7.04.2025 Making haste slowly.

 ~o~

  Monday 7th 29F/-2C. Another frost followed by all day sunshine. It should reach around 14C/57F in the afternoon. 

 Up at 6.30 after a quiet night and later dozing. I was aching from yesterday's activities when I turned over in bed. It seems to have subsided but I shall adjust my effort levels accordingly. 

 I am not sure I shall continue with the demolition this morning. It has reached the point of instability. Which needs to be carefully addressed for safety reasons. Or overcome with brute force! There is much tidying to do before I dare to saw through the "legs" and pull the building's remaining carcase down. Avoiding damage to the shed/workshop alongside is paramount.  

 The legs are solidly anchored to buried, concrete foundation blocks by sturdy steel-work brackets. They will not willingly give way nor lift until sawn through. Though they can probably flex enough to allow the building to fold and collapse. The cladding was largely responsible for the building's inherent stiffness. That safety factor has now been removed.

 The observatory floor does not want to let go of its Torx screws. It could hold together as a unit even if the building was pulled sideways. Using a bayonet saw while working up on the floor would be risky. I foresee sawing through the legs above the brackets as the safest way forward. Let the legs fold as they will. While I am working from the outside of the building. 

  The octagonal shape of the building adds some complication. The legs are unlikely to fold like a simple parallelogram. Not with such a difference in radius relative to their footprint. It is not a simple, square box or rectangle. Which is always inherently unstable unless triangulated with braces, stiff walls, or using stressed skin cladding. 

 I still have a sturdy steel post set in concrete to the SW of the building. This once held a large [2.3m] parabolic antenna for satellite TV reception. I could easily attach my chain hoist to this post. To apply strong and adjustable tension to the building away from the workshop. This could pull high on the nearest upright. Hopefully bringing the observatory down as safely as I can manage. From the safety of distance and a clear escape path.   

 7.45. The sun is well up. Time for a walk.

 9.00 Only a short walk. Then I set up the chain hoist and a heavy duty ratchet strap. The building seems far stiffer than I had imagined. The central pier is still bolted down. So that needs sawing at the base of the legs. I still have to remove the huge, warehouse stepladder. It is no longer attached to the building but there is quite a lot of timber to cut before it can be freed. I am sweating profusely despite the lingering frost.  

 With regards to some recent dizziness and concerns about my low blood pressure: The doctor has suggested I reduce the dose of one of my tablets. I take two of those tablets per day. So reducing to one is easy.

 16.45 Returned from a tootle into the village in the Morris. I bought some salad items as the weather is more suitable now. Plus some veggie. I have hardly been near anything green for ages. 

 Dinner was salad. I can't remember how long ago it was that I last had it. Heart lettuce, sliced cucumber, a hard boiled egg, grated carrots, tuna, halved cherry tomatoes and grated, extra mature, Cheddar cheese. I don't think I forgot anything.

 

 ~o~