I’m Gay, I’m Not Helpless *Edit”

              My little Daggy is on my lap purring away as I type. I’m taking a break as I was on a tear this morning. This light post project has become an obsession. Because it is a single unit, it is nearly impossible for one person to move around. Note the word “nearly”.

There was a “tongue in cheek” book published in 1994, “The Unofficial Gay Manual”. One line in that book has really stuck to me after all the years I’ve read that book: “I’m Gay, I’m not helpless.” I have always strived to be independent and self sufficient. Perhaps a good example would be what has occurred in the past 24 hours. I’m going to go into “bullet mode” for simplicity.

·         Thursday night: Using an old Army strap looped around my waist and the lamp post, I was able to “lift with my legs” and get the post positioned onto my two moving dollys.

·         It was a fairly simple matter to wheel the post into the back yard.

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·         A makeshift ramp was made up to get the lamp to the mounting base.

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·         I needed gravity to work for me. It was in small increments the light post was raised up again using that old strap. Once the top section was high enough I was able to use the ladders as scaffoldings.

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·         Once it was high enough, the ladders were abandoned and I was able to use my entire body to get the post upright. The 4×4 and 2×4 would slide down the post for support as I used all my strength to edge that beast upright.

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·         Once I got past the “center of gravity” it was a breeze.

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I’m taking a break now before I “barrel roll” it into position over the mounting lugs. That has been my day so far and I&rsquo

;m beat already!

I’ve got to round up Stumpy and get him to the Vets. He seems to be losing weight. Don’t know if his thyroid meds need to be adjusted, or he just needs a shot or two. Otherwise he has been fine…

Just wanted to get a quick entry out to document this project…..

Edit part: Stumpy has been missing in action all morning. So much for the Vet visit! That Goober boy!

Went back to work on the installation.

·         Instead of “barrel rolling” I thought it would be easier and safer to use the old pipe technique and roll it into place. A couple ½” galvanized pieces did the trick.

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·         The holes lined up perfectly. This was lowered in stages by removing the thick ramp wood and replacing it with thinner stock. I did not want to risk it tipping over.

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·         It is now bolted in place. I’ll do up the wiring and final primer work this afternoon. I’m burned out again!!