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| Putting up flags by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 05/23/2013, 8:17pm PDT | ||||
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 Flags
I bought a couple of cheap flags, in the 9 x 12" size for about a buck apiece, on a two-foot stick, so I can put them up for July 4. I also decided to break down and buy a $15 flag on a mounting pole; I've been wanting to put one up for a while. I did call Miss Utility, as ridiculous as it would seem for a hole of less than 8 inches in depth, a few days ago, to get a free permit that confirms that there are no buried utilities, but it costs nothing and guarantees safety. The problem I've had with the little flags is, the sons-a-bitches that steal them. I'll use my rubber mallet to pound them into the ground, and invariably someone rips them out and takes them. Well, this year I decided to do something different. I spent a bit extra money.  I have a project that I need about 5 feet of PVC pipe. Cheap 1/2" pipe in the ten foot size is $1.75 at Home Depot. So I could take it home on the bus and to use if for this project, I spent money and bought a $5 hacksaw, I probably need one anyway. I cut the extra off, and I sawed a few pieces. I bought a $1.89 bag of 60# of Sakrete extra-strength concrete. A couple days ago, I spent $6 at Rite-Aid and bought a 4' long steel spade shovel (that's a shovel with a spade-sized (maybe 3-4" wide) as opposed to a shovel-sized (6" wide?) blade, about 1/2 as wide, so I can use it with my hands to dig instead of needing to push on it by stepping on the blade, which I can't do.)
 So, I dig a hole about 4" deep, and I use a bowl and a trowel to dig out the Sakrete, pour it into the bowl, have a 2-liter soda bottle I filled with water, then pour some water into the hole, pour the contrete in, then use the plastic pipe to mix the water and concrete, and add more concrete until it's a bit thick. Now push about a 1 foot piece of the remaining pipe I cut it into so it sticks. Add more concrete and water until the pipe is buried about 6" in, then throw the dirt back on it so someone could grow grass over what used to be a hole.
 Now, pour some concrete in the bowl, pour it into the pipe, pour water on top, then push the flag into it, so it stands in the pipe buried about 4 inches but raised up about 8".
I now have a flag stuck in concrete in a pipe that itself is buried in 4" of concrete in the ground. I had also cut a couple of holes in the bottom of the pipe so the concrete would lock inside of the pipe and through it as well. Excluding tools, which I will have for many more years of service and can use for other things, it cost me about 20c worth of pipe (which was surplus anyway) and a nickel's worth of concrete. And I still have over 55 pounds of concrete left.  I think I'll do a video on how I put the flag in when I do the other flag on the other side of my front door.
Let's see them fuckers try to steal this flag now! |
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Putting up flags by 05/23/2013, 8:17pm PDT  |
