Ok, I've gone through a lot of the Medal of Honor stories (still got a few left, but I'm keeping them in my pocket in case of loss of story creativity) and I've added a couple of stories about flying which I think interest a lot of you. But, I'm dredging the bottom of my story index, so, I thought I'd show y'all the progress on the house. No Beans, we're not that close to moving in. Yet! But, in spite of some uncontrollable setbacks (AKA Weather) we're getting closer. Here's the visual story of construction progress.
Demolition of the old house (very old and decrepit)
Cleaning up the site
Electricity installed on property
Framing the foundation
Framing took 2 or 3 days
Okay, we’ve survived the financial and weather hoops that needed to be jumped. Evidently 6 inches of rain in a couple of hours upsets the construction crews. What did I know.
But back in action again
Adding soil in preparation for pouring the slab
:Lots of fill AKA dirt! Lots and Lots
Weather cooperating this week, the next step is to level the dirt and then the plumbers and electricians will come in and set the pipes and pull wires and plumbing into those pipes. After that will be pouring and curing the
cement foundation of the main house. Builder says this could take 3 to
6 weeks for the cement to cure depending on the weather and there's
only one entity that controls that. While that's curing, they'll pour
the foundation for my Brother's cabin and get it started curing also.
Lots of balls in the air.
Concrete has been poured in the horse barn.
They've even started on my brother's house
The weather has improved greatly and heavy rain is not forecast for a while. But, as can be expected in June, July and August in Texas, it's hot as H377. (You know what that's code for.) But progress is being made.
We shall see what we shall see when we see it. Hopefully something like this!
Ok, Campers, the “fun” has begun! The construction was supposed to start on May 27th but "Things came up". Now it's this week, but...the weather forecast is for rain every day this week. The horse barn construction will begin “as soon as the weather cooperates”. A couple of reasons for the horses first plan. First, the horse area is located on the farthest end of the property from the gate and road. Better to keep them from getting out of the pasture and going partying on the road. Second, they’ve been boarded until now. You’d have thought they’d been staying in the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris based on the boarding fee. But, it wasn't quite that good.
Ok, not even close.
Yes, Beans, boarding horses is expensive. But they will be free to roam in a much larger area than where they've been cooped up in since we moved here in December. So...we (and they) have that going for us.
Now that our builder got back from his vacation, the pouring of the slab ceremony will soon be celebrated and construction of our home begun .(Well, when the rain stops. The forecast is for rain the next 6 days. Bummer, Dude!) Completion date is still "maybe December", but completion is easier to estimate once building has begun. As they get organized with the building teams and their schedules, my Brother's cottage will also be started. It'll be about 900 sq ft which is bigger than the cottage he was living in on our property in Fredericksburg, so...onward and upward.
At
some point, they'll put in my wood shop and Mrs J's sewing cabin and
that will be that. Until we think of something else we "Need!".
Just to give y'all a feel for the property. Enjoy!
So that's life around here these days. Speaking thereof, tomorrow I'll begin traveling my 72nd turn around the sun. I have no plans to call it quits. That's up to the guy upstairs.
I’v signed Sarge’s leave paperwork, so he’ll be absent for a few. Headed to California, I heard, but I think that gold rush is over. I’ve got a few stories in the hopper, so all y’all will have something to read.
I have been requested to update on the new house project, so, below is the layout and dimensions of the House.
Orientation for the North(ish) is the right side, West is the top. Lots of trees fairly close on the West side, should keep things a bit cooler. Driveway comes in from the East about 3-400 yds from the road. Porch and garage both push the home back a bit from direct sunshine.
The photo below basically has the same aspect as the blueprints, if a little further back. The trees in the middle of the picture will remain. The driveway will go to the right of them. We're pondering putting a patio in that nest of trees.
The architect is working the foundation plans and expecting completion on the 25th. At that point, construction should start with the pouring of the slab.
Hopefully, there won't be any major setbacks. We'd really like to move in to a home where we'll have a bit of privacy, peace and quiet. Which is in the plan because...
The Great Pyrenees don't seem to like City Life. We've had noise complaints from neighbors when we had them outside at night. So, we brought them in. That solved the neighbor problem, but...Mrs J and I haven't had an uninterrupted night's sleep in quite a while. Ahh well.
We're looking forward to the new property and pray that the Great Pyrenees won't bark several times a night out there.
