What lazy days of summer?

News flash: footing holes make excellent rodent traps!

000.01 Don't Panic!
Chris and Cassandra redouble their efforts

Visitors!
Chris is home for a week! Steve contributes more good vibes during his 3rd tour of duty! Ben makes his Team YIPPEE debut, enjoying his footwear while assisting with footings! The black bear made only a brief appearance, spooking Steve in the process. The bats have taken up residence, which has not done anything to improve the buggy-buggy situation; black flies and skeeters are worse now than in the spring!

No Lazing About!

2,440 pounds of concrete mix hauled up the steep hill:

• 800# by Steve and Ben: from the Shed up to Utilty Shed site, with aid of the MicroMoose cart
• 1120# by Chris from the Shed up to Power House site, with aid of the MicroMoose cart
• 520# by Chris from Home Depot to Power House site, with aid of Xterra (simultaneously hosting a mini-concert for Cassandra, who was safely uphill, avoiding vehicle exhaust, at the MLA during unloading)

Digging Footing Holes
Huge Rock Removal Efforts
Chris, Steve, Ben, Cass Too

• Utility Shed footings: Chris and Steve marked and dug lots, Ben dug one too. Two footings were setup, mixed and poured by C+C and S and B.
• Power House footings: Cassandra did most of the digging for all six, and Chris continued with some additional rock removal, finishing up three of the holes. Cass setup, mixed and poured three footings solo!

Exhausting, Exhaust-free Logging Operation Continues!

Thirteen trees taken down at the hands of Chris and Steve, with zero toxic exhaust fumes (um, petroleum based, that is). After his first day of tree felling, Steve had enough strength left to mutter, "logging blows". He pressed on nonetheless, proudly becoming the Wedgie King. Lots of bucking and limbing and cleanup happened after all the tree felling, with the aid of the newly named saw, "Grace Jones". Ben tried his hand at cutting apart downed trees during his time onsite, and Cass helped a tad here and there too.

No, that's not all! Floor Finishing was finished and this meant the annoying blue tarp was finally taken down and supplies very carefully put back inside the yurt. Bracing under the yurts made for good rainy weather and evening work. It also made for assorted nuts comments. Electrical wiring ala Chris passed the Xpower assisted tests. Cass is closing up the walls, continuing work with tricky wallboards and the coping saw; astounding Chris by making two 7' rip cuts by hand with very same coping saw. Molding (or moulding) samples reviewed and decisions made. And various other tasks done throughout the month... be assured; none of them qualified as lazy!

Meanwhile...

...the weather that was fantastic at the beginning of the month got quite HAG (humid and gross!), and the bugs multiplied with ferocity. There were several gorgeous days (clear, sunny, warm with low humidity) in July; all ruined for C+C by low-flying planes. The low-flying planes had mostly left YIPPEE-Land alone for the first week of July (Chris' week off and Steve/Ben's visit); Woo-hoo! But this mini-trend was not to continue. The planes really come out on gorgeous days, the very days that Cassandra would otherwise enjoy being out. After one day with 29 planes counted, Chris stepped up his task to call the FAA back. Results: The FAA says they don't know of any airports in the area, or why there are so many flyovers this year. As long as the planes aren't closer than 500 ft away from any side of a building the FAA can't do anything to stop them flying over C+C's home. The proposed solution is for C+C to locate pilots on their own, making requests individually, and also posting signs at regional airports, requesting that YIPPEE-Land be a no-fly zone.

Its official. Poocham house is moldy.

Results from the tests done in May finally came back, showing names and levels of molds. There was no indication on the scale for "Run for your life", or "Your place should be condemned and demolished", but merely a scale for mild, moderate and severe (above 10). The living room and laundry/bathroom area plates showed 14 and 13 respectively; the kitchen and downstairs bedroom (still covered and protected) showed in the high moderate range. And, no surprise, these are immune suppressing molds. ARGH!!! As C+C have begun understanding just how severely that house has damaged them, they wish more than ever that they had never rented that place! As it happened though, realizations regarding the extent of moldiness began after the decision to buy land and build (the house has plenty of other undesirable qualities aside from mold!). Chris' limited time home was spent looking for land to buy, instead of searching for another rental house; C+C never dreamed they'd still be paying rent on the horrible Poocham house almost 4 years later!

