Journal of Progress: November 12, 2018 - January 1, 2019

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Wasted day. Got up late. By the time I got to Mammoth, it was time to go to my appointment for my job interview as a security guard at the LDS Church Movie Set in Elberta. Got the job. Pays $12.00 per hour, part time. My schedule is Thursday midnight to 8:00 AM Friday, and Saturday midnight to 8:00 AM Sunday, a shift nobody wants. Easy duties. Watch a camera, once a shift drive around and check fences. Make sure the set is okay by walking around it every couple hours. Rest of the time I can read, write, play the guitar, etc. Log everything I do.

Got back to the house and discovered the power was off. Tracked down the electrician. Turns out he had killed the power so his apprentices could work safely, and they had all gone to lunch. Went to lunch. Got back and started to insulate and the compressor died. Carpenters are coming tomorrow early, so I had to make an emergency trip to Provo to exchange it for a new comprressor. It was only two months old, and was not abused. Whole day gone.

Barbara is sick. Cooked and ate dinner. Whole day gone and nothing to show for it.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Painted two walls today. Insulated about half the upstairs partition walls. I’m getting good at hanging insulation. Electricians ran much of the wiring. Carpenters got the stove pipe in. It’s starting to turn into a house! Made up for yesterday. Barbara’s feared hernia turned out to be a minor bowel blockage. Whew! Good day. Planted ten baby Norway pine trees. (In buckets.) Hardest part was finding the dirt. We have extremely rocky soil.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

1:00 AM.  My first shift as security guard at the LDS Motion Picture Studio set in Elberta. Started at midnight. So far, absolutely nothing to do at all. I’m getting paid $12.00 per hour for watching a couple of live camera screens. Every two hours or so, I make a tour of the set, and once a shift clean the boss’ office. The security office also does “code four checks” on the radio randomly, to make sure I’m awake, and that everything is okay. If I don’t answer, they’ll call on the phone. We are all officially part of BYU security, so I get to hear everything that’s happening, which at this time of night ain’t much. So far, a couple of guards at BYU forgot to call in when they went off duty, so they missed their checks. I called in when I came on duty, but the security person didn’t write it down, so they didn’t call me. So, I called them and reported that I had not been checked. Exciting night!
I took this job because we’re running out of money AND credit, and need to bring some more income in. Three people who work here all told me I should apply, and was nearly certain to get the job, as one of the seven guards who work here was going into the hospital, and they needed a replacement right away. At 71, it’s not that easy to get employed, so this seemed like an answer to my prayers. My shift is midnight Saturday night to eight AM Sunday, and midnight Thursday night to eight AM Friday. An easy shift for me, as I can sleep in the evenings most weeks (except this Thursday, which is Thanksgiving.

Instead of going to bed at ten, I’ll go to bed right after dinner, then nap in the morning the next day, after I finish work. Barbara can come to bed as early as she wants, which is pretty early these days, as she has to get up about 5:30 am for her job. She’s been staying up late to go to bed with me, and it’s wearing on her.

Biggest disadvantage I can see so far is lack of close bathroom facilities. Nearest bathroom is in Bldg A, about 800 feet away. That’s where props are stored, where crews’ dining room is, and where Paul’s office is (Boss of MPS South). I’m supposed to clean it (the office) and sweep out any dust (none). Props include all kinds of spears, swords, baskets, etc., as well as a big bunch of potted palm trees. I decided to walk over, for the exercise. On the way back, I discovered a couple of “Honey Bucket” porta-potties only a hundred feet from my Security trailer! No lights, but they’re closer than the outhouse at our house was. Heaven! There’s a camera in Bldg. A that I can use to view the inside of the building. Using the time-scan feature, I could scan back and see myself walking around, checking things. Pretty cool!

Another advantage is that I can spend as much time praying as I want. It IS Sunday, after all, at least officially.

Monday, November 19, 2018

Worked alone today. First time in a while. Not completely alone-- the electricians were here. Got a lot of insulating done. The 4" insulation is nearly completely done. Maybe two rolls left to do; just the ends of three of the four upstairs closets. Used up all four of the big trash bags of little pieces I’ve collected, stuffing them in odd corners. I need a few pieces of 2x4 to complete the framing, making places for the drywall edges to land on. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make a trip to Grantsville to buy a couple dozen 2x4s. There’s a guy there that sells recycled ones for half the price of new lumber, but they’re actually better than the new lumber you get from The Home Depot, as they are drier, and if they’re gonna warp, they will already have done so. I don’t buy the warped ones, but he usually gives me a few anyway, for free. Most of the house is built of recycled lumber.



I also need to buy a gallon of clear, satin sealer. The faux barn wood panels of vertical siding are so good looking, just in their primer, that it’d be a shame to paint them. I think one gallon should be plenty. I”m also going to use it on the window trim upstairs. The carpenters installed unpainted trim around one window before I could paint it, and it looks so good with the barn wood that I’m going to keep them natural too, on the second floor. The ground floor gets white trim.

