Letters From The Boondocks (Chapter 2)

I’ve made a chronological change in format to place the oldest letter at the bottom, so that in the future, the last letter in the previous chapter will properly precede the oldest letter in the current chapter.

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Decks with stain:

David to Sharon, Wed, Jun 10, 2009, 6:06 PM
Dearest Wife,
 
Even with the rain I had enough dry time to apply two coats of stain to the back deck and to do half of the front one.



Tomorrow I'll finish the front and one more coat for each deck.
Then I'll start preparing the top of the back edge of the shack roof to support the rafters that will form the breeze-way roof. The first part is simply to add a layer of 3/4 inch plywood at a slight angle (for drainage) to the back one foot (low north side) of the shack roof for the breeze-way rafters to attach to. Then I paint and seal that strip of plywood to prevent any leakage. It's an all day job.
 
Tim got all his stuff moved over to his new place south of us. He used our tractor front loader and the help of his friend Jerry to move his heavy tools across the road, and then he brought the tractor home. He is able to handle the IH tractor with a precision that I am only just now beginning to understand. I have a lot of practicing to do.
 
The contractor, Albert Chavez, finally showed up at 6:30PM. He did keep me informed of his progress all day long though. We had a very good meeting and he promised his bid by email no later than noon on Friday, June 12th.
 
The horses and all three dogs hung around over here from before noon until 7:45PM (about 15 minutes ago). Then like at a signal they headed home to Tim's place at a very fast walk.
Love You
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Deck with Step installed

David to Sharon, Mon, Jun 8, 2009, 5:24 PM

Dearest Wife,
Some more deck pictures for you. The way I positioned, and dug in, and concreted the support posts makes
the deck look like it's floating just off the ground, but as you might suspect it is very rigid and it's guaranteed   not to blow away.
 


Tomorrow I'll apply the first protective Redwood stain coating to both the back and front decks and get ready to roof over the deck area. I'm pretty sure you will like how it's going to look.
At the same time I have been building the barn in my head, and I am pretty sure I have a foundation scheme that will be both inexpensive and easy; except for the guys I'll hire to dig the holes!!!
More pictures tomorrow.
Love you

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A nice sunset

David to Sharon, Fri, Jun 5, 2009, 6:41 PM

Some good sunset pictures taken from our south-east corner. I call the last one, “Tranquility”.
Wish you were here to enjoy the wonderful weather.
Love you, Wife

 

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Deck and Trusses

David to Sharon, Fri, Jun 5, 2009, 10:59 AM

Here's a few pictures of the deck and our trusses. Both look pretty good.
Love you




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The NW corner of the fence is complete


David to Sharon, Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 3:44 PM

Hi Sweet Wife,
Just a couple of pictures to show the last of the fence,

and to illustrate what a Cholla (pronounced Choy-Ya) Cactus looks like.
We have around a hundred of them. The one pictured is in the Green Shack circle drive.



(Note: This one later deteriorated to the point I had to remove it, but another one nearby flourished and produced beautiful purple flowers.)

Richard "Hogan" Falk  and I spent over two hours walking his and our properties looking at the various kinds of trees and the different grasses, and talking about how we can improve the growth of both. He has beautified his place considerably by taking out the underbrush around his Juniper and Pine trees and pruning them up to about six feet above the ground, so they look like umbrellas. They provide shade for the animals, and at the same time deny hiding places for the rattle snakes. That will be a good project for you: learning how to use a chainsaw, and catching rattlesnakes for the pot!! ;)
 
Tomorrow Hogan starts fixing and replacing the fence along FR-422 all the way down to the arroyo. South of the arroyo he will just tighten the fence wire and re-tie it to the posts. (Note: That plan later changed when we decided, because of erosion and the need to keep the range bulls out, to move and replace with all new posts and wire the entire east fence line along Forest Road-422 from the Cibola National Forest entry cattle guard down to Tim’s southeast corner; about half a mile).
 
Tomorrow also I'll start looking into finding the best barn for the money. I am still leaning toward a large “pole barn” that I can build myself.
Love you, Wife
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Computer Repair Done Here


David to Sharon, date Mon, Jun 1, 2009, 8:16 PM
Dearest Wife,
I fixed and restored to Like-New a computer last night,  in a little over 4 hours. It was six years old and was thoroughly full of errors, viruses and spyware crap, and had almost no space left on the C:\ drive. I thought at first it would be a waste of time, and that it would have to be formatted and reloaded (the owner needed her data, but had no backup, and the system disk was long gone. Not many options there.)  Little by little, in “Safe Mode”, using mostly free utility software I had burned to a CD, and Linux (in RAM), I cleaned out the junk files, and deleted a ton of obsolete programs, finally getting enough head room to defrag the boot drive, then defragged and repaired the registry. When I left at about 10:30pm, it was working like new, and she was a happy camper! Oh yeah, it was a win 98 SE desktop, just like we had at NET 10 when I was going to school.
You have only been gone a few days
and I miss you already.
Love you
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Letters From The Boondocks

All the while I’m at the ranch, my wife, Sharon, keeps the home fires burning and maintains her job at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana. So each evening, with very few exceptions, I have written her a letter and enclosed a few pictures taken that day just to inform or entertain her.

