See, this is why hiring contractors is good.

I may have given you the impression that, when it comes to building projects, I'm not exactly Bob Villa. This impression is true. I frequently find myself doing things when, truth be told, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. People with actual self-respect call these "learning experiences." I just call it screwing up.

So...when I decided to mount the new auxiliary generator outdoors, having already damaged two by letting them run indoors, I built an awning to keep off the rain and snow:



This awning almost instantly (like the very next morning) proved itself far too small: I had assumed that the generator's position on an inside corner of the sheltered side of a building would let me get away with a small awning, so that I could get in and do things like add fuel without being too inconvenienced by the cover. Not so much. Next morning, new generator covered with snow.

Hm.

Okay, so build a bigger awning:



This time I had the shingles I'd brought back from the city, and I thought: Since you don't know how to use shingles either, I'll bet it would be easier to shingle the awning while it's on sawhorses, rather than have to do it on a ladder.

Right? Right? Bueller?

Jesus H. Christ Stuck in Traffic - do you know how much those things weigh? Oh, sure, I do now.

I only dropped it once. And I was right about the old awning making a very fine pedestal for the generator, so there.