Let
it snow, let it snow, let it snow?
Oh the fire
inside is frightful
And the view
outside so white-ful
Construction's
got a ways to go
Stop the snow,
stop the snow, stop the snow!
FRIGHTFUL
Creosote.
Splotch. Splatter. Smoke. Stench. Wild and untamed woodstove wreaks havoc in Park Avenue. Thanksgiving's happy luck with the woodstove
ran out promptly enough for creosote to splatter on the foot rug. Creosote
dripped onto the floor overnight again at the end of the month. Despite
C&C's ongoing woodstove maintenance task, the Wacky Wahooni caused problems
throughout December. Burning the purchased wood ain't helping either: the
vendor's claims of "dry" turned out so wrong. Oh, the fire inside is
frightful indeed!
Near
month's end, it was awful outside too: some loggers were apparently burning
brush, filling the valley and C&C lungs with smoke.
Cassandra
really needs to be living without the smoke and wood and creosote in her
environment, to heal! She also wasn't helped by the bug that Ken brought along
for Thanksgiving; a hard one to shake, especially with the stinky smoky source
of heat. "Don't know what the hell made me think we could have me live
here with a woodstove - an un-insulated pack stove, no less! Determination, I
suppose. And a terrible situation back at hell house." Chris adds,
"Also, if we hadn't moved Cass over, we'd be even further behind! Cass'
work has been crucial to our success so far, and I wish she'd been able to help
in the very beginning."
WHITEFUL
Before
the white precipitation began, Chris affixed the Utility Shed footing bolts
with the aid of some cold-weather epoxy: appropriate, since the weather was
well below freezing. By the Power House, a large tree was sawed apart amidst
hot tea sips. Lots o' lumber, for the 30' interior walls, was hauled up top and
out of the Xtrailer and up onto the deck and stacked inside, with a warm-up
break <<llink jumping to tunes>>. Then, the Power House platform
was covered, on December 2nd, barely an hour before the...
SNOW
...began
making its white blanket covering. SIPPEE was being taken down just as the snow
started.
SNOW
SNOW SNOW
During
December a lot of snow fell. It also blew, swirled, piled, compacted, settled,
melted, froze solid. Snow was light, fluffy, heavy, wet, rainy, tiny, large,
clumpy, dry, pretty, icy, sleety and in some areas occasionally showed a
yellowish tint. Some snowflakes were finely detailed and others were balled
into white pellets. There were snow storms, squalls, flurries and blizzards.
S
N O W: Say No! Oh Woe! Chris says "No more snow! No more snow!"
SNOW
December's
record-breaking snow volume had to be removed from YIPPEE-Land's driveway,
roofs and deck: ninety-one hours worth of C&C labor, aided by various
shovels and on one occasion, by the Vermoose.
S
N O W: Shoveling Needed Over Winter!
Cassandra
asked Chris if they really had to keep the deck shoveled. "Yes, we
do".
S
N O W: Shoveling Nuts Organize Work
The
Plowing Decision: Driveway is to be shoveled, mostly by Cass during weeks, in
lieu of Vermoose plowing. Is hard work, but Cass won't get sick from the
Vermoose every weekend and in theory, this will allow Chris more time on other
tasks. Chris isn't home enough to keep after the plowing anyway. The Vermoose
will retain its duty of plowing Oregon
Falls Rd. and Main Drive up to LAfNP.
Mid-month,
amidst a whole lotta deep snow, plow and chains were reinstalled on the
Vermoose which immediately thereafter began its part of the decision.
As
part of Cassandra's shoveling duties, she had to hack away at footprints.
"Chris, please don't walk all over areas I haven't shoveled yet. Near
impossible to shovel later because those footprints and paths compact, get icy
and freeze." Before C&C made the Plowing Decision, they had been
snowshoeing and walking up and down driveway: that solidified icy path was
finally removed sometime in January after a lot of hard hacking work during
warm spells.
SNOW!
Dig
out the snow attire
Curse
the darn trespasser and his boot prints
Shout
out, No Trespassing! No Trespassing!
Be
thankful Cassandra was not working nearby
Shovel
heavy deep roof-snow via headlamp
Admire
the beautiful moonlight while shoveling
Climb
onto three shed roofs to shovel
Lasso
the yurt-roof snow
Encourage
snow removal, cutting through with rope
Make
a Shovelsaurus to aid in yurt-roof snow removal
Wear
a rain poncho to shovel
Get
soaked if you do not
Use
the shovel as a sled
Use
the sled as a sled (much better!)
