you mean you actually saw a RAT running along the fence line? oh man @tyler_white42 that is my actual nightmare. i would have lost it, i freak out just seeing a mouse in the garage. that weight sensitive feeder idea is genius though, i never even knew those existed. i think i'm gonna have to look into one because i'm pretty sure the regular birds around here are already spoiled enough, they don't need to compete with the rodents anyway. i bet the rats were like "free buffet thanks guys" and just moved in. your whole routine sounds way more controlled now, i might copy that exact plan.

My buddy Kevin had the same realization about 6 years into doing decks. He always hammered his nails straight in and wondered why the boards cupped so bad. Then his old man came out to help one weekend and showed him you gotta toe-nail the damn joists at an angle. Kevin told me he felt like an idiot driving home that night. He re-did his whole back deck the next month and it still sits solid after three winters. @aaronlee's point about the gravel base is smart too, my brother-in-law uses that method on his retaining walls. Honestly it's wild how easy it is to do something the wrong way for a decade and just blame the materials.

That's not quite right, dry sand usually makes cores crumble not crack.

Wait you counted for a whole week? That's some serious dedication right there.

How long did it take you to figure out the rest of the recipe might also be wrong?