I’m almost ready to start hanging drywall. Not looking forward to it. The lady carpenter says she’ll help, even if I can’t pay her. I may take her up on it, as hanging drywall is definitely a two-person job. I’ve done it before single-handed, and it really sucks, even if all you’re doing is one small room. But I’ve got to do a whole house. Ceilings are the worst. A 4x8 sheet of drywall weighs about fifty pounds. Try positioning that with one hand, while shooting screws with the other. Not easy, even if you’re really tall, which is why professional drywallers wear stilts.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Spent my whole morning (and part of the afternoon) making a run to get 2x4s. Bought 21 @ $3.00 apiece. Twelve-footers. Not a bad price. Finally got back to the cabin, stored them, and started my day’s work: painting the siding. Got the whole south wall done. Tomorrow, I’ll do the west wall, and hopefully be able to seal the upper story. Carpenters got the west wall siding on. Tomorrow, they’ll finish the east wall, and maybe the dormer. I’ve decided I want the dormer in vertical siding, if we have enough. If not, I have some ideas to make the siding with horizontal boards go faster and easier. I’ll be working on the corner trim, and finishing up the upstairs 4" insulation. Haven’t bought any 6" yet, even though I was at the Home Depot today. I had time, but I didn’t know it.

Soon, I”ll have to make another run to Provo. Need to buy a bunch of electrical supplies, too, which the electrician neglected to tell me until after I returned today. It’s supposed to storm Thursday and Friday, so maybe I’ll do it on Friday. Thursday is Thanksgiving, at the kids’ house in South Jordan, followed by my second shift at the Motion Picture Studio, from midnight to eight AM. So I won’t be getting any work done on Thursday, and will spend most of Friday sleeping. I can make a Home Depot run Friday late afternoon, or early Saturday morning. Enough insulation is up that I can work on sheet rock when I can’t work outdoors. Sometime or another, I have to return the scaffolding, too.

Barbara says the finances are such that we’re going to have to slow down the buying, which means the progression of the house. I’ve got ninety sheets of drywall to hang. If I hang two sheets a day, five days a week, I should get it all up in ten weeks. Hanging drywall is a pain in the back (literaly), but I should be able to do two sheets in eight hours! We have lights all over the house, now, so can work indoors, even on dark winter days. In ten weeks, it’ll be February. If I take another ten weeks to tape the seams, we should be ready for flooring by the middle of April. Meanwhile, Barbara and I will have had five months to pay down some of the debt. I think we can do this. The only really big deal is finishing the insulation, which is gonna cost a BUNCH, and the most expensive part comes FIRST.

 Monday, December 10, 2018

Long time since I wrote up what I’ve been doing. With Barbara working, she has no time to blog, and I never did have much, and even less now.



Update: siding is up, except for top and bottom layers on the east and west ends. Metal soffits are installed, along with plywood end pieces. Most of the sealing is done. Most of the first coat painting (outside) is done. Scaffolding is returned. Carpenters have been laid off for the winter. I have started hanging sheet rock. Today I also finished all the 4" insulation that needs to be done. Six-inch and twelve-inch insulation is scheduled to be delivered Wednesday, along with the plywood for the porch ceiling.

When I showed up to work last Monday, after a week off visiting progeny in Washington State, I discovered that some elves had put up sheet rock on the walls and ceiling of the great room downstairs. The whole ceiling was done, and two of the walls. A little judicious digging revealed that I had been the recipient of “ministering” by my Elders’ Quorum. They’re the best!

I’ve decided on a name for our house: “Aisle of View.” Say it fast. To someone you love.

Hanging sheet rock is harder work than I remember. I’m finding it difficult to pick up a 4x8 sheet of half-inch sheet rock by myself. Today, while cutting out the third of four holes in a very complex full sheet, I slipped and stepped on it, breaking it in half. Rather than waste the whole sheet, I used it anyway. I’ll have to do some fancy taping to hide the broken joints. When I broke it, I got mad and threw my knife-shaped drywall saw at a small piece of scrap drywall leaning up against the wall. I immediately repented, realizing that with my rotten aim, it would probably miss entirely and punch a hole in the wall. To my shock, it stuck in the center of the small piece of scrap, ten feet away. Must have been an angel on my shoulder.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Took delivery today of the remaining insulation, the stove, and the dishwasher, along with enough 1x4s to finish trimming the remaining windows. Also received enough drywall tape and joint compound to tape all the walls. But the five sheets of 1/2" cdx plywood I ordered did not come, and I need it for the ceiling above the porch. Must call the pro desk and find out if I was charged for it. If not, there’s not much I can do but go back to Provo and pick it up (and complain about it not being ordered), but if I was charged for it, I will insist that they have it delivered for free, and maybe get a discount to boot. I’m still angry about it.



The delivery itself went well, but the timing could have been a bit better for me. It arrived and was deposited outside my door just before it started to snow, and we got several inches in the first ten minutes or so. I was not dressed for the super cold chill factor, as the snow arrived with a stiff wind. Had to unload the whole load and carry it into the house by myself. This involved moving the appliances by dolly into the kitchen area, then unpacking the palletized rolls and batts of insulation so I could get them through the door, and stacking them in the rest of the great room.



