November's Numbers are In: Name that Number!
1 = Bens, Kens, and
Rusty Cable
Number of Bens onsite: 1. Number of Kens onsite: 1. Mix
together one Ben, one Ken and one afternoon hike and one rusty rope cable gets
scavenged off the mountainside; pulled out of the ground debris and carried
back downhill, through trees, over rocks and brush, to be placed by Jabba the
Hut, for future use. Ken's spiffy attire was worse for the event, suffering
several small rips as he attempted carrying the spikey, rusty, heavy and
awkward cable over his shoulders.
2 = They didn't
freeze!
Number of nights that Ben and Ken slept onsite, outdoors in
a tent, and didn't freeze equals two! 'On the coldest nights of the season thus
far' seems inadequate, since Ben and Ken slept onsite in Fall, and below
freezing temps aren't usually associated with this season. Wintry temperatures
descended onto YIPPEE-Land the day of their arrival, and these two cold weather
campers survived with flying colors. Or, at least with all fingers and toes
intact. If they saw flying colors, C&C blame that on the beer.
Over the couple days prior, C&C had prepped GIPPEE and a
stash of foods. The yurt got its bi-annual level of thorough cleaning and the
two C's finally did some maintenance tasks, such as cleaning the dome. The
woodstove pipes had their regular ongoing clean-out; thankfully, the woodstove
behaved nicely during the guests' visit! A supply of clothes had been gathered
for layering options; extra cleaned blankets and thermoses were available. Ken
and Ben hiked uphill each night, with warmth in their bellies, to sleep in the
tent, bundled in sleeping bags, under a reflectix covering. They reported
warmer sleeping on the second night, in part because the supply of socks was
found and Chris brought the extra blankets up from the Xterra. 'Doh! In the
mornings, while Cassandra did breakfast preparations and worked on the fire,
Chris led a 'Wake-Up-And-Move-Around' warm-up work session. Cassandra's
greetings with a toasty yurt and hot breakfast were appreciated nonetheless.
Ben was treated to his own little foot-rug; no matter how warm one's oatmeal
is, it ain't gonna combat having your feet on a cold floor.
In organizing the visit, C&C attempted to balance a
Camp-YIPPEE style Thanksgiving type of family visit with getting some work
done. During the days, everyone kept warm moving around: working; taking an
afternoon hike (the first C&C had been on in years) and practicing
pirouettes. Lunch and snack were held in bright sunshine on the deck. Cassandra
did her best to provide delectable, and somewhat special, considering the
camping constraints, foods including soups and toasted sammiches and baked
apples. The table arrangement was rejiggered so that everyone could have a
sit-down dinner. Ken even changed his shirt! At the card game that evening,
Chris and Ben totally outdid Ken and Cass, who went for the gusto and lost by a
phenomenal margin. Kudos Ben and Chris!
The guys arrived a day after Thanksgiving, but any day is
good for giving thanks. So, C&C say "Thanks Ken and Ben!" and
wish to thank all the Team who have been onsite!
6 = Team Tasks
Number of tasks that Ken and Ben participated in while
onsite equals six:
·
(303.19) Culvert header repair, 1.5 hours with
Ken and Ben (1.75 total for November)
·
(213.77) Bracing: 30' yurt, 3.75 hours with Ken (7.75 total for
November)
·
(226.33) Shutdown GIPPEE, 2 hours with Ben (3.75
total for November)
·
(288.09) Cut and store downed trees, 5.75 hours
with Ben and Ken (27.25 total for November)
·
(213.50) Construct Power House, 0.75 hours with
Ken and Ben (1.25 total for November)
·
(213.36) Site Cleanup 1 hour with Ken and Ben
(12 total for November)
That tallies to 14.75 hours of site
work while Ken and Ben were onsite. Considering Ben and Ken were essentially
only onsite one day, with a couple hrs Friday evening and Sunday morning,
"not too shabby", as Ken would say. Site work on these six tasks, for
the whole of November, tallies to 53.75 hours or 29.09% of all the month's
time. Therefore, Ben and Ken had a part in 27.44% of this month's site work on
these six tasks, or 7.98% of November's total hours.
