Chimney cap

Jim worked really hard all yesterday to get ready to pour the chimney cap.  He started back up first thing this morning - had to run to Home Depot for cement and misc things he needed.  He took the truck to Home Depot for its first official job as a construction vehicle - they were able to load a pallet of cement bags right into the back of the truck.  Made that job much easier!

The truck's first construction job!

Jim had to finish getting the forms set, do the flashing, rebar, foam expansion joints around all 3 flue pipes...and tons of other jobs that I don't even know enough about to write.  With hardly a lunch break, he worked through early afternoon getting it all set. 

All the prep work's done

Mike once again came over to lend a helping hand.  They used the Bobcat cement mixer (aka The Pumpkin) to mix the cement.  Once they got it mixed, they filled up the 5 gallon pails, wheeled them back in the wheelbarrow, and then used a hoist to lift them up to the top of the scaffolding.  Then Jim had to carry them up a ladder that was laying on the roof, harness himself back to the chimney, and place the cement...to be repeated dozens and dozens of times.

Using a hoist to bring up cement buckets

Jim climbing up the ladder carrying buckets of cement

 

 

I had to go to the dentist this afternoon and run to Staples, so I missed most of the work.  By the time I got home about 5:00, Jim just had a few more buckets to place.  The weather was gorgeous, but the work was hard and they were beat.

 

Of course with concrete work, comes lots of finishing work at multiple times in the process as well as massive cleaning up afterwards.  It was probably 8:00 by the time Jim came in.

 

 

In the midst of this, when I got home I saw that the shipper had left a message.  Jim called him back and he wants to pick up the equipment at 9:30 tomorrow morning!  So no rest for the very weary...Jim has to spend tonight getting everything ready for the transport and will have to leave an hour or so after the shipper leaves to go to NY and meet him to unload!

 

While I'm extremely thankful that somehow Jim managed to get this immense undertaking of the chimney cap job finished in these past two days and was blessed with great weather, one more day in between to rest mind and body sure would have been nice.  But the goal was to get the cap done while the Bobcat was here, so mission accomplished. 

 

Jim will take the 4Runner to NY to make it a quicker trip.  He'll probably spend Thursday working on the land a bit with the Bobcat.  He needs to do some site work before the well guy can begin, so he'll start on that.  But he'll also have to deal with insurance.  It will be a whole new worry because now we'll have equipment there with no one around.  But getting  the equipment up there is a major milestone toward making this all a reality!

 

Last steps...Jim had to take the foam out and do some caulking - he's really happy with how things turned out.  Now he's drawing plans so that Bryan can laser cut chimney caps. Then that project will be all done!

 

 

 

Back to house work...

Now it's back to trying to get things done around here - with some added twists. The chimney cap has to be repaired...last week he broke up the old one.

Quite the messy and hard job to break up the old cap

Certainly not an easy task considering how high our roof is.


Good thing he's not afraid of heights!

Thankfully Jim is always safety conscious and is using a harness.



So cute in his safety harness!

But here's the fun part...Jim will need the Bobcat to mix the cement to make the new cap. And of course the shipper just emailed and said he may pick up the equipment Wednesday. Which means that the whole thing needs to be done by tomorrow. It rained all day yesterday and this morning so now the clock is really ticking.  But he used that time wisely and was busy making custom forms, complete with a drip edge, for the concrete.  So he's installing them now.



 

Mike is supposed to come over tomorrow and help Jim.  There will be lots of carrying 5 gallon pails of concrete up the scaffolding to Jim for him to place it.  Thank God for good friends - especially ones that may not know what they are getting themselves into and might be otherwise busy!

 

On a frustrating phone call note...I thought I had the whole EZ Pass for the truck figured out after spending an hour on the phone with a multitude of different people a couple weeks ago.  They were supposed to add the box truck to our private account, send us a new transponder and we would be good to go.  'Til in never showed up.  So I called and found out...oh, they canceled that request because you can't have a commercial type truck on a private account.  I told this woman that I had talked to supervisors last time who told me that it was possible but no, she wouldn't budge.  So I had to download a business application - which of course didn't apply to us.  I had to leave so many things blank so that will probably be an issue.  I told her we had hoped to use it next week but she didn't sound promising that we could receive it by then.  Ah, the best laid plans...

 

On his way home!

Since Jim got everything done yesterday, he's on his way home today. Which makes me happy!

It was kind of funny...when I talked to him this morning after his first night in the apartment, he asked if I had packed some towels so he could take a shower. I told him that the last 2 tubs I had packed for him were the apartment stuff - towels, toiletries, etc. So I told him to look for 2 green tubs. To which he replied by texting me this picture...

That's a lot of boxes!!

He eventually found the green tub in all that wall of boxes and was able to take a shower.  I had packed the Keurig so he could have a cup of coffee too.  Jim said that the apartment felt okay - comfortable and workable.  Certainly not all the comforts of this home, but he said it's so close to the lot and that will be perfect.


He found a new place to eat in Corinth too...this was on the recommendation of one of the people we got to know at the hotel.  It was actually the clubhouse of a golf course but he said he had cranberry nut pancakes - which sound delish!  He'll definitely have to take me there sometime!

Jim keeps checking in and is making good time and the truck is doing great - for which I'm so thankful.  He'll be home in a few hours!

