Saturday, June 10, 2017

In the Trenches

Saturday: (06/10) Granola and banana for breakfast. I removed the rest of the baserock, dug out some dirt, and broke out some concrete that was below the baserock. Evidently a lot of extra from another pour like the house foundation. I took a break before noon to drive Dawn to the Mountain View and Los Altos libraries and to visit Sprout’s Market for some bread. Lou was busy planting some grass plugs from the front lawn in the back yard. The front lawn was a good shade crass that didn’t need much water and little mowing. It’s mostly dead since we stopped watering it a couple of years ago. Lunch was a chicken cheese and avocado sandwich. Lou and Dawn were out shopping at Home Depot and picked up dinner at Mi Pueblo Market.

Sunday: (06/11) Dawn made eggs with nopalitos and sausage for breakfast. I worked on digging out the driveway. Almost finished with the original areas just need to skim and inch off about 30 sq ft tomorrow. Then I get to start digging out the additional area for the widening. Lou made pork chops with salsa rice for lunch. Leftover pizza for dinner.

 

 

Monday: (06/12) Granola and banana for breakfast. I was busy outside digging out the expansion area of the driveway. About ¾ done. The dumpster is getting fuller. I built a ramp to allow topside loading and the doors have been closed. Ernie helped with the unloading and pulling the cart up the ramp. Lou made a nice chicken cheese and spinach artichoke dip sandwich. In the evening we drove up to San Mateo to look and a dual recliner couch Dawn found on FreeCycle. We decided to take it. No time to get a trailer so we put the two recliners on top and the center seat inside. We stopped for pastrami dinners at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on the way home. Dawn was busy at the Friends Of The Library this afternoon.

 

Tuesday: (06/13) Granola and banana with berries for breakfast. I unloaded the sofa we picked up last night from the top of the Jeep. We managed to get it in the living room but now need to figure a way to fit things in and what to get rid of. Then we were off to the San Mateo County Fair. They have a very nice craft, art and literary section. Not too many animals and not too much else. We enjoyed a shared gyro with Greek fries for lunch and some kettle corn. About 1830 we headed off to Jack’s Restaurant for dinner. Got back home about 2130.

 

 


Wednesday: (06/14) Leftover sticky rice and pork for breakfast. I got busy digging out the last of the driveway. I still have about 9 square feet to do where all the pipes are. I also cut out an old metal sprinkler pipe that was in the way. I pruned the geraniums and removed some plant from the flower bed so i can pour concrete under the mail slot. I also skimmed the grass off the area where the new sidewalk is going in in front of the flower bed. Tomorrow I’ll did out the sidewalk area to top off the debris bin. I was confident enough this morning that i called for the dumpster pickup for Friday Morning. Lou made chicken tacos with sweet corn salsa for lunch. For dinner Lou baked some cauliflower, made some bacon wrapped cheese stuffed mini peppers and added wieners for dinner.

Thursday: (06/15) Lou made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I finished the driveway digging and filling up the dumpster. It is now full and ready for pickup tomorrow. Ernie helped by lugging some of the buckets to the dumpster. It was a nice day because I finished up about 1500. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Especially good with mixed Olallieberries and blueberries from our yard. Lou made chili baked potatoes for dinner.

 

Friday: (06/16) Hot day. Busy no work day. I got dressed early. The last two dumpster pickup happened at 0730 so i was outside then. This pickup didn’t happen until after 1000. I then headed off shopping. Lou and Dawn were off to a rummage sale. I stopped by Lyngso Garden in San Carlos to get some geotextile fabric and ordered some base rock for delivery. The 11 tons of base rock will be delivered Monday. Before then i hope to install the fabric in the driveway holes to help stabilize the rock and keep root out. Should be ready to move some base rock into the holes right after delivery. I then met Lou and Dawn at Applebee’s Restaurant for lunch. After lunch i stopped by Home Depot for some pipe and fittings that i need to get in before the base rock. I also installed an anchor to brac the fixed driveway gate. That should help with the ease of locking the gate. Since it was in the mid 90 degrees, I relaxed inside the rest of the afternoon. Lou made chicken with potato salad for dinner.



Saturday: (06/17) I installed some of the fabric in the bottom of the driveway hole and Ernie and I moved the used baserock on to it.. Now ready for the baserock delivery Monday. It was a very hot day so nothing more done today. Granola and apple for breakfast. Hotdogs and potato salad for lunch. Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant for dinner. 

 

Sunday: (06/18) Father’s Day. Granola and berries for breakfast. I started the day with good intentions. I started to dig out for the RV sewer line. I didn’t get too far until Lou asked me to go with her for an appointment. I had already worked up a good sweat and it wasn’t even 1000. Dim Sum for lunch. At home we vegged inside. The cooler did a pretty good job in the 101 degree heat of the day. Lou made hobo dinners.

Monday: (06/19) Up by 0600. Granola for breakfast. I started digging the new front walkway out for baserock. Also need it to be able to dig below it for the new RV sewer line and waterline. When Ernie got up he helped haul the dirt buckets. I was finishing the rough digout as .the Lyngso driver called and said he was on his way with the base rock. It was piled in the driveway ramp area by 1030. Ernie and I got busy moving some into the driveway and tamping it. The first lift was the old base material. The second lift is what Ernie and i move today. Tomorrow the third lift should be close to the final level. We finished a little after noon just as Lou and Dawn got back home from an appointment and shopping. They brought lunch with them, dim sum for me and KFC for them. A nice relaxing afternoon in the yard and a shower. Nice. For dinner we went to LUU Noodle House. 

