Category: Uncategorized

Good evening all.

Let me start with the fact that I’m trying new food for Sasha starting tonight – litterally.  I tried her new food.  It was tastier than what I have eaten on many occasions.  I could have made of meal of it myself, but it was for her, so I didn’t.  More on that subject later.

Flash back to Monday.

• Victor stopped by and dropped off the septic permit application paperwork.  We chatted about carports, fencing, and water.  Naturally, after he left, I thought of about a dozen questions I should have asked him.  Oh well.  I’ll give him a call this week after work and pepper him with questions.  I just added a to-do in my list to make a list of questions.
• Signed a new offer on the house house on Augusta drive.  It was close enough to asking price I didn’t bother with a counter offer.
• Confirmed the tenant has vacated the house on West Michigan.  Found out he appearently had a pot growing operation setup in the garage (setup for more than just a couple of plants).  Electric had been turned off so I had it turned back on so there was power for cleaning and showing the house once it is ready.
• Tried one last time to get new outdoor camera working – no go.  Left voicemail for seller.
• Filled in some blanks on septic system paperwork and added some details to my building permit paperwork.
• Too tired to cook.  Used the microwave for the first time since I left Michigan to heat up a can of soup I brought for just such occasions.  Homemade is so much better than processed crap.
• Checked out Mueller steel buildings for carport as suggested by Victor.
• Bed Early (10PM ET).

Tuesday

• Woke early (5AM ET) – go figure.
• Cooked potato soup for lunch – delish.
• No response from seller regarding new camera.  Called Amazon and arranged return of camera for a refund.
• Wrote script (computer program) to grab still photos from the outdoor camera at 5 minute intervals.
• Dishes
• Cooked Spanish rice for dinner – double batch

Wednesday

• First “don’t do that” experience of the week.  I was dropping some items off at the shed Wednesday before heading over to Tom and Alicia’s for a visit.  I couldn’t remember which key went to the lock for Tom’s back gate and I didn’t want to force any of them.  So I decided to be adventurous and try a road that runs just east of his property line that I had not yet tried.  It seems there is a reason I had not tried it before.  Within site of my road, it looks fine.  Further in, it was marginally passable for a full size pickup truck.  Besides listening to mesquite branches and thorns scrape down the length of the truck and being on the constant lookout for mesquite in the two tracks that seem to rarely if ever see any vehicle traffic, I came across a one foot deep gully that washed out the left tire track.  I stopped and paused before entering it considering my options.  There was no place to turn around and I had no desire to drive in reverse to retrace the path I had just driven for the last 5+ minutes.  There was a fence to the left and mesquite to the right.  Seemed to me like the truck should be able to handle it and dropping the left tires in the gully was the only reasonable option.  So forward I forged.  No problem.   Finally, I emerged onto the road that has the entrance to Tom and Alicia’s property.
• Had a great visit once again with Tom and Alicia.  Agreed to try to meet at the Tavern for Dinner Thursday.
• Leaving, I drove on real dirt roads, not dirt road wanna-be’s.

Thursday

• Took half a day of vacation.
• Ran to Bisbee to submit application for septic and building permits.
• Dropped off outdoor camera at UPS drop off location in Bisbee.
• Coffee at Starbucks.   MMMM
• Grocery shopping at Walmart
• Stop at TSC for some buckets.
• Timing was perfect.  Passed Alicia on the north side of Douglas on my way back and found Tom at the tavern when I got to Rodeo.  He was sitting and having a drink with Boyd, my neighbor to the Northwest.  Alicia arrived a short time later as did Russ and Barbee and Dennis and his wife (sorry, her name escapes me).  We all headed back to the dinning room and had dinner together.
• While waiting for Sasha to do her business in the dog run, I realized I had a sizable hole in the ass of my good jeans.  The ones I had been wearing while doing all my running.
• I am thankful for two things:
  • I am thankful I was not going commando.
  • I am thankful I happened to be wearing briefs that were close in color to my jeans and not a pair bright in color that screamed “Hey, look at me.  I have a hole in the ass of my jeans!”

Friday

• Took half a day vacation
• Ran to Silver City with Sasha to have her eye examined.  Don’t remember if I’ve written about it or not so sorry if this is redundant info.  She has had some red fleshy thing sticking out her right eye for a couple weeks now.  It kept getting broken open and bleeding all over.  The vet quickly identified it as a tumor on her third eyelid.  Options:  Do nothing.  Give medicine in her eye for a couple of weeks.  Have it cut out with surgery.  He didn’t see to have a high degree of confidence in the medication being effective but felt it was work a try.  There is a chance of it coming back when/if you cut it out.  I took the medicine path to start with.  Once again, questions didn’t come to mind until after we had left.  Namely, how much would surgery cost?
• Stopped at Walmart to buy a new pair of jeans.
• Stopped at Jalisco Cafe in Silver City for a Mexican dinner as I was not going to be back in time for the potluck.  Parked the truck in a nice shady spot and rolled the windows half way down.  Salsa was a bit hot.  As always, I ordered guacamole and bean burrito’s with green sauce.  It wasn’t until I finished the guacamole and my mouth was still burning that I realized it wasn’t still burning from the salsa.  I finally remembered seeing in the menu that they put jalapeno pepper in the guacamole.  Burritos were good as well.
• On the way home I had “don’t do that” experience two of the week.  I decided to stop in Animas on the way home to get gas and a couple of items from Valley Merchantile, so I took a route I had never taken before.  Cruising along thinking about god knows what I came up on a white truck.  Straight road, clear visibility, no oncoming traffic, passing zone.  Started to pass.  First thing I noticed was a “D.A.R.E” sticker on the back of the truck.  Hmmm.. I’ve seen that before.  Where have I seen that before?  I can’t remember.  Next thing I notice:  Sherriff’s logo on the driver’s door.  OOPS!  Now I remember where I have seen that D.A.R.E logo before.  Law enforcement vehicles back in Michigan.  Third thing I notice as I prepare to complete the pass and get back into the right lane are red and blue flashing lights.  Ya… Expected that… I truly don’t know how fast I was going but I’m guessing 70-75.  I finished collecting all the usual required paper work (license, registration, insurance) about the same time he arrived at my window.  He said he didn’t want any of the paperwork.  He asked me if I knew the speed limit.  I answered him honestly, “no but was guessing it was either 60 or 65” as that is the speed limit of state route 80 that I am used to traveling and this was a flat and straight stretch of road.  He corrected me informing me that it was 55.  He didn’t want to write a ticket.  He just wanted me to slow down.  I thanked him profusely and used cruise control the rest of the way to Animas.
• Got to Valley Merchantile and they were closed.  I resign to return Saturday.
• Gave Sasha her first dose of medicine in her eye.

Saturday

• Finished the planning for the fence and put together a materials list for it.  Made multiple copies of the materials list to provide to Valley Merchantile, B&D Lumber, and maybe Lowes in Sierra Vista.
• Tried to give Sasha her next dose of medicine.  She knows what it is now and is not going to allow it.  Ugh…
• Went to Valley Merchantile to pick up a few items, get gas, and drop of the materials list for the fence for them to get me a quote.
• Once back at the trailer, I sat down and worked on checking the status of my credit and putting a freeze on it.  If you happen to be like me and don’t follow the news, Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus had a data breach and thieves stole the personal records of millions (~50%) of Americans back in May.  Enough data to be able to easily steal your identity and open fraudulent accounts in your name.  I checked Equifax’s site and confirmed that my info was in the batch that was stolen.  I signed up for the free credit/ID protection offered by Equifax and Transunion’s free credit monitoring service that also enables you to freeze your credit.  I froze my credit in Transunion.  I was not as successful in freezing my accounts in Equifax and Experian’s systems.  I will try again tonight when I am done writing this.
• I spent the late afternoon watching football while waiting for my laundry to wash and dry.  First time I’ve intentionally sat down to watch broadcast television since I left home in June.  MMA happen to be on so I switched over to that and watched that the rest of the night.  I don’t think I will be watching broadcast TV anytime soon again.  Too many food advertisements for food I still crave but don’t want to eat in an effort to eat healthy.