I had intended to carry the insulation up the stairs and stack them near where they will eventually go, but by the time I could have begun doing so, I was soaking wet, freezing cold, and my car was getting burried in snow. I thought I’d better get back to Eureka while I still could. It was still snowing so hard that my windshield got completely covered in snow, just in the time it took me to brush the snow off the other windows. Nevertheless, I was able to carefully drive back to Eureka, where I discovered that the driveway was too snowy and slick to drive up. So, before I could even change my clothes, I had to shovel the driveway enough to drive IN and park.

The house where we are staying is heated by a wood fireplace. Naturally the fire was out, I was the only one home, and the house was cold. Split some firewood, got ready to light the fire... and couldn’t find any matches. The cookstove is electric. About noon, Barbara called from work and told me how our host lights the fires, using a propane torch, and where he keeps it. I found it, and discovered that it was out of propane. Got the fire all ready to light, shook the propane bottle, and tried to light it. Six times. Finally, it lit briefly, just long enough to light the paper on fire. I kept feeding it paper and cardboard, and eventually got the fire going. Spent the rest of the day and evening splitting wood, filling the wood box, and feeding the fire. I WON’T let it go out until I’m ready for bed!

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Made thirty trips upstairs today, carrying insulation and drywall joint compound. My legs are still tired. Drywalled the last outside wall in the dressing room downstairs. When I had finished, I discovered that the main breaker panel has been set too deeply in the wall, so the door cannot be opened. Left the electrician a voicemail about it.



At lunch, I discovered that the refrigerator outlet, the freezer outlet, and the microwave outlet were all off. Tried to reset the breakers, but I couldn’t open the breaker box. Tried again to call the electrician, but got only his voice mail. Left an emergency call. Then I started checking ALL the outlets to see if any worked. Most still did, so I used an extension cord to plug in the freezer and fridge. Called the electrician back again and left a message saying it was no longer an emergency, but still needed his help ASAP.



Spent the afternoon putting up insulation in the upstairs closet roofs. Almost finished one closet. It’s really hard to do in the confined spaces. I should have done it BEFORE insulating and drywalling the partition walls. If I were a pro I would know these things. Definition of “a pro”: someone who has already made the mistakes you are making now. My mistake included letting my hand slip, just as I fired the staple gun, driving a staple through a channel along the edge of my hand. A fairly bloody wound, but not deep. I opened it, so it could bleed out, poured in some iodine, and bandaged it with a “knuckle bandage.” Seems to be doing well.



I didn’t feel like hanging any more sheetrock, so I went back downstairs and cut away the drywall around the hinge edge of the breaker box, about half an inch. I hated to do it, after I went to so much trouble to make the hold for the breaker box exactly the right size. It looks bad, but I was then able to open the door enough to see that three breakers had tripped, and reset them. Called the electrician again and told him to see me tomorrow, after I’ve had a chance to recover from my overnight shift as a night watchman at the LDS Motion Picture Studio, where I am now writing this.

Monday, December 17, 2018

Good work day. Finished insulating the second of four upstairs closets and started on number three. It’s not simple to do, as the roof is sloping there, making it hard to hang the insulation, and even harder to staple it in the narrow upper corners. It would have been LOTS easier if I had done this BEFORE closing in the partition wall!



The Centracom installer came by and hooked up our permanent phone line, so the phone and wifi are now in their permanent location. HOORAY! Something’s actually finished!

Almost. He needed longer screws than he had for the phone outlet coverplate. He’s coming back tomorrow anyway, for a neighbor’s service, so he’ll bring them tomorrow.

The house is getting warm with all the insulation I’ve been putting in. Had to take my jacket and sweatshirt off to work comfortably today. It’s going to be a very warm house once all the insulation and sheet rock are in.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Slow going. Hanging insulation in the closets, where it will never be seen. Also, taking breaks to install corner trim on the front corners, where it will be seen. Unfortunately, the boards are warped, and the ends split when I try to nail them in place. Will have to putty the cracks and repaint. Also, it appears that the carpenters never installed the under-eaves trim on the south side of the east face, so I’ll have to do that from a ladder. Would have been so much easier with the scaffold. Sigh.

Also working on the name plaque for over the front door, “Aisle of View.” My Christmas present to Barbara. Say it fast.



Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Working more and writing less. Finished the Aisle of View by Christmas, but didn’t get it hung until the day after Christmas. I’ve also been insulating like mad, as it has been extremely cold lately. Today, there was half an inch of frost covering the toilet seat in the outhouse. Took the day off yesterday from insulating to drywall the northwest closet, so Barbara could have a place to store her boxes where they will be out of the way. Took all day, and the help of a couple who dropped by to see Mammoth, just because they’d never heard of it. Still was a great deal of trouble, and it’s not really done, as there’s a gap in the upper angle that I have no idea how to fill.



Today, back to insulating, and finished the last exterior wall. This was the east wall. I’d been saving it for last, as I figured it for the most difficult, due to the presence of the shower surround right up against the wall. Turned out to be no different than the west wall, as the sower surround comes apart by unscrewing three screws. Big deal!