Summer In Palo Alto

Sunday: We made it home about 4:30 pm. Nice trip home except the wind was a bit gusty. We missed the last of the dirt removal for the basement construction across the street from our house. It is one really big hole 12 feet deep and about 40x40 feet in size. They must have really worked because they've already poured some concrete on the floor.

Monday through Thursday: All were much the same. Dawn has a class each morning and I'm working at her house on installing a sidewalk and fence on the North side of her house there. That added a little excitement to our week. I've been fiddling around preparing to pour the sidewalk and should actually do most of it next Tuesday. There were a couple of differences though. I had a dentist appointment Tuesday afternoon and Dawn had one on Thursday afternoon. Dawn had her midterm Wednesday.

Friday: Lou is almost through organizing her slip molds. We haven't been able to see the deck, a rather large deck, for several weeks as she sorted out the ones she likes and disposed of the ones of less interest, more than half went. Now the ones she kept will fit on the shelves in the garage.


I did some work on the sprinklers in the front yard. The one in the park strip could handle watering the entire 6 foot x 40 foot park strip. I installed 4 more to improve things. The one that was straining was hurriedly installed three years ago just before we hit the road for three months. It helped. I also relocated the 2 in the side yard. When I installed the sidewalk there, the spacing was wrong. Also one didn't work anymore. I found out why. It had buried itself about a foot underground. It muse have followed a rotting roots path and pushed itself down. We'll see if the lawn gets a little more green now.

Dawn made a couple of green tomato pies earlier in the week. They are quite good, much like a tart apple pie.


They've been real busy on the house construction across the street. They poured about 4 inches ov concrete as a pad and then formed an 19 inch wall around that, installed a waterproof membrane, and have now completed the rebar for an 18 inch thick floor/foundation footing. The entire basement floor (40x40') will be 18 inches thick, pkus the 4 inch pad under it. The walls will be cast on top of that. Now that's a foundation. If we have an earthquake, it will probably remain level but may sink a few feet due to the weight and liquification of the soil? Today they were installing the pluming and sumps into the floor before they pour. They are really going fast.