Monday, August 23, 2004

Barn clearance

A bit more clearing and tidying in the barn today. Removing the old 200 litre hot water boiler from the wall was a little hair raising. It was bolted to the wall right above the main water supply and meter for the house with nuts rusted solid. I had to angle grind the boiler supports and tops off the bolts but I really did not want this humungus chunk of metal falling on my rising main and flooding the place. Not to mention the embarrasing phone call that Caroline would have to make to the water board. Some demon grinding, fancy footwork and a carefully placed collection of breeze blocks and planks saw the monster slide gracefully down the wall and roll across the floor.

Flushed with success, it was time to tackle the big sliding door between the barn and the lean-to shed. A fairly standard runner and roller farm door needed dismantling. Some slightly less adept work and the door slid shut with a Norman Stanley Fletcher clunk I was trapped in my own little jail with a broken water heater and an angle grinder. I couldn't get to the door catch so I just hacked the end stop off the rail with the last few millimeters of the grinding wheel to escape.

At least I don't have to give my name and address to the man at the recycling depot now I'm a regular.

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