Ho Hum

Yes. Ho Hum.

While everyone around me is getting righteously indignant about my current state of affairs as it relates to the building of the house, I struggle with maintaining a Zen attitude. There is still no block being made, despite gorgeous pre-Spring weather. OK, actually they have managed to make some this week, but they’ve also chosen to more than double the amount of time to cure the block once they’ve been formed from 3 days to 7. Oh…goody! More lost time.

What is there to do but be like a haunch of pork and sit and ‘cure’ myself?

So here I sits.

Happy Leap Day, 2008, btw, y’all!

I did go gallivanting around on the backside of the Manzano Mountains last Sunday. It had been months since I’d been out geocaching so I picked four caches that didn’t involve any strenuous exertion on my part and spent most of the day rippin’ around back roads and 2-lane highways in search of the hidden treasures.

No problem with the first three caches and then I had to hit a dirt back road by Manzano State Park. It looked muddy! And guess what? BB the Jeep got her first mud bath. She also almost took out 3 different sections of fence and about 6 pine trees, but I reined her back in and stayed off the grass, which, of course, is where the only traction was--and the trees and the fence. Heh heh heh;)

The worst standard feature on BB is the Bridgestone tires. I hate ‘em. No traction even on dry dirt roads. They got so caked with muddy clay that I swear I was sliding vs. plowing down the mud road. I had to pull over at one point to let some young male thang in an I’m-too-lacking-in-my-shorts-so-compensate-I-must-with-my-oversized-truck truck sidewind past me. He thought he was all cool by pulling in his collapsible side view mirror as he almost took me out. Maroon! By the time I white-knuckled it to the dead end five miles further along, damnit! turned around and got on the highway I was only about a quarter of a mile behind him. Wimp!

So, BB is now a Black and Tan. Like m’dogs. Like the British layered beer concoction. I’m taking my time washing her off. She looks so cool this way. I have more guys waving to me on the roads now than I ever did when she was brand shiny new and all black. It’s a Jeep thang.


Building should recommence on Tuesday. I’ve been calling Ken and he assures me there will be at least 200 block to pick up by then. Rex and the guys are off on a small home renovation in town until then. It was weird driving by this house and seeing my crew at work there. I waved. And smiled. Surrealism is a wonderful thing to experience.

So, ho hum, here we are. I’ve got no pictures of any worth, unless I’ve added the one of the new pump house with my emergency adaptations to keep it from flying apart in the winds right after the last post. Rex was laughing at me, but the guys trimmed off the overhang on the roof that was flapping like it was a seagull in a hurricane. I had tossed a coupla tie downs over the top (after about 25 attempts that had the wind blowing the damn thing back in my direction. Tossing ‘em the other way would’ve sent them into the next county) and got an 8 foot length of board to jam the door shut since it was fixin’ for flight as well.

Never a dull moment, but there’s still a huge ho hum factor.

Manana.

Mixing the Old with the New

Actually, I’m not sure there’s anything that isn’t old up here on the property. The Tin Can is an ’84 model, I was birthed in ’59, the dirt, rocks and lava are all…mildly…older than me. I guess BB is pretty new; still☺ Nothing about this ‘new’ house is new. I love contrariness--especially if I’m the one who gets to perpetuate it.

So, it’s fitting that my new pumphouse looks as it does. Isn’t that a hoot? It only took the guys three days to frame the footing, enlarge it (I tried not to, but did whine about the original footprint size), pour it and attach the tin sheeting and blue foam insulation to the metal frame. And the well-disguised door actually swings properly. I’m sure Mr. Tighty-whities at the bank is gonna pitch a fit when he finds out that this was built, vs. putting up more blocks on the house. But, as I will explain to him when the time comes, which it will, there were no blocks to build with. AND my well tank had blown over in the winds, with little to no damage to the plumbing, and I am not about to risk another chance with that little disaster happening again, and with lousier results. The dang pumphouse was gonna be built somewhere along the line anyway. WHO CARES IF IT’S NOW OR LATER??

Dang this bank guy rankles me!

Rex and the boys loaded, transported and unloaded (kinda) 225 blocks on Monday. At least 30 of ‘em busted in their hands as they were unloading ‘em into the garage. The rest were of the poorest quality we’ve seen yet and there are more and more inconsistencies in them (varying weight among the blocks, color variations that seem to be indicative of the mixture not being mixed properly to cause the weight changes, rougher and sloppier pours into the mold, etc.)

