Depending on circumstances, one can sometimes find themselves in a position where they don't have any one important task to do. In my case, I was in a position where I really couldn't do anything on any number of projects around the yard. Most of the car stuff was at a standstill whether because of the weather conditions or the need for resources. To combat these types of days, we sometimes have to just find something to do that we might've been putting off because of its seemingly unimportant nature. As is always the case around a homestead, for every priority A project, there's plenty of priority Z projects, however small. One of the first things I decided to address for shits and giggles was the watering hose we always use that has a pinhole about two feet from the nozzle that will spray a long jet of water out when the water's on. As a result, the water has to be on full power in order to cancel out the pressure loss from this hole. After hitting the storage trailer trying to find some parts for one of the other tasks I will talk about next, I found some hose repair ends. I needed a worm clamp to secure the fitting as I would have to cut the hose then slip the repair fitting in place then secure the hose to the fitting with the clamp, like any other hose. With the hose fixed, I was able to move on to the next low-level task. While in the trailer, I was looking for these special PVC tees that neck down to an 1/8" fitting to accommodate the automatic drinker cups we've been using in the chicken coops. Reason for this is in the Mustang Chicken Coupe, the watering manifold in the brooder section. Because these fittings were glued together, when we had some freezes in the past winter, this manifold, even with the light water pressure it had, froze over and the expanding water created a crack along most of the length of the manifold. This whole unit would have to be replaced. Luckily, I set the thing up where the screw in PVC fitting had enough length of pipe coming from it to allow me to cut the manifold free, then twist out the screw on fitting the rest of the way. I had to dig through my stock of PVC pieces to see if I had a 1/2" male thread/female slip fitting as well as look for the tees. I found three tees and enough short pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe to allow me to piece together a manifold for three drinker cups. Luckily the drinker cups weren't damaged so I was able to salvage two of the drinker cups from the old manifold to supplement the 1st drinker I had in stock. Unlike the old manifold, this new one was just pressed together, intent being that the pressure will be low enough to keep the manifold together w/o popping anything. Later on I might modify the Mustang's system to mimic the later systems that incorporate a float valve/reservoir system that then gravity feeds the drinker cups, preventing any high pressure issues with the drinker cups. Unfortunately I didn't have any 1/2" male thread/female slip fittings so I was kind of screwed on finishing the assembly of the drinker cup manifold. As is always the case, this ends up being another job that gets put off, pending my resupply. Luckily the baby chickens in the brooder area are getting by just fine with bottle waterers so a couple extra days won't hurt anything. Once this repair is made, I can then look at making the other mods I mentioned, more sooner than later. On a side note, making this mod allows the Mustang Chicken Coupe have watering ability independent of a dedicated water line. Nearing the end of this monotonous day, I had to get things set up so I can take care of the last in this batch of low priority jobs, splitting a batch of wood that we salvaged from the landscaping job we did a while back. Among the branches and other trash we cut up, we also managed to cut up some fallen trunks into logs for further processing into firewood. As is always the case, this wood gets piled up around the log splitter in order to be split, then stacked into the wheelbarrow and moved over to the firewood staging area. I had to empty the wheelbarrow of standing water from past rains and stage it by the wood, as well as get extension cords over to the splitter in order to be ready to start the splitting first chance I get, which will probably be the same time I'm finishing up the drinker cup manifold on the Mustang Chicken Coupe. One thing that has to be realized about getting these low priority jobs done is that just like with standing trash around the yard, if the stuff isn't addressed more sooner than later, the buildup will get to the point that it will be so overwhelming that addressing it then will seem impossible. Taking time out every now and then while working other higher priority projects to address low level projects allows us to keep the "trash" buildup in check. Having a bunch of little bullshit jobs building up can be overwhelming just like a buildup of trash. While these jobs aren't trash, getting them done is just as important.
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