how to drill a two foot hole through a tree.

how to drill a two foot hole through a tree. I.

wanting to make progress on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s) i asked about drilling a hole through a tree and got some fantastic advice which led me to ordering a big bit, baby. but how to get that bit through the tree? well, for that, you need a big drill. something like the milwaukee 3/4 inch “super hole shooter” which our local true value “agri-center” has in stock for rent.

the agri-center folks loooove when i start a big project and are always very helpful with advice and tips. when i picked up the super shooter the rental guy told me to keep a good grip on it and to be mighty careful because it’d really want to twist me around the tree.

turns out it went smooth as a hot knife through butter.

how to drill a two foot hole through a tree. II.

after i drilled the hole, i banged a 3 foot threaded rod through the hole which will hold the tree house supports. i thought it would be a pain to get the rod all the way through but it went in without too much of a fight.

next up, hanging the supports without falling from the ladder!

a big bit, baby!

a big bit, baby!

progress on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s) is going a little slower than i’d like ( pesky marathon training! ) but it’s still happening.

thanks to suggestions after asking about drilling a hole through a tree i done did ordered a 3/4″ x 24″ auger bit which is plenty long enough to make it through the tree 12 feet up.

i’m hoping to drill a hole straight through two trees, run threaded rod through the holes and bolt the tree house supports to the threaded rod. so now i just need to figure out how to drill the holes through two trees that are about 15 feet apart so everything will be level after i start building the deck on top of the supports.

45 degrees F. time to bust out the fashionable winter running gear.

45 degrees F.   time to bust out the fashionable winter running gear.

finally running weather befitting a snowdeal! after running in brutal heat and humidity all. summer. long. i am absolutely, positively ready for running in colder weather and much, much prefer 32F-60F running over 70F-90F. and, hey, what’s not to love about running around in veeeeery fashionable cold weather stretch pants?

i’ve had these hind running pants forever and really like them. they do a fantastic job keeping me warm even in the 10-30F range. but this comment leads me to believe the well-known reputation for quality has disappeared in recent years.

anyone have any recommendations for reasonably priced cold weather pants?

tapering down for the chicago marathon which, unbelievably is only two weeks away! a mere 9 mile run in coold weather today after weeks of long run in the heat felt great even with 20mph wind gusts. i can only hope it’s this cool on race day.

here comes the science: why cilantro-haters hate cilantro

six years after i started documenting my dislike of cilantro ( and here ) after learning i was not alone upon reading a boingboing post, they point to new research on the genetic basis for why cilantro-haters hate cilantro which is linked to a variation in a gene associated with our sense of smell. see also previous reports, “getting to the root of the great cilantro divide” and “cilantro haters, it’s not your fault”.