Ok, Campers, we had a bit of progress on the house building thing.
No, Beans, construction hasn't started yet. But...we have had the guy in charge of construction out to the property a few times. We've discussed what is going where on the property and figured out that we're going to need a bit more space in a couple of the places we're going to build.
First would be where my brother's house will be. They took down some trees and cleaned out the underbrush. Which is a job in and of itself. Who knew Texas had jungles? We just need about 4' deeper for the 40' length.
We also brought out a guy from Morton Buildings to look at the property where we wanted the horse barn.
That gap between the two sets of trees is reserved for the horses and their abode.
He had all the nice stuff and could get it done fairly quickly. However...
Yes, Beans, the price. Holy Molely. $150K for a 20x30 barn. Our builder said he could do it for considerably less. So...
In any case, as soon as the architect finishes the blueprints, our builder will get started on the home. We expect them any day now. The builder hasn't changed the stated completion date (AKA December) but "started" would be nice.
Well...I guess we have started. Got electricity on the property.
If we need a new construction engineer looks like our grandson could handle the job.
Just kidding. We're making progress and things should start taking shape shortly.
Ok, Campers, just an update I'm sure all of you are dying to receive.
First,
there's this fluid coming down out of the sky, and having lived in Central
and West Texas most of my life, I've never had a reason to spend the
effort to discern what it is and why it happens.
But,
having moved to College Station (Home of the Texas A&M Aggies.
Whoop! I never understood that, but learned that not doing that greeting
correctly can get you a non-smiling reaction).
Sorry,
I digressed. Having moved to College Station, we have found that the
fluid coming out of the sky could, IMHO, float Noah's Ark. I believe it’s called “Rain”!
Such
is the case as I write this posting. Mrs. J treated me to an "Out to
breakfast" date at a restaurant we had only been to once before. Most
Excellent! Just in case you're interested, it's name is "Another Broken Egg". Highly recommended.
Back on the story, juvat!
On Story, Aye, Fearless Leader!
So we're headed out to perform our tasks that the Emperors (aka the Horses ) require daily. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?
No
Beans, Not Santa and his Reindeer. No, a Downpour that in the course
of a few seconds brought the visibility down to a matter of double digit
feet.
Holy
Moley. Suffice it to say, Mrs J, being the driver*, slowed down
significantly. Fortunately, so did the other drivers. But, as we
approached the decision point (head to the stables to muck in the muck or head to the hacienda and write this post).
Guess which option won out.
So,
I know that discussion of Rainfall in Texas will entertain all y'all to
no end. But, our lawn is green and ready for mowing and it's only the
11th of March. Some of you, and you know who you are, are still
shoveling that white stuff off your sidewalks.
Enough about the weather, juvat!
No Weather discussion, Aye, Tuna,
As
to progress on the current project we're facing. The blueprints have
been revised with several improvements that the various people, who know
houses and the plans to build them, recommended.
No, Beans, I'm not in that group. I just follow Mrs J around and say two things. "Yes, Dear" and "Build it the way she said."
That
last one is not quite accurate. Our builder knows what he's doing and
what he says to Mrs J she usually OK's, sometimes there's compromise,
but they get along. So, I tend to keep my mouth closed.
But,
the video below is what the house will look like. I thought this was a pretty
cool method for the architect to show his plans with an understandable method. Blue prints don't trigger my brain's interpretation of the
outcome very well.
*Still not allowed to drive. However.....I have an appointment on Thursday with my Cardiologist. If he says my Heart is beating properly, well, watch out. I haven't driven in 5 months but, that's not going to stop me. Bwahh ha ha!
Ok, Campers, just an update as I'm sure all of you are dying to receive.
First, there's this fluid coming down out of the sky, having lived in Central and West Texas most of my life, I've never had a reason to spend the effort to discern what it is and why it happens.
But, having moved to College Station (Home of the Texas A&M Aggies. Whoop!, never understood that, but learned that not doing that greeting correctly can get you a non-smiling reaction).
Sorry, I digressed. Having moved to College Station, we have found that the fluid coming out of the sky could, IMHO, float Noah's Ark.
Such is the case as I write this posting. Mrs. J treated me to an out to breakfast date at a restaurant we had only been to once. Most Excellent! Just in case you're interested, it's name is "Another Broken Egg". Highly recommended.
