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Owl versus Bird- Good Bird Repellent strategy?

 robert-maclafferty  Comments Off on Owl versus Bird- Good Bird Repellent strategy?
Jul 312019
 

Well, it’s been a long fight in my bird repellent war! The car and the bird poop. I first tried a fake own swinging just next to the parking area and just below the favorite perches for the incontinent, inconsiderate fowl. But to no avail. I actually saw birds perch on a fence rail just below the owl! They were not impressed. This picture is just one of many available on the market. Would it be effective if it could to the 360 degree head swivel? Or what if it could produce a fairly scary “Hoot, Hoot” periodically? I don’t know and I am unlikely to try.

My next strategy was attaching strips of iridescent reflective tape to the eaves and to tree branches. That did little but produce litter. An online source recommended tying old CDs to string. That produced some beautiful, flashing reflective light, but these birds apparently wear their cool shades constantly and were unaffected by the reflections.

Other than inaccurate Bb gun plinking, my remaining, and only successful strategy, was to clear out one section of the garage for parking. I know, it’s sad. This bird repellent strategy should work well as long as I leave the garage door shut!

Car versus Bird Poop

 robert-maclafferty  Comments Off on Car versus Bird Poop
May 282017
 

OK. This is ridiculous! In this day and age, allowing birds to air-deliver biodumps to my vehicles with no recourse is simply inexcusable! In my current configuration, I keep vehicles in front of the garage, parked in an orderly fashion, cool in the shade provided by a gracefully branched tree. Each vehicle in the lineup gets increasing numbers of ornithopoops as their location approaches the tree trunk. The unlucky last car gets blasted by such a volume of gestational byproduct that it is often necessary to clean the windshield thoroughly before driving!

I have conducted interviews of work colleagues, performed exhaustive research [read Googled] and will be implementing various solutions until I find one that is effective. I refuse to be subject to these lovely, chirping divebombers! Here I stand! Stay tuned.

Dremel MM430 Multi-Knife blade

 robert-maclafferty  Comments Off on Dremel MM430 Multi-Knife blade
Oct 042016
 

dremel-mm430-multi-knife-bladeI have found this blade to be an excellent way to cut asphalt shingles, even the extra-thick architectural ones. I used it with the Makita Oscillating Multitool XMT03Z that I’ve reviewed previously. When new, this blade is razor sharp and will lay open the unsuspecting thumb with ease. Without resharpening, I’ve used it to where the thickness of the hook blade from cutting edge back, is about half of it’s new thickness with good performance. It is a great way to accurately cut open valleys using a chalk line.

Makita Oscillating Multitool XMT03Z Review

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Makita Oscillating Multitool XMT03Z Review
Apr 032016
 

Makita Oscillating Multi-ToolThis tool is one of Makita’s 18 volt LXT Lithium Ion family. I purchased it as a bare tool, meaning no batteries or charge in the package. I hoped that I could use it for various sawing and cutting jobs that proved awkward for other power tools and were too tedious to do with hand tools. My first project was a surprise. I was removing some wood exterior window trim and found that as I pulled it off, the caulk, although probably more than two decades old, was actually pulling off some of the paint and splinters of the underlying redwood siding!  I put a 2 inch scraper blade on the tool and used it to cut through the caulk flush with the siding. Ad a medium power setting, it made very short work of the job, leaving a smooth surface ready for painting!

My next use of the tool was also completely unexpected. I was gearing up to help a family member with a roofing project and saw the Dremel MM430 Multi-Knife blade. It has a wicket hook blade that I thought might have occasional use cutting shingles. I found that I could make short and beautiful work of trimming shingles in open valleys by simply running a chalk line and letting the blunt side of the blade ride on the metal flashing and just follow the chalk line down the valley! It cut through two full architectural type shingles (meaning 4 layers of shingle material) like butter! It also made short work of flush trim cuts along the roof rake edge. I’ll never do a roof without it! Especially for an amateur, this tool made short work of these jobs.

The Makita XMT03Z is a great addition to my Makita cordless family. While I bought mine at my local builder’s supply, Friedman’s, it is readily available through Amazon as a bare tool. See the previous link. I have only scratched the surface here, but the roofing use alone paid for it! This was my first experience with an oscillating multitool. This particular model is fairly comfortable to use, has power to burn for most applications, and is easy to control. Some descrptions of this particular model state that it has an LED light, which is true of the earlier 02Z model. This model does NOT have a light. I look for creativity from Makita in bulding the light back in to the next model.

Safety Warning!!  When swinging the quick change lever closed, keep your fingers OUT OF THE WAY! It will snap closed with a vengeance and put a nice bruise on the unsuspecting fingernail!