It was so sunny and warm this morning. I was putzing around doing a few things here and there, when I decided that I really should pull the trailer out, put it back together and go get some mulch.
You should have seen my face when I walked over to the guy in the machine. I had already parked in front of the big mulch pile a few minutes earlier, ran across the street to pay and I was on my way back. He looked at me, then looked at the trailer and then back at me. It was like he did a double-take. I had a huge grin and shouted, “Hey, look what I got!!!” This was the same guy who makes the mulch deliveries. He yelled out, “Good for you. You’re going to save a heck of a lot of money this way.” He’s on my side when it comes to delivery fees.
I did the math and I know this trailer will hold three yards of mulch if we put a little extra on top. I guess the fella operating the machine was in a good mood, because that’s what he gave me…a full three yards.
I was wondering how the sides were going to hold up. As I stood there watching him fill the trailer with mulch, I was expecting the sides to explode in the parking lot. If that happened, I suppose I would have just hung my head in shame and walked away. Good thing everything held up just fine; even better than fine. The walls were rock solid. Nothing more needs to be done to the trailer. Well, I wouldn’t mind one of those twisty jacks to hold the hitch off the ground when I unhook it from the car.
2008 BMW X5 pulling full utility trailer
John Deere X300 pulling full utility trailer
After he was finished filling the trailer up, I pulled the tarp over the material and strapped it down.
I was in for a little shock when I pulled out of the parking lot. I was so used to driving like nothing was even attached to the back of the vehicle when the trailer was empty. It was so light. When the trailer is full, it’s a different story. I am not sure how much a yard of mulch weighs, but I am guessing three yards is a pretty good weight. Let’s just say that I’ll be getting two yards from now on, because I think I may have been pushing it. Whenever I am towing anything, I have terrible visions of it rolling past me on the road. Everything drove just fine though and we made it back in one piece.
Since the weight on the front of the full trailer is pretty substantial, I wasn’t able to just lift the hitch off the car and rest it on the ground like I am able to do when it’s empty. I had to get a little creative. I walked in the back yard, grabbed two bricks and put them behind the wheels. Then, I grabbed my car jack and jacked the hitch off the car. After that was done, I drove the car away, backed the lawnmower up in its spot and lowered the trailer back down.
After stopping to let the lawnmower and trailer pose for a photo, I drove everything down to the backyard and started shoveling. Oh what fun that it. I am thinking that maybe once per week is good for this kind of entertainment. I need about six more yards before this little backyard project is complete.
Oh, by the way, those two boards standing up in the back corners are old 4″x4″s that I had laying around. I used them to seal off the corners where there was a gap in the sides. That stopped the mulch from falling out onto the road.
This is pretty cool. I just read that GM and Segway came out with a two wheeled, two person, electric car.
Back a few years ago, I had the opportunity to try out two different Segways…one with the big off-road tires and one with the regular smaller tires. They both were fun to drive around and really easy to learn.
One of the first things people always wonder about is safety when it comes to Segways. They ask, “How does it stay standing up?” Well, I suppose that’s one of the secrets that Segway has been developing over the years. I did notice that this new electric car has “safety wheels” on the front and on the back. Traveling at 35MPH with two people on board, I think it’s better to have a few extra safety features.
One of our new favorite shows is Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory. It’s on sunday night at 9PM and is pretty damn awesome.
Now that Rob and Big are all over, Rob came out with a new show…one that mostly takes place in his huge skateboarding warehouse. In the first episode that I saw last week, Rob was driving one of those cool three wheeled motorcycles. I have seen something like it before, but the one I saw wasn’t exactly like the one he drives. I did a little searching and I think I found the one he has. I think it’s a Fifth Gear T-Rex. I found a video of it and figured I would share it with you.
Tell me how bad you want one of these things…
Update: I found a video of Rob Dyrdek’s T-Rex from Fantasy Factory.