She often shares the letters with her sister, Jan, and they both insist that I should be blogging them as well.
Fortunately Gmail saves all “sent mail” and I was able to recover over 150, “Letters From The Boondocks”, with attachments, that could be edited for posting. Many, of course, were personal, and would have been ruined by redaction.
That is to be my 2009/2010 winter project, posting them as chapters, five letters at a time (unless continuity requirements dictate otherwise) beginning with March of 2009, when the RV was placed .
I apologize in advance if they, and the numerous pictures attached, are sometimes redundant or downright boring.
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LETTERS FROM THE BOONDOCKS

David Doler
to the family, Mar 22, 2009 
Hi all, I made it at about 0500 this morning. Just a few  pictures of interest. It's too late to blog, and I am pooped.






Sharon Doler

to me March 22, 2009
Hi Honey,
Just got home from work - sent off your email to the rest of the family.
I Bcc'd you so you could see what I said - hope everything is accurate - haha.
Loved all the pictures.
The tire was a mess!
Thank God you're ok.
Let me know how your first breakfast with the gang goes.
Will wait to hear from you.
I Love You!!!!! 

David Doler

to Sharon, March 22, 2009

Dearest Wife,
At breakfast (Alpine Alley, Mountainair, NM) I got Mary to let me take her picture only because I told her you wanted to see what my good friend looked like. Everybody said, "welcome home, Dave" and, “Where the hell is Sharon?”.

Back at the ranch, I just stopped for a bite of lunch (Red Salmon and Wheat Crackers) and to try the internet connection. I wasn't able to get on this morning at all, (Good ol’ HUGHES NET) and it took ten minutes this time.
I gave the fence guy a check for $1000 partial payment this morning (just call me a “risk taker”). The total will be around $2500, plus $200 for two 16 foot gates which I will buy in Belen and install myself.
Back to work.
Love You, Wife 
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Sharon Doler
to me, Mar 23, 2009

Hi Honey,
What a great picture of Mary - she's so young - not sure why, but I thought she was about my age.
Can't wait to meet her and Scott - soon, I hope.
I miss you!!!!!

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David Doler
to Sharon and Laura, Mar 27, 2009
 
This isn't the picture I wanted. It makes the place look gray and drab, which it is not. You can't see it but the snow is coming down steadily now and pretty much eliminates working outside. Scott and Mary said they would save me a bowl of chili for lunch if I decided to come back into town, so I think I'll do that.
Back home around 1:30 or 2:00. My phone is charged and on.

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David Doler

to Sharon and Laura, Mar 27, 2009

Hi, I'm sending you a bunch of pictures that didn't appear in the blog so you can pick some to send to others.
It's sunny and beautifully clear at 4:30pm, but the wind is icily bitter. The temp is 35 degrees with a wind chill in the low 20's.
I was able to work outside two times for a total of less than an hour.
The trailer has been a steady 60 degrees with one heater going all day.
The picture labeled NORTH VIEW was taken through the trailer window. The rest were outside.
Check out the snow laying under the Juniper trees in the shade.
Love you





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David Doler
to Sharon, Mar 28, 2009

Nice Saturday gathering

Hi sweetheart,

About 8:00pm, after hotdogs and chicken, we were sitting around the fire. It was chilly, but the wind had died down almost completely and the smoke was going straight up, so we could sit close and warm our feet on the fire ring.
Russell, the red Pit Bull found an empty chair in the circle around the fire and settled in to listen to the conversation and stare into the fire. He would occasionally look at the person speaking and then back into the fire as if to think about what had been said. After awhile he fell asleep and began to quietly snore.
If you could capture that dogs total contentment and the tranquility that resulted for his human companions, you would be transported 25,000 years back in time to when people and dogs first sat by the fire, staring into it together.
I wished for some way to take a picture that would convey that moment, and we talked about it, but the only way was just to commit the picture to memory and enjoy it there. Such a picture in your own memory could help you defend against bad dreams.
I continue to be comfortable in the trailer (it was worth every penny). Everything works. I have light and heat and hot water and the refrigerator. (I saved you an icicle from yesterday morning in the freezer). Last night I went to bed at 9:45 (took my meds, and again this morning) and slept soundly until about 6:30.
I drank two diet cokes and a cup of coffee this evening, so I probably won't be sleepy for awhile.
Love you, Wife
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Catching Up

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This last "blog-cycle" began with truck problems. I had my Dodge serviced at Pep Boys in Fontana, and paid them handsomely to drain all the fluids and replace them with the best synthetics available. The transmission got drained, but unfortunately did not get refilled. I guess it speaks well of the ruggedness of the 5 speed New Venture NV4500 transmission that it did not fail for almost a 1000 miles. It also did not make any noise until it just quit shifting. It did finally give up just outside of Mountainair, NM, which, of course, was my destination.
I flew home the next day and got our other truck (the Ford F150 which is now my wife's favorite transportation) and drove back.
While I was home I made an internet purchase of a rebuilt NV4500 from an outfit in Tempe, AZ. (Transplant Transmissions Plus) Paid for it in advance with Visa (thank God), and made arrangements to pick it up in Tempe on my way back to New Mexico. When I got there there was no transmission for me to pick up (excuses, excuses) so I left empty handed with their hollow promises to ship my transmission, at their cost, in not more than two days. Several days of fruitless phone calls later, with nothing but excuses and out right lies to show for it, I canceled the purchase and had the tranny rebuilt at B&G Truck Salvage in Albuquerque. While the transmission was out I bought a new clutch and had it installed also. So five weeks and $2100 dollars later, my big Dodge was back in service, and good to go for probably as long as I am. ________________________________________