Back on the story, juvat!
On Story, Aye, Fearless Leader!
So we're headed out to perform our tasks that the Emperors (aka the Horses ) require daily. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?
No Beans, Not Santa and his Reindeer. No, a Downpour that in the course of a few seconds brought the visibility down to a matter of double digit feet.
Holy Moley. Suffice it to say, Mrs J, being the driver*, slowed down significantly. Fortunately, so did the other drivers. But, as we approached the decision point (head to the stables to muck in the muck) or head to the hacienda and write this post.
Guess which option won out.
So, I know that discussion of Rainfall in Texas will entertain all y'all to no end. But, our lawn is green and ready for mowing and it's only the 11th of March. Some of you, and you know who you are, are still shoveling that white stuff off your sidewalks.
Enough about the weather, juvat!
Aye, Tuna,
As to progress on the current project we're facing. The blueprints have been revised with several improvements that the various people who know houses and the plans to build them recommended.
No, Beans, I'm not in that group. I just follow Mrs J around and say two things. "Yes, Dear" and "Build it the way she said."
That last one is not quite accurate. Our builder knows what he's doing and what he says to Mrs J she usually OK's, sometimes there's compromise, but they get along. So, I tend to keep my mouth closed.
But, this is what the house will look like. I thought this was a pretty cool method for the architect to demonstrate what the house will look like. Blue prints don't trigger my brain's interpretation of the outcome very well.
Well, Campers, it's Monday again. Not a lot of exciting things have happened down here. Fortunately, the Super Storm petered out before it got anywhere close. I think the lowest the temp got was in the low 40's.
Now, that is definitely NOT a complaint. Hopefully, all y'all are doing ok.
Some progress has been made on the house construction. Last update was the clearing of where the house will be located.
This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when the old, dilapidated structure was demolished.
That was followed by clearing the debris and leveling the area where the house will be built.
However, notice the line where the leveled dirt is and the tree line is. That side is really impassable and unusable.
So we got with our construction foreman and talked through the issue.
He hired a guy with a shredder with a tank tread-like base. He went to work and pretty soon...
That area used to be unaccessable. Now the whole area where the house, horse barn and paddock will be are accessible but still shaded.
He also cleared out the areas where my workshop and Mrs J's "She Shed" will be placed.
Wasn't quite finished yet. But we have confidence.
So. Progress is occurring. We shall see what the next steps are. Electricity and Water to the specific sites I would think. They are on the property.
Sorry, Got word that construction has begun on our new home. Well, the demolition part anyhow. So, I've got two Monday Posts today!
Just got a text from our construction supervisor. Apparently, demolition has begun.
Yes, it has begun! Taking down the abandoned house was the first in several clearing requirements. The above video is looking to the North West at the start. That's the road to get onto the property
The area directly to the right of the picture below will be the spot for the Horse Barn and their grazing pasture. They'll be taking down the scrub crap and leaving most of the trees. The dead ones will obviously be taken down also.
Looking to the south east in this pic
This next picture the camera is to the left of the frame.
OK, Campers, the camp is getting much more civilized. When last we discussed this subject, this was what things were like.
Which was a lot better than it had been the week before.
The house that had been on the property was torn down, and the lot was evened out. A lot of work went into it to get to a starting point
But, it still wasn't ready for prime time. Notice the jungle right at the tree line. No Bueno!
So our building contractor hired a brush cutter to clear things up.
He got started first thing in the morning and by 4PM, things looked a lot better.
As you can see, he cleared out a lot of underbrush. The land is much more useable/liveable.
One small problem. See the pink ribbon on the tree in front? That's our boundry line. He had gotten a bit enthused and trimmed out about 10 yards of our neighbor's tree coverage. He hasn't begun construction on his house or even selected a construction site, so maybe he'll be grateful. We shall see.
This picture was taken looking at where the Horse Barn and Paddock will be. Enough trees for a bit of shade and enough sunshine to grow grass to graze.
He also cleared out the place where my Brother's cottage will be as well as an area where my shop and Mrs J's "She Shed" will be placed.
Well, the weather down here hasn't been as bad as a lot of other places, Temperatures right at freezing when we wake up. Been topping out in the high 40's . Forecast for this week is highs in the 60's and 70's and lows in the 30's and 40'. Had icy roads when this front first came through, but they cleared up by lunch. So not a really big deal, most people stayed home for a day or at least a morning. Not a lot of meat in that for a posting.