Launch
off Bubba the Snowpile
Perform
several dangerously speedy driveway runs
Take
a phone-cam video of speedy sledding
Take
a few hours off to go snowshoeing!
Hike
up pipeline and plot a sled run
With
a high-speed banked curve or two
Tandem
sled and laugh in the deep fluffy…
SNOW!
On
the last day of December, C&C worked side by side, shovel next to shovel,
as they cleared another 8" of snowfall off the driveway. Later, Chris
ended the YIPPEE site day, and the YIPPEE site year, at 11:30PM after shoveling
lower Main Drive.
The last task of 2007 was...
Shoveling.
SNOW!
Switching Now:
Some Necessary
Other Work
·
As Jere says, "Never shove an iced Yeti down the sink
in December." No such thing occurred, to be sure! Regardless, the sink was
not draining on 12/5. Cassandra's attempts to fix it without running water available
proved messy and futile. On the weekend, Chris made messy attempts but with
better tools. Taking apart the plumbing, he discovered a long section of drain
pipe had frozen. Lacking time to remove the ice, the slop bucket was reemployed
under the now disconnected sink. Chris was not to return to the task until the
24th. He fixed the problem and... Yippee, C&C once again had a draining
sink!
·
Frozen frustrations: on 12/2 Chris tried deicing the water
supply pipes to no avail; he filled buckets of spring water and carried them
down to Park Ave.
instead. Melting and filtering of water started three days later. Grey water
flushing continued. On 12/8 Chris got water flowing to the Utility Shed
juncture, but line down to yurts remained blocked; he turned off supply so as
not to lose work up to that point. On 12/12 Cass went up in a morning's bit of
sunshine to turn on water supply; her guess regarding relative warmth proved
right when the blockage thawed and water again flowed to yurt mid-morning. She
covered the exposed juncture pipes with insulation. On 12/14 the yurtlings
decided to let the sink supply line freeze again, because without a sink drain,
there was nowhere for the Don't-Let-The-Pipes-Freeze trickle to go, no easily
rigged up place anyway. The toilet-twine method kept water flowing down to the
yurt, and the sink line went back to frozen until 12/20. Cass was sitting in
the dark yurt, hand-pump filtering the second 5-gallon bucket, by headlamp,
when suddenly the sink water sputtered out. Woohoo! On 12/27 Chris gave the
Don't-Let-The-Pipes-Freeze work-around an updated, easier to use, valve.
·
As if the Park Avenue yurt
wasn't crowded enough: C&C now cycle through 30 gallons of water, in active
storage, inside so it doesn't freeze, filtered at the sink and not by hand! Two
5-gallons buckets of unfiltered water still remain inside from December’s
fiasco of freezing frustrations.
·
When you don't have a draining sink, or running water, doing
dishes is avoided vehemently. So, when spoons are needed, 'cause darn it, you
want oatmeal for breakfast... get creative and make YIPPEE-tensils: three
coffee-stirrers, a bit of masking tape and viola'... spoons. Oatmeal. Mmmm.
They even work with pudding!
·
"666.00 Dealing with Problems at Hell house, Which We
Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building Yet!
(DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)" had taken unknown frustrating amounts of time
before C&C started tracking it towards the end of December. Chris found the
washer's water supply line had leaked and flooded the laundry and bathroom. He
cleaned this up and cursed as he tried fixing the stupid plumbing problems;
made a special trip to the house to make sure "it ain't flooded";
installed a washer leak workaround; purchased a water heater because that broke
too; tried installing said water heater; spent far too much time at the house
because the old one took forever to drain; cursed the dang tank which partially
refilled due to an additional leaky valve; would have been astounded at how
nasty it was under the old tank except that he's long known what a nasty house
that is. But, hey, "the new tank went in pretty easy".
·
"Stupid, stupid, stupid design". Chris experienced
quite an ordeal with the Xpower battery replacement as well. Vendor supplied
batts probably had hardware included at one point because the bags for the
screws were there; but alas, no screws. This isn't the kind of thing, and
C&C don't live in the kind of metro area, where a quick trip back to the
store resolves the issue; they had waited a few weeks for these batts. Chris
unhappily spent the night at Poocham, went to hardware first thing in the
morning. Went back later. Once he had right size screws, still had a heckuva
time. All the while, at the hell house which he hates, and stressing because he
was there so long, not back at Park Ave with Cass, not fixing the sink, and,
and... "Chris, it's OK. Things will work out OK, just do what has to be
done." Well, eventually the batteries were replaced, the whole unit
charged and brought back to Park Ave. C&C enjoyed a late lunch and,
presuming this works and fixes the Xpower problem, he will have an easier time
replacing the second unit's batteries!
