Whatever Happened to....Dee Ann & her Big Dishes?
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It's been a rough year. Lots of BS.. My dad has been having health issues, I have too. I've been having difficult times with my boyfriend. I've been depressed about my mom passing away. And on and on....
It's all just piled on me and I just stagnated. For most of the year I had quit messing with FTA, several of my dishes had problems with alignment and I just didn't care to go out and fix them.
I have just been sitting inside like a zombie watching Dish or puttering around in my garden. I've accomplished pretty much nothing at all this year.
Things pile up on me, I look at the pile and throw up my hands in despair as the pile just gets deeper. It just hasn't been going well at all for me.
One of the things I had been counting on was having my boyfriend help me take those big dishes down and move them, he's a big guy so he can reach a lot higher than I can and lift a lot more than I can.
BUT, he's an unreliable flake and I just can't count on him when I need him. My health issues are not good so I'm very restricted in what I can do anymore, I'm not supposed to lift anything more than about 20lbs.
My dad can't lift heavy things either and besides, he's like 76yro now.
At this point I just don't know what to do. This is another project where I'm sitting here throwing my hands up in despair.. I may end up losing my deposit and the dishes.
So, I really don't know anymore. You know that old saying about your eyes overloaded your plate? That would be me..
It's all just piled on me and I just stagnated. For most of the year I had quit messing with FTA, several of my dishes had problems with alignment and I just didn't care to go out and fix them.
I have just been sitting inside like a zombie watching Dish or puttering around in my garden. I've accomplished pretty much nothing at all this year.
Things pile up on me, I look at the pile and throw up my hands in despair as the pile just gets deeper. It just hasn't been going well at all for me.
One of the things I had been counting on was having my boyfriend help me take those big dishes down and move them, he's a big guy so he can reach a lot higher than I can and lift a lot more than I can.
BUT, he's an unreliable flake and I just can't count on him when I need him. My health issues are not good so I'm very restricted in what I can do anymore, I'm not supposed to lift anything more than about 20lbs.
My dad can't lift heavy things either and besides, he's like 76yro now.
At this point I just don't know what to do. This is another project where I'm sitting here throwing my hands up in despair.. I may end up losing my deposit and the dishes.
So, I really don't know anymore. You know that old saying about your eyes overloaded your plate? That would be me..
I don't live anywhere near you. Wish a small group of volunteers could get together one weekend and help you get 'er done.
That's a nice thought but I wouldn't think of it.
One thing I have thought of though is hiring some people. I just don't know how to go about that.
I'll talk it over with my dad and see what ideas he can offer. I'm not completely out of options just yet but the list is pretty darn narrow at this point.
Here in California, if you want a day laborer, you just go to your nearest Home Depot and a bunch of hard working Spanish speaking fellows are there for cheap. If you have all the tools and a pickup truck, you might be able to get it done that way.
The value of hobbyist volunteers is not the cheap labour, but the knowledge they bring. It's a good way. And payback is done by volunteering to help them when they need it. Not so bad to meet people you've been tapping with on the keyboard for a long time too.
Well, this presents several problems for me.
I don't speak Spanish and I don't know but I've never seen day laborers around the area. I have seen them in Houston 100 miles away but not around here.
The other problem is, I'm a woman and I don't think it's a good idea to be out in the woods with strange men. Just sayin...
I also don't have a truck or a trailer either. My dad does have half the tools in the universe however.
The other problem is trusting others to not trash the thing in the process of taking it down and taking it apart and moving it. Or them actually. The plan is to pick up two very large dishes.
One option I'm mulling over is maybe hiring some of the men from my meditation group. While I know they don't know about large satellite dishes I do know I can trust them not to do me wrong. If anything they would be watching out for me first. Nice folks. I suppose I could rent a trailer and my dad could tow it with his van. I'm just shy about asking them. I need to talk it over with my dad first and see what he thinks because I would need him to be there with his van and tools and probably do some light help. We would have to bring a generator out to have electricity because I think we would have to grind some bolts and screws off because a lot of stuff is rusted. I think it would be faster to grind them off and replace them later than fight with rusted up stuff. Dad and I already figured that out earlier this year when we went to look at them.
Getting the biggest dish off the pole shouldn't be a big deal with enough men, lift it off, set it down then start taking it apart.
The thing is, once it's off the pole we would have to have it apart and moved completely THAT DAY because metal thieves would steal anything we leave on the ground. That is the biggest challenge.
It's waaaaaay to big to trailer it intact, there is NO WAY... It has to come apart, that is an absolute, 100% necessity.
The smaller dish is 11' and that too is too big to trailer intact. It's a 40+ mile trip over highways and bridges and underpasses and city streets. There is no way, it has to be taken apart too.
These things are enormous... Many times bigger than any sane person would ever consider having in their yard.
If I only could put them on the ground then spend like two days taking them apart. But they would be stolen as metal thieves have already been out there.
It has to be a one day operation and that is a really big sticking point.. So I just dunno...
One possible method would be to take the dish apart at the halfway point in the panels. You are then left with two halves, which would possibly fit in the back of a large pickup truck. I'm considering that method for a 10-12 foot Paraclipse I've been eyeing here. Rolling it home is out of the question this time...
