Talkin' 'Bout My Generator

Here's the trench.  I want everything nice and hidden.  There's this dark olive green pipe dope I've had great success with for the joints; I'll admit that getting threads started on 10' pipe isn't easy.

It seemed like I was going way too small with the wires from the generator, especially after wrestling with 6 AWG.  THe tables assure me 10 AWG is plenty for the short run and voltage I'm feeding.  Good thing, too---pulling that wire was hard.

Here's the form so far.  It still needs to be leveled and the rebar/anchor bolts pre-set.  I've got 1800 pounds of concrete mix in the back of my truck all ready to mix but I had to quit to get to Patrick's soccer game.  If it doesn't rain in the next 6 days while I'm working a 144 hour shift, it'll be fine.  Then I have to build the actual housing which should be simple

Projected Projects Project

Well, nature bats last.  We had some flashfloods last week---over a foot of rain.  It channeled down the trench for the power, and filled the future laundry room with some very rich soil.  It's not too bad really and my tenants are going to dig it out and use the soil elsewhere.

   It's a reminder that winter is coming.  This project will get backburnered a bit while I take care of some pre-winter projects----gathering firewood is one.  The other is the generator project.

 AnnaMarie's cottage was built to accept a small generator as backup power.  We get power outtages all the time--hot weather, windy weather, snow.  I finally found the generator I wanted---5,000 watts continuous, CARB compliant, electric start, dual fuel, 240v.  I'm plumbing it to the house propane cylinder which, if full, will provide about three weeks worth of fuel.  That should get us through anything.  I want it easy enough that if I'm gone AnnaMarie can just turn a key and flip a switch.  It was more complicated than I thought---geting the correct inlet pressure through the correct size pipes and all.

Another Slip Up

     Ready to start pouring the first slip form.  All the forms are ready; first step is getting materials in place.  I really prefer to make my own concrete but on a slope it's hard to get the sand, gravel and cement in place so I'm using readymix stuff and just adding a little extra cement.  It's 112 steps from my old truck to the pallet there.  For some reason the first sacks are full of styrofoam beads and the last ones, though exactly the same dimensions, are full of lead shot.

    Here's the slip form.  The rebar is in place and the forms are lined with plastic for a smooth finish.  This is the threshold, and the rough opening for the steel door is 34" wide so I have a 34" board holding things in place.  The continuous pour extends well past the doorway to prevent water leakage.  You can see the stub end of a carriage bolt stuck through the form----those will be set in concrete and give me something to secure the doorframe with later.  Here's a better picture from the other side---

 

 So now you're looking inside the form just pre-pour.  That bolt will be well embedded in the concrete.  I'll put one every 24".

 

Here's a yard of concrete, mixed in my mixer, wheelbarrowed over, and dumped in the form one shovel at a time--along with much tamping and vibrating the form in the hopes of having no voids or honeycombing.  The plastic lining really helps the concrete slide into place.  It'll also make stripping the form easier.

 

 The first pour is the easiest.  The next one I'll have to lift the shovel up higher---doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes a difference.  Then the next pour gets more complex with the forming because I will be past the outer soil form and have to build an outer wooden one and support it; but, I'll be able to pour from above which will make things easier.

More Floor Pour

   Ready to pour the floor.  A vapor barrier is down but it has a gap over the french drain---vapor barriers work both directions, and I want water to be able to drain down.  This IS a laundry room after all.

AnnaMarie came to keep me company for awhile, and was productive being creative with acorn caps.

Here's the floor all poured.  Next will be building the slip forms.

Slip Form

It's been awhile since I've updated things---I've been stuck at work a lot so progress has been slow....The hand digging is mostly done so got the rough plumbing and french drain in.

Next is a bunch of gravel.  Since this is all below grade I want a really easy path for water to naturally drain away.  The white pipe is a perforated pipe with this long sock thing over it to keep it from silting up over time.

Then build the forms and set in all the rebar to get ready for concrete

  After that it's time for some concrete.  WHen I get back up there I'll strip the forms, add the rebar to the middle part and pour the floor.

If Wyeth Painted Pictures Of FireFighters

I'm Shedding

Here's a quick building update for the cabin's outbuilding.  It's basically a 12x12 shed with a walk-in basement which will become the laundry room, with room for an extra fridge (The cabin just has an under the counter fridge )

By digging out a sloping entrance tot he subterrainean room, it'll be easy to handle drainage.  Also---by having completely independent entrances for the shed and laundry below, interior stairs are eliminated.  They take up lots and lots of space and the slope is steep enough to allow it. 