Snuggled
Nicely Oh Wonderful!
Setting
aside all the snow and other hassles... C&C had some quite enjoyable moments.
Cassandra loved having Chris around more than usual at the end of the month!
Chris was very happy sleeping in his own bed with his Cass. He even got two
sleep-in mornings! Breakfasts were savored together. Hot lunches indoors, too.
Work was tackled side-by-side. Little breaks together, hot chocolates, cookies,
brownies. Heck, they even watched a movie; hadn't done that since... Spring of
'06? And, of course there was the sledding and laughter and loving!
So, Now, On
With...
(tasks)
One
finished task:
·
(213.79) Radiant flooring 20': plan, mark, drill holes
[12/30/07] - Cass did lots of planning and reworking. After finalizing plans
and marking, she attempted drilling. She did several holes but drilling was
jarring and jerking, making her neck sore. Chris finished. In the last days of
the month, C&C began task 213.81 together. Yippee!
Stuff
Needed Or We (don't get a home):
·
275.04 Materials transport/inventory, 10.25, 5.23%
·
213.79 Radiant flooring 20': plan, mark, drill holes, 8.25,
4.21%
·
213.80 Radiant flooring 30': plan, mark, drill holes, 8,
4.08%
·
213.12 Utility shed built, 2.75, 1.40%
·
213.81 Radiant flooring 20': loops installed, 2, 1.02%
·
213.83 Radiant flooring Utility Shed: loops installed, 1.5,
0.77%
·
213.36 Site cleanup, 1.25, 0.64%
·
742.00 Just a Bunch of Stuff That Happened, 1.25, 0.64%
·
213.18 Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing, 1,
0.51%
·
226.36 Shutdown SIPPEE, 1, 0.51%
·
261.25 Plumbing: MLA pipe layout for DWV, 1, 0.51%
·
261.23 Plumbing: MLA Change VTR to side wall exit, 0.75,
0.38%
·
306.01 Determine tasks she can do during week alone, 0.75,
0.38%
·
301.00 Organize shed, 0.5, 0.26%
·
213.50 Construct power house, 0.25, 0.13%
Some
Necessary Other Work:
·
666.00 Dealing with Problems at Hell house, Which We Can't
Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!),
14.5, 7.40%
·
852.22 Ghetto Us Some Water, 11.25, 5.74%
·
300.53 Fix sink draining blockage, 8.25, 4.21%
·
300.48 Get water flowing again, 8, 4.08%
·
288.08 Split and stack wood, 7, 3.57%
·
300.54 Fix Xpower batteries, 6, 3.06%
·
288.09 Cut and store downed trees, 6, 3.06%
·
300.40 Cass Phone, 1.25, 0.64%
·
300.45 Woodstove maintenance/problems, 1.25, 0.64%
·
326.07 Keep water flowing work-around, 1, 0.51%
SNOW!
·
310.01 Keep deck cleared, 22, 11.22%
·
310.04
Plow/Shovel Main Drive, 11, 5.61%
·
310.02 Plow and chains on Vermoose, 1.75, 0.89%
·
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main,
10.75, 5.48%
·
310.10
Shovel Main Drive: Lower, 10.75, 5.48%
·
310.11
Shovel Main Drive: Middle, 30.25, 15.43%
·
310.12
Shovel Main Drive: Top, 3.5, 1.79%
·
310.14 Snow Off Shed Roofs, 1, 0.51%
Photos
December Journal
12/1/07 - Saturday
213.12 Utility Shed Built
Having found a cold-weather
anchoring epoxy, Chris preps and affixes footing bolts.
time: 2.75 hrs
288.09 cut and store downed
trees
C&C work on this at the
PH
time: 1.75 hrs
275.04 Materials transport
Chris does a run to HD for
30' wall lumber
time: 5 hrs
12/2/07 - Sunday
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 1.25 hrs
275.04 Materials transport
C&C get 30' wallboards
stacked into the yurt
time: 3.75 hrs
213.36 Site Cleanup
Cass cleans site
time: 1.25 hrs
226.36 Shutdown SIPPEE
SIPPEE taken down as the
snow starts up
time: 1 hr
288.09 cut and store downed
trees
Cass...well....does this.
time: 0.25 hrs
261.25 Plumbing: MLA pipe
layout for DWV
C&C review possibilities
for main drain line
time: 0.5 hrs
213.50 Construct PH
C&C cover platform
time: 15 min
300.48 Get water flowing
again
Chris attempts to thaw pipes
but iceseems to be deeper into supply line than hoped.
time: 1 hr
852.22 GuSW
get water from reservoir in
GUS buckets
time: 0.75 hrs
306.01 cass tasks
Time: 0.25hrs
12/03/07 - Monday
Notes:
Chris leaves, as per usual chicago schedule, at
3am...before too much snow. Says there is only a couple inches. At 5:30pm, was
still flurrying, and little over a foot on ground.
