Asphalt Driveway Repair

I've been putting off repairing the sunken asphalt near my garage apron for a little while because I knew it was going to suck.  Overall, it wasn't too bad but it's probably only ok now that I am finished with it.

The Problem:
There are cinder blocks that are supporting the asphalt next to the cement garage apron and the sand and dirt in the holes in the blocks erode away.  This is due to builders taking shortcuts by not properly filling the holes in and also by improper drainage of water away from the house which erodes the sand away from under the blocks (from the previous owner who never cleaned the gutters....)

The Expensive Solutions:
The asphalt began to sink last summer and not knowing how to repair it, I called for many quotes.  Most asphalt companies wanted $600 to repair it by taking out a 3ft section and filling it all in.  They said it may not completely solve it and the whole thing may need to be replaced eventually.  I called a concrete guy next to see how much it would be to put in a concrete driveway.  He was quoting around $3300 which was cheaper than a whole asphalt driveway.  If or when I need to replace the whole thing, I'm going concrete.

Temp Fix #1:
For a temporary fix, I used some driveway blackjack stuff to seal up the space between the  asphalt and the cement for a quick fix before winter to keep water from freezing and doing some major damage.

Temp Fix #2 (only temporary until I need to replace the whole driveway):
Fast forward one year and I'm thinking that fix might hold again but nope  I drove over the apron two weeks ago and a chuck about the size of a softball fell through.  Now I have a major problem that needs to be fixed before winter, and I'm not putting $3k down for a new driveway with the holiday's coming up.

So here's what I did:

Step 1:  Use a hammer to remove the remaining sunken areas along the apron.

See the 3ft deep holes in between the cinder blocks?  This is bad.  This step took about 2 hours with a hammer, chisel, and a superbar.

Step 2:  Fill in the holes with class 5 gravel, pack down as best possible, then fill with crushed limestone.

I used a 1"x1"x5ft long pine board to tamp the class 5 gravel down.  I filled about 4" then tamped.  It was the longest part of the process and the most grueling.  I went though about 1/2 cubic yard of class 5.  On top of the class 5, I used some larger crushed limestone, tamped it down and left about 1" to 1.5" of space from the top which would be used to put the asphalt patch in.  This was all found at our local gardening and landscape center, much cheaper than buying bags of stuff from a home improvement retailer.  Afterwards, I sprayed water over the apron and the freshly laid rocks to clean off dirt and provide a better surface for the cold asphalt patch to adhere to.  I also figured the large limestone rocks would be less dusty than the class 5 gravel and having large chucks to support the asphalt patch.  This whole step took about 3 to 4 hours including trips to the store.


Step 3:  Fill int he rest with cold asphalt patch. 

This stuff is nasty.  It's sticky, and gets everywhere.  Use gloves and pour some into the hole, stopping every 1" of depth to tamp down with a 2"x4" board turned on its side.  I had some fantastic help from my wife who scooped this out of the bag with a wood shim while I held the bag and massaged the pebbles of patch up to the spout we cut from a corner.  This step took about an hour.

I need to have the whole driveway sealed (previous owner never did that either...) so this was an important repair to get done before I have it sealed.

Just very glad to have this project done.  The beers are tasting very good right now.  Now to relax for the rest of the Labor day weekend!

McNabb to Vikes deal

Sounds like this deal is almost a go.  Couple of 6th rounders for McNabb at a reduced contract sounds like a pretty good plan for the Vikings.

I'm 100% supportive of Ponder for our long term option but giving Ponder some time to Ponder and learn the NFL will be good.  McNabb still has some gas left in him and the Vikes still have a decent team, not great, but we'll see.  All it took was Favre to come in and show them they had a kick ass offense.  Just need to get that O-line locked down and I think the offense would be a lot better.  On the D side, they still need to lock down the secondary which has plagued them forever. 

We'll see though, I'm just glad to be able to discuss football again!

The Best Weight Loss Plan Ever!!!

My wife and I have been walking frequently this summer.  One of us pushes the stroller with the baby and the other holds the leash for the dog.  At a specific point in the walk, there is a small hill by a pond and whoever has the stroller begins the race.  The dog on the leash usually is the hold up but it's a close race between stroller pusher and dog puller.