All hand dug.  Work has been crazy busy---I've spent more hours at work than not so far this year--Mostly by choice, some by mandate.  So thankful the cottage was completed before work needed more

What Legislation Can and Can't Do

   leg·is·la·tion (l j -sl sh n). n. 1. The act or process of legislating; lawmaking. 2. A proposed or enacted law or group of laws.


     Legislation can fund a defense department.  It can build roads, it can set up rules for business and trade.

    It cannot change what marriage is.  It can pass laws seeking a public acceptance of, and to legitimize,   some relationships----but it isn't the legislature that ever formed the bond between a man and a woman.  That institution way predates any government system or current religion.

   It can protect the rights of parents.  It can protect and respect life and human dignity.

   Legislation cannot change when life begins.  It can be warped and twisted for the sake of convenience, but a unique organism is a unique organism, and if a single celled anything was found by a Mars probe, everyone would be calling it 'life'...

   Legislation cannot mandate prosperity.  It can re-distribute, but legislated re-distribution is such a counterincentive to productivity, it overall brings prosperity down.  Best to just stay out of the way.

   Legislation cannot change the weather.  It can impose carbon credits, punish corporations for being too successful, and remove a nation's competitive edge---but no amount of legislation will change the weather. 

      But they'll still try.

Laundry/Studio Project

   Here's an update of the latest project.  Our tenants at the cabin need a laundry room---when I designed and built it there was no intention for it to be a full time residence---what it lacks is ample storage, laundry, and a full sized fridge.
   Outbuildings are limited to 12' height and 120 square feet floor area.  My plan is to build the laundry underground with the entrance cut into the slope; the studio will be above.  It's built on a 4:1 slope, which I'm taking advantage of by having an upper entrance for the studio and a lower entrance for the laundry--no space wasted for interior stairs.
    It's slow going just because I've had to be at work so much.  McKenna's home from college and between summer stuff and her internship at the lake has been coming over to help dig

Stimulus VS Apollo

   Obama's stimulus was, in my opinion, a HUGE waste of borrowed money.  It served to get him re-elected and curry favor, sure, but workforce participation rates are the lowest they've been since the mid '70's.  I know, I know---Liberals will claim it would have been far worse if he hadn't done it.  Impossible to prove or disprove----I could claim if we hadn't invaded Iraq we'd all be dead from nuclear Armageddon,  too.
   Now consider Kennedy's Apollo program (which, by the way, cost less than Obama's 'stimulus' even when adjusted for inflation)  It, too, was a massive government pork project and there was lots of backscratching and maneuvering---Huntsville, Cape Canaveral, Houston, Long Beach---all got their slice of the pie....But it was a challenge.  It was something other than war we could all rally behind, take national pride in.  I believe Apollo 11 was the single greatest moment of American pride ever.
   New technologies were spun off from it.  New materials were formed.  The whole while, there were some saying it was a waste of money while there was still poverty in the nation---not realizing it was a very responsible way to address poverty.
   Obama's stimulus handed cash to failing 'green' companies, that failed anyway, after kicking back lots of the funds to election campaigns.  The money was borrowed, now it's gone, with nothing to show for it but higher debt.
   Instead of handing out cash, that money would have been better spent by offering lucrative government contracts to the first company that could produce a better solar cell or other renewable energy source.  If a tiny percentage of 'stimulus' cash went into streamlining domestic oil production and refinement, with an emphasis on lowering emissions, we would be seeing a return on our investment soon if not already.
   Instead of bailing out GM, a government request for proposals for competitive contracts would have rewarded the best company.  Part of the necessary cycle a recession brings is to cut out the deadwood.  Companies fail, people innovate, move on---should we subsidize buggy whip manufacturing companies just so the employees can feed their families?  Or, once there's no more market for buggy whips, do we let them go?
   In a nutshell, viable companies don't need bailouts because they are viable.  If there's some global influence that challenges a company, and that company is necessary for national security, help it through contracts, not handouts.

Life Lessons of Jenga

  You really don't ever win at Jenga---you just try to not lose.   You pay close attention, watch others, try to keep things in balance.   You carefully select the ones that are ready to move, and move them up to the top.  There are quite a few that aren't ready to move yet but as things change, so do the pressures and forces exerted on each.  As things grow higher, you can't help but reach higher yourself.

   Concentrate on individual moves, not an overall strategy.  Sometimes the ones at the bottom are the easiest to move to the top.