Sunday

• Tried to give Sasha her eye medicine.  She is not going to cooperate and I am not versed well enough in handling her by myself to make it happen.  Need to go to plan B.
• Went to the property and reworked the diversion swales (rain diverting speed bumps in the road) that I paid to have put in place in July.  They had been put in straight across the road as opposed to at an angle.  I also think they were probably about twice as high as they needed to be.  I had hoped to do all the work with the tractor, but found I was not skilled enough and there was insufficient space for me to do what I needed to do.  So I used the tractor to breakup the now compacted and hardened earthen speed bumps.  I then used a hand shovel to move the dirt and rocks where I thought they would be more effective.  Finally, I ran back and forth over the width of the lane/speedbump with the truck to pack it down.  It is not the quality job I would like, but it is better than it was.  I will revisit it when I’m living on the property and we get sufficient rain which likely will not be until next July.
• Once back at the trailer, I started working on plan B for Sasha’s eye.  As many of you already know, my beliefs regarding health are on what most of Western Developed society considers fringe/whacked/radical/whatever description you want to insert here.  Namely, a few years back I came to believe that 90+ % of degenerative diseases (diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, tumors/cancer, etc) is a direct result of the food that is put into one’s mouth and in many if not most cases, can be reversed with “radical” changes in diet.  Note that “radical” is a matter of perspective.  One might consider a whole plant food based diet as radical to reverse heart disease.  I would counter that having your chest cracked open to have stents or bypass surgery at huge financial cost and physical pain rather than choosing to eat a healthy diet is radical.  Sorry.  Coming down off my soap box.  Back to Sasha…  Given that she won’t let me get close to her eye with the medication, it is time to get rid of the expensive processed food I buy for her out of convenience and invest in her the time and energy I invest in myself to try to get and stay healthy.  So, today I searched for home made dog food recipes online, then made a big pot of food for her that should last the next couple of days.  As I said in the opening, considering the dump method I used, I must say that it came out tasting pretty darn good.
• Cooked some food for myself
• Did a number of chores around the trailer.

I’m expecting to start working on the fencing next weekend – even if it is just to mark the locations of the corner posts and maybe the gate posts.  I have enough funding to do the fencing myself, but won’t be able to start with any other major projects until one of the houses in Michigan is sold and I have the proceeds from the sale to use to fund the new projects.  At this point, I have no intention on financing any further development on the property except maybe the septic system.  Everything is going to be paid for at the time of acquisition so that no further debt is incurred.

On the subject of the fence, everyone out here keeps advising me to just pay someone to do it.  I presume the advice is because it is hard work.  Even harder on my property given the amount of rock in the ground.  Here is what they don’t seem to get:

• Doing the math it would cost me about $4k for the labor alone to install the fence.  That is $4k I would rather use else where.
• Yes it is hard work.  I have 3-4 years of hard labor ahead of me.  I have to start somewhere.  Why should I pay someone else to build the muscle that I need and want to build myself and burn the calories that I need and want to burn myself?
• At this point, I have more time than $$, so why not spend the time and install the fence myself?

With that, you are now up to date.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Sept 5 – Sunday Sept 10

Good evening.  It is still evening although I’m sure it will be morning by the time I wrap up.  🙂

For those of you who like pics and video, you should like this post.  It has quite a few.

Lots to tell.  Where to start?

Let me start by sharing the pick of the easy up that I put up Monday at the property.

Tuesday was a busy day on the personal front.

• Caught a wind/sand storm on video.  You can view it here.
• Prepared the drone to be shipped back to the seller for exchange and submitted UPS pickup request for it.
• I was notified that the sale of the house on Augusta Drive fell through due to financing.  The buyers were $3k short.
• Notified the seller of the car hauler that I would not be buying it due to finances.
• Contemplated loan for solar and water so reached out to rainwater harvesting companies in the area – Southern Arizona Rain Gutters Inc and Oasis Water Harvesting for pricing estimates.
• Updated building permit packet in anticipation of getting septic building permit information.

 

Wednesday

• UPS picked up the drone.
• Reviewed finances.
• Bought a new book – “Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making” by Allan Savory.
• Talked to Rick from Oasis Water Harvesting for an extensive period of time.
• Did some chores around the trailer.
• Encountered the first mosquito I’ve seen since I’ve been out here.  It is really nice being able to sit out after dark without being covered head to toe in DEET.

Thursday

• UPS delivered the computer I ordered to use as a server for the cameras and other things.
• Contacted the Realtor and asked him to re-engage the buyers for the Augusta Drive house to find a solution on how to deal with that $3k gap and got assurances that the renter in the W. Michigan house would be out this weekend one way or another.
• Normal trip to Douglas for groceries with a short stop at the tavern on the way home.
• Decided against taking out any loans.  I would have had to trade a lot rent here at Rusty’s for the loan payment as there is no other surplus funds available for any more loan payments, and I didn’t want to pay for the loan fees given the short period of time that I would need the money.

Friday

• Made black bean soup for the potluck and enjoyed a bit of social time with my neighbors in the park.
• Installed the memory and hard drive in the new computer, then installed Debian 9 as the OS.

Saturday

Found this footage of a visitor captured by the camera during the night.

I spent the bulk of the day at the local “Heritage Fest”.  They have speakers come in and give presentations on various subjects.  For the most part, I found all the presentations interesting.  Saw my property neighbors Tom and Alicia there.  I mentioned something about coming over for a visit and Tom indicated I could just show up.  They were fine with that.  Hoping I will be able to find the down time this week to do that.  Anyway, here was the agenda for the day for anyone who cares.

I headed to the property from there to drop off a couple things and check on the easy up to see how it survived.  This is what I found (and left to deal with later).

I headed to Coronado forest to make sure I knew where the visitor’s center was.  It was the meeting location for the mountain wild flower walk I planned on participating in on Sunday.  After that, I stopped at Portal Cafe for dinner and some live music.  I didn’t care for the music much so I didn’t stay too long after finishing dinner.  Back at the trailer I continued work on the new computer preparing it to take over the function my personal laptop was currently doing – managing the video camera and recording video.

Sunday morning I finished the config of the new computer and had it assume its duties freeing my laptop to more easily be used for photo and video editing before heading off for the field trip.

On the way into the national forest, the car in front of me pulled off the road.  As I started to go around them, I saw why and stopped as well.  A family of javelina crossing the road.

Took a number of photos and some video during the walk.

 

After snapping the photo of the creek, I decided it would just not be enough so I took some video which you can watch here.

On the walk I met:

• Dave the leader of the walk.  Knowledgeable in birding and botany (I heard 3 life times worth of Latin as he was giving the scientific names of the plants as well as the common names).
• Victor and Kim, a couple that moved from Hawaii and are also building in the area.
• A writer whose name escapes me who is also new to the area.  She was keen to learn that I was in IT as she has a fictional novel idea about hacking and she was looking for a technical resource.  So, looks like I might be consulting on a novel.  That should be interesting and fun.
• There were a few other locals as well but I didn’t chat with them too much and I don’t recall their names.

On the way home, my cell phone came back into signal and I got notified of a few voice mails.

Victor, the septic specialist was looking for a bit more information to complete the septic permit paperwork.  I heard he was working on it this weekend from Drew here in the park who is also waiting for his septic permit paperwork.  Drew suggested we car pool to Bisbee.   Given we are out of summer hours at work, I guess it doesn’t matter what day I go as I will have to take time off work regardless.  This week I should finally be able to submit my permit applications.

My realtor called to tell me that we had a new offer on the house.  The couple is pre-approved financially and want to close within a month.  The offer is in the ball park of the other offer that fell apart.  He has not heard back from the other realtor for the family that was associated with the deal that fell apart at the start of the week.  I will likely be accepting this deal as is Monday.  I forgot to ask him about the status of the rental.