 

 

 

 

 


Tuesday: (06/20) A day off, just because. We had leftovers for breakfast. Mine was leftover pork footballs (dim sum). We drove over the hill and out of the heat to Santa Cruz for the day. Traffic was bad going over and also terrible when we drove from Santa Cruz to Capitola about 1700. We looked around the Capitola Mall and the village area before returning to Santa Cruz for dinner. Lunch at a new find, Zachary’s Restaurant. Dinner at 99 Bottles Of Beer bar. I won a beer glass there in a raffle. Traffic was nice heading home after 2000.

Wednesday: (06/21) Granola for breakfast. I was out early again to beat the heat. I started exposing the sewer line to find the connection point I need. Then Ernie and i got busy moving more base rock into the driveway/ We got that tamped to level at the desired level. Then it was time to do some digging. I moved dug out some dirt from the backyard where Ernie’s shed pad will be. About 1500 David from SimplySolar came by to discuss possible solar for our house. Looks like it still is not practical having over a nine year payback point, at best. Our neighbors trees really pose a problem for ever having solar. Lou made a nice roasted red pepper with chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch. Then she made sweet corn salsa chicken tacos for dinner.


Thursday: (06/22) Lou made ham, eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast. I had a doctors appointment this morning. On the way home I did some shopping. Once home it was time for lunch, a nice ham and cheese sandwich. I took the rest of the day off with other errands in the afternoon. Dawn made beef stroganoff for dinner. No work on the yard today. Good thing because it was another hot day.

 


Friday: (06/23) I spent the day out front digging a trench for the sewer line. I also had to cut out a piece of concrete to allow the lines to extend beyond the driveway work. That trench will continue on across the RV driveway sometime in the future. This second dirt dumpster is almost half full. Looks like a third dumpster will be needed. The weather was much nicer today. Granola for breakfast. Pepper and cheese sandwich with potato salad for lunch. Spanish rice with pork for dinner. 

 

Saturday: (06/24) We headed out for some shopping for parts. I needed ome special plumbing parts so I planned a route of stores. We stopped at the newest Orchard store in our area on Hollenbeck Rd in Sunnyvale. Being the newest they were most likely to have a properly stocked store. It seems that is ihe only time they are properly stocked. As it happens, they had all the plumbing parts but didn’t have the steel cable clamps Lou needed for a project. Dawn found a thrift store in the shopping center and it had some special books. Next stop breakfast at the Country inn restaurant near Saratoga. Great omelets and Swedish pancakes. Another stop at Home Depot across the street where we got Lou’s cable and clamps. At home i relaxed all afternoon. I did get outside only to put some penetrating oil on a pipe plug i need to get off tomorrow. For dinner we had leftover Spanish rice. Dessert was some of Lou’s apricot pie.

Sunday: (06/25) Worked on installing the sewer line today. Fortunately the plug where i was connecting to came off quite easily. It looked really rusted together so i put WD40 oil on it last night. That may have helped. I found that the plug was 3” rather than 4” to match the pipe size so i had to make a run to the hardware store to get the correct adapter. Actually makes it much easier. Next mistake was cementing all my fittings before checking alignment with my trench so I had to undercut my trench so i didn’t have to remove Lou’s blueberry bushes. Bending the pipe made the angle of the fitting better anyway. With the line in place Ernie and I scraped some of the fines from the old baserock in the backyard to backfill the trench. We also repaired the sprinkler pipe I drove the pickaxe through and cut out the old abandoned metal sprinkler pipes. Leftover Spanish rice for breakfast. Ham, cheese and pepper sandwich for lunch. Leftover Spanish rice for dinner. 

 

Monday: (06/26) We (Ernie, Dawn, Lou and myself) started the morning by moving the recliner sofa we got a few days ago over to Courtney’s. We decided it wasn’t for us. We used the two wagons to roll it on the street to courtney’s, only a couple of bloks and much easier the hefting it on top of the Jeep again. Ernie and i gleaned some more fine base rock (most of the bigger rocks removed) from the backyard and used it to fill the trench in the front yard. Then we finished up the piping for the storm drain, water and electric which passes under the driveway. Then we moved a lot of baserock from the pile and I tamped just before dinner. I needed a couple of pipe fittings about noon so picked up lunch on the way home. Granola for breakfast. Lunch from Los Altos Tagueria. I do like their chili rellenos so I got their combo #1, which included an enchilada. Lou had nachos and Dawn had a torts. All like homemade. Yum. For dinner Lou and Dawn made apricot blintzes. 

 

Tuesday: (06/27) Blintzes and sausage for breakfast. Ernie and i did a final add of baserock to adjust the base to the final level. The rest of the day was spent digging in the back yard and filling the dumpster. I finished that around 1745. Earlier on one of my breaks, i called and scheduled the pickup for Thursday. I’ll be getting another empty dumpster because i have lots more dirt to get rid of. I wasn’t sure I’d finish today but now that I have, tomorrow we’ll go to the Alameda County Fair. For lunch I had a ham, cheese and spinach artichoke dip sandwich. For dinner I stopped by Papa John’s for Two For Tuesdays pizzas. Lou and Dawn were out shopping all day but arrived shortly after the pizzas.

 


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