The Rabbit Hole Operator

Just enough to survive.

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Author: 417jacksoftrade

  • Wood, Metal, and Sweat

    Installing a pier (Operator’s Log, Entry 005, 1/4/2026) They say you can only have two: good, fast, or cheap. The boss told us to make him proud but “get in and get out.” That meant we were aiming for good and fast. Of course, he also mentioned we were over budget before we even turned…

  • Site Prep

    Wiggling the Rock (Operators Log, Entry 004,12/28/25)  ​I didn’t realize it had gotten this late; I’ve been burning the midnight oil. I’ve sat at this computer for hours doing the “back-end” grind: organizing folders for episodes, prepping product files, and trying to line it all out in a way that’s actually manageable. It’s a different…

  • Rusted Running Boards

    “The Temporary Fix” (Operator’s Log, Entry 003, 12/21/25) I knew it was going to happen. The bottom of my running boards had been rusted for a while now. And when I stepped on tonight …it bent. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or resources to go buy one today. So the quick fix; welding a…

  • Old Dogs and Their New Tricks

    How to Sharpen a Chainsaw (Operator’s Log, Entry 002, 12/14/2025) It was cold, and it had rained recently, so it was too wet to work the dirt, and the boss had us cut some trees on his property. There were about nine tall oak trees, and just about every one of them was dead standing.…

  • So it begins

    I found it under a box near some dirty rags: my lost ambition Building the Near-Perfect Welding Cart (Operator’s Log, Entry 001) I had spent the last 3 weeks cleaning up the disaster that my garage had become—an overfilled storage unit. I committed to 10 minutes a day to undo what years of laziness had…