Making a Mess with Lori, part 2

I had another handyman experience today!

In quintessential Anchorage fashion, I came home from running eight miles at the gym to find our fence had fallen apart in a first snow miracle. One of the boards was sitting on the ground, and the gate was in an impossible position.

The gate, which swings inward towards the backyard, was now in front of the fence, meaning instead it was -5 degrees forward from where it should be. I didn't take pictures, so here's a quick illustration of what I'm talking about.

This is what it looked like before it was broken:

Note the lines indicating the swinging motion that the fence can usually handle. Now, here's the after picture:

Now, there are many things that prevent this gate from getting in this position other than the hinges. First of all, this fence is impossible to actually move, because it's hung all wrong. In order for me to close the gate, I have to actually raise the gate with all my body weight and push forward. There is also a little metal thingy that holds the gate to the fence. Somehow, the gate pushed through all this, and also split the board that holds the metal thingy.

In addition, there was another board lying on the ground (I won't draw a picture of that). Its' nails were crooked upward at a funny angle that I find unlikely to have held the board to the fence.

Now, I know what you all Outside are thinking, and I don't think it was moose :). In order for the moose to do this, I believe they would have needed to be inside my fence and pushed outward. Last I checked, no moose in my yard.

A similar thing goes for "hoodlums". We did have an egg in our lawn the other day, and I assume since we don't have chickens, teenagers of one sort or another were involved. Kids might have done this, but I don't get why they would be hanging out on our fence, pulling down boards. If so, those are some seriously bored children who should be channelled into playing hockey.

So I chalked it up to a first snow miracle, got out my working outfit and shuffled out into the cold to fix my fence. Somehow I got the board back on, but it's really crooked. I'm hoping that snow will cover that up until spring. For the fence, I had to take off the metal thingy, push the gate back in place, and put back the metal thing. I left the split board there for the time being -- after seeing what a horrible job I did on the one board, I think I need some help before fixing the other one.

All in all, considering that it was below freezing and I had just run 8 miles, not such a bad job!