Yes, I called Ken. Every day this past week. I don’t have a problem relating my concerns to him about the block (I have paid for them in advance), but I do struggle with having to be firm and ‘demanding’ of an elder. It didn’t stop me from saying what I had to say, however. I just said it waaaay nicer than I’m used to doing. (See! I AM growing up!!) Ken told me NOT to use that load of block as it had frozen as it was curing and was no good. Ummmm…DUH! Given the expense I incurred of the labor on both ends, and the transportation of the block up here, I’m out an additional bunch of money. Ken and I will settle up later. The other 195 of the block were dispatched to the recycling heap.

Since the guys didn’t have anything much to do, I had ‘em build the pumphouse. How’s that for punting? OK, it wasn’t really punting, it was pretty obvious, but I’m trying to get into the banker’s head and think like he does; but it’s way to vacuous in there, so I’m back to trusting my instincts and making my own decisions and damning the torpedoes. How unusual, huh?

This pic is of the curved living room wall with the lintels (headers) installed, and the block piled up as far as we could go given the lack of materials we had. I included it because every time I look at this wall now it totally reminds me of a cathedral ruin left standing after the slathering hoards of barbarians got done ‘pillaging the willage’. It warms my heart to see it. (YOU decide how I mean that last statement, heh heh heh. There’s an English lesson in there, kids.) I also really like this pic of the kiva with all the monotone hues of the block surrounding it and it’s dirt brown color stands out as the only ‘readable’ color in the pic. It’s pretty cool, artistically. But, y’all know that.

Aside from having no building material with which to build, Rex and I are humming and scratching our heads over the transition between the 12-foot clerestory section of the roofline down to the 8’ walls of the rest of the house. Seems that detail was not addressed by the draftsperson. But, I’m going to review the plans today to see if I can find if it has or not.
Rex managed to get 7 20-foot vigas finally! Many of the sources for such huge timbers are all in chaos, it seems, or they want $8/foot for ‘em. I think Rex got ‘em for about half of that. He and the boys will be kept busy stripping them of their bark, as that’s why we got the reduced price. Not to mention some shady, backroom wheelin’ and dealin’ to even get them. Ahhh! New Mexico’s machinations: Greased palms and slippery eels. Now Rex’s conundrum is how’s he’s gonna get these massive hunks o’wood up atop a 12’ wall. They’re 12” in diameter at one end and 10” on the other, times 20 feet plus the density of the pine, times the pull of gravity, minus the weight of the bark equals…HELP! (Mathematically: (7x20) x [e=mc2] / Newton – 7x + 20y (11a)= ▲ ✖ ❁ ✖❁✖❁✖❁❋ + 2 pies

{This is why I teach anything BUT math! I DO know that pi r round, but when squared there’s more of them;)}

OK, I’m losing it. Time to venture out and see how much rain has fallen. The mountains are covered in low clouds and a light layer of snow. It’s supposed to heat up to 60 degrees today, so all that I just told you will be short-lived. I’ve got to go enjoy it now whilst it still lingers.

With the sounds of the three resident coyote packs howling, singing and yipping nudging at my cochlea, here’s to ya, Y’all!

Manana, sometime.

A Night In The Life

What a night!
A winter storm was predicted to hit us and all of Belen scoffed at the report as we were enjoying the past week’s temperatures that were in the high 60’s.

Dang! Were we wrong!

I couldn’t get out of work soon enough yesterday, but got moved along even faster when the fire alarms started screeching at 2:40, ten minutes after school was over. I figured it was ‘a sign’ to get out NOW. So I did.
I zoom, zoom, zoomed home and could barely get BB’s (the new Jeep) door open the winds were blowing so hard. Hopefully the high winds weren’t going to last too long.

Wrong again!

It blew until about 11 pm, well over 30 mph, non-stop. I would’ve played the soundtrack to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ but since my G4 laptop is certified as dead I’m still in the mode of setting up preferences on the new Mac Air laptop I was FORCED to get as a replacement. I’ve got to get my iTunes account transferred to this computer now. What a chore.

So, I rocked and rolled with the wind and caught the sundry items that got knocked down hither and yon as the night went on—when I wasn’t catching a nap as my way to avoid the tumult. Somewhere around 10:30 pm this monster gust whacked The Tin Can but good. My gills went green and I began planning how I’d have to fill the insurance claim forms out, and if I could even do it since I haven’t inventoried all that I have in TTC with me. There’s no point in doing in inventory, I decided, since I would probably be knocked unconscious and be bleeding from some wheres and would be rendered stupid so that I couldn’t even fill out a damn insurance claim form even if I had to. I feigned ignorance to my environment and delved into my current bibliographic read: Dead Beat. (It’s about specialty journalists who write obituaries and the intrigue, style and trend changes in the world of obit writing. Not bad, actually.)

