31 May 2010

Memorial Day. Josh, Dan, and I continued building concrete column forms. Got three more assembled, so only four more to go… and those forms are all cut out and ready for installation. Installed the horizontal rebar in the west wall and will try to build the remaining forms around the steel, vice trying to thread the steel through the forms once they’re in place. First attempt went okay. Josh and Dan really enjoyed learning how to use the rebar tying tool. Of course, they only did a dozen or so ties apiece, unlike poor Steve who had to do thousands. Perry stopped by late afternoon to get a progress update and discuss the timing and details of the next construction steps. If all goes well (hollow laughter in the background), we should be ready to pour the concrete columns and underground roof in early July.

30 May 2010

Sunday, so decided to just relax and smell the spruce trees. And if you believe that one… Spent the early morning cooking and cleaning. Wanted to bake a pan of brownies, so had to “convert” my 9 x 13 baking pan into a 9 x 9 baking pan. The aluminum foil insert I crafted worked well, but the RV definitely isn’t level… After proper ablutions (i.e., an overdue shave and shower), went down to the Lapidus’ for a late morning brunch, joined there by Kate and Dan. Once again Merry and Marty outdid themselves with fabulous food and delightful company. Completely stuffed, donned my chain sawing duds and spent five hours clearing spruce trees with Dan, with guidance from Kate. Kate sawed down her first tree, surviving that experience with all appendages intact. When we were done, Dan and Kate had a much better view of the lake from their house, and I was one tuckered puppy. After a quick cool down swim to check the tree-trimming view from the water end, took a large lasagna, the brownies, and a bottle of 2008 Chrysalis Norton Barrel Select over to Kate and Dan’s for dinner. Also present were Mark and Karen Evans, Philadelphia natives who have a year-round house across the lake that they visit most weekends. The Evans told me about a much better way to get between Philly and I-287 in northern New Jersey, avoiding all the stoplights and slow traffic on US-206. The lasagna (even if I do say so myself) was great and the company even better. We have really fallen head-first into wonderful neighbors to the north and south!

29 May 2010

Way too early, Josh and I continued the concrete column form building project, assisted for several hours by Dan. In spite of the extra help, still only got three forms built and installed by five o’clock. Major slowdown due to threading the horizontal rebar through the forms, which took hours and many words of “encouragement”. After work, jumped in the lake, per normal routine, and discovered I still had my glasses on. So took them off and put them on the dock. Awhile later, decided to give Hopea Kanootti a much needed bath, so unhitched her from the dock, swamped her, and then gave her a good hand scrubbing, removing a few thousand mosquito larva. Then pulled her up onto the dock to drain out all the water. Discovered a very flat, multiple piece pair of glasses upon completing that evolution. So now I can either wear my sunglasses and look really hip or use my white cane to get around. Sure do hope it’s sunny next Friday when I drive back to Virginia… Blindly followed Dan in a swim across the lake (which is about 1000’ wide at the latitude of our dock) before joining him and Kate for a delicious BBQ chicken dinner at their place.

28 May 2010

An absolutely gorgeous day: mid-70’s and hardly a mosquito worth mentioning. Josh LaFlam showed up at 7:45 and we picked up where Steve and I had left off in the concrete column form building process. Got the final short form assembled in short order as Steve and I had already cut, built, and oiled the four sides. Then tackled the east wall double column form. Got it mostly assembled by mid-morning, only to discover that two of the sides were in backwards, i.e., they really belonged to the double column on the west side of the foundation. This is what happens when the adult supervision (aka: Steve) isn’t there to direct activities. As we needed to then cut the right pieces for the east wall double column, we cut all the pieces for all the other 10 remaining columns plus the plywood that will be used for scaffolding during the concrete pouring process. By quitting time, both double column forms were fully assembled. Josh and I then hit the lake for a totally refreshing cool down swim. After a stupendous burger cooked over the campfire, spent a delightful hour with Dan Wheeless and Kate Middleton sipping a 2005 Chrysalis Norton Estate Bottled while they were preparing their dinner. After they were replete (and the RV had been made ready for visitors), they came over to roast marshmallows and help me finish a wonderful 2007 OSF Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley… not necessarily a pairing I would have chosen, but actually a pretty good combo after a couple of glasses or so… and the camaraderie was simply wonderful… but then all of a sudden it was midnight.

