the dishes on a tightrope

Here it is: the good bones project.  A 100-year-old duplex, built as a duplex with two almost exactly mirroring two-story apartments.  

Notice the satellite dishes?  There were five, yes five, on the house when we took the project on last Fall.  Even if both apartments sign up for such service, that only means two. Apparently when you order this service they don't bother to reuse their old dishes or take them away when you end service. They don't take them away ever, in fact.  I tried calling the companies to have them removed but they are not interested. It was one of the first orders of business to take them all down.

I realized that this is what nephews are for!

 

Yes, I made him use that ridiculous narrow old ladder we found in the garage.  He balked at first, cause he teaches safety at his work, but then he finally did it.  At one point I started to follow him up it but changed my mind as I watched it sway with his every step.  The rungs are skinny with barely enough room for his boot-size. He went one foot in front of the other tight-roping his way to the top.  We went and bought a better beefier ladder after this - his pick.

The dishes are a small thing but annoyed the crap out of me visually.  I looked up and my eyes went right to them as they poked out of the house's facade. I cursed every time. Taking them down was a good way to build momentum wrangling the decades worth of miscellaneous cables, wiring and cords embedded into the sides and underbelly of this place. 

**I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my sister/s publicly for having such great sons.  This one (his nickname is Indi) lives part-time in Montana and part-time in Alaska.  When he's in town he sure is handy and he's a really good sport when I'm hell-bent on a project!