Working in the rain/snow/sleet...
I'm still out on the farm, though I was supposed to be in Calgary this evening. As a result, it is much to my dismay that I was not able to watch chipuni 's wife Eli on Jeopardy tonight. Sorry Chip, I really really REALLY wanted to see it, but due to problems out here I wasn't able to. :(
The problems stem from one of our suppliers not showing up on time. They were supposed to be there on Monday, but didn't show (didn't even call, for that matter.) As a result, Trixstir had to go in early today, as they should have shown up today at least. Once again, a no-show, and not even the decency of a phone call to let us know what's happening. The issue was that we needed some work done here on the farm, and someone had to be here to make sure the people doing it understood the task. So, I wound up staying to cover that. It's important that if I head back to the city during the week, I must leave before 9am, or I'll get stuck in rush-hour traffic. The problem there is that the house in Calgary is on a pretty busy street, and when I'm trying to back the trailer into the driveway I wind up blocking the road for a few minutes. This isn't a problem during the calmer parts of the day, but it would be terrible in the middle of the evening rush. Waiting until later at night isn't an option either, as it's hard enough to back the trailer in during the day, let alone in the dark of night. Granted, I've done it, but I'd really prefer not to.
At any rate, the work was done, and then I had a few other critical tasks that needed doing out here. One was to cut down all the high grass growing around the septic-tank pump-out. That took the better part of the day, and the weather was no help. The morning started off cool and windy, and then it got cold, windy, and wet! There was a light snow/sleet for a couple of hours, which made the work more miserable than it would have normally been. I think we're going to have to call in a service-truck for the septic-system, as it seems to be overflowing from the pump-out. It's not supposed to do that, which means that there's a blockage somewhere. Great... It had been cleaned out a year before we bought the place, and apparently that was only done because a bunch of dirt caved into it and blocked the outflow. Seems to be happening again. I fear we may have to look at shelling out the big buck$ for a new septic system. :P Hopefully a simple pumping-out can keep things working until spring. This really isn't a good time of year to be digging up a septic system.
The other critical job was to clean all the crap out of the new well-pit, install an electrical outlet, and put some lights in there. To call it a "well-pit" isn't really accurate. Unlike the old pit, which truly is a well-pit, this one is more of a root-cellar that happens to have the control valves for the water-lines in it. The well itself is about 50' away, and the only connection this pit has to it, is the 1.5" water-pipeline. Really, it never should have been built this way in the first place; The water lines should be going directly to the house, not to some remote connection. That would have eliminated the freezing problem that has caused us so much grief. The reason for putting the electric outlet in there is to be able to plug in a heating-tape, which will also eliminate the problem. One of the most annoying things about last February's freeze-up, is that there was a heat-tape, and heat-lamps in the pit, but the tenants never bothered to connect them. They knew they were there (I didn't!), but they never bothered with them. Yet another example of the kind of crap we've had to deal with. I really wish we had just locked the place up and winterized it, instead of allowing them to continue renting. Ah well, live and learn...
The sun had set by the time the kidling and I were finishing that job, so we were working by flashlight by the time Trixstir got home from the bowling alley. I had made the required blood sacrifice by gouging my left thumb with a screw-driver, and thus when we closed the circuit-breaker, everything worked beautifully! Yaaaayyyy!!! We now have a cold-weather fluorescent light fixture, and a GFI-protected electrical outlet in the pit. Apparently, the pit had been part of the basement of the original farm-house, and you can tell that it used to be a well-built, and insulated structure. It even has a concrete floor under all the dirt that has caved in, and I think it was probably originally used as a root-cellar. We plan to use it for that purpose again, once we get it totally cleaned out, and put a new roof on it. It's a shame to see what was something good fall into ruin and disrepair just because someone is too lazy to bother maintaining it. Anyway, new roof, new insulation, etc. is on the list for next year's projects.
Once we got all the tools put away again, we got the horses fed, and then finally got around to getting our own supper. While we were feeding the horses, the kidling got a little too close as I was opening the feed-bin, and got whacked on the nose with the metal lid. He didn't quite cry (which surprised me) but he was right on the verge of tears and his voice was a bit squeaky. He's growing up I guess; A year ago that would have brought on the full-force water-works. No serious damage was done; His nose wasn't bleeding, though he did whimper that it stung really badly. I'm proud of him for not crying, but I certainly sympathize with how much it hurt.
I'm pretty much packed and ready to go, so tomorrow I'll be back in the city in the early afternoon before the rush-hour, unless something else goes wrong. Again, I deeply regret missing chipuni 's wife Eli play on Jeopardy, and I sincerely hope I can get a copy from someone! In the meantime, it's past 11pm here, and I need to get up at 6am to get ready for the trip back to Calgary. G'night folks!