3 May 2010
Threatened rain all morning, so got all the remaining rebar steel moved to three staging areas and under tarps, loaded sundry items into the van for return to Virginia on Wednesday, then gave Delores a thorough cleaning preparatory to the Lapidus’ coming over for dinner. Black flies out in numbers and somewhat bothersome, but nothing a liberal coating of Deep Woods Off couldn’t mitigate. Rained for all of fifteen minutes at noon, then cleared off into a beautiful day. Drove down to Brandon after lunch for victuals and to visit local banks to see about setting up accounts. Then spent some quality time with a pickax, shovel, and rake trying to level off the area where the shed underground roof will be poured. Word of explanation: rather than place forms in the shed cellar hole and then fill them with concrete for the roof, I am going to pour the roof in forms laid on the ground, then use a crane to move the roof into position after the concrete has completely set. Whoever said that there are a thousand rocks in Leicester for every inhabitant obviously was referring just to the 10′ x 12′ spot I was working on. Burnt spareribs over the cook fire and served them with profuse apologies, baked potatoes, and fresh green beans mixed with sautéed garlic and wild leeks (donated to the cause by Perry – who refuses to divulge where his secret leek patch is located). Washed down with a 2008 Casa Sant’Orsola Muscato d’Asti followed by a 2005 Chrysalis Norton Estate Bottled. Spilled half a glass of the latter into the toaster after Marty and Merry had ventured homeward. Don’t know how I could suddenly be so clumsy… but guess I’d better put off doing the dinner dishes until tomorrow. Pop-Tarts for breakfast????
2 May 2010
For some strange reason I seriously overslept, which meant that I was two minutes late arriving at Lynne and Perry’s house (thereby forever ruining my reputation for punctuality) where I spent the day moving and stacking three and a half cords of firewood… on what will inevitably prove to have been the hottest day of the year. Would have gladly gone for a swim in Fern Lake at midday. Please note for the record that four days ago we had a day-long snowstorm. Gotta love the fickle Vermont springtime weather! For some reason Lynne insisted that I use their shower before dinner…
1 May 2010
Steve left to return to his home in New Hampshire at crack of dawn. Lake temperature (18 inches below the surface) is now 57 degrees. Spent the bulk of the morning removing from the footers the wood used to form the keyway (a beveled trough in the top of the footers that will lock the bottom of the walls to the footer). Even though 
Steve and I had liberally oiled the keyway wood before the concrete was poured, the wood came out VERY reluctantly. Ended up breaking most of it into pieces as I hammered and levered away. On a positive note, when I removed the form braces I could see the forms ease away from the concrete slightly, boding well for form removal on Tuesday. Verified that the Ranger will, indeed, fit into its assigned parking space. Once there, the truck battery died (from constant starting and immediate engine stopping). Nothing for it but to bring the van down the steep hill to jumpstart the truck, even though I had had to use 4WD to get the truck up that hill every time heretofore. Had visions of both vehicles stuck in the hole forevermore. The van (being front wheel drive) negotiated the hill with 
ease. BIG sigh! Spent the afternoon cleaning up the form braces so that they can be used again when we set and pour the shed columns. Kate Middleton and Dan Wheeless invited me over to their place for a burgers and dogs cookout. The members of their theater production company were there, too (Christina, Guy, Josh, Mark, and Travis). A delightful evening of great food and company, sadly interrupted by a thunderstorm as we started roasting marshmallows (WAY after my bedtime).
Steve and I had liberally oiled the keyway wood before the concrete was poured, the wood came out VERY reluctantly. Ended up breaking most of it into pieces as I hammered and levered away. On a positive note, when I removed the form braces I could see the forms ease away from the concrete slightly, boding well for form removal on Tuesday. Verified that the Ranger will, indeed, fit into its assigned parking space. Once there, the truck battery died (from constant starting and immediate engine stopping). Nothing for it but to bring the van down the steep hill to jumpstart the truck, even though I had had to use 4WD to get the truck up that hill every time heretofore. Had visions of both vehicles stuck in the hole forevermore. The van (being front wheel drive) negotiated the hill with 
ease. BIG sigh! Spent the afternoon cleaning up the form braces so that they can be used again when we set and pour the shed columns. Kate Middleton and Dan Wheeless invited me over to their place for a burgers and dogs cookout. The members of their theater production company were there, too (Christina, Guy, Josh, Mark, and Travis). A delightful evening of great food and company, sadly interrupted by a thunderstorm as we started roasting marshmallows (WAY after my bedtime).
