Cones and motors, 15@11, The Circus

When I got home yesterday I had several boxes waiting for me.  Five of them contained the safety cones I bought online from Walmart for a reasonable $5.50 a pop.  I now have enough cones to handle my needs around a finish line however if an event needs cones out on the course or for other reasons they are going to need to provide them.

I also got back a replacement for the flaky automatic coop door motor.  I could tell immediately that what I was sent was not a brand new unit but as long as it works that was what mattered.  I changed and went out to the coop to immediately install the motor, having to manually open and close the coop door has been a bit of a pain.  As I sat on a bucket reinstalling the unit I had an audience of several chickens, all hoping that somehow I was going to shoot treats out the top of my head, since that is what they most associate Cindy and I with.

After mounting the motor I did a number of test opens and closes so I could adjust the tabs on the motors that control the amount of movement.  I now have the door set up so it opens a couple inches higher than it used to which is helpful since the chickens are full grown, needing as much clearance as possible.  Last night and this morning the door closed and opened on schedule.

While I was out there I wanted to get a set of pull ups in.  I have been trying to do 1RM sets of pull ups after work most weeknights.  Last week I had worked my way up to 22 reps on my normal pull up bar.  I thought I would mix it up and do my set on the 11 foot high bar last night.  Doing reps on the high bar is more difficult.  First you have to climb the 1.5″ diameter galvanized pipe up to the cross bar.  Holding onto the fatter pipe makes repping tougher as well as I can’t wrap my thumb.  The creaking and groaning I heard from the structure while I was up there did not inspire confidence either.  I only managed 15 reps before I dropped back to terra firma.

My buddy at work turned me on to a documentary series on Showtime called, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth.  It is a fascinating look at the the 2016 presidential primaries as the crew from a Bloomberg TV show follow around ALL of the candidates.  You get a true behind the scenes look. It will make you like some candidates more and some of them less.  Some may also find it disturbing seeing the fickle, lemming mentality that swirls around American politics.  Each episode is only 30 minutes long so it is easily digestible.   If you have Showtime I strongly recommend you check it out.