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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
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shazzy
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Joliet, IL
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Entry 95 of 227 |
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dodged a bullet tonight for sure. a wicked line of hail producing storms had their eyes on joliet all day long and blew apart and then reformed enough to give us a nice soaking of lightening charged rain drops as the bolts were hitting within half a block away. i was standing in my solarium tonight watching for hail when a bolt cracked so close it shook the ground. contemplated the odds of a direct hit on a pumpkin. that would be some wicked bad luck if it happened. lol. i did contemplate setting up the shade cloth after work and got it all out, but decided against it. while tracking the storm all afternoon like a nervous freak, i came up with a way to shade the entire 1385 in less then 20 minutes and the whole patch in about an hour if duty calls. tall rebar with rebar osha safety plastic caps on them that have a square flat bottom will be erected at prime support locations. i have the perimeter posts and steel rope cables still in place from the old system to tie on shade cloth to. 2 crossing cables in each direction over the plant can be clamped on in 5 minutes and tied with wire to the rebar up high. after one side of the 40' x 40' shade cloth is tied on, you drape it over the cables and pull from one side, then the other, sliding it in place. then secure to the border steel rope cable with wire tie. using a broom stick to push up on the shade cloth and slide over helps. instant circus tent. it shood work just like the old set up that had more crossing cables on 4 x 4 s left in place. besides that all the mister heads are on sturdy green garden stakes which should also disperse the load of the hail while i push it up and over the edges with a broom stick while wearing a hard hat. this is what i came up with in theory, and i see it working for minimal size hail. the hail in the storm that barely brushed us wiped out crops in iowa. i will be more prepared though.
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