Will Chris have to sleep on the Park Avenue yurt floor every time he returns from the Chicago assignment? (ever since the project changed hotels, C+C have had unhappy nights as Chris returns with lingering contamination that makes Cassandra quite sick)

Will All-Terrain Vacuuming catch on as the next popular Extreme Sport?

Will the beloved Geo make it through to the end of the project?

Will the reservoir fill up soon; sufficiently enough for Chris to stop obtaining additional water from the brook and/or the house? (as Steve and Ben can attest, water is heavy and the uphill trek steep!)

When-o-when will those Lazy Days of Summer arrive?

July Journal

07/01/07 - Sunday

Notes:

• C+C have leisurely -or well, long, breakfast in SIPPEE. Talk re: options, outlook.
• Team YIPPEE Steve arrives for his 3rd tour of duty

213.31 flooring finish

• Continue on 20'
• Time: 3.5hrs

226.34 Reopen GIPPEE

• Chris works on inbound water and finishes other setup.
• Time 3.5 hrs

07/02/07 - Monday

Notes:

• Water is getting low. Chris and Steve gather their shower water from Baker Brook, using the new cart to haul the water back up the driveway. They also rigged up a grey-water collector for the shower drain, to reuse for flushing.

305.03 Mosquito Dunks

• ...even though there is no water standing anywhere
• Time: 15 min

213.25 Power House: clearing

• Steve and Chris start taking down trees. The first got hung up on another tree and required creative winching to get on the ground.
• Five trees were felled.
• Dead trees aren't necessarily easier to chop than live trees.
• Steve quips, "Logging blows."
• time: 6.5 hrs

213.45 Bracing: yurt platforms

• Chris and Steve insert bolts into the 20' platform bracing
• Steve says, "Yuh can do whutev'r yuh want but keep yer hands offa m' nuts!"
• time: 0.75 min

213.31 Flooring Finish

• Cass continues in the 20'. The first coat is done and between-coat sanding is in progress
• Time: 4.75 hrs

226.34 Reopen GIPPEE

• Chris and Steve rotate the screen house so broken zipper is in the back
• This task is DONE!
• time: 15 min

07/03/07 - Tuesday

• Notes
• It was quiet for a while today. No logging, no lawnmowers, minimal redneck-firework activity, low plane traffic, no helicopters. Nice!
• Steve made the a.m. water run with the aide of the new cart. He later does the "steve" which is a shower alternate wherein the to-be-clean person stands over a bucket and rinses off.

213.25 Power House: clearing

• Chris and Steve took out a tree before breakfast, then took out the remaining trees before lunch.
• One tree got stuck in another and had to be pulled in a different direction to get it down.
• One tree took only Steve's wedge-cut and one round of Chris axe-swinging to fall.
• One tree was huge but somewhat rotted in the center so it fell rather easily.
• Five trees were felled.
• Steve was the wedgie king due to his skill in cutting a wedge in the trunk with a bow saw.
• time: 3.5 hrs

213.51 Clear trees by Utility shed

• Steve and Chris take on the remaining trees near the utility shed.
• The big tree was leaning slightly away from the direction Chris was hoping to fell it. Steve thought it was going to fall in the direction of the lean, but Chris was confident they could pull it back. Hacking away at the trunk as challenging due to th
• The other tree was dead. A few smaller trees needed to be felled in order to take out the big dead one. It was rather challenging since not all the wood was really "connected" to the core of the trunk so it would absorb the axe chop and not cut. Even
• Cass joined in, removing branches from the mis-felled tree across Woody Walkway while Chris and Steve worked on the other tree. Eventually Chris and Steve joined in the cleanup effort.
• Time: 4.25 hrs

999.99 Wood Boiler setup

• Chris and Steve added the second section of stove pipe to the boiler so the pipe would not have to continue taking up space in the woodshed.
• Time: 15 min