It has been a bit of a roller coaster week.  But even during the down time, I was determined to stay positive.  And rightly so.  It is all working out.  I am not going to rush myself.  I am not going to stress over timelines.  I get enough of that at work.  What gets done gets done.  What has to wait, waits.  I just want to make sure I do projects in a reasonable (and hopefully ideal) order and I want to finish a project before starting the next.  As long as progress is being made, I will be happy.  Even in the last couple weeks of waiting, I have been brainstorming about various projects and working on methods to capture a photo/video record of the whole property development process.  It has certainly not be a waste of time.   Soon, the time of analysis will end and the time of action will arrive with a gusto.

One thing I have been meaning to write about is on the “Law of Attraction”.  I heard about the “Law of Attraction” from some you-tuber’s I watch.  In my search of youtube for content on the subject, I found a 3 hour gem of an audio file called “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz.  IMO, it is well worth the time to listen.  I’ve listened to it 3 times now and I’m sure I will listen to it again in a few months.  There are other resources as well on the subject, some more on the metaphysical side than others.  It is also interesting to watch the videos on the entertainers such as Jim Carey and Opra promoting this philosophy.  I encourage all my kids to invest the time in listening to or reading this or other similar material and putting the behaviors and thought processes described into practice.

Ok.  As predicted, it is way past my bedtime.  I am going to have to pass on the invitation from Chris, a new park guest I met tonight to look through is massive telescope (guessing 10-12″ diameter and 3-4′ long).

Night all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have time.  The evening is young and I expect this will be a long one.

I guess I will start by apologizing for leaving you hanging on the Home Expo show.

After walking by it once, I slowed down and found Sierra Vista Building Supply’s table on the second pass.  We chatted about my plans to build and suppliers for the various resources I would need.  He informed me they supply metal roofing from ABC Metal Roofing.  They don’t supply lumber but he directed me to the B&D Hardware and Lumber store in Douglas.  For trusses, he directed me to Southwest Truss.  I forgot to ask about windows.  I also stopped and chatted with ladies from Southeastern Arizona Credit Union as well as the folks from the Sierra Vista Symphony.

During my lunch I emailed Southwest Truss with the building details of the carport and requested a quote.  I called B&D Hardware and Lumber and asked about lumber and delivery.  I can order the lumber I need, and they will deliver.  By the end of the day, I had quotes for the trusses from Southwest Truss including delivery.  I also reached out to a seller on craigslist for a 26′ covered car hauler.  I figured I could use that for a multitude of things.  The only thing I have thought of thus far that I can’t use it for is hauling the tractor.  Over  the next couple of days we agreed upon a price (substantially less than he was asking).

Monday evening as I was walking Sasha, I struck up a conversation with Drew who has been in construction.  He invited me to sit and talk so I did and we chatted well past dark.  He voiced concerns about putting any kind of lumber in the ground out here given the multitude of termites out here (which I noticed the first couple of weeks upon my arrival).  He indicated that the treatment used in lumber doesn’t last very long.  His recommendation was to build the carports with steel.  So this set my mind off in a whole new direction.  I had already been planning on minimal use of lumber in the house, so I don’t have much concern there.  I will ponder whether or not to try to move away from lumber for the few places in the house I was planning on using it.  I’m thinking unlikely.  The car port and covered patio are another matter.

Given the uncertainty about construction methods for the carport which I had planned on mounting the solar panels to and the desire to not delay the installation of the solar system, I spent the rest of Monday evening considering options for where to place the solar panels.  The conclusion I arrived at was that it would be best to do a ground (pole) mount system.

Tuesday afternoon I emailed Northern Arizona Wind and Sun to update them on the change in plans and requested an updated quote for the solar system.

Tuesday evening was spent preparing a laptop computer to be used as a network video recorder for the camera that was due to be delivered Wednesday as well as googling and reading about building with steel pipe.  There is a lot of used steel pipe from the oil industry around here.

Wednesday evening was spent getting the video camera up and going.  I figured out that the laptop I was planning on using wasn’t going to work so I needed to install a different operating system.  To do that I needed a USB stick.  Going through my collection of USB sticks and labeling them has been on my todo list for a long time.  So I took the time to do that.  Downloaded and installed Debian 9.  I like that much better on my HP laptop than Ubuntu as I could never get Ubuntu’s video drivers to work right after the screen blanked out either because the screen saver kicked on or the lid closed.  Installed the NVR software which is used to manage the camera as well as record the video.  Temporarily mounted the camera in the trailer, and called it a night.

Although I had planned on making my usual Douglas run Thursday evening for shopping and dinner, I had to cancel and deal with issues at work.  By the time I was done with work, it was too late to get cleaned up and go to Douglas.  I fixed myself some food, gave myself a haircut and trim, then showered.  Played with the video recording system some more and called it a night.

Friday afternoon my Phantom 4 Pro drone arrived.  I got it charging, looked through the skimpy manual.  Watched a few videos on how to get it ready to fly and it’s basic operation.  While it was charging, I decided it was time to move the security camera outside.  I know it was recording things inside the trailer that nobody wants to see.  I then prepared some fried rice for the potluck and headed over to the potluck.  After the potluck I decided it was time to try to get it in the air.  Unfortunately, my phone would not connect to it (the phone is used as a display of what the camera on the drone sees, and enables you to configure the operation of the remote and drone).  I spent a fair bit of time Friday evening trying to upgrade firmware and getting my phone to connect.  No success.  I decided it was time to put it up for a while, so I did, then headed to the tavern for some more human contact.  After getting back from the Tavern I worked on getting the video streams accessible from the internet.  I configured OpenVPN on the firewall, created accounts, signed up for dynamic DNS (DDNS) so the same name can be used all the time regardless of what my IP address is.  Configured the firewall to keep the DDNS IP address <> name mapping current.  Called it a night.

Having stayed up way too late Friday evening tinkering with the video connectivity, I was looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning.  Sasha had other plans.  I took my time getting around as I planned to eat lunch there so I didn’t want to get there too early.  First stop was at Wells Fargo bank to setup an account.  I had called the credit union earlier in the week and learned that because I don’t live, work, or have family in AZ (yet), I can’t open an account there.  While at Wells Fargo, I learned that I already had a checking account, so I just had her update my contact information and order me a debit card.  Why do I need an account locally?  For large cash purchases such as a covered car hauler found on Craigslist.  Yes I will be careful.  I plan to meet the seller and see it first with no cash on me before making the withdrawal.  Anyway… Back to Saturday.  I then headed to lunch at La Fiesta Mexico.  They were very busy so service was much slower than usual.  While eating lunch, I got a call from my boss (work) about issues with the migration of another team’s application into production.  I talked him through some changes that needed to be done and mentioned others that likely needed to be done.   He didn’t want to execute those additional changes due to process and security concerns so they would have to wait for me to get back home.  He told me not to rush.  Next stop was the hardware/lumber store to find pipe and materials to build a hoop house/barn to be used for storage.  I looked a bit but I had not done all the research I needed to do and my mind was not into trying to figure it out on the fly given the issues going on at work.  So, I moved onto TSC and grabbed a couple things that were on my list.  Then onto Walmart for groceries.  It was my plan to have a mocha latte on the way home given how little sleep I got the night before but when I got there I found the coffee shop had closed 30 minutes earlier.  Plan B, drink the 5 hour energy drink I’ve had in the truck since the ride down from Michigan.  Once back to the trailer and groceries were put away, I took care of the issues at work.  More tinkering on the drone to no avail.  Noted that their online chat support would be available Sunday afternoon.  Ok.  Time to table tinkering with the drone because I was getting frustrated and it was unproductive.  Worked with Brian on accessing the video feed from the internet.  Success.  🙂

