Riding Dirty

Free dirt!

After the last rain, which was perhaps the only real rainfall I've had so far, I noticed that the grading around the house isn't sufficient. Luckily, someone in the neighborhood's Facebook group was digging a foundation for a new garage and posted that they had some dirty to give away. On Saturday morning, I went and picked up about four wheelbarrows full in my barely not a compact truck SUV. It was just enough for the space between the sidewalk and foundation in front of my side entrance.

I had to rake and shovel all the annoying landscaping stones that had been used as fill. Apparently someone thought, or perhaps didn't think at all, that a flat flower bed filled with rocks would carry water away from the foundation. After about four hours, I had the old stuff removed and the new dirt watered down.

While picking up the dirt, I noticed that someone was throwing out a decent-sized, hard-shell car roof cargo carrier. I had thought about buying one in the past, but couldn't justify the $400+ price. Later that day, I went back and brought it home. To my surprise, the paint even matches my car. 

There are some holes in the bottom where it appears they had used improper mounts that caused premature stress and failure. I also don't have a key to lock it. I ordered a patch kit to fix the holes in the bottom and I plan on using U-bolts with plates to spread out the forces. 

It is a Volvo-branded box, but I'm guessing they don't actually design or make them. The lock core serial number looks to be a Thule code, so I ordered a Thule lock core removal key, a new core to match my current Thule rack locks and another key. I'm hoping that will take care of the lock issue and I'll have a good cargo carrier for less than $100. It might actually be less than half of that.