Monday, September 28, 2009

A Pour Time

Ready To Pour Floor, Concrete Supply Ready
Monday: (09/28) Got up early. Ernie is departing for a visit to Las Vegas this morning. I tinkered some preparing to pour the floor for the sheds. The concrete doesn't arrive until tomorrow so I'll be pouring Wednesday. I adjusted the drain inlets to be flush with the floor and placed the mixer. Lou helped by placing some bricks to hold a plywood floor over the rebar for safer work area. That's about it for real work today. Now some fun at the computer keyboard.

It seems like this project is taking forever. I started this in May. There were a few diversions though. A couple of trips to Utah with Ernie. Getting carried away rebuilding the fence, a project our neighbor calls Wilton Dam,. And I did have a few unproductive days as well. But now the project seems to have an end in sight.

Breakfast was cheerios and bananas. Lunch was Chinese, chow mein, vegetables and shrimp, and Di Chin chicken. Dinner was smoked chicken and macaroni salad.

Concrete Arrived Shed Floor Ready To Pour
Tuesday: (09/29) The phone rang about 6:40. It was Home Depot calling to advise they were on the way with the concrete. That forced an early rise. I moved the car from the driveway and they placed the three pallets there. It was drizzling. I should hire myself out as a rain maker. All that I need to do is get a bunch of concrete outside and it always rains. After breakfast, I started moving the concrete to the back yard next to the floor to be. I finished about 10:30 and still felt good but that was enough work for today.The sky cleared but there was some wind.

I spent some time watching the crews replacing the gas line on the adjacent street. They'll be on our street soon. I took a nice nap in the afternoon and Lou woke me up to ask if I'd seen our tent shop. I went out and saw the roof missing. We've had some heavy wind today. I went out to try to find a new roof but didn't find one. Finding an appropriate tarp wasn't easy either but I did retuirn with one. The sky's clear for now but the wind is still blowing so I'll try to wait to install it. It's dark now and won't be any more dark if I do have to install it in the middle of the night.

Lou went with Dawn. Dawn had her eye surgery today. They tacked her retina again in her good eye. All went well.

Breakfast was egg, cheese and bacon muffins. Lunch was donuts. Lou fixed a Chinese rice noodle dish with shrimp and vegetables for dinner.

First Pour Of Floor Done
Wednesday: (09/30) I started the morning installing the new tarp on the temporary shop. The wind yesterday destroyed the old tarp. I hadn't planned on doing this today but a roof is always helpful if it rains. That took much of the morning.

I had planned to start pouring the concrete floor early but that didn't happen. It was just before 11am when I started pouring. 81 sq ft, 57 bags. I didn't finish with the finishing until after 4pm. The day couldn't have been nicer, cooler than recently and no wind.

Breakfast was eggs, sausage and home fried potatoes. A very late lunch was a bologna and cheese sandwich. Dinner was a Pizz'a Chicago "Fridge" pizza, a meaty combination Chicago style pizza.

Thursday: (10/01) A day of mostly rest today. I went to a plant and  maintenance show in Santa Clara. Always interesting. CFL, fluorescent lighting, solar electric, and other energy saving stuff were in abundance. The new solar products were quite interesting. Thin film Photovoltaic cells sandwiched in glass to be installed as window panes. The look sort of like tinted windows but provide power as well. The circular solar collectors were also interesting. The look much like fluorescent tubes and are to be mounted about 8 inches above flat white roofs, the typical big box building. They collect power from all directions including the reflected energy from the roof. Very interesting. It's also had several maintenance management software vendors, another interest. Since I was passing the Micro Center, I stopped for a look around on the way home.

Breakfast was PB and J Muffins. Lunch was Mr Chau's fast food, chowmein, BBQ boneless ribs and orange chicken. Dinner was hotdogs and all the trimmings cooked at our campfire in the backyard.

Friday: (10/02) Up early this morning to watch a neighbor little boy for a few minutes. Today, the contractor finally started actual work on the new gas pipe on our street. That means we had to find a place off the street for all the cars.

Second Pour Of Floor Done
I started the second pour of concrete for the shop floor, about 72 sq feet, 51 bags today. Just 36 sq/ft more on Sunday. The weather was quite nice today.

Breakfast was the usual egg, sausage, and cheese muffins for all. Lunch was leftover meatloaf and refried beens with cheese. Sort of a meatloaf size. We went to Marie Calendar's for dinner. Their prime rib special was excellent.

Saturday: (10/03) I stripped the forms from yesterdays pour and then setup the forms for the final pour of the slab tomorrow. Not much work.

Lou Installing Growable Paving
Lou worked on our front patio area laying some growable brick tiles in the flower bed next to the patio.

Dawn and I caught the bus and light rail to the city of Campbell for a walk-about.

Lou fixed a nice eggs, sausage and home fried taters for breakfast. Dawn and i were out and had Der Wiener Schnitzels best $1 menu items a chili cheese burger and hot poppers topped with chocolate coated ice cream cones. Dinner was smoked chicken, fried plantains, and a green salad.

Shed Floor Pour Done
Sunday: (10/04) The last pour went well, the weather was nice but getting nippy and a little breezy.

Lou found a bunch of large pots at a nurseries trash dumpster. She's going to move the plants around our deck fountain into the pots. Our plans seem to be in flux. The sheds that I just poured the floor for were originally going to be beside the house. We've since changed that area to be a garden plot and moved the bulidings to the rear of the lot. Lou's pottery shed is also beside the house and It will be moved after the new sheds are complete it will be placed where the fountain is currently. We have two fountains so we decided to eliminate one to save power and water. The end result will be that we will be able to drive into the back yard finally. We'll probably pull Ernie's trailer into the back yard when all is done.

Lou and I went out shopping for a few items. I checked on the paneling to be used for the buildings. We also located a cheap tin building to replace Lou's pottery shed. Her building is in pretty bad shape and by replacing it she'll only need to move her molds once. We stopped for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.

Breakfast was a green pepper omlette. Lunch was a shared #21 chow fun meal from LUU Noodle house. Lou and I went out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes Buffet in Santa Clara.

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