Cass finally digs out the
snowpants and snowboots and gloves, to aid in the digging out of yurts
etc.
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
The MicroM needs almost two
shovels wide path. Ack.
Time: 1hrs
310.01 Keep deck clear
Is almost done. Headlamp
died and couldnt see to change/finagle batts. Or put snowshoes back on,
tricky. Urgh. Cursing ala cass.
Time: 1.25hrs
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
think got it all figgered to
be 4 even cicuits and drawn up.
Time: 1.5hrs
12/04/07 - Tuesday
Notes:
shoulda had chris bring in
at least one bucket of water sunday, before it froze solid and...now will take
days to thaw. Argh.
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
cleaned up add'l snow
Time: 0.25hrs
310.04 Plow/Shovel: Main
pathway wide enough for
microm is done down to cass' limit
Time: 1.5hrs
310.01 Keep deck clear
finished up and also got
add'l snow off. Couldn't get snow on yurts to release and drop. Shoveled what
did get off and left rest.
Moved tools to underneath
deck so not in way in future.
Time: 1.25hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
argh! Had to revise to make
loops less severe and reduce the 90 couplings which rf co said are 15.50 and for 42+5 for us, it
would been over 700dollars just for the couplings and rfco thought not
necessary. Found out circuits can be off
by 10percent. They also don't think getting run into the perimeter would be
needed. Finally got a decent plan, and it will be easier for sure. Still got
the circuits within 2ft of each other. Prob only 4-5 90degrees needed now. Plus
the 5 for us, is only 10.
Time: 2hrs
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
more work calculating and
getting everything to work
later, in eve... And more
importantly after the discovery that 90 couplings are 15.50...
Start reviewing to figure a new plan.
Time: 0.5hrs
12/05/07 - Wednesday
Notes:
Ordered the parts for u.s.
And 20' plus 2 extra 90 couplings.
Lots of heavy equip noise
started up at 8am. Concerned cass
hesitates going outside but eventually has to. Seems is far enough away, in
valley and not below yurts.
Sink not draining. never had
that prob bfore wtf?!!
Something in the drinking
water, musta come from one blue jug that cass was emptying into the drinking
use jug. No idea but rather than have to filter, that gets downgraded to
shower/flush water.
What a horrible horrible
horrible day.
First of the
melt-stuff-and-filter-it fun. But, on the up side, it gave cass a
chance to finally sit and chat on phone for an hour.
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
reworking design for wider
loops and such...
Time: 2.25hrs
288.09 cut and store
got broom and brushed off
driveway pile and pile below PH. Transferred driveway pile up. Started working
on cutting that whole big PHpile pcs
down to 2' lengths. Wasnt sure where to restack, ended up just putting
in frontof existing pile and leaving uncovered.
Time: 2hrs
742.00 jabosth
walked hoe from ph up top
and put with tools pile under deck, checked to see if snow had released off
yurts yet and no hadn't -so no shoveling needed there yet. Heard water running,
but seems to be from uphill spring in rocks?
Time: 0.25hrs
852.22 GuSW
Cass filters
time: 1.0
12/06/07 - Thursday
Notes:
cass spends 2 hrs on the
whole sink unclogging mess of a chore,esp without running water.
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
finished figgerin for this
Time: 1.5hrs
288.09 cut and store
more cutting to length at
PH. Got a couple really thick ones
apart. Woohoo.
Time: 1hrs
742.00 jabosth
up top to get a couple batts
for vac down below (since used them in the sink mess), got a couple of empty
buckets uncovered and carried down so that chris can take back to poocham for
cleanout, and bring back for filling with reservoir and gusw
Time: 0.25hrs
852.22 GuSW
Cass filters
time: 1.0
12/7/07 - Friday
Notes:
chris discovered last night that yippee land has
been trespassed. Cass quite unnerved, unsettled, unhappy, disconcerted. The person walked up to back of and along
side woodshed#2, down cass' shoveled
path on main drive and, at the welcome heart,
crossed ditch and went uphill to oregon
falls road. So close to cass that if she had been outside
shoveling, working at PH, or doing PA chores at that time, she would have been extremely ill for
that day and prob (based on past experiences with exposure to people who havent showered and used safe stuff ) been really sick for a week or two. No! No!
