Not posting to gripe about it but, thought I'd confirm something I've heard.

Spent most of the day digging out a set of pier holes for the patio I'm building for my ever loving spouse.

Dug out the area for the concrete, dug the pier holes (24 inches X 24 inches wide, 2 feet deep for Cedar Posts to sit on. Used my head and utliized my tractor powered rotiller to make the rest of the digging easier, clear that material and dug the pier holes (same as post holes). The Cedar posts will sit on concrete, not in the ground. Regardless, since it wasn't enough concrete to have a Concrete Truck deliver it with their additional transportation charge, I went to Lowes and got 80 lb. bags to get this project done.

Used a formula I found on Google to get the correct amount of 80 lb bags of quickcrete. My Lord those things are heavy. Anyway, even though I checked and triple checked the math, I still got way more bagged concrete than I needed. The formula I used must have been set up by someone who sells concrete.

Got some help from my son and another Paramedic friend of his to mix the concrete in an electric rotating mixer while I hauled concrete and spread it in within the forms I built.

The task is done but, I'm a whipped pup. Told my wife that I used to toss 120 pound bales of hay 10 foot in the air to another guy. Don't pretend to understand where all my strength went but, it ain't where it use to be. I'm sure I'm alone in this situation. All you Studs are still kick'n butt.

The concrete was screeded and smooth as a 2X4 can get it so, I took the extra bags of concrete back to Lowes and rushed home, that gave me about an hour to allow the screeded concrete to dry up a bit. Once I got home, I immediately got busy trying to finish that concrete. While it's not perfect, it looks decent. What I should have known better, upon getting home, my son and my grandson both left their handprints in the concrete (intentionally). Of course, my loving spouse knew all about it. What they failed to understand (apparently) is where they left those handprints is precisely where those Cedar Posts will sit.

Edited: One thing that happened I had not mentioned is my son brought both his son (Rowdy. two years old) and his dog over. Most folks know that children and animals shouldn't be anywhere near a concrete project but the dog walked right through the concrete twice. She got tied up. But, Rowdy couldn't be tied up and Granny was supposed to be occupying him. Remember those pier holes (two feet deep) I mentioned earlier. Well, Rowdy decided to walk across that still wet concrete and yes, that's where he decided to cross over. Ever seen a two year old about two feet tall standing in a two foot hole full of wet concrete? While Rowdy was screaming his head off, we reacted quickly and got him out but, it was funny after it was all over. Was too busy to get a picture but, I wish I had thought of that.

Still have one other concrete project to do, it's a smaller one but, still not big enough to pay for that concrete truck to come, only about 30 feet long, 12 inches wide and about a foot deep. Not really looking forward to that project but, it's got to get done. That concrete will be the based of the lean to I'm adding to my shop being built now. Can't do that until the slab is poured but, once that happens it'll be assholes and elbows in action getting it done before the shop materials are shipped here.

Any of you Young Studs needing something to do, speak up, I'm getting too old for this kind of work.

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Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. .
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.

Older guys fall into three categories when it comes to doing work:

• Those that buy power tools and other expensive equipment to make the job easy.
  
• Those that hire someone else to do it.
  
• Those that did the work like they did when you were younger. The next morning they wished they were one of the other two categories when they can't get out of bed.

quote Originally posted by Doug85GT: Older guys fall into three categories when it comes to doing work: Those that buy power tools and other expensive equipment to make the job easy. Those that hire someone else to do it. Those that did the work like they did when you were younger. The next morning they wished they were one of the other two categories when they can't get out of bed.

That thar's funny................

Would have fallen into the second category but, limited funds to get this project done made me fall into the third. But, you're pretty much right except, the next morning I got out of bed just fine and was happy as hell it was done. The clue here is, Happy Wife, Happy Life.

Rams

I feel your pain. Trust me. At least from my own perspective.
Concrete is a b!tch, even for younger guys. A tip of my hat to you, sir.

I just finished installing a drop ceiling, including 2'x4' LED troffers, in a room that I had framed and sided. I did the electrical and insulation, and was going to do the inside wall paneling too. But I didn't feel like wrestling with 14 sheets of 1/4" MDF. So I hired that out.
The thing about ceilings is that everything is, wait for it... overhead!
It's certainly not heavy work, but in order to reach the "overhead", I had to go up and down 2-3 ladder steps about a million times, before I completed the job. The paint tray on a stepladder only holds a limited number of things, and I was always forgetting something I needed. (Another "suck" aspect of getting old.) So yeah... kind of like a stairmaster workout. Dragged out for several afternoons. While juggling stuff, and trying not to fall off the ladder.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 11-20-2024).]

Today was "Put Up New Window Blinds" day. The whole time I was doing it, I kept asking myself what was wrong with the old window blinds.............

Did that up and down the ladder at least a million times or at least it felt like it. Had to make a trip to Home Depot to get screws that would do the job. The crap that came with the blinds my wife ordered were the cheapest things I've seen in a while. These were not cheap window blinds but the screws were junk. I tried following the directions and almost every screw strip out. Threw all of the screws away and got some good quality ones. Made the entire install a lot easier.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all those window blinds I took down.............. Hmmm........... Steve?
Sell them to you for half whatever you think they are worth.

Rams

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-20-2024).]

quote Originally posted by blackrams: Now I just have to figure out what to do with all those window blinds I took down.............. Hmmm........... Steve? Sell them to you for half whatever you think they are worth.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm still behind the 8-ball on one of those deals.