Why did it take me all these years to know that my Dad is an engineer. He studied and worked as an architect and always had the greatest printing ever. We knew he could draw up plans but, no idea how his brain could figure things out. For example, the swing, slide, playset in the back needed to be moved. As you can't really see, but before the swing was removed it faced the fence and Mom asked him to turn it. Seems like some strapping brothers should be able to pick it up and turn it, NOT.
The playset had been sitting there for a few years and had sunk into the grass. So Dad thought about what to do and drew some pictures. He figured he could turn the playset 45 degrees and then the slide would face the grass at a diagonal. Therefore enough room for the kids to slide down the slide and not run into the fence. So, Dad asked Mark and I to come outside and help him, though he really didn't need our help very much. He had everything laid out and ready to go. He took a metal bar and stuck it under each corner, using a piece of wood for leverage (sorry if this is hard to visualize, I'm doing my best), then lifted up the corner. Then Mark pushed the 1 x 4 underneath. They repeated this on each corner.
Then Dad took the piece of wood, a 4x4, that would hold the swings and used it to push the playset (using leverage) and in seconds it moved it perfectly 45 degrees. Genius. It was remarkable. (Thank you to Nanette for the "after" photos)
The playset had been sitting there for a few years and had sunk into the grass. So Dad thought about what to do and drew some pictures. He figured he could turn the playset 45 degrees and then the slide would face the grass at a diagonal. Therefore enough room for the kids to slide down the slide and not run into the fence. So, Dad asked Mark and I to come outside and help him, though he really didn't need our help very much. He had everything laid out and ready to go. He took a metal bar and stuck it under each corner, using a piece of wood for leverage (sorry if this is hard to visualize, I'm doing my best), then lifted up the corner. Then Mark pushed the 1 x 4 underneath. They repeated this on each corner.
Then Dad took the piece of wood, a 4x4, that would hold the swings and used it to push the playset (using leverage) and in seconds it moved it perfectly 45 degrees. Genius. It was remarkable. (Thank you to Nanette for the "after" photos)
Playset before it was moved and a little disassembled. The slide would have been attached and pointing toward the fence.
You can see the grass where the playset used to be.
Close up of the ground and the 45 degree turn.
Slide now facing diagonally, plenty of room for the grandkids to fly off the slide onto the grass. Also, the swing set bar on the right, is the lever Dad used as a lever to actually turn it.
Excellent shot of the slide, thank you Nan.
The happy playset in it's new location. Notice the beautiful yellow roses along the fence.
No comments:
Post a Comment