213.45 Bracing: yurt platforms

• Chris and Steve insert more bolts into the 20' platform bracing, harvesting some from the scaffolding posts stored in the woodshed
• Steve says, "I keep my nuts in a cup!"
• time: 1 hr

213.31 Flooring Finish

• Cass continues in the 20'. She finished sanding and started on the second coat, periodically commenting on various logging related sounds from Chris and Steve.
• Time: 4.5 hrs

07/04/07 - Wednesday

Notes:

• During the morning water run Steve saw a black bear. It ran westward across Main Drive near LAfNP, and did not stop to gnaw on any part of Steve. A subsequent mini-search for said bear, including C&C and a large, weapon-like shovel (though a lead pipe
• Chris discovered one zipper on SIPPEE is broken. D'OH!

213.45 Bracing: yurt platforms

• Chris and Steve insert another set o' bolts into the 20' platform bracing, harvesting from the scaffolding posts once again. Chris had to rethread a few bolt ends smashed during a bit of bolt-removal-frustration.
• Steve says...hmmm...well...nothing in particular about nuts.
• Later, Steve and Chris continued Chris' prior work placing braces under the 30' platform.
• Later still, Chris hunts for the 30' platform bracing plan. After a search, he concludes there was no final plan and decides to make one up on the spot.
• time: 7 hrs

213.12 Utility Shed built

• Chris and Steve dug out the half-footing and prepped for remeasuring.
• time: 1.75 hrs

213.51 Clear trees by Utility shed

• Steve takes apart more of the big tree.
• Having earned the right to name SOMEthing on the project, Steve christened the bow-saw he loves as, "Grace Jones"
• time: 45 min

325.01 Cardboard off footings

• Steve takes on this monumental task with Baltimorean aplomb.
• time: 1.75 hrs

213.31 Flooring Finish

• Cass continues in the 20'. She finished the second coat. Woo-hoo!
• Time: 5 hrs

07/05/07 - Thursday

Notes:

• Humid, hot and mostly sunny. And buggy!

213.12 Utility Shed built

• C&S measured out and re-marked footing locations.
• Then, they started diggin'.
• Steve hit a prodigious boulder after only 12" had been dug on the first footing hole of the day. This'll become part of the footing via the ol' hammer-drill-n-epoxy method.
• Surprise, surprise. Rocks - lots of 'em!
• time: 8 hrs

213.31 Flooring Finish

• Cass continues in the 20'. She finished the second between-coat sanding, with an assist from Chris, before lunch. After lunch she started on the third - and FINAL - coat of finish.
• Time: 4.75 hrs

301.00 Organize Shed

• C&S move some stuff around so posts can be stored.
• time: .75 hrs

07/06/07 - Friday

Notes:

• Chris heads to house to meet with property owner and manager, do Friday tasks, and meet up with Ben.
• Steve was glad he had his hat to keep the ice chips off his head as YIPPEE-land endured 1/2 hour of rain/hail and thunder.
• Chris gets new wheels for the Xterra.
• Steve slips on wet rock while jumping off the deck and twists his ankle.

213.51 Clear trees by Utility shed

• Chris does a bit in the a.m.
• time: 0.25 hrs

213.12 Utility Shed built

• Steve digs more holes
• time: 3 hrs

325.01 Cardboard off footings

• Steve finishes up.
• This task is DONE!
• time: 1.25

275.04 Materials transport

• Steve moves 4*4 posts from woodshed down and into storage shed
• time: 0.75 hrs

213.31 flooring finish

• 3rd coat in 20' is finished.
• time: 5.5 hrs

213.25 Power House: clearing

• Steve and Grace Jones get it on
• time: 1.75hrs

07/07/07 - Saturday

Notes:

• Chris got a water filter running in GIPPEE but the supply pool was really low and the water NASTY so Chris shut it down.. Instead, Chris and Steve carried water up from Baker Brook.