Sunday… What to do…. I really want some aerial video of the land / property before I do anymore work on it so that I have some good before and after images, but is it really worth it to keep delaying?  Decisions, decisions.  I decide to hold off and see what tech support has to say.  I calculated that they should be online around noon my time.  So, I take some stuff to the property.  While there, I pound in some T-posts and tie a small tarp to it to give Sasha some shade.  I’m hoping to start spending a fair bit of time at the property soon and would like to start taking her.  That is assuming I can get her into the truck again…  It has been awhile…   Grab some stuff from the shed for a project, then head back to the trailer in hopes of getting a hold of tech support for the drone.  No luck.  They are not online yet.  So, I google some more and tinker some more.  Make it worse in the process.  After upgrading the firmware on the drone, the remote won’t sync up with it.  Ugh.  More googling.  Don’t really find much of anything on that issue.  Work a bit on constructing a one man water level but realize I forgot to grab clamps from the property so I don’t get much done.  I decide I want to move the video camera closer to the trailer.  So I do.  Jury is still out as to whether it is a better or worse location.  Finally reach tech support for the drone.  After working with him for an hour or so, verdict is it needs to be shipped in for repair.  I email the seller on Amazon, explain the situation, and ask if they can do better.  Cheryl finally contacts me after not being lucid for two days, vomiting all day the third, then having a bad headache on the forth (major dental work).  I work with her to get access to the video stream from the internet.  Once she is setup, I do some research on a mini PC to use for the video server as I want to use that laptop for other things long term.

Monday morning I have an email from the Amazon seller regarding the drone.  They will exchange it.   Yay!  I make breakfast and prepare to go to the property for a few hours (don’t have to work as it is Labor Day).  At the property, I dig the easy-up out of the shed and put it up in the area I cleared by where I plan to build.  I sit, relax, and think.  I envision where the water cisterns will go.  I envision where the solar panels will go.  I envision where the outdoor shower will go.  I envision where the compost bins will go.  I dig out my laptop and add the cisterns, outdoor shower, and compost bins to the drawing.  I review my book on constructing water cisterns and resolve to myself that I will be buying them.  I contemplate where to put the pond.  I grab a soil sample to do a water test to figure out how much sand/clay/silt there is at the top couple inches of the soil.  I contemplate how/where to build screens for screening the rocks from the dirt and sorting the rocks by size.  I eat lunch as I continue to alternate relaxing and observing the nature around me such as the butterflies flying to and fro, then thinking about various aspects of developing the property.  I finally decide to pack up so I can get some work done at the trailer.  I was torn between leaving the easy up up and staking it down vs taking it down.  I decide to take it down.  It, on the other-hand, did not want to collapse. So I went with it and put it back up and staked it down.  It will be interesting to see how long it survives.  The monsoon season is pretty much over so I’ve been told that the winds will not be that strong for the next few months.  Packed stuff back into the shed and headed home.  Back at the trailer, I completed constructing the one man water level, cooked dinner, and started working on the blog.  That brings you up to date.

Regarding progress on wrapping up loose ends in Michigan.  Still waiting on the closing for the property on Augusta Drive.  Seems that the tenant has refused to move out of the property on Michigan Ave, so the Realtor/property manager was going to get what ever court paperwork was needed to enter the house and move his stuff out for him.

Hoping this week (albeit only four days left) will see significant progress on multiple fronts.

Sorry no pics tonight.

That is it for me.  Good night all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, once again, not a whole lot to report.

I got a call early in the week from Victor, the septic specialist stating that he had been to the property and taken the necessary samples, but expected it to be another 2-3 weeks before he would have the septic system permit documentation ready for me.  After 30 or so minutes of allowing myself to feel down and frustrated with the delay, I changed my focus to determine how to minimize the impact the delay would have on my overall project timeline and how to maximize my productivity on projects over the up and coming holiday weekend.  I decided the first construction project would be the carport by the house, not the one for the RV’s some distance away.  I had a number of the construction details in my head, but not down electronically, so I started documenting the construction details of the carport and putting together a materials list needed for construction.  At some point, I decided to go from single slope roof to a standard gable roof using trusses.  I then once again spent a fair bit of time mulling over whether to build my own trusses or buy them pre-built.  At this point, I am leaning toward buying pre-built trusses.  I also added to the schedule the construction of a hoop house/barn to store construction material out of the sun and weather.

Thursday evening was my usual run to Douglas.  Nothing interesting to report on there.

Friday evening was the potluck.  The resident here at the park who is retired from the home construction business was not at the potluck as I had hoped so I could pick his brain.  After the potluck, I started my online search for “local” building supply and truss manufacturing businesses.  One of the building supply businesses I found didn’t have a website but they did have a facebook account.  On their facebook account they mentioned that they would be at the home/business expo at the mall in Sierra Vista on Saturday.  What fortuitous timing.  Given I am looking for “local” businesses that sounded like a good place to start and I’ve been telling myself that someday I needed to go check out Sierra Vista, I changed my Saturday plans from working on the property to going to Sierra Vista.  For what ever reason, I was not in the mood to sleep Friday evening, so after adjusting my plans and updating my todo list for the weekend, I started watching movies.  I watched movies way too late into the night.  After my 2nd or 3rd movie I decided I had better force myself to try to sleep.  It didn’t take long.

For as late as I was up Friday night/Saturday morning, I woke up way earlier than I had intended Saturday morning.  I should know better.  Body used to getting up around that time, so it wakes me up, regardless of how little sleep I’ve had.   So kind of it.

Breakfast, dishes, doing some research on drones and continuing to debate with myself as to whether to spend a sizable amount of money on one, reviewing what businesses were in Sierra Vista that I wanted to go to while I was there, then preparing to leave took most of the morning.  After a stop in Portal to drop off recycling, and a stop at the property to clear out a number of things from the back of the truck so I could fit stuff I picked up in Sierra Vista, I was finally on my way.  Once in Sierra Vista, I spent much of the day driving in circles.  Not because I was lost (thanks to GPS), but because I had not mapped out my stops and because this was my very first trip into Sierra Vista, I didn’t know where all the businesses were at in relation to one another.  Sierra Vista reminds me a bit of Portage Michigan where there is a main business road that stretches for miles where many/most of the businesses are at.  Without exaggeration, had I wanted to drive from one end to of town to the other repeatedly, I don’t think I could have planned it any better.  After I was done at each stop, the next stop I wanted to make was at the other end of the business strip.  Started the running off with a stop at a local coffee shop, then to the Mall for the business expo (popped into Best Buy while I was there – this was the one exception where I didn’t run back across town), then to the Food Co-op, then to the Ace Hardware store, then to La Casita Mexican Restaurant, then to Sierra Vista Building Supply to fill the back of my truck with free pallets.  Stopped at Walmart and the gas station on my way back through Douglas.  Finally home to take Sasha for her evening walk, take care of a few groceries, then finally drop into bed.

Sunday.  Well, didn’t do hardly anything on my list nor did I do anything that I had previously planned to do.  After making some scheduled changes for work, I researched outdoor video cameras trying to decide what to get.  Finally made a decision on the camera, along with the drone package I wanted.  Added an outdoor Ubiquiti WAP to the order and hit order before I changed my mind again on the drone.  The big boy toys are coming.  Then started searching craigslist for anything that I could use/justify.  Spent hours going through craigslist and mulling over various items available for sale such as a 26′ covered cargo trailer as well as a few other smaller dollar items.

Finally, I forced myself to turn to my to-do list, pulled some weeds until dusk from the camp site that I had torched Friday afternoon.  Came inside and started working on the blog entry for the week.

