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YIPPEE Volume 40
December 2007


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

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