When I headed outside to see what was salting and peppering TTC I was blasted with 30 mph snowflakes. Luverly. I cruised around the house looking for errant construction materials and was headed back into TTTC when something looked quite amiss in two perimeter locations. AH SHIT! would pretty much sum it up. The Porta Jane had blown over (the second time since it was installed), and so had the pressure tank for the water well. Criminey. NOW what?It’s around freezing, there’s snow being surgically implanted into my exposed orifices and skin pores, the moon and its light has been obliterated and to heft these two…appliances…I’m going to need both hands so a flashlight is no good ‘cept for making it so I can see all that is wrought and wrong. (Say! That’s a pretty good line, ain’t it?) Screw it. I’m going inside. And…I did. It’s not like there was much I could do to make any of it right with the wind working against me. A zen-Murphy’s-Law Combo-moment for me.

The winds finally died down and I was able to go to sleep. This morning found my world pretty much as I had left it. Hmmmm. Neighbor Ed came to help me heft the water tank back to vertical. No damage to the pipes or tank. I’m hoping it stays that way. I chased down my garbage can and tied it back down to its support stakes, then popped the Porta Jane back to vertical. It hadn’t been pumped in awhile, given what I found splashed all over the inside of it. ~sigh~ This is my world, Y’all—welcome!

KJ is driving down from CO today with Lego and Monster. That’ll be nice.



The house, which seems to be taking a backseat to the rest of my daily events of late, has been pretty much at a standstill since the weather’s been too nice, I guess, to make lava block.

The loan officer at the bank almost caused me to spontaneously combust on Thursday. He wanted to know if the walls were up and the windows were in. He wouldn’t transfer any money until they were. I didn’t calm down until about 5 hours later, just before he emailed and said that the money had been placed in my account and to have a wonderful weekend. That just set me off again. I’m considering going to Kohls and buying some size 64 underwear for the banker and mailing them to him with a note that says he might find happiness in his world if he tried these on, vs. the obviously waaay too tight tightie-whities he must be wearing now. I could make it anonymous, she says meekly and with pure innocence.

The good news about the house is that the fabrication of the kiva doors is complete. Rex brought a door up yesterday to show me how they turned out. They’re quite cool. I’ll post a pic of ‘em once they’re put in place.

During one of my ventures into the winds outside last night I was catching many glimmers of shining eyes across the property and wondering if I was going to be ‘on the menu’. Then, much to my amusement, I barely caught the movement of the baby bunny that lives under TTC boppin’ across the dirt not too far away from me. No, it wasn’t I that was going to be on the menu tonight, and I’d be damned if Little Bun was going to be, either. I got some stale bread and tossed it under TTC so the lil’ un would have some food and wouldn’t have to stay out and be the hor d’ouvre for those skulking coyotes.

There it is.
Mucho mananas from now….Enjoy the pics!

Transmogrification of Pain

The most bueno of news, Y’all! I’m not sick anymore. At least not as far as breathing goes. We know any other illness is still quite viable, especially the mental variety. I have developed bursitis and arthritis in my right elbow. Go figure. I was curious about why I would have arthritis in that particular joint, until I reviewed my life and remembered that I’d played softball for about 27 years. The throws from my position at third base to first seem to be the probable root cause.

I wouldn’t change a second of my life to stave off the arthritis for even another year. I’ve had a great life—and my body is reminding me of it every day. And I’m sure as hell glad I’m still around to complain…uhhh…tell about it.

Now, on to the house. Maybe I should restate: Now for the weather. It’s been kinda cold here for a couple of weeks. It’s not conducive to making block, so not much has gone on, except for the fabrication of the metal work on the kiva fireplace. A coupla hundred blocks did manage to get manufactured and all but about 75 of ‘em have been cut and shaped and made into the tightly curved bathroom walls, or piled up so that most of the walls are at 6’5” or above. It’s nice to see.

I went with Leslie, the Broker Angel, to meet with the bank’s loan officer who has caused me fits since November. Mr. Pointy Toed Shoes must’ve been to a Comin’ to Jesus meeting with his higher-ups ‘cause all of a sudden he’s telling me they’ll release any draw requests within 3 days, even if it’s every week. At the same time he’s telling me that I’m spending too much money. All I could hear bouncing around in my head was: I HAD TO MAKE $19,000 LAST FOR 3 MONTHS! WHAT THE HELL?

That seems pretty arrogant, huh? That’s the reality of house construction, folks. It’s also about half of my annual income, so, yea, reality in two different worlds and converging all over me. So, not much else that’s worthy of your collective time, y’all. At least not that I can remember right now. Well, there’s also the reason for no pictures and such a delay in posting: my hard drive got corrupted and is irretrievable. I’m in mourning. But the new Macintosh Air laptop is now available….

ASAP, but not manana.