Before I close for the night, I’d like to share a somewhat humorous story from a few weeks back.  For the second time I did laundry, I needed to buy quarters, so I went and bought some from Rusty at the office.  Once back at the trailer I laid them down and proceeded to get everything around to go to the laundry room.  Once I got everything around, I went to pickup the roll of quarters.  Where did I put them?  I searched high and low in the trailer.  Bedroom, kitchen, couch, chair, back to the bedroom.  The trailer is not that big.  Where the heck did I lay them down at.  I look at Hersey as he is laying on the bed watching me search.  Presumably laughing at my elevating level of frustration.  I remove all the laundry from the basket to see if I put/dropped them in with the clothes – nope.  Why can’t I remember where I put them?  Why didn’t I put them someplace I could easily find them?  I’m losing my frick’n mind.  Just as I was about to give up, swallow my pride and go buy another roll of quarters from Rusty, I found them.

 

I found them right where I put them.  I did put them someplace easy to find and where I would easily see them knowing I would likely forget where I laid them down at.  What I didn’t count on was Hersey laying on them then laughing at me as he watches me tear the trailer apart looking for them.

 

Ok.  That is it for me tonight.

Night all.

 

Alrighty then.  Let’s see what I can remember from this past week that would be of interest.

Tuesday evening I finally got to go “work” at the property with the tractor.  I decided I would try to dig out the mesquite roots that were left from the clearing/grading of the cleared area around the shed as a first exercise of learning how to operate the tractor and backhoe.  That went ok.  I dug out over 10 of them.  Figuring out how to fill the holes back in and leave the area relatively level seemed like an exercise in futility.

Wednesday I did cleaned up a bit around the trailer and prepared a shopping list for Thursday.

Thursday was my weekly run to Douglas for groceries and such.  I finally remembered to take the big cooler with me although I forgot to buy ice when I was there.  Oh well.  Baby steps.  Tavern in rodeo is open again so I stopped in to say hi to the new owners and have a margarita on the way home.

Friday was potluck night.  I spent all Friday afternoon preparing food.  Guacamole, corn on the cob, and a potato dish out of one of my instantpot cookbooks.  Potluck as always was enjoyable.  It is the only social time I have all week so I always look forward to it.

I worked Saturday – 6AM – 7PM ET, then another 30 minutes later in the evening.  By the time I was done working, I didn’t feel like doing anything so I vegetated and watched a movie.  That was the first TV/movie I have watched since leaving home two months ago.

Sunday was a slow start.  I did dishes from Friday, paid lot rent for another month (actually, Rusty is comp’ing me lot rent for my work on their network so I only needed to pay electric and buy quarters for laundry).  Had a nice long chat with Rusty regarding a number of topics including medical, dental, optical, info about some of the locals, and finally rainwater runoff management.  I loaned her my two books on the subject.  I had planned on staying at the trailer park all day to do laundry and misc things around the trailer, but something compelled me to head to the property and work on the land.  So I did.  I got a lot done – after a minor mis-step at the start…

After figuring out why the tractor was going slower than expected, I headed to the end of the drive to move the diversion swale from the east side of the drive to the west side, and fill in the low area between my drive and the road that always filled with water when it rained.  I took a bit of video of before and after.  Saw my second rattle snake while I was working on the road.  Maybe it was the same one I saw before.  Who is to say.

After I was done with that, I dug out an area to the east of the drive near the end for water to run off and not go into the road then I made a swale in the drive to get the water running down the drive to go there.  Got a bit of video here showing that as well.

Next up was moving dirt around to try to stop or minimize runoff from the property onto the street that was occurring at the end of the drive way.  Got a bit of video here showing the end result of that.

Final project of the night was to dig out the mesquite then clear the rest of the brush and stuff in what will be the drive up to the carport for the house.  Before and after photos below.

While at the property, I noted that Victor, our septic specialist (along with road grader and a number of other things) had been to the property to collect the necessary soil samples for analysis for the septic system permit.  Previously, he indicated that he usually takes samples during the week, then analyzes them over the weekend.  As such, I expect to have the paperwork for the septic permit this week.  I will complete the paperwork for the building permit tomorrow and plan to run to Bisbee Friday to apply for the permits.

Updates on the Michigan home front:  I expect closing for the house on Augusta Drive to get scheduled for this week.  I got a judgement to evict my tenant from the house on Michigan Ave.  He needs to be out by next weekend.

I’ll be checking out drones.  Maybe I will have some aerial footage to share soon.

Finally, I’m going to leave you with this picture and the closing thoughts below.

Are you wondering why on earth would he share a boring picture of an ant hole?

Here is the thing.  I was taking Sasha to do her business in the dog run and saw this ant hole (and a number of others just like it) in the dog run.  In observing it, I observed the the terrain in the area is dirt but surrounding this ant hole for some distance in all directions are pebbles presumably dug out of the ant hole and carried to the surface by the ants.  A very impressive feat in my mind.  Then I transferred that to myself.  Sometimes people ask (including myself on occasion):  How are you going to do it?  What I have planned seems like a monumental undertaking. Sometimes it is overwhelming to think about.  I am going to do it the same way those ants built their home.  One pebble at a time.  One day at a time.  One shovel of dirt at a time.  One task at a time.  Day after day with persistence, patience, and a view of the goal always in my mind’s vision.  There will be delays.  There will be setbacks.  Things won’t go as planned.  Plans will change.  But I will persist and I will succeed.  Of that I am confident.

That is it for me.

 

Night all

This has been a real “interesting” week to say the least.  One challenge after another.

Early in the week Sasha was sick – vomiting and diarrhea.  I am thankful she only vomited in the trailer and saved the diarrhea for outside.  Because she didn’t feel good, she thought I should stay awake all night to keep her company.  She did not let me get very much sleep Monday and Tuesday nights.

Wednesday there was a storm to the east and we lost power with the crack of lightning.   Uh oh.  That’s not good.   It had been my limited experience at the RV park that power outages were pretty brief, so after it had been out for an hour I was thinking there is a good chance it is not coming back on that night.  Given that DSL should be powered by the central phone office, I felt confident that if I got the trailer connected to the generator to power the network and computers, I would be able to work.  So, off to the property I went to get the generator before it got dark.  Given I was just going between the shed and the truck and I would be backing the truck up to the shed, I decided to forego the snake boots.  Loading the generator onto the truck by myself without giving myself another hernia or otherwise injuring myself was an interesting exercise.  I credit some youtube video that I don’t even remember for the working solution that I ended up using in the end.  On the way out the driveway of the property, I saw a big stick  that I didn’t remember seeing there on the way in.  Wait, it is moving.  That is definitely not a stick, that is a snake.  Quick, grab the phone and shoot some video (which you can see unedited here).  As I get closer after getting out of the truck for a better view, I can see what I believe are the rattles on his tail.  I couldn’t see his head and I wasn’t about to chase after him to get a better look.  After reviewing the video and some quick googling, I’m sure it was a western diamondback rattlesnake.  For more info on that particular breed of snake, here is a link with info provided by the desert museum.

Thankfully Sasha let me sleep Wednesday evening.  I got up earlier than usual Thursday morning to unload the generator and get it ready.  I had two neighbor RV’ers so I was trying to wait as long as I could before firing it up.  As soon as I saw life from both RV’s, I fired up the generator and plugged in the trailer.  Power and internet.  Life is good.

After working for an hour or so, internet went out.  Ugh.  Not good.  I have a meeting in 50 minutes.  Guessing what ever backup power they had for the internet, it has gone out too.  Not enough time to get cleaned up and head to Douglas before the meeting, so I pack up and head to Animas (a very small town on the other side of the mountains to the east) remembering that I had been told they have sufficient cellular data service to tether from there.  I find a suitable location where I shouldn’t be in anyone’s way, get online, and join the meeting.  After the meeting, I head back to the trailer, fire up the generator once more to confirm the internet is still down.  Confirmed.  Ok.  Get cleaned up so I can be around people without offending their noses and head out once again but to Douglas this time given it was my usual day to go to Douglas anyway.  On my way out, I notice that cellular signal in the RV Park has gone from 2-3 bars that you can use for voice but not for data down to between no service and 1 bar.  Must be the cell towers are impacted by the power outage too.  Driving through Rodeo I note that there is no/very weak cell signal  through the valley where I usually have adequate signal.  It was numerous miles south before I picked up cell signal again.