When I got back out here after my birthday break, I decided to add on to the existing shack enough more floor space to allow us to put off building the barn for a few months. Nothing ever goes completely as planned, but at least I have made a good start. Here are some pictures just to show that my heart is in the right place.

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Beginning the foundation for deck and shack expansion for more storage and shop space.
There is still going to be a barn, but that will have to wait until next spring.


This method of building a wooden foundation takes longer but results in a very sturdy structure.


The floor joists are all cut to the same length, 15 feet, 5 inches. Combined with the 7 inch thickness of the foundations that nets out exactly 16 feet, so the plywood floor panels don't need to be cut to length. The joists are supported at the midpoint by a cross beam made of 4x4's sandwiched between two 16 foot 2x8's. The cross beam added excellent rigidity to the floor. Two anti-twist nailers were glued and nailed between each pair of joists, and the joists were individually screwed to the cross beam with 3 1/2 inch square drive deck screws.
The post holes were left unfilled until enough joists had been installed to insure that the platform would be level and square. That was verified when the floor panels were laid down. Runout in 16 feet was less than 1/8 inch, and the panel junctions are all firmly supported by nailers and joists.
Platform level has been proven several times by standing rainwater and heavy morning dew fall which has to be swept off to allow the deck to dry.


The finished 16 foot square floor frame was so satisfying to look at it took me an extra day to start installing the plywood panels.

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With a good rigid structure to build on, the side deck (42 feet) went much quicker and was easier to level and square. Again the joists were cut to the same length (7 feet, 5 inches) and were used to exactly position the interior Rim Joist. Each joist was glued and fastened with four deck screws at each end. In many places I pilot drilled the screw holes to guide the screws into awkward places and to prevent splitting.

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I used Redwood stain for water proofing, but the stuff is expensive and I don't think it makes as durable a surface as good ol' deck paint which costs half as much, so I am going to overcoat the whole deck and much of the other structure with Barn Red.


The perimeter foundation beams are made with 2x8 interior and exterior Rim Joists sandwiching 4x6 pressure treated posts and beams. All glued and closely spiked with big galvanized ring-shank nails. Once those things are driven in half their grip length if you bend it, you just have to straighten it out and try to drive it the rest of the way, 'cause you and three other guys with a crow bar ain't gonna pull it out.


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This porch is on the hot and windy west side, so the eaves are wide (4 feet) and the roof is pitched only three inches in 12 feet. Today's rain proved that the drainage is good. The rafters are 2x8 on 16 inch centers, with box beams and double rafters at stress points, so snow load won't be a problem.


Painting the bottom side of the roof panels with white roof coating before putting them up gives the resulting structure a much more finished look.


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The Barn Red and Chestnut Brown on the front door of the shack will be the base color scheme for this little building.

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When it rains, as it has done quite a bit lately, it really comes down and all work comes to a stop. It frequently likes to pretend it's a tornado, but it's not!


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Too much water was getting away,

-- so I built a small berm to try to hold some. This is the beginning of our small pond.

Just beyond the berm is the area I have been working on leveling for the truss and pole barn.
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My wife and I have also decided that we will use the metal arch building after all, but it will be built on a wooden foundation with a crusher fines floor instead of a $15,000 + concrete slab. It can be bolted and grouted on a properly built wooden foundation just as safely as being set in concrete. I'll put it up myself, arch by arch, using my tractor and a sliding adjustable scaffold, which I can design and build myself.
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Tim Hardin, my distant cousin, and master of the "Extend-a-Hoe" backhoe, broke through two 6 inch thick layers of black alabaster to make the hole for the RV septic tank. He has done so many of them that when I set the tank on sand and leveled it in the bottom of the hole, the inlet of the tank was exactly positioned to meet the code requirements for angle of fall and depth below grade.


----and the new 300 gallon septic tank to support the RV.

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Sharon is eager to learn, and she looks good doing it.


Russell and Sharon are soul-mates. When she's here he is never more than a few feet away. (The tractor wasn't running)

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I said, "Russell, smile for Sharon." and I was honestly astounded by his reaction.



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The revised figure: six months older and forty pounds lighter. Referring to me, not the septic tank.

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A Characiture done by local artist, Klaus Ernst. My friends say he captured my "essence". My wife agrees. ...Oh, well.

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The wonderfully subtle texture of the sky in New Mexico sometimes changes minute by minute. The next two pictures were taken just one minute, and about 45 degrees of azimuth apart (the second one is more westerly).


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That's all I have to show and tell for now. I'll try very hard to not let it be so long before the next one.
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