NO! Why can't people please please please follow instructions. Do not walk do not enter our property. Do not
do it!
310.04 Plow/Shovel Main Drive
Chris plays in the snow
cass cleans up afternoon
snowfall
time: 1.25 hr
852.22 GuSW
Chris gets buckets of water
from spring and, later, from house
Cass filters
time: 2.5
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
cass cleans up afternoon
snowfall
Time: 0.25hrs
288.09 cut and store
brush some of current
snowfall off newly cut pile, got
plastic out and over w/some small
pcs on top to hold down.
Chris thought we might just
take all ph logs up to woodshed hand-carried. Scouted a path from ph to
woodshed thru woods. Tried once with
logs but is too much stuff in way and surprisingly easier to just hike up driveway. took four trips up with logs
Time: 0.75hrs
12/8/07 - Saturday
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 2.0 hr
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
time: 0.25 hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
time: 0.25 hrs
300.53 Fix Sink Drainage
Blockage
Chris troubleshoots the sink
drain issue that does not seem to be clog-related.
time: 1 hr
300.48 Get water flowing
again
Chris gets water @ US going
but the yurt lines still seem blocked.
time: 4.5 hrs
288.09 cut and store downed
trees
Cass transports some logs to
the shed.
time: 15 min
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
Cass gets it on.
time: 0.75 hrs
12/9/07 - Sunday
306.01 Cass tasks
time: 15 min
300.48 Get water flowing
again
Lines @ US were cleared of
ice, then the spring line was shut off. It'll freeze again but is easier to
thaw than the rest of the line.
time: 2.5 hrs
300.53 Fix Sink Drainage
Blockage
Chris attempts fixing sink
drain. Discovers (after a faceful of drainwater...ewwwwwwww!) that theres about
4' of pipe totally iced up.. Requires
heat, but need time to remove flammable items first.
time: 2.75 hrs
275.04 Materials transport.
RF to MLA
time: 1.0
852.22 GuSW
Chris gets buckets of water
time: 0.5
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 15 min
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
time: 15 min
310.04 Plow/Shovel Main Drive
Cass plays in the snow
time: 3.25 hrs
12/10/07 - Monday
Notes:
barking of the dogs ended
and a mostly quiet afternoon. Ahh... Nice.
Many times cass looked up to see snow falling up the yippee
mountainside, but never fell down where
cass was.
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
since reviewed w/chris and
am to proceed... Finalized drawing with notes bagged and in backpack for taking
up top
Time: 0.25hrs
310.04 Plow/Shovel: Main
cass the plow finished
widening driveway, and cleared the add'l snowfall
Time: 2.5hrs
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
cass clears
overnight/morning snowfall
Time: 0.5hrs
261.25 Plumbing: MLA pipe
layout for DWV
Time: 0.5hrs
852.22 gusw
filtered half water chris
brought down
Time: 0.75hrs
12/11/07 - Tuesday
Notes:
Cass has a heckuva
unpleasant am. Feeling quite sick. Still
hasn't shaken dang bacteria sickness since ken's visit. And, possibly new
toothpaste? the usual smoke, fire and cold don't help.
chainsaws and logging equip
most all day til around 5pm. Ugh. Closeby too.
Cass keeps hoping for some
sun but hasn't happened yet. more
cold, cold, cold temps (high of 20
today). More wintery precip.
Dishes finally done using the
old slop bucket under sink. Ugh. Very much looking fwd to
having running watr and draining sink. Ugh.
310.01 keep deck clear
cleared off yest snow and
attempted to get fallen clumps from
weekend off, but tough going! Got as
much as could. Too bad cass wasn't allowed up top long enough this wkend to
keep after what fell off yurts. Cause it is
frozen on real good now. Argh.
Time: 1.5hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
took plan, pencil and ruler
under and started marking more, but kept running into lots o qustions.
Time: 0.5hrs
12/12/07 - Wednesday
Notes:
icy crappiness, then
turnd to rain overnight and into am and
cass warm overnight (comparatively, when used to 10-15f, 30 feels warm!)
logging nearby smoking and noisy in am.
Not in afternoon. Woohoo.
852.22 gusw
cass calls chris and makes
sure it won't mess his plans up if she turns on water up top. Nope, it won't.
she hikes up on slick stuff
and gets turned on. Back in yurt, water starts a goin' at around 10am or so. Stops bit later, works out again and
woohoo!
after filling available water jugs, and before
headingup top, cass sets up the
brick-twine-keep-the-toilet-supply-trickling method.
chris recommends wrapping
insulation around pipes and cass does lateron.
