ask?  Well, I needed a place to put Perry’s 5-gallon water jug, and that rock seemed like just the ticket.  After the trench was finished, dug the holes for the next two in-ground posts.  Took me a couple of trials before they were where they should be, somewhat complicated by a 200 pound rock that was exactly where the southern post needed to go.  The good news?  Once that rock was liberated from the soil (child’s play compared to its cousin from the morning), not much more digging was needed before that hole was deep enough for the 4x4 post.