30 April 2010
Concrete pouring day for the shed footers. At 4:30 in the morning Delores was illuminated by a car.JPG)
driving down Kate Middleton & Dan Wheeless’ driveway – our neighbors to the south. More than a bit curious, donned bathrobe and cell phone and went out to espy the situation. Was, indeed, Kate and Dan arriving from New York for the weekend… and not someone breaking into their house. Steve and I started work at 7 o’clock, suspending the rebar from the braces holding the top of the footer forms in place, oiling the keyway wood and the footer forms, building a portable ramp so that wheelbarrows could dump concrete into the forms, etc. By 12:10 all was complete, so we took a quick lunch break. At 12:15 Josh LaFlam showed up with his cousin, Kyle Cassidy, to say that they had to run back into Salisbury to pick up the third member of the labor crew,
Dylan Cobden, all of whom I had hired to help with the concrete pour. As they left, Dan Wheeless came over for a chat. While that was occurring, the cement truck arrived, A HALF HOUR EARLY! Yikes!!!! The good news is that the driver easily negotiated the pseudo-driveway down to the north end of the shed cellar hole (who knew that cement trucks had four-wheel drive????), which meant that concrete could be placed into about 2/3 of the forms directly from the truck. The bad news is that Steve and I were more than busy as the pour began, with the two of us trying to do the work of what should have been a five person crew. I have no idea how much concrete actually made it into the northeast big foot and Sonotube. Josh, Kyle, and Dylan arrived at 1.jpg)
o’clock. The concrete had been mixed at 11:50, which meant that we had until maybe 3 o’clock to get it placed, screed, and toweled smooth before it set. As the last section of form was being filled, the driver announced that the truck was empty. Understand that Steve and I had independently calculated that the forms would need between 5.2 and 5.3 cubic yards of concrete. I had ordered 5 ½ yards, just to be safe. When the truck hit the big E, we still needed another quarter yard to finish filling the forms. Disaster!!!! At that point there was nothing to do but scavenge every single concrete morsel that was not in the form
and not completely dry. By the time that was done, it was well past 3 o’clock, which meant that toweling and edging the forms was becoming increasingly hard as the mix solidified. We got ‘er done, but the result was far from professional quality. Fortunately, most of the footers will be covered by rock walls and dirt, so a lot of the mistakes will be (rightfully!) buried. As we were finishing up at 5 o’clock, Perry stopped by to observe progress, learn a few more swear words, and enjoy a beer by the camp fire.
.JPG)
driving down Kate Middleton & Dan Wheeless’ driveway – our neighbors to the south. More than a bit curious, donned bathrobe and cell phone and went out to espy the situation. Was, indeed, Kate and Dan arriving from New York for the weekend… and not someone breaking into their house. Steve and I started work at 7 o’clock, suspending the rebar from the braces holding the top of the footer forms in place, oiling the keyway wood and the footer forms, building a portable ramp so that wheelbarrows could dump concrete into the forms, etc. By 12:10 all was complete, so we took a quick lunch break. At 12:15 Josh LaFlam showed up with his cousin, Kyle Cassidy, to say that they had to run back into Salisbury to pick up the third member of the labor crew,
Dylan Cobden, all of whom I had hired to help with the concrete pour. As they left, Dan Wheeless came over for a chat. While that was occurring, the cement truck arrived, A HALF HOUR EARLY! Yikes!!!! The good news is that the driver easily negotiated the pseudo-driveway down to the north end of the shed cellar hole (who knew that cement trucks had four-wheel drive????), which meant that concrete could be placed into about 2/3 of the forms directly from the truck. The bad news is that Steve and I were more than busy as the pour began, with the two of us trying to do the work of what should have been a five person crew. I have no idea how much concrete actually made it into the northeast big foot and Sonotube. Josh, Kyle, and Dylan arrived at 1.jpg)
o’clock. The concrete had been mixed at 11:50, which meant that we had until maybe 3 o’clock to get it placed, screed, and toweled smooth before it set. As the last section of form was being filled, the driver announced that the truck was empty. Understand that Steve and I had independently calculated that the forms would need between 5.2 and 5.3 cubic yards of concrete. I had ordered 5 ½ yards, just to be safe. When the truck hit the big E, we still needed another quarter yard to finish filling the forms. Disaster!!!! At that point there was nothing to do but scavenge every single concrete morsel that was not in the form
and not completely dry. By the time that was done, it was well past 3 o’clock, which meant that toweling and edging the forms was becoming increasingly hard as the mix solidified. We got ‘er done, but the result was far from professional quality. Fortunately, most of the footers will be covered by rock walls and dirt, so a lot of the mistakes will be (rightfully!) buried. As we were finishing up at 5 o’clock, Perry stopped by to observe progress, learn a few more swear words, and enjoy a beer by the camp fire.