Time: 1.25hrs
310.01 keep deck clear
raininess hlped 30' yurt
roof release snow, and some off the 20'.
Cass clears deck, as much as can. Icy layer still there. Slick.
Time: 1hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
before heading up top, cass
looks up info on measurements after verification on some stuff w/chris.
All holes marked.
Drilling is hard on a person! Douglas fir 4*6 beams, argh! The drills kept
jerking and yanking and ...combined with the awkward positions,
cass very sore.
Time: 1.5hrs
12/13/07 - Thursday
Notes:
having running water was
nice yesterday, but in order to keep it flowing, the toilet trickle method was
employed and the result was cass got
little sleep.
Cass' neck, head and
shoulders very sore from yesterday's drill jerking. Very hurt.
lotta lotta snowing. lotta!
Fast! Blizzard conditions begin
mid-morning. Continue through evening.
213.80 Radiant flooring 30':
plan, mark, drill holes
cass calls co, and finds out
perpendicular headers are ok.
plan is finalized and bagged
to go up top for marking and drilling
Time: 0.5hrs
310.04 Plow/Shovel: Main
shoveled some during
blizzard. And some more by headlamp to clear path for chris' return. After the
snowmobiles stopped, this was some of the nicest prettiest time onsite. Sparkly
and fluffy snow. Quiet. Crisp air. So
very nice.
Time: 1hrs
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
ditto to above note for
shoveling.
Time: 1hrs
12/14/07 Friday
Notes:
Chris sleeps in because Cass
is awake before alarm goes off and says
- you're tired, go ahead and sleep in
and i'll get up and do chores.
plowing: decided that would
have cass shovel in lieu of Vermoose plowing and cass getting sick. Hard work
but more time for chris on other tasks and less cass sick.
31010 Shovel main drive:
lower
Chris sweats away the snow @
LAfNP
time: 3.5
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
cass shovel-plows, and again
in eve by headlamp
Time: 2.5
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
Casshoveling, cleanup, prep
for microm
time: 0.5 hr
852.22 gusw
cass works on keeping sink
pipes unfrozen, by trying to figure out how to leave work-around on
overnight. there's no drain right now.
hmmm. cleans up slop bucket, cleans off empty 5 gal bucket and sets up under
sink, no place for everything else. oh well. too much water though. would be
about 5 gals every 2-3 hrs. ack! c+c talk and decide to let sink line freeze up
again. unhappy bout that, but nowhere to get the captured water.
Time: 0.75hrs
300.54 fix xpower batteries
time: 1 hr
12/15/07 - Saturday
300.54 fix xpower batteries
Stupid, stupid, stupid
design
time: 5 hrs
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
Chris gets wood
time: 1.5 hrs
310.02 Plow and chains on
Vermoose
Chris loads plow ballast
time: 15min
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
Cass plows the snow
time: 1.75 hrs
306.01 cass tasks
time: 15 min
12/16/07 - Sunday
Notes:
Snowy and icy.
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 1 hr
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
time: 0.25 hrs
852.22 GuSW
Chris gets buckets of water
and contemplates a snowmelt method
time: 1.0
310.02 Plow and chains on
Vermoose
This is no fun n a
snowstorm.
time: 1.5 hrs
31010 Shovel main drive:
lower
time: 1.5 hrs
300.45 Woodstove
Maintenance/problems
time: 30 min
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
lots of snow from rooves is
now on decks.
time: 4.25 hrs
12/17/07 - Monday
Notes:
lotta snow to shovel. up to
and above inseam.
Sunny but brr v cold esp
with wind
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
all day's time worked
just on clearing park ave path. Argh. Whew. Still some more to widen tomorrow. Mashed down parts are tough to chip away. Oh
well. Making way thru.
time: 3.25hrs
12/18/07 - Tuesday
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
finished clearing path, wide
enough for microm.
time: 0.75
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
time: 4 hrs
12/19/07 - Wednesday
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
last nights snow
time: 0.75hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
time: 3 hrs
310.01 keep deck clear
time: 1.75 hrs
12/20/07 - Thursday
852.22 gusw
cass filtered about 5
gallons or so, and planned to keep going, but water started up in sink. Woohoo!