Stop at the Blueberry Cafe for a mocha latte and a salad.  Both were delish.  Grab a table by an outlet, fire up the laptop, hop on their wifi and get to work – two more meetings in the afternoon, email, and work an issue in China.  I bought a smoothie during that time so I wasn’t totally freeloading.  They closed at 2PM local which was 5PM eastern so it worked out ok.  Dinner at La Fiesta Mexico as usual.  This time I tried the Gaucamole Tostada.  Not too bad.  Then the usual stops of the hardware store, TSC, Walmart, and the gas station before heading back to the trailer.

Once back to the trailer, still no power.  After taking care of the groceries, fire up the generator and confirm still no internet.  Get back in the truck and drive to Animas for internet service to check on the status of the issue in China as they would have been working for a few hours by that point in time.  Not knowing when power and internet would be restored and given my calendar was free of meetings Friday and I wasn’t working any critical issues (China seemed to be operating ok), I opt to take a vacation day Friday.

Power comes back on around midnight local time Friday night while I was sleeping.  I am thankful I didn’t leave any lights in the trailer on.  Do some cleaning around the trailer and the truck while I wait for the tractor delivery driver to call me to tell me he is getting close.  After a while, I get impatient and I leave to head to town where we were supposed to meet.  Step out onto the makeshift steps in front of the trailer and they start to give way.  Oh boy.  Need to re-prioritize projects for this weekend now.  I haven’t been using the steps attached to the trailer because they are causing the floor by the door to slope down and Sasha likes a big step.  Grab a pad of paper and pen to work on a design for the new steps.  Finishing up the design when the tractor arrives.  Escort him to the property.  He unloads while I sign my life away then shows me how to operate it (not that I am going to remember everything).  When he leaves, it is already an hour past when I wanted to head back to the trailer to start preparing food for the potluck.  Snap a photo and say good bye to my new toy and head back to the trailer.

Back at the trailer, I rush around to prepare southwestern rice and guacamole.

Before dinner, I snapped a photo of a low level rainbow.  This photo does not do it justice.

During dinner, power goes out again.  Stays out for a while.  Comes back on during the night while I’m sleeping.  Thankful for that as I had to be online to monitor changes at work Saturday morning.

After I’m done with work Saturday morning, I head to Animas for supplies for the new steps.  Drop the lumber at the trailer and then head to the property to grab the necessary tools and such out of the shed.  Add a coat of urethane to the seat while I am there.  I’m tired of working on that darn seat.  I think I’m going to call it good and be done with it.

Back at the trailer I setup and cut all the lumber to length before calling it a night.

This morning (Sunday) I get up and finally remember to make juice out of the grapes and prickly pear fruit.  Ok.  What I made was absolutely not juice.  I learned many things this morning, mostly what not to do with prickly pear.  OMG.  That is definitely a unique fruit.  So, I started with the juicer but it clogged up and was not passing the juice.  Determined, I went to plan B.  Put it all in the blender, I will blend it then strain it through one of my nutmilk bags.  This is where I learned what I was really dealing with.  A fruit that when blended with grapes creates substance reminiscent of mucus, slim, the cheese from hot cheese pizza that has cheese strands that never break, they just stretch and stretch and stretch.  My hands were covered in the stuff.  I spread my fingers and the thought of human frog came to mind with the slim bridging the gap between all my fingers from the knuckle to the fingertips.  What now?  This stuff is not going to pass through this nutmilk bag.  Grab my colander, throw it over a bowl and dump the slim in.  Time to clean up.  Glad I was not learning this while on the property and glad we had power to the parks well, because I used gallons of water trying to get the slim off my hands and the nutmilk bag.  Finally, I rationalized that that was an old nutmilk bag and I had others so I just threw it away.  Made a smoothie for breakfast before heading out to work on the steps.  Dumped what had made it’s way through the colander into a jar and put it in the fridge to figure out what to do with it later.

Corrected a couple of angle cuts for the hand rail then started sanding.  Eventually the belt sander broke.  I was about 75% done with the sanding.  I had completed sanding all the critical pieces so i decided to move on with the next phase of the project.  Playing with fire.  Ok, maybe not “playing” with fire, but certainly “working” with fire.   I charred all the boards as done in an old Japanese wood preservation technique called “shou sugi ban”

Brush them with a wire brush (forgot about needing a wire brush but the dog hair brush I scrounged up worked well), wiped down with wet sponge, let dry in sun, stain, let dry, assemble.

I must say, other than the angle cuts being wrong initially, I am surprised at how well it went together.  Usually, I always forget some nuance in my woodworking projects, things never go together well, and they rarely look nice.  I must say, other than picking out some really crappy wood to use for the project, I think it came out pretty good for me.

In case you forgot or didn’t know, note in this older picture what I had been using as steps – two upside down recycling bins with a board laying across the top.

 

An now, this is what I built this weekend.

The new steps are Sasha tested and approved.  She came right up them and in with no issues.

You are now up to date and I am beat.  Off to bed.

Night all.

 

Not a whole lot to update on so hopefully I don’t simply ramble on too much.

Good flight home.  I dozed off and on most of the 4.5hr flight.

Grabbed a coffee in the airport to figure out where in Phoenix I should stop to eat.  I chose “La Santisima”, a mexican restaraunt with a number of options that fit into my dietary objectives (less the fried chips I chowed down).  Good choice.  I will definitely return as opportunities permit.

Oh yea, in case you were wondering, I got out of the airport parking garage without any significant damage to truck or low hanging pipes/conduit in the structure.

Since I missed my usual shopping day in Douglas, I took advantage of the health food stores in Tucson.  Also stopped to get some dog food for Sasha as I knew she would be out before my next trip to Douglas and grabbed another coffee for myself.

Since I forgot to bring the cooler, I waited until Wilcox (only ~90min from home) to stop and get my soy milk and look for frozen fruit.  I didn’t like their selection of frozen fruit so I just got soymilk and some cash.

I finally broke down and bought some tamales from the ladies selling them in the Safeway parking lot in Wilcox (they have been there selling them all three times I’ve been there.  They asked me red or green chilies.  Not knowing which would be more mild, I responded asking for “mild” .  The look I got told me that “mild” was not an english word they were familiar with, so I followed up with “no caliente” which means “not hot”.  They discussed between themselves which to give me then handed me a bag and I paid for them.

I am sooo glad I had the foresight to grab a cold bottle of water in the store.  I just wish it was more effective.  I now know what they were discussing.  Which was was “less hot”.  Oiy.  No problem staying a wake while driving when your mouth is on fire.  Estupido gringo… Fire in mouth is out, let’s eat another.

Sasha was happy to see me of course.  It was a nearly a full moon out so I could comfortably take her to the dog run without the aid of a flashlight.

It was around 2AM eastern time when I finally settled into bed.

I spent Saturday morning on the computer while waiting for Karen and Bob to arrive from Bisbee.  We went to the clubhouse to sit and chat about building permit requirements and various construction topics.  After a bit we headed out to the property so they could see the property and get an idea in person what I had presented on paper in terms of terrain and building site.

We pause for a very tasty lunch between sandwich makings and apples and what I had brought – various dried fruit.  Sadly mother nature decided it was time to rain as we were finishing lunch so we said rather hurried goodbyes before they departed to head back to Bisbee.  Hopefully the next time they come up, we will have some shade and shelter so we can sit and visit comfortably for a bit longer.  None-the-less, I am grateful they made the drive to come visit.