Jim got home safe and sound. Amazing all he got done in one day. He showed me this picture he took this morning when he was headed to breakfast...Corinth has this cute little beach on the banks of the Hudson River! Just check out that mountain in the background.

Unloading day again!

Jim texted me this picture this morning...the truck is back on the lot!

 

 

Jim met Gus up at the lot about 10:00 this morning.  He said all went well and they had a good discussion.  Once the equipment gets there, Jim will have a little bit of site prep and then Gus will start.  Let's pray for good water that's not too deep!

 

Then Jim picked up Kyle at the casino bus stop again - thanks Kyle for coming to help!  They went to the storage unit first and picked up some of the apartment things and then headed to the apartment.  Jim said they were eating their first meal (pb&j of course) in the living room - ha!  But he did say that the carpets didn't look like they had been cleaned like the maintenance guy said he would do.  I called him but no answer yet.  Jim and Kyle were getting ready to unload things at the apartment and then back at the storage unit too.  Kyle has to go back tonight so their time will be really short today to get all that done.  Hopefully all goes well.

 



Jim eating lunch with Kyle (the man behind the camera) in the apartment
 

Just heard from Jim a bit ago...he was dropping Kyle back off to catch the bus back.  He sounded beat but happy that they had accomplished so much.  Unfortunately, the apartment is on the 2nd floor and the stairs are pretty steep and narrow, so I can't imagine how many trips up/down they made.  Plus they had to make a couple trips back to the storage unit.  He even stopped and talked to the insurance agent again and got the necessary paperwork to get the 4Runner licensed in NY.  He may try and do that in the morning.

 

They worked hard and had a crazy busy day, but the upside of all that is that Jim is planning on coming home tomorrow now instead of Sunday.  So that's good news!

 



Jim's trip back to NY!

Jim is on his way back to New York.  I'm sad to not be riding shotgun with him, but there will be other trips.  I have to work at both jobs while he's gone so I guess that helps too.

The agenda this trip is to unload the second full truckload - probably everything but tools and work stuff will go into the apartment this time.  I sent Jim up with a couple tubs full of "house" things - enough for him to have a few comforts of home while he's there.  He'll stay at a hotel tonight because it will probably be late when he gets in.  But Friday and Saturday nights will probably be sleeping bags on the apartment floor.  Good thing the maintenance guy was going to clean the carpet this week!

Tomorrow Jim plans to meet with Gus about the well and get that underway.  Jim has been talking to Neil from Wolff Bros about ordering a pump.  So that will be excited to start that process.  He also plans on meeting with the insurance guy again - the gray 4Runner is overdue for plates and we'd like to get it licensed in NY instead of OH so we don't have to pay twice for that privilege.  So we'll see how that goes.

I'll be anxious to hear from Jim along the way - I've talked to him a couple times and so far so good!

Update...Jim got into Saratoga Springs maybe around 7:00 tonight.  Truck did well and he said the traffic and weather were good too.  I'm so thankful!  Jim actually used the hotel workout room and did a run - amazing after such a long day but probably felt good to move a bit after sitting in the truck.  Then he picked up another Pope's Pizza.  Could be a new tradition.

Getting ready for another trip!

Time is ticking and there's so much to be done!  But we're plugging away every day on the giant "to do" list.

Jim has been doing lots of work in the basement - finishing up the shower stall and installing the drop ceiling, besides sorting and packing in every spare moment.  We just about have the crawl space emptied out.  Mike came over today and helped Jim move the bookshelf and an old dresser up from the basement, so that was nice to have some extra muscles (read I didn't have to do it). 

Then they did some moving in the pole barn - took down the big exhaust fan and loaded up the radial arm saw table on the Bobcat.  Jim won't need that for awhile, so it will take up residence in the neighbor's barn until the carriage house is built and things can be moved in.  Thanks to the neighbors for letting us do this! 

Jim moving the radial arm saw table from the pole barn to the neighbor's barn

Down the road it goes!

Meanwhile, we are packing up the truck again at every opportunity.  We brought a lot of boxes and tubs down from the attic and up from the basement and Jim has more pole barn tools loaded on.


 

 

Jim is thinking about going back to NY at the end of next week - he wants to meet the well guy at the property and get him started.  Then he'll unload this truckful and come back home. 

 

One of the big things that Jim has been orchestrating is getting bids on transporting the Bobcat and Excavator up to NY.  As you can imagine, no small feat.  I wouldn't know how you would even begin that process, but Jim did it before when he bought the Bobcat in Oklahoma so he's familiar with it.  That will require another trip back to NY because he wants to be there when they deliver the equipment. 

 

I've still been busy packing too - today I worked for awhile in the kitchen again packing up more dishes.  I actually have some totally empty cabinets now!

 

 

Right turns allowed!

Jim spent quite awhile today trying to see what was wrong that the right turn signal wouldn't work on the truck.  He had worked on the wiring harness before our trip and everything worked but that.  When I got home from work today, he had the dash apart and was trying to see what was wrong.  He finally took the actual signal arm off - which required taking the steering wheel off - and figured out that's where the issue was.  So we can now turn right!

Now the only truck project left is to do the brakes.  That will first require going back to the tire store and having them loosen the lug nuts that they way over-torqued.

Yesterday, Jim and I spent some time taking all the tubs and boxes that were in the basement and library and loading them on the truck.  Just feels like you're making good progress when spots start emptying out.  Next step will be bringing all the attic boxes down and getting them loaded up.