Trailer And Trail

Even though that contractor I was complaining about finally did get back to me, I still don't have his bottom line costs for the slab, stem walls, foundation and raising of the metal building.

(ps: On August 2, I got rid of the contractor. No trust.)

So this morning, as a hedge against my need for storage in the near term, I bought this trailer to put stuff in while I'm back in California for the winter. It's an ex refrigerated trailer with insulation, 28 feet long. It was very inexpensive even though it's in near-new condition.
The refrigeration unit, which I didn't need, was crushed in a minor accident, so it was removed and the opening covered with a sheet of stainless steel. Most of the trailer is stainless steel and aluminum. The interior is in especially good shape.
Concealed in a pocket in the floor behind that side door is an access ladder that allows you to step up easily from the ground to floor level.
At the back door (roll up) I'll build a 4x8 deck with steps. The original loading ramp was sold separately, but I'm not going to miss it.


I intend to get a single axle truck to pull it with so I can use it to move us from California to New Mexico, and in the future it will transport and store building materials for additions to our house (the full deck and my wifes upstairs sun room) and for my daughters barn and some of the outbuildings requiring longer-than-standard lumber.
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Using the tractor and skills acquired in several hours of recent practice, I cleared and graded a short new section of road in one place about a hundred fifty feet long where the old road wandered inside the property line.
Just to the left of the "T" posts lying on the ground, you can see the first strand of wire. That wire is right on the easement line. There is 60 feet between that wire and the south fence of the Cibola National Forest.




Please forgive me if I am somewhat prouder of my work this time. It came out very nice and the neighbors who used this road today were complimentary. Well at least no one threatened to sue!
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And just another picture to show how green the land is getting. It even smells good.

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Rained Hard Again Last Night

Wow, there is actually mud in my yard! All 40 acres of it. We are going to have tall green grass and the Juniper trees will see a growth spurt.
It plays hobb with the shack work, but I just have to love it anyway.
We start building fence tomorrow and the wet will make post holes easier to dig and the concrete in the corner post and "H" brace assemblies will cure much stronger with the added moisture.
More rain is forecast for today and tonight so I guess I will have to find other stuff to do.
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Rainy Day, No Sale After All

Watching the rain, and drinking Mary's great coffee at Alpine Alley made it not a "lost" day, but one for good conversation, contemplation and planning.
Back at the ranch I was able to catch up on some correspondence and reading. You know how you always take something to read, but never get to it. Well, that's me too.
The contractor whose name I did not mention never called or emailed as promised so I guess I won't be mentioning his name after all.
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Postscript to the above comment about the contractor:
Even though I don't normally pursue or play phone tag with someone who has promised to call me back, I made an exception and called him (as my kinder-than-me wife requested). It is after all, a very important part of our future plans to have that building to aid our transition.
So I called him and he said he had emailed the info yesterday. Did I not get it? (After 41 years in aerospace, where have I heard that before?) So he said he would resend it immediately. 30 minutes (now 1 hour and 15 minutes) and I am still waiting. I even called again and left a message reiterating my email address, in case of a transcription error, don't ya know?
His fall-back position is that he will be in the Mountainair area on Monday and will drop off a hard copy, if I will be available.
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I guess working with Walter Elliott just plain spoiled me. He just does what he says he will do, period.
And just to be on the safe side I went ahead and called Breck Walden to see if he would come put up my temporary pole and meter and pull the permit, so Ted Mosley can stake and install my power poles.
It sure is good to know who to call.
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Alpine Alley 10am TODAY Be There, Or Be Square

Vanessa posted news of a "SALE" today in front of Alpine Alley at 10am. What a good excuse to go to town!

A message from my eldest grandson

Q: This is not much of a question, more of touching base with family out west. Just visiting your blog and enjoyed it immensely. I can't wait to get back out there! Hope to see you both soon. Your great grand children are not going to know what to do with themselves in such a wide open place. Love you guys, Chris

Asked by Grand Son

A: Hi, Chris, what a great pleasure it is to hear from you. Sharon will be very happy to know you are looking in on us. By this time next year we expect to be able to make visitors very comfortable here in the wide open spaces. When the boys are older they will have their own bunk house (my shack) which will be especially for them, and they will have access to all the fascinating things that a country place has to offer. We love you too.

Ask David a question.

Y'all Come

Q: I want to have that same smile when I retire, true bliss.Enjoy it Buddy

Asked by Terry

A: Terry, you should come and visit sometime, preferably after next spring when we have a house and all the necessities.

Ask David a question.

Once Again The Sky Delights

Okay, so maybe I am a little nuts about the morning sky, but you just don't see this kind of beauty every day, any where.

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Old "western ugly" (that's the name I've given my locally acquired trailer. look closely and you'll see why) comes through again. This time with a light load of only 3000 pounds (1800lbs of posts and 1200lbs of wire). 200 posts and 16 rolls of wire, Enough for 3/4 0f a mile of fence with a few left over.
The forklift operator at Ranchero Builders Supply in Belen, NM, placed the load perfectly. The bumper load was probably a little less than 500lbs. The back springs of my F150 only compressed about an inch.

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More well pumping (clean out continues) and shack work (carpentry) today. Maybe some more pictures too.

Hey, family and friends, does anyone have a request for pictures of specific things?

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Postscript: The mouses (plural) are no more. Gluttony for peanut butter was their undoing. They went to the great mouse house in the sky with smiles on their faces and tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
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Q: Buy a mechanical mouse trap? Natural design has yet to be improved on. Get a cat.