Getting rained out, I decided to retire to the trailer for the rest of the day.  Talked on the phone for a bit, then started work on a new floor plan for the house.  While on the airplane out to PA, I was rereading my earth bag building book and was reminded of a number of construction requirements for a rectangular building which I had forgotten to include and was concerned that it would be difficult to include them in an aesthetically pleasing manner.  I might revisit it, but for now, I’m changing gears to build a circular home.  Certainly a challenge when using conventional building methods, but I’m not using conventional building methods and the shape of arcs and arches provide a lot more structural support than does a straight line.  That said, Saturday evening was spent redoing the floor plan to remap the basic rectangular floor plan into a circular one.  For the most part, the conceptual remapping was not to difficult.  Putting certain aspects of it into electronic format has proved a bit challenging thus far.  I took the floor plan development as far as I dare given how tired I was, then turned in for the night.

Sunday, I made the mistake of starting the morning off watching youtube. I had fallen behind on a few of my channels and I wanted to try to get caught up on at least “mylittlehomestead”.  I love that channel.  Watching it, gave me inspiration on the roof design for the new circular floor plan as well as options on how I might chose to finish off the inside of it.  Around noon local time I decided I had better get over to the property to get another coat of urethane on that seat.

I got the work on the seat done, then walked the property and picked 8 – 12 prickly pears.

Back at the park after doing dishes, I singed all the prickers on the prickly pears off using the stove in the camper, then went and picked a bowl full of grapes from the grape vines at the club house.  Made myself some dinner, and started on the blog.

Before I turn in for the night, I’ll be washing the grapes and throwing them in the fridge for tomorrow.

You are now up to date.

Unless there are major updates to be shared during the week, I’m guessing the next update will be Friday evening.

Night all!

 

Ok.  So I’m in  my hotel in Exton PA with some time to kill, so I thought I would post those pictures I’d teased you with last post.  Before I do that, let me get you up to date on a few things.

I called the building permit department Monday and asked a few questions.  Based on those answers, I’m optimistic that I will have a building permit (and property address) within 10-14 days of getting the septic permit details back from the septic system specialist.  Once I get the property address, then I can get the ball rolling to get the local telco to get DSL service setup out there.  I think I will call them tomorrow after the plane lands in Phoenix so try to work out some of those details and realistic lead times.  I’ll check the property Friday to see if the test holes for the septic systems have been drilled yet.

I also called the solar supply distributor that I was looking to acquire most of my solar setup from to try to get an idea for lead time on the various components of the solar system.  An engineer happen to answer the phone rather than a sales person.  We talked for a bit about what I was looking for and what i was planning.  He thought he could come up with a better design as a free service they provide so I invited him to do so.  I am waiting on that to come in to see what he comes up with to see if I like it or not.

Since Sasha decided to wake me up early Monday (5AM ET) and I couldn’t to back to sleep and I was up a bit late Sunday evening, I was rather tired Monday, so I really didn’t do much Monday evening and I turned in early.

Tuesday evening was spent preparing for my early AM Wednesday departure for a business trip.  I walked Sasha over to Rusty’s site to introduce her to Rusty’s dogs and the dog run she would spend her days in while I was away.  I pointed out to Rusty that she would need to secure the gate as Sasha would open it and let herself out.  While we were standing there talking, a new park guest arrived so Rusty needed to hurry off to the office to get them registered.  I excused myself and went back to the trailer to keep getting ready leaving Sasha in the dog run with Rusty’s two little dogs.

I came out of the trailer about five minutes later to either put something in the truck or take something out, and there was Sasha laying down beside the trailer.  I chuckled and told her that she let herself out and came home quicker than I expected.  I hooked her to the rope while I continued to prepare for my departure.  Rusty came by in her tiny electric cart thinking Sasha would ride back with her in it.  I informed her that the only way I can get Sasha into the truck is to bribe her with a hot dog and a lot of coaxing.  So Rusty took the cart home and walked back with the leash.  Sasha very reluctantly went with her.  I continued to get ready.  About 15 – 30 minutes later they were back.  Rusty explained that Sasha refused to go into her trailer with her.  We agreed that leaving her outside to bark all night at everything that moves during the night was not an option.  We agreed that Sasha would stay in my trailer and Rusty would just have to come over and let her out in the morning for a walk.  Then walk and put her in at night with food and water – same as the current routine.  Just a different care taker.  I had already provided Rusty keys to the trailer in case it wasn’t working at her trailer while I was away.

I turned in early as I had to get up early.

I hit Tuscon at 6AM and traffic was light.

I hit Phoenix around the 7AM morning rush hour and crawled along the freeway for about 6 – 7 miles when I got to the exit for the airport.  Had an aw-F*ck moment followed by a period of time with some high stress when upon entering the parking garage lane to get the parking garage ticket and passing under their maximum height sign I realized I hit it with the ladder rack on the truck cap and there was traffic behind me and no way to move to the garage with the higher clearance.  What do I do?  What now???  My decision:  forge ahead very slowly and cautiously.  I stopped and checked clearance I as I came across a low clearance area.  Looked safe.  Must have been safe as I didn’t hit as I passed under it.  I took one of the first spots I came to that I could easily park in with the truck.  I’m praying that exiting the garage will be equally uneventful when I return tomorrow.  I may decide to remove what I can off the top of the ladder rack.  Part of the problem is I took all of my tools out of the truck and put them in the trailer as part of my departure prep Tuesday evening so I have no tools available to disassemble it.  Fingers crossed.  They boarded us on time.  Closed the cabin door.  We sat there for about 5-10 minutes, then they told us that Philly airport was closed due to storms and we were going to have to get off the plane to wait out the delay.  They reboarded us 60 – 90 minutes later, then we sat and waited another hour or so at the gate waiting for clearance to take off.  It was quite warm on the plane waiting as they were trying to conserve fuel for the flight.  Once airborne, the plane was like an icebox most of the flight.  The drive to the hotel was uneventful.  I checked in around 1 AM (an hour earlier than my colleague who was flying in from Kalamazoo).

Good meeting at work today.  Great dinner at the Bamboo Restaurant in Malvern PA with work friends.  Returned to the hotel to hear little kids (sounded like probably toddlers – kindergarten age) in the room next to me.  Ok.  I can deal with that.  Then the parents started arguing and he was cursing up a storm.  I tried to ignore it for a while.  It didn’t end and after listening to it for 15 minutes it was stressing me out.  I tried to call the front test to complain, but no answer.  I packed up my belongings and went to the front desk to request another room explaining the situation.  No problem.  If the hotel gets another guest that complains, the couple will be told to leave.   Peace and quite in my new room.  Ok.. After being in the RV Park and at the property, “peace and quiet” is a very relative phase.  At the moment, I hear the hum of the fridge and the dull din of nearby road traffic as oppose the the occasional sounds of nature (bull frogs, crickets, coyotes, other) I hear at night at the park.

You are now up to date so onto the pictures you have been waiting for.

 

 

Cute lizard at the RV Park club house while I was working there Saturday afternoon.

 

That’s it for the photos.  Here is a short video clip of the lightning I mentioned the other day.

Ok.  Need to be up in four hours.  This took much longer than expected.

Night all!

 

Time got away from me this evening so I will need to try to make this brief which should be easy given there is not much to tell.

Saturday morning was spent at the property working on my seat.  I also walked around the property some more.  Explored the south east area of the property as I hadn’t walked that yet.  Also went around and grabbed the GPS coordinates of the three markers I could find.  Yes, I also foolishly spent a bit more time looking for that elusive 4th marker.  Don’t know why I can’t get that darn thing out of my mind.  For where I plan to build and fence, it’s precise location is really irrelevant.  Snapped a number of pics to share while walking the land.  Too tired tonight now to post so it will have to wait for next post.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the park working on completing documentation for the building permit application.  I didn’t want to be in the trailer so I sat under the canopy at the club house.  While there I snapped a few more pics of wildlife I thought you my find interesting.  Returned to the trailer when a stormed got close enough that the wind started really blowing.  Wrapped up what I could on the documentation then watched a few youtube videos on various subjects before retiring to bed.