Don't know why, since temp doesnt show at above freezing. But, no matter. Cass
filters about 35 gallons from sink next.
time: 1.75hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
in eve by headlamp
time: 4 hrs
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
got lot more snow released
off 30'
time: 2 hrs
12/21/07 - Friday
Notes:
cleared last nights snow,
widened path for micromoose down to
where chris has to shovel
666.00 Dealing with Problems
at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building
Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)
Washer water supply line
leaks and flooded laundry and bathroom. Had to clean up.
* We have spent tons of time
on this already and decided to start tracking.
time: 0.5 hrs
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
time: 0.5 hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
time: 1.75hrs
12/22/07 - Saturday
31010 Shovel main drive:
lower
Chris shovels
time: 1.5 hrs
310.14 Snow Off Shed Roofs
WS2 & Storage Shed
time: 30 min
666.00 Dealing with Problems
at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building
Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)
Tried fixing leak, no luck.
time: 1 hr
310.01 keep deck clear
time: 2.5hrs
12/23/07 - Sunday
310.14 Snow Off Shed Roofs
WS1 & wood boiler
time: 30 min
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
lots more snow from rooves
is removed. Chris gets out the ladder for better access. Later, he creates,
"Shovelsaurus" out of a shovel and 1*1*8, which proves to be a key to
getting snow off the 20'. Cass gives a hand upon her arrival, helping to
rope-floss the snow off the peak of the 30'.
Cass starts shovelling the
new off-roof snow. Chris helps after finishing up the snow-on-roof removal.
Chris gets soaked thru,
while Cass stays relatively dry due to her wise use of a poncho over her
jacket.
time: 4 hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
C&C shovel away.
time: .75 hrs
31010 Shovel/plow main
drive: lower
time: 1.25 hrs
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 0.5 hr
12/24/07 - Monday
Notes:
Last nights heavy rain has
restored the reservoir to full.
300.53 Fix Sink Drainage
Blockage
This turns out to be a
combination of ice and some gunk. Chris
gets it cleared but has concern that pipes have shifted and are not sloped
right - a much bigger problem to fix.
...and Jere says,
"Never shove an iced Yeti down the sink in December."
time: 4.25 hrs
666.00 Dealing with Problems
at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building
Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)
trip to house to make sure
it ain't flooded.
time: 2 hrs
300.45 Woodstove
Maintenance/problems
time: 45 min
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
C shovels more.
time: 2.25 hrs
12/25/07 - Tuesday
Notes:
"Don't try that blarney
gobble on me, juggins."
C&C determined the
winner of the Home-Less contest.
Cass hasn't been sleeping
well, and last night the smokey woodstove was really toasting up a storm.
Chris slept in so Cass could
sleep in. Um....sure...
C&C had a tasty
mint-chocolate soy drink. Yum.
YPP got sent.
Unicel sucks.
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
Chris does a little, Cass
does a lot.
time: 1.75 hrs
310.12 Shovel Main Drive: Top
Chris gets started @ GIPPEE
time: 3 hrs
12/26/07 - Wednesday
Notes:
Woodstove was really smokey,
Cass was already doing bad and then had to contend with it. Creosote dripped
onto the floor overnight again.
Sent out Home-less contest
winner announcement.
Some loggers seem to be
burning brush, filling the valley -and our lungs- with smoke.
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
Chris shovels by Woodshed #2
Cass shovels various
sections
time: 2.25 hrs
288.08 Split & Stack Firewood
time: 0.5 hr
742.00 JaBoStH
Chris gets some sand for the
icy walkway @ Park Ave.
Then, Chris does a bunch of
stuff. It happened.
time: 0.5 hrs
310.12 Shovel Main Drive: Top
Chris chips way
time: 0.5 hrs
31010 Shovel/plow main
drive: lower
Chris digs in
time: 1.25 hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
Chris does some drillin'
time: 1.5 hrs
213.83 Radiant floor loops:
Utility Shed
Cass installs 90 degree
couplings
time: 1.25 hrs
301.00 Organize Shed
Whatta mess!
time: 0.5 hrs
12/27/07 - Thursday
Notes:
Weather started rainy, then
turned to wet snow.
C&C try out a new
morning routine so Cass can get outside early for a bit. It seems to work out
:-)
Cass makes tempeh breakfast
burritos. Yum!
C&C test a ghetto phone
antenna adapter on the Moto Q. Test results are inconsistent.
Chris takes the first ever
YIPPEE sled run! He launches off the MLA deck onto Bubba the Snowpile, crashing
shortly (ten feet) thereafter. Undaunted, Chris goes forth, making a speedy and
somewhat wild run from the top of the
driveway to near the PH before losing control and crashing. WOOHOO!
