Well,
I spent my day yesterday hanging Christmas lights outside the house.. I couldn't have picket a "better" day to do it on!
The day started with me having to violently kick my aluminum extension ladder that was firmly frozen to the ground. After about 10 minutes of kicking and pulling I was able to free the ladder from it's winter slumber. The way my house is positioned, the "back" door is really my front door. My house sits at a 90 degree angle from the road, so the driveway is on one side of the house. The driveway side is where everyone comes and goes. The driveway leads to a deck about 8' high and into the house. My deck is constructed of Trex material. Real nice stuff in that you never have to paint or seal it. However horrible because even a little snow and it becomes VERY slippery. I found that the ladder DOES NOT like to sit still on that material this time of the year.
So I ran those icicle lights from the peak over the deck, along the long side of the house over the deck, around the corner, along the very front edge of the house, up and back down the peak (highest point of the house) around to the other side of the house and then stopped. Sounds like a pretty easy task right... WRONG! The deck being almost impossible to maneuver while on a ladder aside, when I got to the front side of the house, I was greeted by a lovely 3' deep snowbank that the plow trucks left. So I carried the ladder into the snowbank placed it on the uneven to start with ground and firmly kicked the bottom rung down into the snow to firmly plant it on the ground below. This worked alright until I had to get up to the peak of the roof. The catches on the extension ladder were frozen solid. I had to get out the torch to unthaw them so I was able to extend the ladder in the first place. Ok, that's done and the ladder goes up easy enough. I placed the ladder firmly into the ground as before and with a few rugged kicks it was against the ground and firmly in place right??? WRONG!
As I reached the top of the ladder so I could place the clips under the shingles to hold the lights I felt as though I was slipping... Naaaaawwww that can't be right, I kicked this sucker into the ground very well... Yep, I was slipping.. The ladder was sliding down the peak to the left where I already had painstakingly placed to clips and lights.
To save my already finished hard work, and in the spirit of the great Jackie Chan I lept off the top of the ladder (16' feet up or so) and attempted to land in the spruce tree at the corner of the deck... Well let me tell you, it works MUCH better in the movies with open trees that are not covered in snow. I hit the tree in perfect position to grab the trunk and safely make my way down the tree, or position myself for a proper dismount. The snow covered drooping branches of course prevented me from penetrating the tree to the trunk, and I more or less bounced off the tree. Luckily I was propelled away from the tree and back toward the bottom of the ladder into the snow bank. In a swift airborne motion I twisted my body and landed in the snowbank under the tree on both feet facing the street, followed by a white cloud of snow from the branches of the tree landing directly on top of me to punctuate my ninja like maneuver! In the spirit of the Olympic games, I threw my hands up to accentuate my "perfect" landing. The 2 kids walking down the street were nice enough to run up and say "Hey mister, that was the COOLEST thing I have ever seen" I of course ended it with. "Why thank you lad... But please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, I'm a professional" Professional what? I don't know, but something!
Well, when I came back to that spot to run the lights where I had already put the clips I MADE SURE the ladder was FIRMLY planted in the ground so this wouldn't happen again. I kicked the hell out of that bottom rung to ensure this would not happen again. Not need to worry now right? RIGHT? NOPE... it happened again.. Only this time I jumped straight back into the bank of snow and left the theatrical heroics behind this time... I landed softly into the deep snow on my feet once again, unharmed.
Well, 2 trips to the hardware store later for more lights and clips, and of course the outdoor timer I needed to make the whole thing work and I was finally finished. I got done in time and had everything hooked up and tested so when Kim came home I could do the grand lighting. She was happy with the outcome, and suggested that now we hang a wreath near that dangerous peak... Lets see if I can get that done today without being maimed by falling...
A couple of things I learned....
Ladders in the snow SUCK
Ladders in the snow SUCK
Ladders in the snow SUCK
And of course,
Jackie Chan ROCKS and I DO NOT want his job...
And oh yeah
LADDERS IN THE SNOW SUCK!
Well, it made my baby happy, and I guess that's all that matters... I'm a bit sore today, but maybe I can milk a back rub out of it!!!
