Diabolical

 

What was I calculating to do THIS week?

Visit #1512, Sunday 5 January 25, 7:05-10:10AM, 5.8 miles, 5.3 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the high 20s, partly sunny and breezy.

Above was just one of many pages I filled with numbers this week while trying to solve a problem in Hubbard Park. Read on.

Enroute to the walkbridge over I-691, I encountered this type of sticker which continues to reappear on this tree despite my weekly removal.

I didn't expect to find our current park vandal-in-residence's pink paint before I crossed the highway, but I did. Rest assured, I addressed all that I found this week, on both sides of the highway, so I won't bore you with After photos.

At the walkbridge, I have concluded there is one dedicated vandal who routinely posts politically and socially referenced stickers on this particular fence post. I continue to remove them.

Once beyond the walkbridge, I began to follow the pink trail of graffiti and cover it.

In addition,  I found a number of signs and whatnot, which of course I removed.

But what I was REALLY after this week were trees where our vandal has been painting marks on the trees too high for me to reach.

There were more. I like a good challenge! It took me a while to scheme up my diabolical solution, and unfortunately I can't show it to you for concern our enemy will get their own ideas. But yes, I managed to reach them all, to taunt and torment our vandal. I may have been a french soldier in a previous life!

Done with that task, I hiked up toward Castle Craig and was surprised to find...

...new guardrails! They weren't just here, but further up the road toward Castle Craig, and much lower down the road near Merimere Reservoir. I see the work is not completed.

The installers were even carting away the old, cabled guardrails. This was decades overdue and quite an improvement which I'm sure will last a long time. My only complaint is, they don't match the landscape-the vintage park vs. the modern guardrails.

What I had in mind is what is commonly called "coreten" (a brand name), or "weathering rust rail". However, I wasn't the only one thinking of aesthetics, and after reading THIS STUDY, it seems to me that the galvanized steel guardrail the city selected was the best choice for longevity and cost, with the only option being to apply a colored stain to the galvanized guardrail, which would have increased cost anyway.

The company has not completed the work so look for more new guardrail to be installed. I talked to a passing hiker and asked their opinion. They thought the road now looked "narrower" (I'm sure the road width has not changed) to which I replied that might be a good thing if it results in drivers slowing down as a result.

I also found Season of the Missing Glove 2024/25, Entry #4.

But what about my other diabolical plan for today and what do all those numbers on the paper at the top of the blog mean?

Remember that gate across the Maloney Canal and the lock which has been missing since November?

I tried reaching out directly to the Meriden Water Department. No response.

I put the issue to several people within the city structure, via this blog. Whether they contacted the water department or not I don't know. What I do know is the lock still hasn't been replaced yet. ATVers could easily remove the barrier or someone could steal the bar and sell it for scrap.

My diabolical plan was to replace the lock myself. Getting it off would be the water department's problem and maybe that would motivate them to replace it.

What I had was a padlock I hadn't used in YEARS. It's been so long I forgot the combination which would not be a problem for me but, the lock was closed.

(A replica of the lock in question.)

Well, what do Americans do when they want to learn how to do something?

Open a book? Are you kidding; only educated people open books. The rest of us WATCH YOUTUBE!

I must have watched, and tried, a dozen different methods of picking a Master Lock, such as this one:

I spent HOURS trying different methods and writing down numbers. Nothing worked. So I decided to pool YouTube with my prison skills 😉. Lo and behold...

I couldn't believe it-I almost pooped a battleship! Like Wile E. Coyote, I am a Super Genius!

And no; I didn't write down the combination and I wasn't about to retry my method to find out! This padlock was on a one-way trip to the Maloney Canal.

I'm sure the water department owns a pair of boltcutters which they can put to use when they finally decide to re-install their own lock. Otherwise, they can borrow my pair!

I dropped off my trash for the day and this Super Genius went home.