213.12 Utility Shed built

• Chris and Ben continue work on footing holes
• Steve and Cassandra join in later.
• Ben and Steve carry 800 lbs (ten bags) of cement uphill from the storage shed to utility shed area while C&C prep for mixing and pouring. Steve and Chris carry up water for mixing.
• Two footings are poured.
• time: 9.25 hrs

213.51 Clear trees by Utility shed

• Steve and Grace Jones work so well together.
• Later, Ben gives the saw a go, successfully cutting a section off a downed tree and moving it over to the stack.
• time: 1.25 hr

213.25 Power House: clearing

• Steve clears trees and branches
• Cassandra joins in
• time: 2.25 hrs

288.08 Split and stack firewood

• Ben and Chris stack some firewood for it to dry out. Winter is, after all, just around the corner.
• time: 1 hr

213.56 construct yurt entry awnings

• all four, c+c+s+b, take a post and reposition awning back and center
• Time: 0.25hrs

07/08/07 - Sunday

Notes:

• Ben departs after carrying backup water to Cassandra from the Xterra, a bit of a.m. work, and a cookie which he artfully split for everyone, proudly displaying his skill at splitting cookies in a zigzag fashion.

213.45 Bracing: yurt platforms

• Chris and Steve finish bolting braces to the 20' platform.
• To end the day Chris and Steve trim bracing ends under the 20'.
• time: 1.5 hrs

213.25 Power House: clearing

• Ben does some loggin'
• Steve does some more loggin-n-clearin'
• time: 1+1.25 hr

213.50 Construct Power House

• Steve and Chris mark out footing locations.
• Steve preps area for digging
• time: 3 hrs

303.16 Repairs to Woody Walkway

• Steve locates and transports some gravel for filling.
• Cass does some repairs
• time: 30+1.25 min

306.01 Determine Cass Tasks

• back to this now that floor is essentially done
• time: 1 hr

700.11 Nap

• Steve enjoys this task while C&C plan
• time: n/a

213.17 Construct 20' Walls

• C&C prep next round of boards for hanging
• time: 1.5 hrs

213.31 flooring finish

• Cass works on an area where some finish had dripped.
• time: 0.5 hrs

07/09/07 - Monday

Notes:

• Chris leaves at 3AM.
• Later in the morning, after another leisurely (and tasty as usual, says Steve) breakfast, of the kind enjoyed throughout the week, Cass sends Steve off on his way with a food pack and well-wishes. Cassandra is back to solo, and begins catching up on th
• The day got hot n really humid. Ugh.
• Some tasks finished:
  • 320.30, 6/30/07, 9.53 days/76.24hrs, all non-budgeted!
  • 226.34, 6/25/07, 2.59 days, 0.59 over-budget
  • 226.37, 7/2/07, 0.16 days, 0.34 under-budget
  • 202.03, 6/30/07, 1.28 days, all non-budgeted!
• Add'l notes about the previous week:
• Started out gorgeous even if cool: lacking humidity, clear skies, very pretty and enjoyable! Gradually got more humid and gross. Yucky, says Cass. Rain, heat and humidity brought bugs back nastily too.
• No helicopters all week!!! Yeah!
• Although Cass did suffer a few plane exposures, and one morning in particular she was a jack in box to get up and go in and avoid them... There were lots less planes this week. Hopefully a good sign of better times to come in this regard?
• Foodstuffs: marinated seitan, grilled with zucchini, tomatoes and mushrooms, in wraps with spicy tomato sauce - sweet potato dip - Moroccan chickpea wraps - green bean lentil n walnut salad - chickpea n pea salad with olives - black bean dip and corn s

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• wallboards up. Nailed in door frame nails. Such a shame had to be so careful before only to just whack on 'em now that we decided will do fascia board Time: 3hrs

226.40 Fix SIPPEE zippers

• probably not truly fixed but closed for now, and sans that nasty masking tape temp fix of chris' from friday which baked on and was getting gross. Eww.
• Time: 0.75hrs

07/10/07 - Tuesday

Notes:

• In AM, can't even see all of Park Ave so thick is the air here. Argh. Humid humid and hot. Over 90F and maybe 99% humidity(!) At least not like this last week. Cass drenched and has to take several breaks to rinse off and cool down.