27 May 2010

Awoke to CVPS still being stingy with their electrons, so fired up Delores’ generator so we could charge cell phone and drill / driver batteries and, most critically, brew a pot of coffee. Then Steve and I repaired to the shed cellar pit to continue concrete column form building. Had to take apart and rebuild all of the horizontal rebar in the south-end wall in order to get the two middle forms into their proper positions. Such a look of rapture on Steve’s face when he realized the necessity of more rebar tying! Fired up the RV generator again so we could use the radial arm saw. First time we turned on the saw we could plainly hear Delores saying, “You want me to do WHAT?!?” The saw blade took a good 5 seconds to work itself up to cutting speed, while the generator noticeably sucked wind. The saw also exhibited a decided lack of gumption, threatening to stall when the least bit challenged. What did I read the other day about voltage drop???? Also didn’t help that the saw has been thoroughly abused for over 30 years and we were cutting plywood previously used for the concrete footer forms… which had more than their fair share of dirt and dried cement. Mid-afternoon the saw just up and quit after jamming badly on a 2 x 4 we were trying to rip into two 2 x 2’s. Even after letting it cool down for a half-hour, it just wouldn’t start. Perry stopped by at this point to see how things weren’t going very well. Thinking that the price tag for the shed building project had just gone up by a radial arm saw’s current retail value, I broke out the Skill saw in order to continue production. It wouldn’t start either! Perry checked the outlet into which the extension cord was plugged. No juice! “Has anyone checked the circuit breaker?”, he asked. Saws back in operation, we finished the day having built three more column forms. For those of you keeping score, that’s five down and thirteen to go. Steve left, because all the beer was gone. No, actually, Steve left because of family commitments back in New Hampshire. Sadly, though, all the beer IS gone…
P.S. It was a beautiful afternoon… nary a rain shower in sight. CVPS finally let us have grid power back at 4:30.

26 May 2010

Spent the morning erecting the steel rebar bundles for the final six columns. Though we worked right through another 90+ degree day until six o’clock swim call, we only got two of the concrete column forms constructed (out of the 18 total that will be needed – and, no, I didn’t miss count – two of the columns are “doubles”, i.e., in each double form there is steel for two columns). Now these first two forms were for the two most complex corner piers (what would be the point of starting with something easy?), and the first time you build something always takes twice as long while you figure out how to screw things up most efficiently, but still in all, building the forms for the column construction is going to take a LOT of time. Also installed the horizontal and vertical rebar that will keep the south-end wall from falling down. That done, Steve gladly returned his rebar tying tool. He thinks this is the last time he’ll ever use it… Sitting out by the campfire, trying to ignore the mosquitoes this evening because it’s still 86 degrees inside the RV, I called my sister, Lynne Pirkkanen, to see if she had heard a local-area weather report. “Supposed to be a nice night,” she said knowingly, “with a chance of showers tomorrow afternoon.” “Great!”, I replied, “’cause we have lots of stuff uncovered that I really don’t want to get wet.” Feeling another swim call coming on about 8:30, I repaired to the dock for a refreshing dip. “Hmmm…”, I thought, looking towards the north, “that looks an awful lot like a thunderstorm… but maybe it’s just heat lightning… but that does look like a classic cumulo-nimbus cloud formation…” Returning to the RV, Steve and I made a quick trip around the site throwing every tarp we could lay hands on over all the construction materials, finishing just as the storm came roaring in. In the midst of the mêlée Merry Lapidus called and offered us shelter and a bed for the evening. We hadn’t noticed that the flow of electrons from the power grid had ceased… because the RV automatically switches to the coach batteries whenever 110 volt power isn’t available. We declined her offer, but it was a very nice gesture from the Lapidus’. Eventually the thunder died away and so did we.

25 May 2010

Traded a bunch more of our kids’ inheritance for another passel of Goodro Lumber construction materials, which were delivered mid-morning, just as Steve Osmer was arriving for another three-day stint of abuse. After stowing all the lumber close by where it will be used, we quickly set up the radial arm saw, which, miracle of miracles, was still in perfect cutting alignment after 500 miles of jouncing around in the back of the van. (The alignment process is VERY finicky and typically takes better than an hour to achieve Type-A tolerances.) First mission for the saw was to trim a new thwart for Marty Lapidus’s canoe. Then, because somebody’s brain was only running on five cylinders, Steve and I moved quite a bit of the lumber we had just finished stacking (oh, so neatly – as those of you who know us both can well imagine), as it was in the way of what we had to do next. That being, marking the four corners of the shed on the footers, adjusting until the marks were PERFECTLY spaced and formed a rectangle with PERFECTLY square corners. Perry arrived as we were eating lunch and just as I was reaching for the phone to call him. We needed his special chalk line which leaves a semi-permanent mark on concrete. Steve and I used that line to join the corner marks together, thus establishing the pier form front-face alignment. That done, we laid out the perpendicular lines showing exactly where the pier forms are to be set lateral to each other. Then the fun started, i.e., Steve’s MOST favorite activity (NOT!!!!), building the steel rebar bundles around which the pier concrete will be poured. We got 14 of the 20 done. Fortunately for our continued friendship, this time the work mostly could be accomplished standing upright and without a cascade of snow pouring down from on high. Mind you, today the temperature easily reached 90 degrees in the shade, so the swim after work was most refreshing, as was the ice-cold beer that followed. Many pounds of BBQ spareribs, perfectly cooked on the camp fire and accompanied by more cold beer, really hit the spot. Unfortunately, adjourning to the campfire after a leisurely post-prandial canoe around the lake, the mosquitoes finally got the better of us, forcing a retreat into the toasty-warm RV.

