Also there is no good news as of yet to update at this time on the scrat situation...crap
Friday, August 14, 2009
The changing view...
Well, they have been getting ready to install new power lines in the area next to our property and today we have the new "bottom" part of the pole. Its not as ominous as I thought it would have been.
Also there is no good news as of yet to update at this time on the scrat situation...crap
Also there is no good news as of yet to update at this time on the scrat situation...crap
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Things might be looking up...
Well, I can't discuss the latest news yet, but things look like they might be looking better. We should find out tomorrow, so lets all keep our fingers crossed for some good news tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
SOD: Day 2
Well if you remember, I commented about the great night sleep I planned on getting after working in the yard for the day. Well that didn’t happen. My back ached from bending over, my knees hurt from crawling on the ground, and my arm/hands hurt from carrying the sod. I pretty much ached all over, so I couldn’t get comfortable at all. I tossed and turned all night long, while the whole time all I could think about was laying sod. AAARRGG.
One of the times I got up to head to the bathroom, I happened to notice someone or something in the kitchen area of my house. At first, I thought how did jersey get out of his kennel and climb on the table. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. The more I looked; I thought…maybe that is one of the kids sitting at the kitchen table doing something strange. That really didn’t make sense and then it hit me, THERE IS SOMEONE IN MY HOUSE!!!. In a matter of seconds, I was locked, loaded and ready to go. I let scratz know what was going on as I left the bedroom to find out what was going on. As I tactically moved from the bedroom, noticed that the individual wasn’t sitting at the table as I had originally thought. They were actually standing outside in a location that their head and shoulders were only visible over the kitchen table. As I made my way around the house, I turned on a few lights which must have scared them away. I did a quick sweep inside of the house, then I did a quick check outside. Luckily for them, I didn’t see anyone. I then got a drink of milk and headed back to bed. This is where I was informed by scrat that I should let her know that everything is safe and secure BEFORE I decide to get a drink. I went back to bed to attempt to get some rest. Needless to say, 7am came around pretty early the next morning.
Once I pulled myself out of bed, I got ready to head back out to the dirt patch with the intent of getting finished as soon as we could. While scratz was getting the kids up so they could help watch the baby, I went outside to check if I could see anything evidence of the “visitor”. All I found was a large pile of dog poop, where apparently the “visitor” must have been walking his dog and decided the new sod would make a great place to leave his load. I’m not sure if they will come back or not but I will be ready for them next time.
Back to the sod. Once we woke the kids up and got them fed, scratz and I began working on the yard. We worked for a good 4-5 hours, slowly making progress, when we realized that we had to much sod. With our calculations, we figured we would have an extra 3-4 pallets of sod. That’s roughly 2000 sqft of sod, more sod then it took to complete the front yard.
Here are few pictures of the sod problem we ended up having…
Luckily as we were running out of steam again, the same neighbor that helped on day 1, returned to help again. He only helped for a few hours, but it really allowed us to get more done then we had planned. Also the guy that delivered the sod showed up to pick up the pallets that the sod came on and since we weren’t quite done yet, he also helped lay some sod with us. With this extra help we were able to finish soding the yard 2-3 days ahead of the schedule I had planned on.
Once the sod was all on the ground, scratz and I sat on the back deck and took in the sight of grass in the backyard.
It has been many months of dirt, weeds, and hard work to get to where we are today. The best part is that we finished 3 days ahead of schedule. This extra time was put to good use in doing nothing at all. It has been months since I haven’t had a “to-do” list that had to be completed. I was nice knowing that I didn’t have to go dig in the yard or install some sprinkler system. Yet it was also slightly awkward not having something that had to be completed by the end of the day. I even found some time to play a quick game of Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Now I have 2 weeks that I don’t have to do anything with the yard, beside watering it. Simple pleasures are sometimes the best medicine.
Next project: clean garage
One of the times I got up to head to the bathroom, I happened to notice someone or something in the kitchen area of my house. At first, I thought how did jersey get out of his kennel and climb on the table. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. The more I looked; I thought…maybe that is one of the kids sitting at the kitchen table doing something strange. That really didn’t make sense and then it hit me, THERE IS SOMEONE IN MY HOUSE!!!. In a matter of seconds, I was locked, loaded and ready to go. I let scratz know what was going on as I left the bedroom to find out what was going on. As I tactically moved from the bedroom, noticed that the individual wasn’t sitting at the table as I had originally thought. They were actually standing outside in a location that their head and shoulders were only visible over the kitchen table. As I made my way around the house, I turned on a few lights which must have scared them away. I did a quick sweep inside of the house, then I did a quick check outside. Luckily for them, I didn’t see anyone. I then got a drink of milk and headed back to bed. This is where I was informed by scrat that I should let her know that everything is safe and secure BEFORE I decide to get a drink. I went back to bed to attempt to get some rest. Needless to say, 7am came around pretty early the next morning.
Once I pulled myself out of bed, I got ready to head back out to the dirt patch with the intent of getting finished as soon as we could. While scratz was getting the kids up so they could help watch the baby, I went outside to check if I could see anything evidence of the “visitor”. All I found was a large pile of dog poop, where apparently the “visitor” must have been walking his dog and decided the new sod would make a great place to leave his load. I’m not sure if they will come back or not but I will be ready for them next time.