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• finished all can do until get more boards and review cuts with chris. Applied matte and gloss to wall scrap for test.
• Time: 1.25hrs

213.31 Flooring finish

• sanded boards (3) in need of fixing, cleaned and applied thin coat of matte
• Time: 0.75hrs

213.50 Construct power house

• got tools and started digging footings. the severe slope makes digging straight down look odd. Two footings in process- one about 3ft down and other about 2.5. Need to remove large rock in 1st, but will prob mess up the rebar and need to restake first.
• Time: 2.25hrs

07/11/07 - Wednesday

Notes:

• Another day of working for a bit, break for a bit so that Cassandra won't get too too sick. Very humid again but a bit more breeze. Very buggy. Yuck. Rain in early eve cut day short too.

213.50 Construct power house

• 5 of footing holes started, most going pretty well, except one that's all roots and really difficult. Had to rescue a toad in one. And restring another in order to move back rebar out of way for very large rock removal
• Time: 2.75hrs

213.31 Flooring finish

• cleaned up supplies and by 20' door for chris to grab and trash/stash on friday
• Time: 0.5hrs

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• did another test sample, think yesterday's was too thin since brush was watery
• Time: 0.25hrs

07/12/07 - Thursday

Notes:

• After low military jet flyover in morning, cassandra takes it easy and catches up on administrative tasks. Makes for low site hours day, but better in long run than overdoing it and getting too sick. Thursdays are filled with lots of non-site tasks as
• The humidity has finally decreased and skies cleared. Woohoo!

213.50 Construct power house

• not lots of digging, 'cause Cassandra didn't want to get too sick today, especially with chris due home tonight. also, the effort to get a huge rock out of way on one footing was a lot!
• Time: 1.5hrs

07/13/07 - Friday

Notes:

• Last night did not go anything like C+C hoped. Another bad time due to Chicago travel contamination making Cass sick and Chris sleeps on floor, not too well or too long. Ugh!

275.04 Materials transport

• Chris goes for more wallboards
• time: 3.5 hrs

213.50 Construct power house

• digging and rock removal
• Time: 1.5hrs

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• marked boards that chris bought and moved up this am
• Time: 1hrs

07/14/07 - Saturday

• Notes
• Clear, somewhat cloudy, black flies annoying
• Chris discovers a young bird, not yet able to fly, clinging to a branch of a downed tree. The bird was being periodicallly fed by other birds. Chris nicknamed it "Fuzzball" but otherwise did nothing to interfere. Later, when C&C were taking a walk,
• C&C invent All-Terrain Vacuuming, a sport wherein one must get the vacuum down a hilll on its own wheels.

213.50 Construct Power House

• Chris finishes two footing holes Cass had near completed yesterday.
• time: 1.5 hrs

213.09 Electrical rough-in

• marked and drilled out holes
• Time: 2 hrs

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• C&C review molding samples
• Chris cut wallboards
• time: 1.5 hrs

213.31 flooring finish

• C&C move wallboards, rail posts, deck scraps, floor boards, and tools back into the yurt. The other stuff under the tarp gets new homes. The tarp is taken down (YIPPEE!)
• This task is DONE!
• time: 5 hrs

07/15/07 - Sunday

Notes:

• Sunny, then stormy, then sunny, then rainy, then humid, then rainy, then sunny again.
• At some point this weekend Chris named the new cart "Micro Moose"

306.01 Determine Tasks Cass can work on during week

• time: 1.0 hrs

213.50 Construct Power House

• Cass is up for weekday footing work, so she & Chris start prepping. They carted tools and supplies down to the PH zone, then Chris hand-transported 14 80# bags (1120#n over a half-ton) of cement from the storage shed. Rain halted the effort on two sep
• time: 4.5 hrs

213.36 Site Cleanup

• Cass moves some boards to make room for other boards.
• Chris suggests a new task for this activity: 861.39 Movin' Stuff Around. He submits Project Change Request. Review is in progress.
• time: 15 min

