Senior Moments or Too Much on my Mind?

Over the past 6 months I’ve done some things that might be classified as “senior moments” but I prefer to use the excuse that I’ve had too many things running through my head trying to keep up with the construction project and sub contractors.

The first occurred when I was sitting in the stall in the Walmart restroom and heard women talking at the sink!  Yes that was interesting planning my exit from the women’s restroom so I wouldn’t get arrested or put on a pervert list!

Then I was at Menards getting supplies and decided to park in the rear “yard” since I needed to load up some stuff out there.  Problem was after checking out I forgot I had parked out there and spent 10 minutes wandering around the front lot hitting the button on my key ring trying to find my car.

The most recent was during the week of framing when I get a bad dose of poison ivy or poison something all over my ankles from the vacant lot next door where we were staging the wood and materials.  I would get up every morning and spread hydrocortisone cream all over before I started the day.  Well one morning I was up at 5:00 a.m.,, trying to stay ahead of my Amish crew, and as I was putting on my shoes realized I had spread toothpaste, not hydrocortisone, all over my ankles.  In my defense both tubes were identical in size and both creams were white! 

So now you can see why I am not comfortable working around electricity.  As hair brained as I have been lately Lord only knows what I could do to myself. 

When my buddy Loren was helping me wire things last week we were (4) switches short on supplies so I had to wire them this weekend.  The tricky part was that they were (3) way switches which get more complicated.  I managed to get them wired but not until I zapped myself twice and tripped the breaker about (3) times because I had them wired incorrectly.  Glad all that is behind me!

Outdoor Lights

Roughing It

Been spending the last couple of weeks "roughing in" plumbing and electrical.  I'm about 75% complete on plumbing and 90% on electrical thanks to some help from my good friend Loren this past weekend.  Loren is my electrical consultant whenever I need help or am too scared to mess with something that might electricute me!

We ran the main service line from the street meter to the house this weekend, hooked up all the lines into the breaker box and hooked up lights and outlets.

This is what I did, run the lines to the electrical panel.

 This is what Loren did, hook everything up and make it work.  Isn't that a nice looking panel?

Loren checking the outlets for power.

Main line we ran from meter to house.

Main power line.  HIGH voltage!

Tub set in place and wiring roughed in to bathroom. 

Water lines run to central distribution system.

Plumbing and electrical in kitchen.

Sewage and sump pumps in basement.

Plumbing drain lines in basement.

Worst storm ever

I was working at the cottage Wednesday night and about 8:00 p.m. a major thunder and lightning storm came through.  So strong I was afraid to be on the ladder inside because the lightning was so close.  I waited for it to let up so I could pack up and head home but it didn't seem to want to let up.  By 9:00 p.m. I figured I better make a break for it.  I have never been in a storm that rained so hard for such a long period.

I was worried about the sump pump not being able to keep up when I left.  I had to drive about 15 mph on the road back to Galena and several times went through areas where the water was running across the road.  I was very uncomfortable.  In Galena the manhole covers were off and water spouting out like a geyser.  When I finally got to Dubuque an hour later it still had not let up so I held up in a 24 hour McDonalds and watched the storm pass through on the radar on my laptop.

The next morning it was reported our area got 14 inches of rain!  Easily the most ever on record for one day. The lake is closed, the golf course is closed, the trails are closed, the marina and security offices are under water.  The lake raised so much it lifted all the docks off their mounting posts so all the boats and docks are have floated away out into the lake.  Some of pictures below from the local papers.

Not much to see

The garage door has now been installed but other than that the noticeable progress will be slow for quite a while.  I'm working on internal plumbing and hope to start running electrical wire next week.  Need to get both of those completed before I can hire someone to insulate and hang drywall.

First meal

Saturday while I was cleaning up and working at the site all day our friends Teresa and Bryan Glancy brought lunch over.  Since I had kind of forgotten to eat it was very much appreciated!  It was the first meal served at the cottage!

Exactly one week ago today

It was a week ago today that I was loading up my vehicle with tools for the trip.  Hard to believe.  Out of all the materials ordered and delivered the only thing that was missed was we were short one piece of siding.  Not bad.  I spent all day Saturday cleaning up and it was so much fun!  The days during construction were VERY busy and hectic.  A day with no one around where I could sweep and not have to worry about it getting all messy again a day later was nice.  It also gave me some time to start thinking about materials and next steps for the inside work.

Got home at 10:00 p.m. last night.  Time for a little break so there won't be any daily blog updates for a while.  Final interior pictures below.

Rack with scraps to be used for campfires!

Extra pieces of siding, shingles, and trim in case repairs needed.

Firewall between the living area and the garage.

Temporary step for front door.

View of loft from main level.

Front door.  That is the unsided wall you see through the window.

Upper bathroom with pocket door.

Potential future room in the basement.

Steps coming down to basement room.

2nd full bathroom in basement.

Furnace room in basement.

Loft side walls.

Loft

View from loft.

View from loft railing.

Hearth framework and mock up of mantel location.

Packed up and gone

The Amish crew finished up today by 3:30 p.m. and headed home.  It was a great week.  The weather cooperated perfectly and there were no major problems.  Technically we are about 95% finished outside.  They were short one corner piece for the vinyl siding so they could not finish.  They cut all the siding pieces and I will finish it up when the lumber company gets the missing piece in.

I'll take final interior pictures tomorrow after I get everything cleaned up.  It will be REALLY nice to have a day on site by myself cleaning up and getting organized for round two which is finishing the inside.