31010 Shovel/plow main
drive: lower
Chris continues.
time: 2.75 hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: middle
Cass carries on.
time: 1.75 hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
C&C review some funky
hole markings
time: 0.25 hrs
213.83 Radiant floor loops:
Utility Shed
C&C swap pipes and
install last 90 degree coupling
time: 0.25 hrs
742.00
Justabunchastuffthathappened
Chris fixes Cass' sbowshoe.
time: 0.25 hrs
300.53 Fix Sink Drainage
Blockage
fix leak in trap
time: 0.25 hrs
326.06 Keep water flowing:
work-around
Updated
time: 1 hr
310.05 Shovel Park Ave
C&C each take a pass.
time: 30 min
310.01 Keep Deck Clear
Chris does some.
time: 0.5 hrs
12/28/07 - Friday
Notes:
Weather: warm (almost 40),
sun out a bit in early morn, but mostly grey clouds rest of morn and by
afternoon all cloudy
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
cleared rest of last nights
snow
Time: 0.25hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive: Middle
cleared path up and then
down.
Later, finished
clearing woodshed up to woody way.
Time: 1.75hrs
310.01 Keep deck cleared
last eve's snow
Time: 1hrs
300.40 Cass phone
reopened this task... Havent
been tracking time recently, but this day, cass starts. Took time outside - from shoveling- to do few tests - since
cant test inside. grrrrr.....!
Time: 0.25hrs
666.00 Dealing with Problems
at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building
Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)
purchased water heater
tried installing water
heater, took forever to drain
installed washer leak
workaround, not testef
time: 5 hrs
12/29/07 - Saturday
Notes:
Recycling day starts rainy,
gets foggy, ends sunny
chris off to H-House. Cass
normal sat chores, crappy woodprobs,
contacts probs, and some qtrly stuff at PA.
Weather: sky maybe clearing?
Not before sun over ridge tho... Nope.
Not then either.
300.40 Cass phone
urgh. Comparisons...and
searching thru usc website trying to learn other data plans. Usc def coverage
when unicel none. But 1) full charged batt dead after only about an hr use 2) still slow access 3) seems data plans if
not motoq or blackberry (which dont have ext antenna), using phone which can
use ext antenna ... are really lame and
all about games and such. wireless modem is avail for businesses. grrr... had
to quit becaus batt alert kept on. cant spend power to recharge batt. will have
to just call with othr unicel phone -
when that goes back to having a signal!
Time: 1hrs
666.00 Dealing with Problems
at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building
Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)
Dang tank partially refilled
due to leaky valve on supply line.
Nasty under old tank!
New tank went in pretty
easy.
time: 6 hrs
213.18 30 ft walls
Cass starts marking boards
time: 0.5 hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
Chris does some late evening
hole drilling
time: 0.75 hrs
213.81 Radiant flooring 20':
loops installed
Cass reviews plan, starts
running tube, finds that Chris has the pex cutter, discovers potential need for
more 90s
time: 0.5 hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive:
middle
Cass the Plow moves more
snow
time: 0.75 hrs
12/30/07 - Sunday
Notes:
A somewhat sunny day
C&C go snowshoeing. Yee
ha! The two were on some rather rocky and steep inclines.
Chris sleds the drive while
Cass watches. Later, Chris deems this a
Dangerous Activity, having watched the speedy sled run on Cass' phonecam video
player. C&C plot a sled run down the pipeline, which may require removal of
some trees and perhaps a high-speed banked curve or two.
Cass crashes (detox brought
on by over exertion while shoeing), doing badly, and C*2 have an imposed
chill-out, up on bed in eve, during which the no-choco-chip choco-chip cookie
is discovered.
275.04 Materials Transport
Chris brings up hardware
from the Xterra
time: 0.5 hrs
213.79 Radiant flooring 20':
plan, mark, drill holes
Chris says this task is
DONE!
time: 1 hr
213.18 30 ft walls
Chris starts cutting boards
time: 0.5 hrs
213.81 Radiant flooring 20':
loops installed
C&C install some pipes
time: 1.5 hrs
12/31/07 - Monday
Notes:
8" of snowfall overight
means C&C go shoveling
Cass lets Chris sleep in
Cass tries sledding and digs
it.
310.05 Shovel: Park to Main
C&C shovel side by side
Time: 1.0 hrs
310.11 Shovel Main Drive:
Middle
C&C shovel side by side
time: 2 hrs
31010 Shovel/plow main
drive: lower
Chris does the last site
task of 2007, ending @ 11:30 p.m.
time: 0.5 hrs