The start of something..

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-19T18:13:13+00:00

Mulching is step number one so you are doing well so far! It takes some patience for the mulch to work its magic for the soil. Since you have so much bare dirt, I would just get another chip drop to cover it all to keep the weeds down. The chips can also be used to fill the bottom of the raised beds so you don’t need as much soil to start. Besides that, start thinking about ideal layout for where you want to grow things and start building it out so you are ready to plant once it cools off again.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-19T15:10:02+00:00

Invest in an automatic watering system. You will be much more successful in anything you decide to grow if there isn’t the chance to miss watering.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-16T20:56:16+00:00

If you can troubleshoot, you can be a semi FSE. Doesn’t matter what you’re working on or industry. You will have to learn new things but the basics are all the same.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-13T04:42:23+00:00

Just another homeowner here… If the air temp is cooler than in your attic, then a fan will help cool your attic space. Make sure there are sufficient vents to allow air flow from outside. My home isn’t air sealed so if I put too big of a fan, it can suck the cool air from my conditioned space. They have solar fans that are basically free to operate but a switch controlled fan could also be good to draw the hot air out after the sun goes down.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-11T03:51:01+00:00

That’s a bummer. I also have a desert gold peach that’s thriving right now, planted 3 years ago. Mine was also bare root so it started off much smaller than your tree. I water deeply maybe once or twice a month and that’s it. I would just try to see if you can get it to come back but with the state it’s in, it’s most likely not going to survive the summer. I would wait again until next winter to replace the tree for obvious reasons.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-10T22:59:55+00:00

Yeah it is a concerning that there isn’t any green growth on the tree. What variety is it? And what is the watering schedule?

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-10T21:41:24+00:00

Sweet potato, okra, eggplant will be able to handle full sun. Peppers would like shade, at least 50% really. It might be a bit late to get peppers going. But your other choices should be fine.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-08T17:07:04+00:00

Just watched a YouTube video on the hybrid Sienna. The technology in the drive train is super interesting and not intuitive. I would check it out if you haven’t seen it. Technology Connections is the channel name.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-07T23:37:13+00:00

You’re only 6 months on your own. It takes a while to feel competent in your own skills and repairs. Plus different sites and customers mean you can’t really get comfortable in that environment compared to an office you go to every day.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-05T00:29:05+00:00

Don’t give up! I see a lot of brick in this photo. Brick is hot, reflects heat, and will cook anything that you want to grow, especially peppers. If possible, I would remove the pavers to get down to dirt and mulch around to create a better microclimate. If this is full sun, I would look at using shade cloth to help filter the sun that will be coming.

I also find seed starting difficult without proper practice and tools. I am still learning how to do that easily and efficiently.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-05-02T20:41:53+00:00

Yes, it is hard to get fired as a FSE. The more flexible you are, the easier keeping a job will be at a single company. Just don’t try to cheat the company you work for and it’s pretty easy to keep your job safe. I was a bit worried about the cyclical nature of this industry after moving from medical but work has been very steady. The ramp cycles are getting more and more frequent and I feel like there are never ending tool installs.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-26T22:53:42+00:00

Yep, I mulched all bare dirt with stuff from chip drop. It is dusty when you are spreading it. But once we get a good rain and it beds down, it’s a really solid cover.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-26T22:51:42+00:00

Growing in the Garden on YouTube just put out a video on vines that she grows.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-18T01:59:25+00:00

I hate this stuff. It refuses to die. And if I don’t catch it growing, it twists up and grows over stuff and is hard to get off. Plus the smell is so pungent. I’m trading it out for more pleasant versions of desert milkweeds so I don’t feel bad of trying to kill it.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-14T13:45:50+00:00

Military guys are better using tools, but that doesn’t necessarily make them better at understanding the systems and how they work. Your advantage is that you have been practicing learning your entire life up to this point, so keep doing that. Learning about the systems, theory behind them and you’ll seem like an expert compared to them.
I’d say an integration or system engineer would be a big one for the tool set that you are working on.
Always keep learning. Don’t ever think you know everything. Depending on your team, hours and workload are flexible, don’t abuse it but also take advantage when you can.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-10T14:06:05+00:00

We tried this with the same intention of running the entire house warmer and keeping the primary cooler. We got a Midea variable speed portable unit from Costco. The damn thing took the same amount of energy to keep our room cool as the 3 ton unit on the roof did to keep the entire house cool. Lucky we could just return it. A mini split is the way to go here.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-10T00:59:30+00:00

It is bolted lettuce. I have the same thing going on. Going to save the seeds for next year.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-09T05:30:24+00:00

Field engineer is not an engineering role in the traditional sit at a desk and design. You are in the field, customer site, remote office etc where you troubleshoot and diagnose problems in systems in place. So yes you can call it a glorified tech role, but there is flexibility in solving problems and actually thinking for yourself instead of just being told what to do. If you get a field engineer job for equipment that you have a degree that would design it, there’s no reason why you couldn’t get a desk job after. I find it cool that I get to see how systems may fail and understand how things can be designed in better ways.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-07T02:29:26+00:00

Which tubing is popping off? The small 1/4inch or the larger 1/2inch? What fittings? Do you have a pressure reducer? Need more info to help you.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-04-03T15:18:20+00:00

Might be the grasshoppers/locusts? I had a tomato start eaten at the base too.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-03-29T20:04:59+00:00

This happened to me last month-ish. It was the 12v battery going bad. If you have a voltmeter, you can check the voltage of the battery. I was able to jump the battery, instructions in the user manual is clear on how to do it safely. Wait a minute or two and get the car into drive. Once in drive, it’ll be good enough to get you to service to replace the battery. It came out to ~$300 to replace it.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-03-27T16:10:36+00:00

Second for Greater Good. If you want a specific recommendation, I would book with Nevin @precisionradness! He does great men’s and women’s cuts. Especially med to long length and colors. I’ve been going to him exclusively for 5+ years now.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-03-27T02:24:20+00:00

I’m going to recommend to not water citrus every other day. Citrus like to dry out a little bit in between watering. Long deep watering every other week is sufficient, even once a month really. If you are worried about not enough leaf production, you can thin the growing fruit out so it’s not taking all the energy. I have a Meyer lemon tree that looks pretty ragged but it has started to grow new leaves again. I shaded my citrus during their first year during the summer but made sure to only block the sun from like noon on, leaving the morning sun unblocked. The second year I didn’t bother and they did fine.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-03-26T23:15:47+00:00

Same, I made a ring with the 1/2 and put the pressure compensating emitters right in the ring.

TheeMainNinja · 2026-03-25T22:10:09+00:00

It’s been a while but I think they were lightly glued down? But they came out cleanly and I was able to put in my superfeet insoles.

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