4 = Yippee!
Number of tasks completed in November equals four:
·
(213.05) Deck: stairs (north side) [11/02/07]
·
(213.45) Bracing: 20' yurt [11/04/07]
·
(213.09) Electrical rough-in 20' yurt [11/11/07]
·
(213.74) Utility Shed: shape ground and lay
gravel [11/14/07]
1800 x 2 = Gravel
Number of pounds of gravel that Chris shoveled into buckets,
loaded into the Xtrailer and transported up to the MLA with the assistance of
the trusty Xterra, equals three thousand six hundred. Chris carried all those
heavy gravel-filled buckets up from the driveway, under the deck, around to the
right and set them down; one trip's buckets got carried down the walkway a bit
to be near the Utility Shed, the second trip's buckets got left by the North
Side Stairs due to time constraints. A few still sit there unused.
The gravel in said buckets, frozen and chunky on some days,
was carried, shoveled or dumped out by Cassandra; into a layer onto the
landscape cloth for finishing the Utility Shed groundscaping.
5 = Posts
Number of posts cut, sealed and positioned equals five. Two,
for the South Side Stairs bridge, were anchored to
their footings, a beam affixed atop, and joists nailed in atop that. The bridge
structure is done! Three, for the Utility Shed, were positioned on their
footings along the north side. Due to ground sloping, the south three footings
will hold scraps and not posts per se. All footings were hammer-drilled for
bolts and await affixing with epoxy.
24.25 = Extreme
Brushing!
Extreme Brushing! Not quite a sport (but Cassandra was a
good sport), EB pushes the limits of brushing on finish with cold pink hands in
risky temperatures. Sure, the guide on the can says not to apply finish below
55 degrees Fahrenheit, but Extreme Brushing laughs at that limit and says, Oh yeah? We'll see about that! Cassandra kept a keen eye on
the thermometer and was grateful for a few perfectly acceptable (according to
the can) warm days mid-month. But mostly, there was brushing in below ideal
temps. Eventually, C&C conceded to wintry temps and stopped. Some of the
walls will remain bare wood for the winter: one doorway, the vertical door
casings and part of the closet. Task# 213.68, Walls - 20' yurt: apply finish,
comprised 13.13% of November's site work, or 24.25 hours.
852.22 + 300.48 =
Water
GusW did his duty well. Chris
insulated the pipe from the barrel to the supply lines. At various times, both
C's had a hand in breaking up encroaching ice. Water from the reservoir was
hauled up in buckets, ala wishing well style, and dumped into the barrel. Then,
as the reservoir was filling, and with below freezing temps becoming the norm, GusW was disconnected, drained and emptied of ice chunks.
The reservoir supply line was again connected to the pipes going down to Park
Ave and, after a bit more work, water again flowed into the little yurt: at
1:00PM on 11/22, two months after it stopped on 9/4. Other than a short frozen
spell on 11/24, water kept flowing the rest of November. Task# 300.48, Get
water flowing again, comprised 0.81% of November's site hours, or 1.5 hours.
Task# 852.22, Ghetto Us Some Water, comprised 4.75 hours, or 2.57%.
2 = Inches!, 2 = Lives
Heavy, wet snow on 11/20 gave the deck its
first shoveling of the season and collapsed the tent. Chris was able to fix the
tent for Ken and Ben's use, but after they left, it was decommissioned and
salvaged for parts. The tent, reincarnated as a tarp, will resume duty in the
Woodshed, protecting cut logs.
100 = Cacao
C&C savored some very fine, organic and tasty 100% cacao
chocolate. Mmmmm. Chris splurged and the "Oh man, is that good" supply of chocolate is full. The cacao
nibs were incredibly delicious, as were the best chocolate covered coffee beans
ever!
