Ah yes, I can still easily recall the instrumental theme music of Sanford & Son and see Fred Sanford sitting out in front of his business establishment reading the newspaper as Lamont drove up in the old red 1951 Ford pickup truck. I can still recall old Fred saying, "You Big Dummy" or "This is the big one, Elizabeth. I'm comin' to meet ya honey!" As a young boy I watched that sitcom as it aired between 1972 - 1977. Fred and Lamont ran Sanford & Son Salvage, which was essentially a junkyard.
In some ways I think that Sanford & Son made an impression on me. By that, I mean that I have a certain affinity for 'junk.' I always look at things destined for the garbage and think if there is any way that they can be used again. Weird, maybe? I have containers of nuts, bolts, washers, and screws on my workbench from things I take apart before throwing away. The general idea is that I'll use them again in another project, but often I either waste a lot of time looking through the containers for the items that I need, that it would have been simpler to just make a trip to the hardware store and purchase a brand new part.
While I am a pack rat, I don't like clutter, so all my piles of junk are neatly stacked in piles hidden from view and are mentally cataloged so I'll hopefully be able to find them when I need them. There are definitely times when that junk item that should probably reside in the Jefferson Davis Parish Landfill, actually comes in useful. I'll show you an example today.
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| Our kids' old swing set RIP |
In
THIS BLOG POST FROM 2014 I talk about disassembling the kids' old swing set. It was sort of an emotional thing for me. I'm an old softie on some things. While, as the post describes, many of the pieces of the disassembled swing set went to the landfill, I did save the tubing that made up the six supporting legs and top bar for the swing set. They have been occupying a spot between the rain collection barrels and the air conditioning units, just lying there, biding their time until their opportunity presented itself to take on a second life and become useful again. This weekend that time came.
Back when the kids showed goats around 2002, my Dad, Greg Meaux, and I built a small barn. The barn still stands, but is in need of some repair. The cows, goats and chickens use it as a place of shelter in rain storms or cold weather. Over time the 2 X 4 bottom supports have come into contact with the ground and completely rotted. All it would take is for one of the calves to hit the tin siding of the barn, and without any bottom bracing, the tin would bend upward. This weekend I was going to make a trip to the local hardware store and buy some treated lumber and fix it, when I thought about the old swing set!
I took my measurements and pulled out the old swing set tubing and marked it. Using a grinder, I cut the tubing back until there was no more rust. Then I took a 16 pound sledge hammer and flattened the two ends. Finally I got a drill and drilled holes in the flattened ends, screwed the piping to the corner barn support posts, and then using metal screws, attached the tin to the tubing. Voila!
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| A couple of hens inspect the construction |
The barn is sturdy once more!
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| The swing set re-invents itself! |
Now, not only is the barn repaired without having to expend any additional cash at the hardware store, but it is sturdier and will last longer than if I had purchased lumber. There is one more benefit, too!
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| Still going strong - ~20 years later |
When I'm puttering around in the barn and look down and see the familiar blue and green striping of the old swing set that is now holding the barn together, I'll have happy memories of when the kids were younger.
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| A long, long time ago... |
Eat your heart out, Fred and Lamont. I've got my own salvage yard!
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