A Rough Day

Yesterday was not one of my best! Wednesday night ended with the Bobcat stalling in the midst of scooping up some dirt. I thought I might be out of fuel (even though the gauge showed "full") so I picked up a gas can and bought a couple gallons of diesel. In the morning I tried started the Bobcat again with the fuel, but with no luck. I called the rental company and they sent a repairman who bled the fuel line, eventually getting it started! I learned something new, don't run a diesel engine until empty!

I finished filling the truck and closed up the fence. I started down the hill to take my first load of the day to the dump. As I was heading down Chevy Chase Drive the truck suddenly came to a stop right in the middle of the street! I hopped out and started directing traffic around the truck and called the rental company to have the repair man come back out! While I directed the rush hour traffic, a passerby called the police, and soon a motorcycle officer came and directed traffic while the repairman and I got the truck to the side of the road. The repairman took me back up to Buckingham and I spent the rest of the day doing what excavating I could for the garage footing.

A few other things happened earlier this week:

The steel arrived! Although it is just the steel for the garage footing and walls, it sure seems like a lot of metal!




The Glendale Water and Power crew came out on Tuesday to set the riser on the power pole. My electrician and I will be attaching conduit to the riser that will eventually run to the permanent electric meter, and will also supply the temporary meter.



Today (Friday) I rented another dump truck and was able to get rid of a lot of dirt, enough that I should be able to dig the footings without having to export any more. At the end of the day I returned the truck and rented a generator. Tomorrow I will be jackhammering the trench for the conduit and the "pull box" a very expensive concrete box that will be recessed in the driveway, and will be the connection point between the temporary and permanent meters and the power supply from the pole. Once it is inspected and approved I will finally be able to have electricity at the lot, and will be able to run my jackhammer (and other tools) without renting a generator!