29 April 2010
The weather front finished moving through overnight, so the full moon gave the luster of midday to the new fallen snow. The morning dawned clear and brisk… perfect for finishing placing the horizontal rebar in the shed footers. Discovered that during the marathon rebar cutting and bending evolution earlier in April, Chree and I had somehow forgotten to put bends in four pieces that needed them. Ever resourceful, Steve and I found that the safety chain hooks used when towing a car behind the RV are perfectly sized and placed to hold a length of rebar needing a quick bend. By two hours after quitting time all horizontal and vertical rebar was in place. As we were "finishing", Steve pointed to some "leftover" rebar and asked, "What are these pieces for?". What they were, OF COURSE, were the pieces that needed to be put down into the big feet... BEFORE any of the other steel was put in place. Ooops! With Yankee ingenuity, a fair dose of stubbornness, some moderate contortions, and a pair of wire cutters, we got the pieces in place around all the other potentially lethal metal rods sticking up at all angles. I offered Steve his rebar tying tool as a memento of the occasion, but he demurred, afraid that if he owned it he might have to use it again. Really good Porterhouse steaks cooked over the campfire, followed by some Ben & Jerry’s, topped off a very productive day.
28 April 2010
Woke up to heavy snowfall with white stuff covering the ground. Quite lovely… but discovered the hard way that the RV slide-out won’t retract with two inches of snow on the awning. So spent a precarious five minutes up on the slippery roof with a whisk broom attending to that little issue. Then took Delores into Middlebury for 19 gallons of propane and various other errands… none of which, thank goodness, required parallel parking. RV drove really well on the snow-covered back roads… though no land-speed records were attempted. One stop was at Taylor
Rental to retrieve their rebar cutter / bender. Arrived back at Fern Lake mid-morning and a few minutes before Steve Osmer (good friend and former boss who had foolishly volunteered for three days of concrete work). Steve and I spent a thoroughly cold, wet, miserable rest of the morning cutting 30 inch rebar cross ties into 18 inch cross ties to accommodate the change in footer size. Also cut the 100 or so pieces that will be used to form rebar “squares”. A word of explanation: the upper level of the shed will rest on six large wooden beams that will, in turn, rest on twelve concrete columns, each 10 inches square and nearly 8' tall. Each of those concrete columns will be reinforced by four vertical rebar lengths formed into a bundle using four or five short
lengths of rebar that have been bent into the form of a square. After a change of clothes and a warm lunch, returned the rebar cutter / bender to Taylor, then began placing steel in the footer forms. Mid-afternoon it finally stopped snowing, though for the remainder of the work day snow plummeting 80 or so feet off the big pine into the cellar hole gave us several near misses. By quitting time had about 2/3 of the horizontal rebar runs and cross ties in place and tied together. Not bad for two guys who had never used a rebar wire tying tool before today.
27 April 2010
The weather forecast I heard yesterday called for showers in the morning today, clearing this afternoon. Actual weather: moderate snow (yes, I said the “s” word) most of the day. If you love working in the cold, wet, and mud, this was your day in heaven. Josh and Perry arrived at 8 o’clock to uncover the footer forms and begin getting them straight, square, and level, with accent on the latter. Not too much of the south bank had collapsed; Josh was able to clean up that mess in about an hour of shoveling. Found the new and rather expensive carpenter’s level that had gone AWOL last trip, exactly where I thought it might be… and in a location that Josh and I had looked at least a dozen times. Obviously a case of either a perturbation in the space-time continuum or severe male pattern blindness. Perry brought along a leveling transit, so determining how unlevel the forms were was quite easy. Getting them level proved to be another matter entirely, especially as Mr. Type-A (semi-retired) wanted everything to within ⅛ inch of perfect. But, by mid-afternoon everything was aligned and ready for a final check. At that point, we discovered that the leveling transit was no longer level… which meant that the tops of the footer forms were in perfect alignment with each other, but the plane they formed was not perpendicular to Earth’s gravitational field. Ooops! Fortunately, it only took another three hours and many non-family-friendly words to set things to rights. After a late “dinner” (open can, slightly heat contents in microwave, inhale), spent a half hour trying to get mud off and out of the more delicate parts of the electric tools we had used today.
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