It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Augers and Jackhammers and Fire Ants, Oh My!

Our house in Raleigh has been for sale now for over a year. About 96.9% of the people that have viewed the house have taken issue with either the location of the master bedroom and/or the back yard. Aside from sealing the master bedroom door and installing a fireman's pole entrance from the second floor, there is nothing we can do about the bedroom. As for the back yard, Christopher and I decided it was time for a fence! We enlisted the help of my father, Christopher's father, and Christopher's brother-in-law, Jon.

The original plan was to use posthole diggers. Then we decided it would be a lot better to rent an auger. After all, we - eeer - THEY were going to have to dig 18 two-foot holes in the yard. 

Sunday morning we got up at some indecent hour and drove to Raleigh, hit up the Home Depot for the auger, went to Lowes for fence materials, and then got to work!

(Jon, Christopher's dad, and my dad drilling the holes)

Four holes in, the guys hit some rock, and I went out to pick up some lunch. I wasn't worried, I mean - how bad can it be? Did you see that auger? I mean - it could get you straight to China! (So I thought.) Leaving Quiznos I get a call from Christopher saying he was going to need that Home Depot paperwork and tool rental price list. They were going to either need to rent a jackhammer or pack it in and forget about the fence. Jackhammer it is! 

Jackhammer rented, they go to work breaking up the massive chunk of rock. 

(Christopher breaking up rock)

Two hours later, Christopher has hammered a mere 11 inches into the hole.

(You can see – it’s pure rock…and not very deep.)

While Christopher worked on the stubborn hole, the rest of us went to work setting posts. That’s where I ran into the fire ants. Ugh and grrrr. I can’t even bend my three toes they are so swollen. Don’t worry – I won’t post a picture of them! 

Long story short, by the end of a long Sunday, we had the posts set! We are ready to hang the fence panels when we go back down next weekend! Hopefully that will be a bit of a smoother, rock and fire ant-free operation. 


7 comments:

  1. You guys can't get a break with that house can you!?!? Sorry about the rock and fire ants! Good luck next weekend!

    Oh and take note, I am completely caught up on pictures through today! ;-0

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  2. Ok, I love your use of links. Kudos for giving Lowe's and Home Depot equal footing in the first paragraph.

    I did see that the final ratio was 2:1 Home Depot to Lowes. Where does Christopher's dad work again?

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  3. Haha! He works at Lowes, but Lowes doesn't rent equipment AND didn't even have a picture of a complete auger - they had the top part and then multiple different bottom "drill" parts. I did look there first though. ;-)

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  4. "Jon, Christopher's dad, and my dad"

    There you go again. Are you naming two or three people? :p

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  5. bahgah! How many people do you see in the picture?

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  6. I feel your pain on the swelling. Thanks to poison ivy I had to have my wedding ring cut off on Wednesday :(

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  7. OMG...Jennifer! Yikes. Unswell soon - poison ivy is not cool. Remind me to tell you about the time I had poison ivy between select fingers and the only way my hands were comfortable was in the "gun" pose. Lame.

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