The Truth Hurts

Banjo Lesson #11 Flailing the Hands

In order to play really really fast, you have to master the correct way to frail by using your hand to literally claw at the banjo strings which feels as out of control as it sounds.  After all this time I have still not mastered this technique.  So each lesson we spend some time practicing different strategies, 

1. Waving bye-bye like toddlers do.
2. Winding the wrist back and letting it fall on the banjo.
3. Flailing my right hand as if I have more than a few loose screws...I tell my teacher, I am going to be doing this all the time now.

"I can tell people they can't make fun of me because I'm actually learning how to play the banjo."

My teacher says, "No, after you tell them that, then they will make fun of you."

Cleaning out the Fishtank...For the Last Time

So when all the fish die, and you don't want to buy more. It's time to give away the fish tank. Not in it's current condition, so here' how to clean it out completely.

Gather the fishtank vaccum to reduce the water to 1/2 level. Using gravity to Drain the dirty water into a bucket.

Until your bucket is full of water.

Take it to the dump.

No, this kind of dump.

The next step is to scrub the sides with the tank scrubber to remove the calcium deposits and algae growth.

The brush needs to be wet and kept wet to keep from scratching the glass.

Scoop out the gravel. It might have another purpose.

6 square inches of mulch?

Remove the plants. If they're super nasty, they're not worth keeping.

Now all that's left is some serious calcium deposits near the top.

Yuck.

Tough jobs call for tough stuff like bleach or vinegar. Since the smell of bleach makes me gag, I chose vinegar.

45 minutes later...Better, but not gone. I think it's good enough for a garage sale.
 $1 in my pocket.

Burning a Ring of Fire

Every other now and then life requires the extraordinary out of us...Like when you need to burn a field full of weeds. So here's some free advice on how to do just that.

 

*Notice this is not a timely post as you should do this in the spring.

 

Dress appropriately. I used my Master C Snowboots, because they have rubber soles so they're not flammable...I think...

The list of tools required is surprisingly short and primitive. You need a rake to spread the fire where you want it to go and a shovel to smother it in places you don't want it.

 

You will also need a waterhose and fill a weed sprayer with water to wet any trees you want to keep and along the path you want the fire to stop at. A great tip would be to mow around the area you want to burn, so you remember where you want to burn.

 

It also gives you a walking path for your fire team. Also good to have a path for the water hose, just in case it gets out of control. I mean we are talking about controlling one of the most powerful natural forces on earth.

To get it started, you spread it against the wind (just like the song) not with it (recipe for disaster).

Here is a visual example of how to spread the flames using the rake. Dry grass is gathered into the rake. The rake is put into the flames briefly, then the burning grass remaining on the rake is dropped onto the grass about a foot in front of the current line of fire.

Thus leading the fire where you want it to go.

 

Go Fire Go!

Whoa, fire whoa....When it reaches 1/2 across the field you are burning, you start the fire on the side with the wind and the fires meet in the middle at the speed of...fire.

We did use the hose. We did use the shovel for lots of smothering and for a field mouse. SMACK! Oh, yuck. We got 'em.

The field burning crew minus 2.

The product of our success. It looks better when the green grass starts growing on the black soil.