July 2025 Island Trip – Day 2

Today started later than I intended, but then last night lasted longer than planned. I spent time catching up on writing and plotting. This evening will involve an earlier bedtime.

It took longer than I expected, after talking to Tim on the phone, to unhook and load Stella’s propane tanks, breakdown more boxes than I realized we’d accumulated, load the recycle, dead chairs, gas cans etc into the truck, and then get to Tim’s where I loaded his dead chair 😂, and half a can is extremely heavy (dense) trash. The dump was the popular place to be, and it took half an hour to get to the gate house, 45-minutes all told. Then off to fill the gas cans. And finally to the lumber yard for propane. It was a while before anyone could fill the tanks, but I learned something… So, these tanks are old, 1998. They need to be recertified. . I asked the guy what gets done when a tank is recertified. He explained that there’s a check valve in the neck of a propane tank that keeps the tank from being over-filled. It’s not like you can stop the filling process like when you gas up your car. If the valve fails, a 5-gallon tank can end up with 6, or more, gallons in it (propane compresses), and if the tank itself is compromised, the greater pressure can cause a leak, possibly leading to a fire, or the tank could just explode 😳. He agreed to fill them this time. We watched very carefully to see how much each tank took. The check valves aren’t letting too much gas in. I always wondered why an empty 5-gallon tank would never take 5-gallons. Now I know! I’ll ask our propane folks if they recertify.

On my way back, I paused at the market for some mixed nuts and a drink. Lunch of champions. It was now after one, and my breakfast, while tasty, was light on calories and I was hangry!

I stopped at Tim’s to drop off his garbage can and $13. He’d given me a $20. The trash bill came to the minimum of $26, so it was fair that we split it. I left the cash on his desk with a note saying ‘here’s a return of your mad money!’ I’m glad I could do this for him. The last place I want him navigating is the transfer station.

After putting things where they belonged, including our recycle cans, hooking up Stella’s propane, AND firing up the water heater, I headed to the upper barn to roll out the mower. She needed a little oil, dispensed a few tablespoons at a time, and away we went, for two hours. This was not an arbitrary time, but one I stuck to, as in, “No more than two hours.” I managed to mow very close below the plum and found the grounding rod for the electric fencing with a garden rake!! I’ll drive a piece of PVC into the ground next to it. My pointy metal stake is a place holder, but I realized would be unsafe when the electric fence is in operation as it could get energized by the system… Plastic doesn’t conduct!

By the time I got into the shower (with hot water!) I was beat. Too much time in the hot truck, waiting by the hot truck, and mowing in the hot sun. Yeah, I was drinking fluids, about 60oz, but clearly not enough. Since knocking it off for the day, I’m still tired, but not as wiped out.