24 May 2010

Made it to Brandon in 8½ hours, in spite of Washington rush hour traffic and a couple of construction zone delays. After visiting the bank and grocery, was at Fern Lake in one minute less than nine hours. Weather steadily improved as I came north… a gorgeous sunny day once past New Jersey. The temperature inside the RV registered 84 degrees when I opened up camp. Had cleverly put the bathroom Kleenex in a cabinet the mouse (mice?) couldn’t get into. Checked and, sure enough, the Kleenex was undisturbed. After patting myself on the back, discovered ample evidence that I had forgotten to put away the bedroom Kleenex box… Once the usual unloading and stowing routine was done, took the thermometer down to the dock to see about the water temperature. 73 degrees!!!! Splash went the new steps and awwwwwww went yours truly.

23 May 2010

The adventure started early this trip. Needed to bring my radial arm saw up north to use during the next several phases of the shed construction. That critter weighs better than a hundred pounds and the weight distribution makes carrying the saw quite awkward. My neighbor, Mike Baker, VERY strong former Iowa farm-boy and once-a-Marine, always-a-Marine, wasn’t home when the saw needed loading in the car, so my other neighbor, Bruce Watkins, former (as in 40 plus years ago) lumberjack, helped me slide the saw out of the shop and out the door to our backyard. Thinking that Bruce and I probably weren’t quite macho enough to carry the saw from that point up the hill and around to the driveway, I brought the van down to the backyard. Loading was tricky but successful. Driving back UP the hill was not. Must have been the inch of rain we had the night before… Tried everything, including attempting to tow the van with the Prius (it was at that point that Chree went back in the house, mumbling…) No joy! A few hours later, Mike returned home and brought over his very manly truck and, even better, truck-mounted winch, which effortlessly returned the van to street level.

5 May 2010

Had intended to get up early, get Delores bedded down for a couple weeks’ absence, and hit the road headed south about 7:30. The getting up early part happened okay, but making sure everything was clean, put away (where mice can’t find things to nibble on), turned off, locked, etc. just seems to take about an hour and a half no matter how much packing I do the night before. As a consequence, I didn’t leave THE FIRST TIME until 8:15. Got to Whiting (15 minutes away) and realized I’d put something out to dry that needed to go to Virginia and had forgotten to put it in the car. Grrrrrrr! So departed Fern Lake, the second time, at 8:45… which meant that, even pushing hard the whole trip, I didn’t get to the Washington area until the height of evening rush hour. Overall, a 9 ¾ hour trip. Going through the Baltimore tunnel, discovered that the door ajar light was illuminated (not seen earlier because of where I keep my sunglasses case). All trip I thought I was hearing louder road noises than usual, but talked myself into believing the sound stemmed from the two gasoline containers lashed to the roof (stored there so that any accident would be as spectacular as possible.) So obviously, the left rear door had been open for nigh on 500 miles at that point. That also probably explained why the air conditioner seemed quite anemic during the heat of the day… On a positive note, I did remember not to back into the garage until AFTER removing the gas containers from the roof.

4 May 2010

Opened checking and savings accounts at the National Bank of Middlebury – Brandon Branch. Then, in between rain showers and thunderstorms, removed the concrete forms from around the shed footers. The forms came away from the concrete quite easily – thanks to the liberal application of oil that Steve and I had applied. Getting them out of the ground was laborious, but not as bad as I feared. The outer side of the south end footer, which multiple landslides had all but buried, proved to be one of the easier removals. Once that form was removed, built a rudimentary retaining wall out of rebar and plywood to stop the 500 pound boulder about 6′ up in the bank that is threatening the southeast corner. Do you see anything wrong with this concept? Was going to remove all the screws from the forms, preparatory to reusing the wood to build forms for the concrete columns, but instead just threw a tarp over them in the back of the pickup. I’m sure they’ll still be there in a couple of weeks... Used the leveling sight to try (once again… and again without success) to determine just how high to build the shed columns. Got the height “narrowed down” to somewhere between 7′ 6″ and 7′ 10″. Compromise at 7′ 8″???? Found ½″ of water in the baking pan in the cabinet directly under the kitchen sink faucet, so spent some quality time before dinner with a tube of adhesive caulk, sealing the bejesus out of my fingers and every crack I could find. While I’m happy the pan caught the water, I HATE water leaks!!!! In keeping with real-manhood, read the tube label AFTER finishing the sealing job and found that the caulk takes 7 – 14 days to cure, with no water contact allowed for at least 24 hours. Doing the day’s dishes in the bathroom sink was a novel experience. In retrospect, maybe I should have just taken them into the shower…

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).