3 into 1, coop complete, big list

Yesterday I did some streamlining of my IM chat client landscape, motivated by my Skype client consuming an annoying amount of system resources.  I have a bunch of different messaging accounts, up until yesterday I was using a total of three programs to address the 5 different chat systems I am on. (AOL, Skype, Google, Openfire, Facebook).  I now have shrunk that number of chat clients down to one, Pidgin. Pidgin is an open source,a free chat client that doesn’t have tons of bells and whistles but gets the job done.   It’s nice having all of my virtual conversations under one roof.  The only drawback is great care needs to be taken that a reply in a conversation I would be having with someone like Jeremy or Randall doesn’t accidentally get posted into a convo I would have with a more professional contact.

So last night I finished up the construction of the chicken coop.  There is no doubt it is a good looking structure but I really have concerns about how it’s going to hold up down here where pressure treated 4×4’s disintegrate in a couple years.   The wood the coop is made out of is some sort of Chinese fir which is supposed to be similar in durability to cedar. However the wood is just very thin and  does not look like it is ready to battle the elements.

Cindy and I plan to treat the outside of the coop with animal safe wood sealant but even so I can’t see the coop making it through 365 days intact as is.  I didn’t feel any better about things when a Google search for ways to enhance the coop landed me on a message board of other people that bought the same thing, ranting about it, and not in a good way.  Complaints of poor construction, parts breaking/falling off and leakage in rain all dampened my enthusiasm for the coop I put together the last two evenings. After all, a hot looking woman with an 85 IQ and body odor is a losing proposition overall.

So once we get chickens in there I will be obviously monitoring things closely.  I’ll either be repairing, reenforcing the structure as needed or use it as a template to build something from scratch myself in the future if need be.  The last thing Cindy and I would want is for the birds to be living in substandard housing.

I have a very full weekend ahead of me.  On top of the full yard maintenance that needs to be done I need to change the oil on the Tacoma (just crossed 170k miles), the party van and the tractor.  We need to get out to Rural King to get chicken supplies and possibly go pick up the chickens themselves.  We plan to go to the movies Saturday night, maybe do some endurance training Sunday morning and oh yea, we also have the girls all weekend as well as Monday and Tuesday.  Busy, busy, busy….