23 October 2007

Day Two

Day two started early, when my neighbor Bob called me to see if we can start ditch digging a little earlier. Let's rewind to yesterday afternoon. Glenn and Kevin quit a little early so that I could get the rigid foam insulation onto the two walls which would be inaccessible after they moved the pool back in place. I had been working since about 12:30pm measuring and cutting pieces so they would fit the individual sections of the steel frame.
This looked like a pretty easy job... and by five o'clock; I was cursing like a sailor. Almost every piece required trimming and if you have ever cut styrofoam--it turns into snow that is adversely affected by lack of humidity. Read messy.
Meanwhile, the electrician came out to give me an estimate for running a 220 line to the equipment shed;which when he quoted me a figure immediately caused spasms of my major coronary arteries, causing me to shriek and clutch my chest. He said that estimate might be off a little bit but it was important to understand that this kind of work was expensive. No shyt. He said I would save several hundred dollars, if I dug the trench myself and I said, otay! I called my neighbor and asked if he would come over and look at it and see if you would be willing to help. I also called find out about renting a trencher which might have been faster-lawsy mercy.
That done, I scrambled for my shower, soaked in hot water, put on fluffy slippers, grabbed a wee dram of Scotch and four Advil. I spent the next two hours in my recliner with my throbbing feet up in the air. And that was the end of Day one.
(this is poor Doris'feet)

So today at 7:45 a.m., Bob called and said he was on his way over. I had already called to see about the trencher, and he was going to call me back. I quickly took the dogs out and fed them. I went out and Bob and I started digging; the dirt was not as hard as I expected, and we were able to dig our 30 foot trench in about an hour. (Keep in mind that I had started my coffee but had not had a chance to drink a cup). As Bob and I finished loading his shovels into his truck-Glenn showed up, ready to start the day.
Oo-kay. We reviewed the plan for today and I told him about theestimate from the electrician: he suggested I call a friend that had worked with him and was probably more reasonable.
Cancel Wes. Call Roger.
Finally got my coffee and Cheerios when Glenn came in to tell me that the beautiful redwood boards that I had so meticulously varnished were 2 feet short --I had 10' and not 12'. Crap. Soooo, I grabbed my purse and my dogs and headed off to the hardware store to buy an 8' 2x6' board, 6 x 2 inch lug screws with washers, a gallon of tinted primer and another can of polyacrylic.
When I got back I set about varnishing the wood while the boys went for lunch. I sat down to work on my blog on the phone started ringing; mostly with the new electrician trying to find out what he needed to bring, then to get my address, then to talk to Glenn. It's now three o'clock, electrician has found my house after much to-do (this is the second electrician, who could not follow directions and required a guide on the phone saying where to turn...).


The equipment is in the shed, the trench is dug, the wooden coping and leading edge are attached, the interior is caulked and Kevin thinks the liner will be installed tomorrow. I don't know,I just know there are four men out there doing something and I expect that I will be running to the hardware store, at any minute.( nope-they didn't carry "GFI"s, whew)


Long pause...it's 6:00pm, Glenn is gone and the electrician is finishing up And cost twice what he estimated. Tomorrow we'll start putting water in the pool. sigh.

3 comments:

~MAGILL~ said...

great photos considering the stress
thanks bob!

tomorrow will bring new excitement in a good way

Wicked Thistle said...

But it looks so groovy! Geesh, girl, you've got a pool in your garage. I mean, how many people can say *that?* You're like a club unto yourself.

moi said...

Oh, honey, but this is going so much, much better than Moi's project last year. It's the way of home improvement – anything that can go wrong, will. And it will cost about the same as purchasing a small island country. With beach front.

But you'll be swimmin' by the weekend. I just KNOW it. Hang in there . . .

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