Still trying to catch up

It's going slowly, but at every turn there is more to it. I'll get to that later.

So you know we got the shop built and the house moved, all in only seven years. Hey, we're moving forward, right?

The new house is going to be about the same spot as the old, only a little eastward to make room for a drive. Our existing driveway is about 250 feet long, and we're going to run it in a half-circle to another entrance. We added a culvert for that two years ago. The extension is another 250 feet, and sits across where the old septic tank stands. We'd been having troubles with it, in the form of sewage gas excaping when the winds were just right, especially when it was cold out. The source was a leaky top and a broken distribution box 80' away. The tank had risen in its hole, like a boat, probably after a winter-time pumping like when we first moved in....? I had also exposed the pipe connection to the tank when I installed a pumped line from the temporary holding tank near the shop for our temporary digs. The d-box was crumbling concrete. (an interesting side note; while looking for the buried d-box I tried dousing for it with two coat hangers. It worked, first time. Pretty cool stuff.)

So we called in a credit at the rental shop and got an excavator, bought a new concrete septic tank and distribution box and proceeded to replace/relocate the tank. Sandi actually put the project together, getting motivated on a Friday morning and having everything lined up and confirmed, from pumping our tank to the delivery of the machine and placement of the new tank on Monday morning.

This thing is a monster, in my perspective anyway. Delicate enough to pick up a basketball, yet strong enough to dig deep and lift 15,000 pounds.

I loaned it to my neighbor for a bit and he had no trouble at all bashing a hole in his house (oops).

The new tank was put about 20' west and offset the old one. While lower than the original the lid is still flush with the earth so we'll have a mound covering it. It'll add "character" to our space.

Our old power pole. Plucked it right out of the ground. It's set aside for now, we'll do something with it someday, I'm sure (said the pack rat).

This machine is run by computer, and only had about 1100 hours on it. The rental shop said I could buy it for $90,000. I want one. Please, dear? Air, sound system, comfy seat, big spot for coffee and lunch.

1000 gallons, split, with 8" risers. Our system was and remains rated for a three bedroom home. Changing that to more would require a new design and permit, and the old gravity system would not likely be accepted. So it'll do.

We also had a boat-load of cement to move, and the trees. The machine had no trouble breaking the 5 to 8 inch fiber-reinforced concrete, which I loaded into our pickup. Man, that truck bed got BEAT. Not the right tool, but it's what we have. It took maybe 10 trips with the truck, being carefull to not put more than about 7000# at a time. We put it near the end of our shop where we need fill anyway. Nice to not have to take it off-site.

As we get more into this, and it's still early, any chance we find to save costs or prepare for future tasks we take. More on that, later.

Now it's time to go sleep, for tomorrow we head to the in-laws. We're picking up some doors on the way, and may try to be back up for my patrol banquet so it's going to be a busy day.

Tom