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• C&C review walls next steps.
• Cass marks out boards for Chris to cut
• Chris cut boards
• time: 3.5 hrs

213.09 Electrical rough-in

• Cass bores out wire run holes
• Chris starts wiring
• Time: 2.25 hrs

07/16/07 - Monday

Notes:

• F F F! Helluva lotta low flying planes today (tallied to 15 that Cassandra noted). Grrr. Ugh. Yuck. Irritating. Literally. Cass working in area unable to go into yurts when they fly over.
• Weather was very nice: sunny breezy and not too humid. black flies and mosquitoes tho... Gotta get back into the bug control measures.
• The flooring finish task is marked as done! Began 5/24 with test applications, 6/16 was first time working on 1st coat, 7/14 finished by bringing in stuff off deck, putting it on paper, after 30' had week or so to cure. Original estimate: 3 days. Actua

213.50 Construct power house

• Cassandra's first solo footing is done. woohoo.
• Time: 3.25hrs

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• few wallboards up, all odd. cuts made for electrical boxes. two nails bent and messed up.
• Time: 1.75hrs

07/17/07 - Tuesday

Notes:

• Rained overnight, so more humid today, but sunny and warm. Possible bat problem... Noisy night for cass.
• Very very buggy day. Grrr.
• Less planes though, at least.

213.50 Construct power house

• 2nd solo footing done, took more concrete than yesterday's. Dug more for two other footings.
• Time: 4.5hrs

07/18/07 - Wednesday

Notes:

• Rain. Rain. Rain. Very humid, foggy an gross. With more rain.
• Cass does administrative tasks and washes some water jugs that have been starting to grow algae.
• Not wanting to handle a cold shower in cold air, Cass warms some water on the eagle stove in a break in rain. Several hrs later when she gets to showering it is not a warm shower, but not as cold as it would have been.

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• as many wallboards as can do are up. cass really dislikes using the coping saw and cutting out for electrical boxes. Started on door casings.
• Time: 2.5hrs

07/19/07 - Thursday

Notes:

• Humid, rain rain rain. Cass crashes and doesn't get up top in afternoon. Thursdays are filled with other chores anyway, and she didn't have much left on list that could be done due to rain anyway. Another day of using eagle stove to lessen the coldness

275.04 Materials Transport

• Chris scores a motherlode of wallboards at Home Depot, which seemed to have just restocked.
• Time: 2 hrs

07/20/07 - Friday

275.04 Materials Transport

• Wallboards transported to the MLA
• time: 1 hr

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• Chris trims door casing
• time: 0.25 hrs

213.50 Construct Power House

• Chris checks depth of next two footing holes, rescuing two frogs and (sigh) a small, furry rodent from the depths of the holes.
• time: 0.25 hrs

000.01 Don't Panic

• C&C do some not panic-ing
• time: 0.25 hrs

213.17 Construct 20' walls

• marked wallboards. finished installing door casing (except one stubborn nail, left for Chris)
• Time: 2.75hrs

288.09 Cut and store downed trees

• cut apart tree that fell down during last september's yurt raising.
• Time: 0.5hrs

07/21/07 - Saturday

• Notes
• Chris discovers a sure fire method for killing rodents: dig a footing hole and don't fill it. Rodents seem to fall n and die.

213.63 Woodshed #2: Roof repairs and finishing

• Chris caulks a leaky gap.
• time: 30 min

213.09 Electrical rough-in

• Chris continues wiring in the 20'. Outlet circuit wire is in place, and a few outlets are connected
• Cass looks on-line for a light so she and Chris can finalize plans for bedroom
• time: 7.5 hrs

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• C&C worked together for a while, reviewing boards and issues. They decide on a molding (a toss up between two styles, so the easiest-to-install style was selected) and trim around doors.
• Cass cuts wallboards with the circular saw, but not for long as the black flies and mosquitos came out. She came in and worked on selecting and marking more wallboards.
• time: 6.25 hrs

07/22/07 - Sunday

Notes:

• Chris wishes the Williamsville General Store would reopen so ice runs wouldn't take so long.
• Chris attemps to bring hot water from Pooch-hell but discovers breaker for water heater is tripped. D'oh!
• Chris also surmises that bats are taking up residence under a flap of the top cover.
• Planes suck. Sucky, sucky, suck.

