bobcat!

i got to operate a bobcat all day yesterday. that was pretty fun. i can't believe that a person can just go to a store and rent a piece of equipment with this much power--and this is a small one! i carried three thousand pounds of debris off to a dump. really. they weighed the truck there so they'd know how much to charge me.

the bob cat was cool, but what i'm really amazed at is that the human body can move that much weight so quickly. i was too worried about the axles on my truck to actually dump all the stone and plywood and other detritus directly into the bed--plus i needed to be kinda picky about what i hauled off--i didn't want to make too many trips. so i moved all of the stuff that i wanted gone by hand. threw it into the bed by hand, threw it out of the bed by hand. total weight: three thousand pounds.

i then proceeded to hand rake both of the lots--all 50 x 150 feet of them. with one of those gravel rakes. i know it's a totally fart-headed move to do this, but here's a vaguely photoshopped* picture of my torso after having done all this:



cut me some slack, though. i need more validation that just clean lots. i've been gettin' all squishy and stuff up here and it's a pleasure to get to go do some actual physical labor. i wanted to show off to somebody.


problem now, however, is that where i used to have weedy lots that were filled with trash and unpleasant to walk on, i now have dirt lots that are clean and are only moderately unpleasant to walk on. i guess i'm gonna make mulch pathways. suggestions are welcome.

*full disclosure: if you'll look at it close you can tell where i changed the contrast on the well-lighted side. i'm also embarrased to say that you can tell by the vein in my neck that i'm actually flexing. jesus, i'm cheap.