Too many! = Gun shots
at 6:30AM
Uh-yup, C&C were definitely giving thanks that the
gunshots missed the yurts, but cursing that they had to have this early morning
serenade at all! Geesh! They only stopped a-shootin' the night before around midnight.
20.75 + 15.5 + 1.75 =
Utility Shed
Sitting square, with installed joists, beams and blocking,
atop posts that are positioned, but not yet fully installed, on their
respective footings, that are nestled amidst the groundscaped
cloth and gravel layers, the Utility Shed platform now has radiant floor
tubing. Run through holes that were bored with a new bit that is
"*$!?" because it rips apart the other side, this tubing awaits
couplings that will be ordered along with other radiant flooring supplies in
December. Task# 213.12, Utility shed built, consumed 20.75 hours, or 11.23% of
November's site work. Task# 213.74, Utility Shed: shape ground and lay gravel,
15.5 hours and 8.39%. Task# 213.83, Radiant flooring UtilityShed:
loops installed, 1.75 hours 0.95%.
184.75 = November
November's site work hours equaled 184.75. No amazing
number. Task hours are tracked by time on task, regardless of how many C's,
Team and charitable rodents, deer, turkeys or gnomes were working
simultaneously to accomplish said task.
·
40 hours of work on wood related tasks
·
15.5 hours on other tasks that definitely have
to happen, but don't specifically get the MLA built
·
0.75 hours on Winter access tasks (yes, even
though it ain't technically Winter yet)
·
128.5 hours worked on building type tasks
Task times and percentage of November's total are listed, in
descending order by time, as follows:
288.09, Cut and store downed trees, 27.25, 14.75%
213.68, Walls - 20' yurt: apply finish, 24.25, 13.13%
213.12, Utility shed built, 20.75, 11.23%
213.74, Utility Shed: shape ground and lay gravel , 15.5, 8.39%
213.52, Construct south side stairs, 14.25, 7.71%
213.36, Site cleanup (general and for Cass safety), 12,
6.50%
742.00, Just a Bunch of Stuff That Happened, 8.25, 4.47%
213.77, Bracing: 30' yurt, 7.75, 4.19%
288.08, Split and stack wood, 7.75, 4.19%
852.22, Ghetto Us Some Water, 4.75, 2.57%
213.09, Electrical rough-in (20' yurt), 4.25, 2.30%
288.10, Park
Ave firewood, yr 3, 4.25, 2.30%
213.79, Radiant flooring 20': plan, mark, drill holes, 4.25,
2.30%
226.33, Shutdown GIPPEE, 3.75, 2.03%
275.04, Materials transport/inventory, 3.25, 1.76%
213.80, Radiant flooring 30': plan, mark, drill holes, 2.75,
1.49%
213.06, Deck: railing posts (cut, sanded and stained), 2,
1.08%
306.01, Determine tasks she can do during week alone, 2,
1.08%
213.83, Radiant flooring Utility Shed: loops installed,
1.75, 0.95%
303.19, Culvert header repair, 1.75, 0.95%
300.48, Get water flowing again, 1.5, 0.81%
213.50, Construct power house, 1.25, 0.68%
261.23, Plumbing: MLA Change VTR to side wall exit, 1.25,
0.68%
303.16, Repairs: Woody Walkway, 1.25, 0.68%
213.18, Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing, 1,
0.54%
213.20, Electrical finishing 20', 1, 0.54%
226.41, Clean and prep: SIPPEE and GIPPEE , 1, 0.54%
310.01, Keep deck cleared, 0.75, 0.41%
288.06, Cut down trees, 0.75, 0.41%
300.45, Woodstove maintenance/problems, 0.75, 0.41%
213.05, Deck: stairs (north side), 0.5, 0.27%
213.45, Bracing: 20' yurt, 0.25, 0.14%
226.42, GIPPEE Maintenance, 0.25, 0.14%
306.02, Test on safety: materials and tools, 0.25, 0.14%
326.01, MLA window inserts, 0.25, 0.14%
303.00, Erosion control: driveways, pipelines, silt fences,
0.25, 0.14%
Thanks!