Today, my wife mentioned that this could be considered a routine exercise plan involving 20 ft sprints.

I have lost some weight recently and I am going to attribute it to my new weight loss plan.  Here's the sales pitch:

"Have you wanted to lose weight?


Well, you can lose a ton of weight by just doing ONE 20 ft sprint each day!  Yes, only ONE 20 ft sprint.  Here's how it works:


Step 1)  Put on your shoes
Step 2)  Run a 20 ft sprint
Step 3)  Rest and repeat tomorrow


Oh and also, just follow this minor supplemental nutrition guide of only eating 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 grilled chicken breast, 1 orange, and 2 glasses of water each day. 


That's right, with only ONE 20 ft sprint each day (and following the nutrition guide), you can lose as much weight as you want! "

So, what do you think?

NFL Lockout ends

Finally, the lockout has ended and we can get back to discussing football!  It will be a very large flurry of activity the next few weeks as teams prepare for the season, sign players, trade, etc.

My Vikings are already talking about signing a veteran QB with Donovan McNabb.  I used to be utterly opposed to this earlier this year before the draft but I'm warming to the idea.  If the compensation is right to the Redskins (I heard 6th or 7th rounder, worth it) and the right deal can be made with McNabb on renegotiating his contract (which he may do because of his play lately) and he can deal with being a backup eventually later this year or next year (which he might again because of his play lately), then I'm for the deal.  We'll see what happens. 

Maybe Sid Rice will stay if we get a veteran QB with some experience.  I do like Christian Ponder but I understand some people's concerns with a rookie starting.  There just isn't that many Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, or Sam Bradford's out there which can be effective as a rookie.

At least the NFL lockout is done and we can begin talking football again!

Backup hard drives

I recently took a sale opportunity at an online computer parts retailer to order two external hard drives.  The purpose was to create multiple back ups for all of our family pictures and other important documents (and a few pc game save files!).

The hard drives I purchased are:

Hitachi Mobile 500GB External USB 2.0
Iomega eGo 500GB Portable Hard Drive SuperSpeed USB 3.0

Both Hitatchi and Iomega have good general reputations for low failure rate of products. 

Some people may ask "Why two external hard drives?  Why not just your PC and one external hard drive?  Wouldn't this provide enough redundancy backup?"

Although the Redundant Department of Redundancy may have an official ruling on the absurdity of this idea, the reasoning behind a second external hard drive is in case of fire or natural disaster.  "But how would having two external hard drives prevent a natural disaster from destroying all 3 of your save locations?" you may ask.  The second hard drive has been taken to my place of work 20 miles away.

Each month, I bring home the hard drive from work, copy any new pictures and documents from both my PC and my labtop to each external hard drive, and bring one of the hard drives back to work.

I also purchased two different brands of hard drives, not wanting to get two hard drives of the exact same lot which may have an unknownly high rate of failure down the road and both fail during the same time frame.  Also, I did not want to purchase from the same manufacturer, since hard drive models may share parts from the same supplier between models.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase of the two hard drives and the backup method.

It was hot at Target Field, but the beer was cold!

Attended my first Minnesota Twins game of the season yesterday and my first nooner ever.  It was an important game as they were down 2-1 in the series with the AL Central leading Indians.  Went with a few co-workers to the game and we sure picked a good day... only during the most record breaking week in Minnesota.  100 degrees with a heat index of 115 degrees.  A $7.25 beer never tasted so good.  The second was also good.  However, I had to use the old 1:1 beer water ratio in the order of water beer beer water.  Was so hot that the beer was almost warm even when chugging it. 

The humidity as also so thick you could cut it with a knife and almost eat it on a hot dog.  Speaking of hot dogs, the Grill Dog has to be the best hot dog in the place.  They load it up with grilled onions and was fantastic. 

Twins ended up with a victory after being tied 4-4 at the start of the bottom of the either and then scored 3 runs on a couple of nice hits strung together and a 2 run RBI hit by new Japanese Twins player Tsuyoshi Nishioka.  Joe Nathan came in to close out the 9th, let up one homer but finished it out.

Tt was a great game, and as always, great to get out and see the gorgeous Target Field again.