When I went and bought this car, I knew I wanted the “xDrive, intelligent all-wheel-drive,” but never really thought I would use it. At this point in the season, I am beginning to see how it can be handy to have around.
I got a great idea around 7PM this evening. I was getting hungry and it was snowing outside. I would say about an inch already fell. What better way to celebrate our current snowstorm than to go out and get some pizza?
The pizza place is a few miles away. There are no serious mountains to climb or drive down, so I didn’t really see anything wrong with hopping in the car to go for a ride. Actually, I was looking forward to it, because from what I have already experienced, driving in this car is like riding a train. BMW is awesome.
As I was cruising up the driveway, I gave it a little something extra, like I usually do. I didn’t get that normal 4-wheel spin, but I did get some pull. I credit the snow with not being all that slippery for that. As I drove down the road, I did a little zig-zag to see what the roads felt like. Nothin’. It didn’t budge. As I went around the first tight corner, I did feel a little slip, but the car corrected by itself. I think I was getting a little too comfortable.
I was about half-way to the pizza place when I realized that I could be taking pictures of this whole experience. I mean, how often do you get to see pics and vids of someone driving in the snow? Not often. Oh, you are going to love this…
Oh yeah, I got some video for you too. Check ‘em out. And to think, I wrote all this, the same day I wrote about blogger’s block. By the way, that’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Thistle & Shamrock” on the radio in the background.
If you know me, if you know who I really am at the core, you would know that I love mulch. I think I may have described my love for mulch in a few past posts, but let’s say it again…I love mulch.
Ok, now that the tender intro is out of the way, I will tell you a little story. When we moved in, I noticed a little problem with the back yard. It seems as though there has been a bit of erosion over the years. Every time there is a hard rain, more and more of the dirt, or topsoil, if that’s what you want to call it, finds its way down to the bottom of the hill that makes up the yard. I think the poor schlub who lived here before us tried to spread a bunch of topsoil out over the area and plant grass seed, but before he knew it, that rolled down the hill as well. It’s not really that big of a slope, it’s just that the soil around here doesn’t have much organic content in it. If there isn’t grass growing on it, it turns in to dust and is gone with the wind. What’s left is a nice layer of crappy dirt and rocks. This isn’t much to look at and really causes problems when I try to mow the lawn. If there is grass growing, it tends to be thick and green. Strange, I know. The trick is to get the grass to grow.
Since I didn’t want to end up like the last guy, I decided to travel a tried and true route. I had ten yards of mulch delivered just this morning. Two things – First, I think I got a small ten yards. Either that, or I got a big five yards last time. Second, I thought it would be a real blast to get out there and shovel the mulch in to the wheelbarrow and wheel it to the back of the house for spreading. Well, it is 2:52PM and I am inside feeling a little heat on my neck. Sunburn. Not bad, but enough to make being outside annoying. I think I’ll wait until about 6PM before I pick up where I left off. I am just glad I have a project. I am not fun to be around when I am bored, just ask Laura.
Here are some photos of what I am talking about…
This is the pile of mulch before I tackled it with the shovel.
I put some mulch around the arborvitae and holly that I planted. I didn’t go crazy under the porch, because that will hopefully be covered up by the bushes soon.
You can see how I am spreading the mulch over the bad areas. I would say the layer is a few inches thick. I did this same technique on another area of the lawn last summer and the grass is nice and thick there now. All I ask for is a few nice rains to get the mulch packed down to stay. If we get a torrential downpour, I think I may have ten yards of mulch at the bottom of the hill. After one season, the mulch should be broken down enough to plant some grass seed. It is also good at holding the dirt and rocks bad from eroding even more. An additional bonus is that this mulch was recycled from a bunch of old stumps right down the road from me. I watched the guy do it last year, it’s really cool.
Unfortunately, I though ten yards would be enough, but I think I may need twenty to get where I want to be. Mmmmmm, that’s going to be fun.