I couldn't find a low trailer to borrow nor rent.
So, I rented a stake bed truck ... Without the stakes (see my signature for pix).
was about $75 for the day.
We moved the solid dish in the morning , which we'd taken down the week before.
In the afternoon, we took down and transported the perf.
We had a SawZall and a hand-held grinder equipped with a cutoff wheel.
It was good to have choices, and we used both.
However if I had to pick just one, it'd be the cutoff wheel!
So, I rented a stake bed truck ... Without the stakes (see my signature for pix).
was about $75 for the day.
We moved the solid dish in the morning , which we'd taken down the week before.
In the afternoon, we took down and transported the perf.
We had a SawZall and a hand-held grinder equipped with a cutoff wheel.
It was good to have choices, and we used both.
However if I had to pick just one, it'd be the cutoff wheel!
The cutoff wheel is the best choice unless you have a tight space between the nut and where it comes in contact against something to hold it together then the reciprical saw blade would be the best choice. You should be able to get those battery operated.
My dad has a new toy he's all proud of, it's the weirdest looking thing ever, it's some sort of little saw that vibrates.
It looks like a round saw blade that was cut up into a pie piece and just one little slice of pie is the saw blade. And it just vibrates.
You can get it into very tight spots. He used it to fix a broken water line in my outside wall a few months ago.
I had never seen anything like it before and he was all giggled up to get to use it for the first time on something.
Seriously, he was ALL the weird tools. My mom and I used to joke that when he dies we were going to bury him in a big tool box.
He has grinders and all sorts of stuff. I have a saw he gave me that I use for cutting pipes (I make giant wind chimes as a hobby) that is called a "Portaband".
As long as we can get the generator out there the tools won't be a problem. Dad has that covered.
Just a little refresher, this is what I'm up against..
http://buddhisthippiechick.minus.com/mqVSLx8Ac
One of these at 11 feet,
and this one at 14 feet,
Because of the complex looking spider thingies on the backs I don't know if they could simply be split into halves.
I need to go out there again with my dad and take more photos and study the structure of them to try and figure out how to take them apart and if they can be "halved" or not.
It looks like a round saw blade that was cut up into a pie piece and just one little slice of pie is the saw blade. And it just vibrates.
You can get it into very tight spots. He used it to fix a broken water line in my outside wall a few months ago.
I had never seen anything like it before and he was all giggled up to get to use it for the first time on something.
Seriously, he was ALL the weird tools. My mom and I used to joke that when he dies we were going to bury him in a big tool box.
He has grinders and all sorts of stuff. I have a saw he gave me that I use for cutting pipes (I make giant wind chimes as a hobby) that is called a "Portaband".
As long as we can get the generator out there the tools won't be a problem. Dad has that covered.
Just a little refresher, this is what I'm up against..
http://buddhisthippiechick.minus.com/mqVSLx8Ac
One of these at 11 feet,
and this one at 14 feet,
Because of the complex looking spider thingies on the backs I don't know if they could simply be split into halves.
I need to go out there again with my dad and take more photos and study the structure of them to try and figure out how to take them apart and if they can be "halved" or not.
We have an IWANNA here, it is like the trading post etc etc. They sell used items, pets and folks that look for small jobs like cleaning yards or doing handy-jobs. To put an add in there does not cost anything here.It's been a rough year. Lots of BS.. My dad has been having health issues, I have too. I've been having difficult times with my boyfriend. I've been depressed about my mom passing away. And on and on....
It's all just piled on me and I just stagnated. For most of the year I had quit messing with FTA, several of my dishes had problems with alignment and I just didn't care to go out and fix them.
I have just been sitting inside like a zombie watching Dish or puttering around in my garden. I've accomplished pretty much nothing at all this year.
Things pile up on me, I look at the pile and throw up my hands in despair as the pile just gets deeper. It just hasn't been going well at all for me.
One of the things I had been counting on was having my boyfriend help me take those big dishes down and move them, he's a big guy so he can reach a lot higher than I can and lift a lot more than I can.
BUT, he's an unreliable flake and I just can't count on him when I need him. My health issues are not good so I'm very restricted in what I can do anymore, I'm not supposed to lift anything more than about 20lbs.
My dad can't lift heavy things either and besides, he's like 76yro now.
At this point I just don't know what to do. This is another project where I'm sitting here throwing my hands up in despair.. I may end up losing my deposit and the dishes.
So, I really don't know anymore. You know that old saying about your eyes overloaded your plate? That would be me..
You could look at the postings there or you could put an add in there.
But you do not pay them until they are done all the way with the job and you are the director/boss and you are telling them exactly how the job is done . I would pay by the job not by the hour. But i would tell them the conditions out front before they start working or even put it in writing and let them sign for it.
This could be a cheaper way to relocate the dishes.
Just an idea.
Do you have a LOWES near your location? If you do, they have a flatbed rental truck for $20 for the first 75 minutes.
http://www.lowes.com/cd_Truck+Equipment+Rentals_15512929_?UserSearch=rent+me+flatbed+truck&rpp=16
http://www.lowes.com/cd_Truck+Equipment+Rentals_15512929_?UserSearch=rent+me+flatbed+truck&rpp=16
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