Friday curveball.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I couldn’t fall asleep last night and ended up messing with house plans until around 2am. I left the house about 7:30 this morning and drove down to Hillsboro. I was hoping to pick up some IBC totes, but the guy there told me that the boss wouldn’t be in until Monday, and he had to authorize it. So I drove back to Monteagle and got some concrete at the lumberyard, which I placed at the job site. Next I went to the cottage to get the last of the interior boards and took them to the house.

While unloading I saw a note from the county building inspector asking me to call him. I did and he said that my houses were in the county, not the city and that I had the wrong permits. I told him that I disagreed and would send him the city’s zoning map in support of my claim. I also loaded up the excess siding, then returned to the lumberyard to buy some trim. I also went by city hall and the library so I could get access to the zoning map and email it to the inspector. Lastly I went by the storage unit to get some tools to bring home for weekend projects.

After loading up my things at the cottage I drove home. The drive was uneventful until I was about 45 minutes from home, then the torrential rain started. I had to pull over for a bit it was so bad. At home I unloaded the trim and siding and came in to play we Luke. We built a Lego tower and read some before dinner. Now Liz is putting him to bed.

An unproductive, but necessary day.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning I drove Liz and Luke to High Hopes. We met his preschool teacher and saw her classroom. He liked it but started crying when his therapist came for him. Liz and I chatted with his teacher a little more then went to Publix for a few things. Luke was in a good mood when he was done with speech, especially once we gave him some animal crackers. Back at the house I said goodbye to everybody and hit the road. I drove to Manchester and stopped at the bank to update my address and get a new debit card. Their printer was broken so they will mail the card to me. Next I went to Walmart but they didn’t have the printer I was looking for. My final stop before the Mountain was the market in Pelham where I got some lunch. In Monteagle I went to the lumberyard to pay my bill before going to the cottage. I did some paperwork and computer work and then went to the Goat Market for a while. I chatted with Eric and a few other people and then decided to go on a hike. I drove out Jumpoff Road to the state forest, and a couple of miles down a gravel road later I was at the trailhead. It was a nice 2.8 mile loop with a couple of pretty overlooks. Upon returning to the cottage I have just been messing around on my phone.

More of the same.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning my dad and I returned to the job site. He caulked while I dug porch footings for the second house. I returned to the cottage and cut more boards for the interior before hauling them to the house. That took three trips. I didn’t get them all because I want to tape the smaller ones together. My dad finished up the caulking and trim painting right about the same time I got all the boards unloaded. It looks great. We said goodbye and I returned to the cottage for my bags, then drove home. Luke was waiting for me on the back deck and we played some. Liz prepared a delicious dinner and we cleaned up after. Liz and Luke are doing bath now.

Mild weather, good progress.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I couldn’t fall asleep until after one this morning, so I was kind of dragging when I got up. My dad and I went to the job site. He did more caulking and I dug footings for the porch posts. That was pretty tiring. I also added a door opening in one of the bedrooms, where the framers forgot to. After helping my dad move some ladders I returned to the cottage to cut more interior boards. I had hoped to finish today, but didn’t. I have nearly used all of my lumber though, and should finish tomorrow. I quit a little after six this evening, when the mosquitoes became worse than I could handle. Before showering I went to Piggly Wiggly for some food. I am just trying to relax a bit this evening. I am pretty sore and want to get to bed fairly early.

Assembly line work.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I got to the cottage about midnight last night, and although I woke up early I lingered in bed for a little while. When my dad texted me that he was on his way from Nashville I went to the storage unit to get his caulking supplies as well as the tools to swap out trailer tires. That task was pretty simple and it felt good to complete it. I also started setting up to cut the interior lumber that I brought to the cottage last week. Once my dad arrived he went to the job site and I did as well after printing a sheet at the library. At the job site I mapped all of the dimensions for the boards I needed to cut, and returned to the cottage to do some calculations and finalize my cut list. I cooked rice to go with some lentils that I brought from home, then took some water to my dad before getting down to business and cutting lots of boards. That was simple but quite boring and I did it until about six. Hopefully I can finish tomorrow. My dad came home shortly thereafter and we went down to the market in Pelham for dinner. Unfortunately they were closing up, but we were able to get some Combos, Bugles, and ice cream. We ate it out front. We stopped at CVS on the way back to the cottage for chips and trail mix. I went back out to Piggly Wiggly for some water and stuck it in the refrigerator. Now I am showered and relaxing.