306.01 Determine Tasks Cass can work on during week

• time: 0.75 hrs

213.09 Electrical rough-in

• Chris continues connecting circuitry in 20' yurt
• Test of Circuit #9, using the new Xantrex XPower 400 as a power source: SUCCESS!
• Cass attempts to put in a couple light boxes in a screwy place, then drills holes for wire run.
• time: 2.25 hrs

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• Cass marks boards for door frame area, then gets handy with the power saw and cuts more boards
• time: 3.75 hrs

213.50 Construct Power House

• Chris uses the Xterra to cart 520# of cement to the PH area for next footings. During unload he maxxes out the truck stereo volume with the "Downset" cd in and the hatch open. Cassandra, up at the MLA, is pleased.
• Chris parks the Xterra, then finishes bringing supplies to the PH.
• time: 1 hr

07/23/07 - Monday

Notes:

• Back to cloudy. And, back to solo-Cass. A cold cass, since temp dropped and no sun.
• Drizzly, continual generator or equipment running in morning.
• Cass pissed that Sat and Sun were gorgeous and she couldn't be outdoors due to planes. Yesterday Chris said to her... You realize that if there's no resolution (the FAA says oh well, and whenever its nice outside we've got to put up with 3 planes per h
• Extremely cold shower. Ouch! Rain all day after morning of cloudy.

213.17 construct 20' walls

• nails into containers. block installed for start, and wallboard work on last mudroom wall. Couple more walls put in closet. All problems not lining up. marked for electrical. Moved return pile and cleaned up floor-protecting paper.
• Time: 3.75hrs

213.09 electrical rough-in

• worked on getting light boxes back out... Not succeeding. Need to maybe try pliers (at PH) for rest of nails.
• Time: 0.25hrs

07/24/07 - Tuesday

Notes:

• looked as if might rain, or clear up. Since tomorrow is supposed to be really hot and humid, cass decides to go for it with doing footing today. (the exertion makes her detox heavily and be very sick, and is far worse on humid hot days)

213.50 construct power house

• removed three toads from footing hole, dug one side more, centered and got footing mixed, poured etc. Just shy of full, called chris. It will be ok. Don't have to mix another bag for a mere 1/8-1/4".
• Time: 3.75hrs

226.40 Fix SIPPEE Zippers

• cass took her mid-footing break in sippee and couldn't get zipper closed. after far too much time messing with it, went back to work. At end of day, she decided to try actually "fixing" it, pulling out the instructions (which weren't safe) and checking
• Time: 0.25hrs

07/25/07 - Wednesday

Notes:

• cass sick from detox(brought on by exertion doing footing), and the 2 planes that went over during footing work when she couldn't stop.
• today turned out to be a terrible day. initially ok, but once cass up top... planes very frequent, low loud and straight overhead. 5 in first half hour. work delayed. later, took numerous tries to get cutout done since she had to keep coming back indoo
• throughout day, cass seranaded by chainsaws and the occasional whoop! (or similar happy yell) of some men somewhere down below.

213.17 construct 20' walls

• door casing sanded and in, except one pc. in need of trim for fit. Tough time with cutout for electrical box due to it already have outlet screwed in. When finally ok, board warps and also cut ended up too far over on one side, wouldnt have been covere
• removed wallboard by closet door as discussed on wkend.
• Time: 5hrs

213.09 electrical

• tried pliers to get boxes out, no luck, will lv for chris
• Time: less than 15min, n/a

07/26/07 - Thursday

Notes:

• seems it will be another day of chainsaw serenade. Jeebus. Don't know how many going on down there, but they are not in sync and sort of doing sound duels! (this let up in the afternoon)
• hot humid and miserable in yurts