So, anyhow I re-posted a tale from 5 years ago, flying related. Hope you enjoy it.
...Abundance of Caution
Abundance
of Caution. I've only spoken those words once in my life. I was a
student pilot early in the T-37 phase of pilot training. The syllabus
for the ride I was scheduled to fly that day included "Introduction to
Spins and Spin Recovery." This was generally considered the least
favorite mission in the entire syllabus. One would take an airplane up
and intentionally put it out of control, spinning in flat circles with
unexpected pitch up and down moments all the while falling out of the
sky. Literally, the aircraft was no longer flying. On this flight, I
was scheduled with an IP whose callsign was IronMan. He had been an
F-105 pilot with a couple of tours you know where.
Been
there, done that, got all the respect that he deserved. But...He
didn't put up with much BS, you either knew your S*** and executed it
properly or you didn't pass the ride. And...
You re-flew it with him!
So, we're in the briefing for the mission. He asks me to recite the bold faced Emergency Procedure for Spin Recovery.
Bold
Faced procedures are required to be memorized perfectly, down to the
punctuation and spacing. Students would be selected at the Flight
Briefing at the start of the flying period (as opposed to academic
period) and given a hypothetical flying situation. Most required bold
face. If the bold face was incorrect (e.g. not perfect), the student
would be told "Sit Down!" and he'd be grounded for the day.
That tended to mark you for further inquiry if you actually "Knew your S***" or were just bluffing.
I manage to recite the spin recovery procedure to IronMan successfully.
Throttles – Idle Rudder and Ailerons – Neutral Stick – Abruptly full aft and hold Rudder – Abruptly apply full rudder opposite spin direction (opposite turn needle) and hold Stick – Abruptly full forward one turn after applying rudder Controls – Neutral after spinning stops and recover from dive Yes, 47 years after the fact, I did that from memory. Although I confirmed the accuracy here. (A short post with some additional entertaining commentary, go read it. I'll wait.)
So,
IronMan and I start to talk about the mission and how we'll go about
it. He'll demonstrate the first spin and recovery then it'll be me.
Suffice it to say, I'm nervous.
You might understand why.
Airborne, we set up for the spin. Ironman has the throttles at about 80% and the nose about 45o
high. The stall warning horn is going off like crazy, the airplane is
shaking and finally stalls. Ironman then steps on a rudder as it stalls
to induce yaw.
My eyes are about as big as basketballs now.
He holds the controls as they are for three complete turns.
I now have a good idea how long eternity is.
He
executes the bold face, the aircraft recovers in a dive and he smoothly
pulls it out of that. Hands it over to me. We climb back up
I pull the throttles back, nose up, it stalls and pitches down. I immediately do the bold face and recover.
He
snatches the aircraft from me asks me "WTF was that?" I said, "out of
an abundance of caution I thought I'd try an easy one first."
He replied "My Aircraft". We flew home and landed. I've busted my first & last ride in UPT.
He
said a pilot can and must use caution in performing the mission.
However, accomplishing the mission is his first priority and too much
caution is not acceptable. One is always at risk when flying.
He then went and scratched out the student he was flying with that afternoon and wrote my name in.
I was peeved. I'll show this SOB! We get up in the air. He asks if I want him to demo another one.
"NO, sir"
I
entered the spin, held it for four turns (I'll show him!) executed the
bold face and even managed to recover from the dive without exiting the
bottom of the airspace. Which would have been an automatic Flight
Safety Bust.
Got
back on the ground. Got an excellent on the ride. Found out later
that he'd been key to my getting a fighter out of Pilot Training.
We
flew a lot more together in the program. I learned a lot from him but
having an "Abundance of Caution" was not on the curriculum.
Here's a longer version of Spin Training, but does include what it looks like from another airplane.
So, what brought this up, juvat? Got a little bit behind the power curve on the posting timeline, so had to publish a replay. Why you ask?
Did a walk through of our property Friday with the Builder. He's got the property clearing team ready with the dozers and stuff. They're going to take down a limited number of mature trees and virtually all the undergrowth.
Just a tad bit of pruning needed. Let's get started!
Oh yeah, he's also going to take down the old house and cart that debris away also.
%20IN%20FT.jpg)
l