Asked by Vanessa Vaile

A: Hi Vanessa, I read your blog daily. You could turn pro.

 

Ask David a question.

Dental Day And Mouse Trap

Today I have to go to Los Lunas and find a dentist to re-cement the same crown that has come loose many times in the past.
Then I have to buy a mouse trap. I almost got the noisy little buggers picture this morning. I was holding him pinned in the very bright LED beam from a three watt flashlight, but as soon as he saw the camera he split. He would be welcome to what appears to be his only interest, Noodle Ramen, but he makes so blasted much noise opening the package that he wakes me up.
Last night I took the package he was working on and put it outside. Did he take the hint and go out? Hell no, he started working on another one. Last straw, buddy. My house, my rules. You are toast. Sometimes you just can't be too nice.
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Yesterday, before sundown, I finally got my battery bank (six 175 amp hour deep cycle marine batteries) and inverter hooked up so I don't have to run the generator while I'm on the computer. It makes a major difference in my level of concentration. I always felt like I was disturbing the neighbors, even though the nearest are 500 yards away and say they don't hear it.
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The Metal Building Looms Large

I had been concerned lately that I had not made any progress toward getting my big metal building put up, so when I was in Mountainair this morning getting ready to do my laundry, it was good fortune that my friend Walter Elliott stopped to ask how I was fairing with the new well. Funny how good people seem to appear when you need them.
After we discussed the well I told him I needed somebody to form and pour a slab and pier walls to mount the building on and he directed me to the local concrete company where the office manager provided the names and numbers of two recommended contractors. The first one I called was only a few miles away driving from Belen to Mountainair and was able to stop by our place.
Not only did we take care of the metal building, but the house pier wall foundation and the house electrical service as well. In less than two hours I had valuable guidance and suggestions on how to proceed with all of my pending projects. By Friday I will have a proposal (with options) and firm bids on the work we need done to complete our home. I think I just found our general contractor.
You'll notice that I haven't given his name yet, but I will when I have more to report. I will say that I have a very good feeling about the whole thing.
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An Incredible Stillness At Sunrise

I awoke at 06:15 to a stillness so profound as to be almost eerie. Expecting something unusual, I retrieved my camera and stood just inside the door of my shack looking East. Only an artist could have captured the sunrise. The camera certainly could not. The sky changed by the moment and it was continuously beautiful. I was grateful to be able to see such a sight.


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Then I pumped the well for awhile. It's still in the clean up process, but it is running clear most of the time now. About 350 gallons out today before I shut it off.

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The visit by the Central New Mexico Electrical Cooperative "Staking Technician", Ted Mosley went very well. It is almost 1000 feet from the nearest pole to where our house and the well and the metal building will be. That equates to 3 poles, the wire and the appurtenances, or about $5500. There are allowances and such that could total $2500 which would be subtracted from that. Whatever it works out to, it's a necessity and part of the cost of living in the country.
I drove into Mountainair to the CO-OP office and filled out the easement document and had it notarized right there. I also made a healthy deposit to get the process stared. They sure are easy to work with.
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Then I treated myself to lunch at the "Alpine Alley". Amazingly good chicken noodle soup and a
wonderfully satisfying roast beef sandwich with all the fixin's.
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Tomorrow is "shack work" and call the electrician to get the temporary pole and the permit for the electrical hook up.
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Saturday and Sunday It Rained

The evening of July 18th, just at sundown a chill wind started that felt so much like snow I suited up for it and watched the sky.

Alas, no snow, but what cool anticipation.

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The rains came hard and often both Saturday and Sunday. I got soaked to the skin when the sky opened up as I was bringing the tractor back from the TW ranch where Tim Hardin (my distant cousin through the outlaw John Wesley Hardin) was kind enough to fit the box blade to the 3-point hitch. He is a skilled blacksmith, machinist, carpenter and welder, as well as a first class tractor mechanic; a good man to know. He said this box blade is better than the one that came new with the IH 3414.
It took some new replacement hardware and some sleeves and pins (total cost $45.00), a gallon of hydraulic oil, a couple of turns with a 1 inch wrench on a leaking hydraulic fitting, adjust the brake pedal free-play, fill with fuel, and it was good to go. It always starts immediately.


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Here's the results of my first learning/practice session. I successfully leveled and graded the circle driveway to the shack. (I won't show you the parts that still look ragged). It requires a good deal more skill with the box blade than it appears. It's very easy to dig too deep or not move any dirt at all. Four levers control the whole process and coordinating them to achieve the desired result can be HUMILIATING.

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The well head off in the distance. I only included this picture so you can see the beginning green tinges that are appearing daily in the Gramma grass.

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I graded the road to the Cibola National Forest fence line. My whole practice session lasted about an hour. I only quit because I was beginning to get a krick in my neck from trying to look forward and backward at the same time. It's really easy to do some major damage with an 8000 LB tractor.

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Tomorrow at 09:00AM, Ted Mosley (the Electric CO-OP) staking technician is coming to start the process of getting us power. I show him the well, the location of the house and the metal building and he does a layout, determines the number and placement of poles and of course the cost, which by the way can be amortized out in the electric bill if needed.
The CO-OP offers a good enough deal to make it very attractive to go all electric. They use a thermal mass heat pump (heating and air conditioning) sized for a 2500 square foot house that costs around $7000.00 for the whole installation. And they encourage the use of solar and wind power to reduce overall grid dependence.
The best enticement is a really significant discount in the cost of electricity for using the system that they recommend.

I'll probably have more to say when I find out the details of power poles, service amperage (I'm going to ask for 200 amp service because I'll have a wood and metal working shop).