Up before sunrise Sunday so I watched more youtube video’s for a while.  After my morning routing at the trailer was done, I headed to the property to put another coat of urethane on the seat.  On the way home, I noted the Art Gallery was open, so I popped in to look around.  Deb was working.  I introduced myself as a new resident and she provided me with some info on joining various groups for community info and buy/sell/trade.

Back at the trailer I did laundry and watched youtube videos.  I also reached out to the family from mylittlehomestead.com asking if I could come help build for a weekend.

Made arrangements to meet next Saturday with Bob and Karen, friends in Bisbee that we met last summer.

Headed back out to property to sand the seat (supposed to sand between coats of urethane).  Took the chainsaw that was leaking oil all over the back of the truck and put it in the shed.  Took some more measurements for the building permit documentation.

Back at the trailer, I wrapped up the documentation on the building permit application.  I think I have everything I need.  Just need the septic system permit application from Victor, the septic system specialist, then I can head to Bisbee to apply for all the relevant permits.  Hoping that will be next week at the latest.  When I was at the property, I forgot to check to see if Victor had been out to take soil samples for the septic system yet.

Once I wrapped up with the documentation for the building permit application, I turned my attention to the solar system.  While I could run the generator for power, I need power 7 x 24.  That is because there is no cell service so I need so I need internet to power electronics so I have phone via internet.  That said, I am paying for phone service along with the internet, so I could do REALLY old school and get a hardwired phone handset to use at night.  I will do that as a backup.  I have become spoiled and have no desire to be tethered to the wall when I want to talk on the phone.  Anyway, back to the solar system.  I started thinking about setting up a small temporary system while I wait for the full size system to be delivered.  After looking at the costs of equipment I would need to buy that I’m not sure I would have long term use for,  I began to rethink that approach.  The problem I have, is that the batteries I am seriously thinking of ordering for the solar system have a 40 day lead time.  I hope to be on the property in less than 30.  Reviewing the final design I came up with in Michigan, can use obtain and use all the solar panels, charge controller, and inverter that I originally spec’d.  The only thing I need to change would be the batteries.  I would need to get three 12V deep cycle batteries to stand in for the lithium-ion batteries I want to order.  I can live with that.  I’m sure I could find a use for them once the other batteries came in.  With those decisions made, I started preparing the order for my solar system.  While assembling the order, I noted the time and decided I better switch tasks and do a blog entry.  I will call tomorrow to see what the lead time is on everything I want to order, especially the solar panels which ship by freight truck.

And that brings you current (less the photos).

I will be traveling to PA this week for business leaving Wed and returning Fri.  Monday and Tuesday will be spent getting ready for the trip.  As such, don’t expect another update until next Sunday evening.

Night all!

 

 

 

Figured I’d do an update tonight rather than making you wait will Sunday evening.

That said, I really don’t have a lot to report on.

Tuesday evening I spent revisiting the required length of roof overhang on the south side of the house.  If I make it too long, it will block too much sun in the spring and fall potentially requiring me to depend upon alternative heat sources.  If I make it too short, then the house will be more apt to overheat in the spring and fall.  To cold, I burn a fire in the heater.  To warm I add shading to reduce the amount of sun penetration into the house.  My analysis involved reviewing average temperatures in the area for the spring and fall months as well as the elevation of the sun at various parts of the day for those months.  On this particular detail, for far too long I’ve been stuck in that analysis paralysis mode I mentioned in a previous blog.  Right or wrong, I’ve settled on a 6′ overhang which will result in a total span of 33′.  I have no concern about that length of cantilever.  What I need to sort out now is the best way to achieve that 33′ span.  Using a low slope truss is a no-brainer but really doesn’t align with what I envisioned.  Timber would be really cool I think but I haven’t found much in how-to on that and to appreciate the look I would have to rethink how I was going to do the ceiling.  Based on the table I just reviewed while writing this, I think I will go with 33′ 6″ 2×12 of selected structural lumber spaced 16″ on center.  My application of walls about 26′ apart would be well within specifications.  Ok.  That is settled.

Back to Tuesday.  Hmm… Guess that is it for Tuesday.  It was a very late night Tuesday pondering and planning the overhang.

Wednesday I reached out to the county assessor’s office on my request for a plat map as I could not remember if I had included a mailing address or other contact info in the hand written letter I sent (I have opted not to invest in a printer – trying to see if we can live without one).  She was kind enough to email me a copy of it.  It did not have much more info on it than I already had, but having it was a requirement for the building permit application.  I forwarded the map and other requested information to the septic system specialist so that he can document what is needed for applying for the septic system permit.  Talked on the phone for quite a while with family.  I then started work on a drawing for the building permit application.  That effort took me much later into the evening than I had planned on.

Thursday, as is becoming a routine I somewhat look forward I to, I drove to Douglas.  I enjoyed the light show put on by the thunderstorms in the mountains while driving.  Once there, it was dinner at La Fiesta Cafe.  Guacamole and chips, then enchiladas sonorenses this time (I’ve been trying a different entree every visit thus far).  I must say my first visit with the tamales was the best of the three thus far.  Then onto Walmart.  While in Walmart I realized I forgot to stop at TSC first (I like to do Walmart last because of the refrigerated and frozen groceries I buy there).  Oh well.  I remembered to bring a cooler with me this time because I planned to make another stop on the way home anyway so it shouldn’t be a big deal.  Got what I needed (remembered to put on my list) at Walmart and TSC then headed home.  As my mouth was watering for a tasty margarita after that nice Mexican meal, I was disappointed when I realized the tavern in Rodeo was closed.  Must be losing my mind.  Thought it should still be open.

After taking Sasha for her evening walk to the dog run I put away the groceries and retired early to bed.  Just as well the tavern was closed.  I was beat from the last two late nights and appreciated turning in at a reasonable hour.

Friday my afternoon work calendar was clear of meetings and for the first time in weeks there were no pressing late Friday afternoon issues that I had to deal with.  As such, I opted to take advantage of work’s summer hours and called it a day around 1 PM eastern.

I took that time to show Rusty (the RV park’s owner) how to access the software that controls the park’s wireless network.  Ran to the post office to check to see if there were packages for me.  Got an order of BBQ sauce and helicopter insurance welcome packets.

Prepared rice and veggies with peanut sauce again.  After the potluck was over, I was still in the mood to be social so I headed to the tavern.  Closed.  This time there was a sign on the door.  The business and liquor license is in the process of being transferred to the new owners.  I guess that explains why it was closed Thursday night too.  Oh well.  Didn’t need to poison my body anyway.

Back at the trailer I sat outside for a while practicing playing Texas Holdem on the iPad while petting the very demanding miss Sasha.  I sure hope it was Texas Holdem that Tom told me they play on poker night around here.  As it was cool and windy from the nearby thunderstorm, I decided to retire to the trailer.  Before heading in for the evening, I took Sasha for her evening walk to the dog run while enjoying the light show being presented by the thunderstorm in the distance.  While at the dog run while waiting for Sasha, it occurred to me to take out my phone and get some video of the lightning.  Of the two minutes of footage of multiple strikes, it was the strikes in the last few seconds that captured the best on the phone’s video.  Someday I will edit the video down or maybe just pull out some still photos and post them.

And now you are once again up to date.  Can’t wait to get onto the property when I can start writing and posting about less mundane activities.

That reminds me of a conversation I had with Bob the parks maintenance man this week.  I shared with him my Sunday night adventure of having to get into the two electrical panels to work on the wireless network.  He then shared with me that black widows and scorpions love hiding in those panels and he won’t reach into them without gloves on.  Geeze…  Not only was I reaching in without gloves, but I was doing it in the dark.  How lucky was I once again?  Someone must really be looking out for me.  For that I am thankful!

Heard tonight that the snakes like to come out at night.  Again, thankful I didn’t run across any in the dark that night although I was watching for those.

That is it for me.  Hope to have a productive weekend.

Night all!