Hofstadter's Law

Today was just going to be a short project day. We got a little rain. No reason to do too much.

I after becoming fully caffeinated I notice a small tree down in the backyard.



My first thought was wind damage - even though nothing else looked touched. It was a weird area for damage, it was sort of wedged into a corner. So we went out to examine it and found it had no roots. Which was pretty weird since you can see it is still flowering. How does that even happen?



Anyway - handle the tree and onto the main project. Fixing the gate my contractor built - but have never been able to use.

I really thought it was a minor issue. I would have been happier if I didn't need to fix it - but it seemed so small that hassling the contractor was just not worth it. We are capable of fixing things.

I wanted to put another cable brace - my husband wanted to tighten the brace already on it.



Apparently tightening up the existing brace causes the gate to torque in 2 directions instead of only 1.



After diagnosing this thing for about a half an hour - it now looks like instead of being less than an hour of work - it will be at least a half day project. A perfect example of Hofstadter's Law.

We will have to take the gate off. Apparently when you make the door square - it pushes the top right corner so far up, the gate is no longer level.

We have to buy new hinges. Push the bottom right hinge out. Add a 3rd hinge above the top one to support the weight of the gate. The 2x4 is just not capable of supporting the weight as built - and sags at the top.

Move all the latch hardware so the mates meet.

I just hate paying for things I have to fix anyway - but it is way too late now, and I just have to move past it.

All I know is that it better rain this winter. I need some down-time. Cursed California sun.