Adam
I spent my day yesterday hanging Christmas lights outside the house.. I couldn't have picket a "better" day to do it on!
The day started with me having to violently kick my aluminum extension ladder that was firmly frozen to the ground. After about 10 minutes of kicking and pulling I was able to free the ladder from it's winter slumber. The way my house is positioned, the "back" door is really my front door. My house sits at a 90 degree angle from the road, so the driveway is on one side of the house. The driveway side is where everyone comes and goes. The driveway leads to a deck about 8' high and into the house. My deck is constructed of Trex material. Real nice stuff in that you never have to paint or seal it. However horrible because even a little snow and it becomes VERY slippery. I found that the ladder DOES NOT like to sit still on that material this time of the year.
So I ran those icicle lights from the peak over the deck, along the long side of the house over the deck, around the corner, along the very front edge of the house, up and back down the peak (highest point of the house) around to the other side of the house and then stopped. Sounds like a pretty easy task right... WRONG! The deck being almost impossible to maneuver while on a ladder aside, when I got to the front side of the house, I was greeted by a lovely 3' deep snowbank that the plow trucks left. So I carried the ladder into the snowbank placed it on the uneven to start with ground and firmly kicked the bottom rung down into the snow to firmly plant it on the ground below. This worked alright until I had to get up to the peak of the roof. The catches on the extension ladder were frozen solid. I had to get out the torch to unthaw them so I was able to extend the ladder in the first place. Ok, that's done and the ladder goes up easy enough. I placed the ladder firmly into the ground as before and with a few rugged kicks it was against the ground and firmly in place right??? WRONG!
As I reached the top of the ladder so I could place the clips under the shingles to hold the lights I felt as though I was slipping... Naaaaawwww that can't be right, I kicked this sucker into the ground very well... Yep, I was slipping.. The ladder was sliding down the peak to the left where I already had painstakingly placed to clips and lights.
To save my already finished hard work, and in the spirit of the great Jackie Chan I lept off the top of the ladder (16' feet up or so) and attempted to land in the spruce tree at the corner of the deck... Well let me tell you, it works MUCH better in the movies with open trees that are not covered in snow. I hit the tree in perfect position to grab the trunk and safely make my way down the tree, or position myself for a proper dismount. The snow covered drooping branches of course prevented me from penetrating the tree to the trunk, and I more or less bounced off the tree. Luckily I was propelled away from the tree and back toward the bottom of the ladder into the snow bank. In a swift airborne motion I twisted my body and landed in the snowbank under the tree on both feet facing the street, followed by a white cloud of snow from the branches of the tree landing directly on top of me to punctuate my ninja like maneuver! In the spirit of the Olympic games, I threw my hands up to accentuate my "perfect" landing. The 2 kids walking down the street were nice enough to run up and say "Hey mister, that was the COOLEST thing I have ever seen" I of course ended it with. "Why thank you lad... But please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, I'm a professional" Professional what? I don't know, but something!
Well, when I came back to that spot to run the lights where I had already put the clips I MADE SURE the ladder was FIRMLY planted in the ground so this wouldn't happen again. I kicked the hell out of that bottom rung to ensure this would not happen again. Not need to worry now right? RIGHT? NOPE... it happened again.. Only this time I jumped straight back into the bank of snow and left the theatrical heroics behind this time... I landed softly into the deep snow on my feet once again, unharmed.
Well, 2 trips to the hardware store later for more lights and clips, and of course the outdoor timer I needed to make the whole thing work and I was finally finished. I got done in time and had everything hooked up and tested so when Kim came home I could do the grand lighting. She was happy with the outcome, and suggested that now we hang a wreath near that dangerous peak... Lets see if I can get that done today without being maimed by falling...
A couple of things I learned....
Ladders in the snow SUCK
Ladders in the snow SUCK
Ladders in the snow SUCK
And of course,
Jackie Chan ROCKS and I DO NOT want his job...
And oh yeah
LADDERS IN THE SNOW SUCK!
Well, it made my baby happy, and I guess that's all that matters... I'm a bit sore today, but maybe I can milk a back rub out of it!!!
Adam
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