Back to the sod. Once we woke the kids up and got them fed, scratz and I began working on the yard. We worked for a good 4-5 hours, slowly making progress, when we realized that we had to much sod. With our calculations, we figured we would have an extra 3-4 pallets of sod. That’s roughly 2000 sqft of sod, more sod then it took to complete the front yard.
Here are few pictures of the sod problem we ended up having…
Luckily as we were running out of steam again, the same neighbor that helped on day 1, returned to help again. He only helped for a few hours, but it really allowed us to get more done then we had planned. Also the guy that delivered the sod showed up to pick up the pallets that the sod came on and since we weren’t quite done yet, he also helped lay some sod with us. With this extra help we were able to finish soding the yard 2-3 days ahead of the schedule I had planned on.
Once the sod was all on the ground, scratz and I sat on the back deck and took in the sight of grass in the backyard.
It has been many months of dirt, weeds, and hard work to get to where we are today. The best part is that we finished 3 days ahead of schedule. This extra time was put to good use in doing nothing at all. It has been months since I haven’t had a “to-do” list that had to be completed. I was nice knowing that I didn’t have to go dig in the yard or install some sprinkler system. Yet it was also slightly awkward not having something that had to be completed by the end of the day. I even found some time to play a quick game of Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Now I have 2 weeks that I don’t have to do anything with the yard, beside watering it. Simple pleasures are sometimes the best medicine.
Next project: clean garage
Monday, August 10, 2009
SOD: Day 1
So after weeks of preparation and grading of the yard, it became time to have the sod delivered. I contacted the company who was delivering the sod and was informed they would deliver it between 9am and 1pm. I figured this would allow for me to get a few hours of sleep since I would be working the grave shift the night before. Scratz and I planned on me coming home and going directly to bed, then I would get up when the sod was delivered .; However, the best laid plans often fail…On my way home from working a long 12hr shift, I had just made the turn into our neighborhood when I saw in my rearview mirror…the sod truck. AARRRGGG. I promptly called scratz who was trying to get a few things done before the sod got there and informed her of the pending delivery. This completely changed any plans we might have had. After making a fresh pot of coffee, we started the fun process of installing the sod.
We started in the front yard and were making pretty good time. We installed approximately 1600sqft worth of sod in less than three hours.
I thought we were doing great, until I realized, we had a little over 13,000sqft to go. By time we had completed the front yard, my energy had been quickly depleted. I had been up since noon of the previous day, so what little energy I did have was quickly melting away. However, we carried on. I should have taken more pictures on the install process but I was more concerned about getting everything installed as quickly as possible. I originally planned on completing the sod over a period of 4 days and took off an extra day from work just incase we didn’t get it completed.
After a short break, scratz and I started working on the backyard. As we were laying the sod, we quickly found out that as we progressed, the large pallets of sod became immovable obstacles in our progress. This was an ongoing problem. Each time we tried to finish an area, the pallets of sod were in the way so we had to carry the sod to a different location. Moving sod sucks, but it you think it is any more exciting to move it 3 or 4 times you are WRONG! Anyway, as we were working in the yard a neighbor stopped by and gave us a hand. The three of us were able to lay a large section of the sod in about 4 hours. Luckily after that, it was time for a lunch break because I was dying from the lack of sleep.
Once the much needed food break was over, scratz and I continued the exciting task of laying more sod. A few hours after we began working again, my brother and sister-in-law showed up to help out. My Mom and Dad also dropped by to see how things were going. By this time we were no longer going at the break-neck pace as earlier, but we were still making good time. When the sun was heading over the horizon for the night, we had finished about 70% of the yard. I was excited about this because it meant we were ahead of schedule.
With all this work behind us, I was looking forward to going to bed to get a nice long night sleep…
We started in the front yard and were making pretty good time. We installed approximately 1600sqft worth of sod in less than three hours.
I thought we were doing great, until I realized, we had a little over 13,000sqft to go. By time we had completed the front yard, my energy had been quickly depleted. I had been up since noon of the previous day, so what little energy I did have was quickly melting away. However, we carried on. I should have taken more pictures on the install process but I was more concerned about getting everything installed as quickly as possible. I originally planned on completing the sod over a period of 4 days and took off an extra day from work just incase we didn’t get it completed.
After a short break, scratz and I started working on the backyard. As we were laying the sod, we quickly found out that as we progressed, the large pallets of sod became immovable obstacles in our progress. This was an ongoing problem. Each time we tried to finish an area, the pallets of sod were in the way so we had to carry the sod to a different location. Moving sod sucks, but it you think it is any more exciting to move it 3 or 4 times you are WRONG! Anyway, as we were working in the yard a neighbor stopped by and gave us a hand. The three of us were able to lay a large section of the sod in about 4 hours. Luckily after that, it was time for a lunch break because I was dying from the lack of sleep.
Once the much needed food break was over, scratz and I continued the exciting task of laying more sod. A few hours after we began working again, my brother and sister-in-law showed up to help out. My Mom and Dad also dropped by to see how things were going. By this time we were no longer going at the break-neck pace as earlier, but we were still making good time. When the sun was heading over the horizon for the night, we had finished about 70% of the yard. I was excited about this because it meant we were ahead of schedule.
With all this work behind us, I was looking forward to going to bed to get a nice long night sleep…
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