What did you learn this year? I learned or should have remembered or known. When putting sheathing on a roof that has been treated for waterproofing. Don't put treated sides against each other. I did this to mark one for cutting, while I was sitting on it. Well, come to find out..the treatment is slick. I somehow shot off the roof, riding it like a sled. I thankfully landed on a brush pile a couple feet away from the shed I was roofing. I absent mindedly put a box of nails on said sheathing...it too shot off the roof...never did find all the nails. I was trying to be more careful or so I thought. I put a roll of tar paper on the roof. Well, everything was going fine until...well it decided to roll off the roof and land in the next yard ( well this happened twice) I'll be the first to buy sheets of it, if they ever make it in sheets instead of rolls. Well, that being said. I started putting roofing shingles on the roof, no problems. Not until I decided to take the nails (remembering how the box flew off the roof) and put them in a plastic bowl with a lid. Well, I swear they seemed not to touch the roofing at all and shot with flames off the roof. Only to land on the ground with the lid exploding off and nails going everywhere. I ending up having to go buy more nails. I also learned to count steps on the ladder going up as well as going down them. A couple times I somehow lost steps on the way down a couple times. I did manage to finish the shed...without killing myself. I learned wood does shrink in the cold. I learned this by measuring an opening for a window screen I was going to make. I cut and put the window screen together. To my dismay...as I put it in the opening..it fell out. It now was smaller than I needed...so, I believe the cold weather made the wood shrink. I know I measured correctly. I also learned not to dig post holes in the dark with a flash-light. Everything was measuring right and lining up. Until the next day. I went to put the posts in and by the time I re dug some holes...it looked like I'd been looking for lost treasure. Last time I dig with a flash-light. I had a couple more times of bad measuring. I thought maybe the tape measurer was at fault,so I bought a new tape measure and I am measuring three to four times now. And writing it down too. Never use a padlock...until you know where the key is. But bolt cutters do come in handy, if this happens. When hauling stones in a wagon, smaller loads are better than larger ones, may take longer but will save on your back. I have noticed that after thirty, it takes longer for sore muscles and a aching back to get better or at least tolerable.
When siphoning water from a aquarium into a bucket never walk away...it will empty much faster, than if you were standing there.
So, what did you learn this year?