213.17 construct 20' walls

• since board is curved, gave up on making board w/cutout work. Searched thru boards to find one that doesn't curve (most all selected for that wall do!) and did yet another attempt. 3rd time worked after much finagling as usual. Went thru more boards to
• Lined up scrap boards along bedroom doorway to see where end of wall will be. Should make a starter board cut so doesn't end near the middle bevel.
• Time: 4hrs

316.00 FAA

• chris talks to faa again, offering cass' tracking of plane traffic. (yesterday's 29 was ridiculous - esp for a place we investigated not to be near airports)
• he is told the faa person was in area, no discoveries. But was given a list of things to do including posting requests not to fly over our land (not sure where to post tho...), investigating who may have private planes in their backyards in area and sp
• Time: n/a

07/27/07 - Friday

Notes:

• strange day. Normal schedule out of whack since Chris had an AM appt in Keene and didnt get back until past 1pm. c+c lunched outside and packed Chris up for friday poocham chores. Mega humid and mega hot miserable in yurt. chris sweating and detoxing f
• On the plus side, laundry was all done before chris got back in afternoon, and chris had extra time to go look at cars... The beloved and hard working Geo may not make it to project end...

213.17 construct 20' walls

• selecting, measuring, marking boards for around doorway and end of wall. Also checked positioning and marked two starter boards for back in closet.
• Time: 3.25hrs

321.03 Mold kit/test at poocham

• results came back. Chris didn't have time to review. Will bag up and bring back sunday (during ice run) or next weekend.
• Time: n/a

07/28/07 - Saturday

Notes:

• Rainy, humid and sunny at various points throughout the day
• Chris decorates Cass with masking tape of love.
• Cass has first hot shower in at least a month, courtesy of Chris and his Zodi talents.

213.09 Electrical rough-in

• Chris gets to work on the lighting circuits, finalizing box positions and running most all of the wire to length.
• time: 8.5 hrs

213.17 Construct walls - 20' yurt

• Cass works on walls, with Chris helping out here and there.
• time: 7.0 hrs

217.09 Review remaining time in plan

• Not enough time allocated...much work to do yet...can we be done soon?
• time: 15 min

07/29/07 - Sunday

• Notes
• Cass had to wait 45 minutes to whiz due to air traffic, four planes in1/2 hr.

306.01 Determine tasks Cass can do during week

• time: 30 min

213.17 Construct walls, 20' yurt

• C&C review another molding idea for door frame, make some cuts and agree on new plan to use 90 degree corner molding.
• Chris cuts some more boards.
• Cass installs wallboards in closet, cursing occassionally due to Home Depot's crappy wood stock, and a few times at the light box, planes, and black flies. Oh, and also the coping saw.
• Time: 6.25 hrs

217.09 Review remaining time on plan

• C&C sit in the big yurt, on the wonderfully finnished floor, discussing steps to being done quicker.
• Time: 15 min

213.09 Electrical rough in

• Chris continues working on lighting circuits. One more section tested successfully
• Time: 3.25 hrs

305.04 Diatemaceous Earth

• DIE, ants! (cough, cough)
• time: 1 hr

226.40 Fix SIPPEE zippers

• They are all fubagled up.
• Time: 15 min

07/30/07 - Monday

Notes:

• HAG of a day - humid and gross! Seemed like might clear and be ok, but not yet.
• cass has phone appt w/one of her docs and has a short work day.

213.17 construct 20' walls

• back wall in closet is closed up to door.
• Front of closet wall gets boards nailed in around door, and measured/marked for next board on other end of door.
• Starter board for bedroom entry door/wall was not right. Cass rip cuts a 7' board with coping saw. Not best tool perhaps but what she had to safely use and now is done and can install tomorrow.
• cutout for electrical box and installed 3 boards on other closet inner wall.
• Time: 4hrs

07/31/07 - Tuesday

Notes:

• military jet flyover and repeated planes every 10-15mins keep cassandra from going uptop for almost 2hrs; she had wanted to get up there early and crank out hours for end of month...oh well.
• Buggy buggy buggy yuck.

213.17 construct 20' walls

• finished right closet wall as far as could, doorway boards as many as were cut, marked a couple boards, installed last 20' door casing.
• Time: 6hrs