Clark, Wyoming

I had one nice day off of work.  I was going to paint the upstairs exterior door since the temps were so nice, but it was so windy it would blow the paint off of my brush, so I tabled that project for another day.

Yesterday evening I drove to Cody, topped my fuel tank, and went to Wal*Mart to get a few things for Bob.  I also picked up a few things I did not go in there for.  Bob wanted some fruit and ricotta cheese.  I came out with bottled water, gluten-free lasagna noodles, a small TV wall mount, a jug of 5W-30 motor oil, and an oil filter.

When I  got to Cody Labs to work for Chris Schuler, who was going to work for Dan Atkins, I found out that Tom and Zac were the only ones in there with me.  Jay called off because of a pinched nerve in his back.  Tom called everyone on my crew and around 11:00 PM, Nick called in to say that he would come in.  I am glad because Zac and I would have messed up the batch we were scheduled to make - neither one of us is very familiar with that process.

Another bad spring snow/rain storm is blowing in today.  Temps are in the 30's right now, but they will surely drop tonight.  My drive in to work is going to be challenging and I will have to be careful coming home in the morning. 

I wish all of this snow would go die in a fire.

Post 2435

On the way to work Wednesday evening I stopped at K-mart and shopped.  There was a lot of stuff on clearance.  I got some thermal underwear for Bob, a document wallet for the truck, a couple of Hickory Farms gift packs marked down 50%, and best of all - a 3 HP pancake air compressor with nail gun.

The compressor and nail gun combo was only $69.  It was made in China, and is not the very best, but it should  be good enough for the occasional weekend use I am going to give it.

I worked for Dan Atkins on Crew D last night.  It was an easy night.  We had to clean the hallway and get it ready for production again.  The shutdown is over now.

This morning I was in bed an hour and I was sleeping soundly when Bob came in and woke me up to let me know Simmons Ironworks was here installing our gutter and downspout.  He wanted me to write a check to pay the man, but I was out of checks.  We wrote a check against the construction account, and I will deposit the money into the account when my checks arrive.

The gutter and downspout match the roof and trim very well!   This will keep me dry when I step out of the front door, and it will keep the front of the house clean because mud will not splash up onto the house from melt water dripping from the roof.

Later I painted the back door to match the Monterey taupe trim.  While it was wet I thought that we should have bought a semi-gloss paint - this is a satin finish, but when it was completely dry it looked just fine.

We drove to Red Lodge this afternoon and bought some tea in the bookstore/tea bar, then we went to the IGA and got a few grocery items.  The weather was pretty - sunny and clear with temps in the 50's.

I have to work tomorrow night, again for Dan Atkins, then I will work Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday night.  I hate working so much, but I will like the next paycheck!

Clark, Wyoming

On Saturday we drove to Powell.  I used the pressure washer at Lil' Spark Car Wash to clean the mud off of the wheels and then we drove over to Rimrock Tire to have the front passenger side wheel balanced.

The technician said that the wheel was balanced - there was a 1/2 ounce weight on the inside of the rim.  He said the vibration could be happening if the rim is deformed.  I told Bob we might install the spare tire to eliminate that possibility.  Also, I would check the wheel bearings for proper adjustment.

We popped into Ace Hardware to get some paint brushes and door stoppers.  Then we went to Blair's Supermarket to get a few things.

Finally we went to Shopko to look at their curtains since they are on sale.  The problem I keep running into is if I find a curtain that I like and will do the job, they don't have enough in stock to cover both windows.  The big window is going to need 3 or 4 panels to cover it!

While taking the dog outside yesterday, I started pulling the wood pile apart, pulling out the shorter pieces of pine that I could split and take inside to burn, and then stacking the rest of the wood neatly nearby.  Most of that wood is cottonwood that I cannot split and is too big to fit into the firebox.  We will barbecue with it in our fire ring this summer.

I swept the rooftop deck area off yesterday too.  Lots of dust blew up there during the winter, but a surprising amount of gravel was up there too!

Gordy came this morning at 8:30.  He pulled up the 3/4-inch plywood steps and took them to his house to rip them so they would be flush with the stringers.  Then he returned, screwed them back in, and then set up his chop saw outside the back door.  He carefully measured each finished oak tread and cut them to fit.  They fit very well!  Next he glued the oak tread to the plywood tread and fastened them down with screws driven into them from the bottom.

Those stairs are SOLID - no deflection when you step, no noise, at all!

I am beginning nights again this evening.  I will be working nights for the next six weeks.  Since we are in a maintenance shutdown, I don't expect that we will have much to do.  I guess the challenge will be just staying awake.

Lucky Day Redux

This morning we drove up to Billings to shop for groceries.  The roads were dry up through Belfry, Bridger, Fromberg, and even Laurel.  On I-90 it began to snow and I detected the truck sliding a little bit in the wind.  I slowed down from 70 MPH to around 50 MPH.  Suddenly we began to slide across the inside lane, "Hold on Bobby!"  We slid down into the median and struck the steel post and cable barrier pretty hard.

The truck was still running, but when I tried to drive forward she only moved a few feet and would not go farther.  I got out to inspect the damage and found the right side (again) bashed pretty good.  The right front tire was flat and pulled back off of the rim.  This is why she would not move forward.

The Yellowstone County Sheriff stopped to help and he called in our crash to the Montana State Highway Patrol.  The trooper arrived a few minutes later.  He made a crash report and called for a tow truck.  The wrecker came about 15 minutes after the trooper left.

The tow truck driver quoted us $350 to pull us out and tow us to a tire store.  We agreed and he pulled the truck up to the highway with a cable and winch, then he raised the front of the truck and told us to get into the cab of his truck.  He drove us to a nearby tire store, but when we got there, he said he would settle for $275 for the tow.  I guess he felt guilty since we told him that the tow was going to take all of our grocery money for the month!

The old tire on the truck was beyond repair and we had to buy a new tire.  It cost $86.

After we got the new tire mounted and paid for it, we drove away carefully.  We went to Lowe's and bought two new solid toilet seats for the house, and we shopped the curtains, but did not find any curtains we liked.  We also checked out curtains at Home Depot, and we found a set we liked, but they only had two (2) panels in stock!

We left, got lunch at Wendy's, and carefully made our way to Sam's Club.  Here we spent about $190 on bulk groceries.  Then we went to Wal*Mart and spent about $88 on more grocery items.  We had to carefully and judiciously decide what was going to go into the cart.

Our trip back home was fine.  The right front wheel vibrated badly because the tire store did not bother to balance that wheel!  The roads coming back home were dry - as if it never snowed down there!  We stopped at Bridger to get gasoline and we mailed our electric bill from there.

At home we put the groceries away in the house and I tried to pull some of the bashed in fender out - enough to push the wheel well liner forward and away from the tire.  I topped off the brake fluid in the clutch cylinder reservoir.  It was cold outside and the wind was blowing, so it was uncomfortable outside.

I called Navy Federal to order a new credit card - mine is starting to crack and split.  I also ordered more checks with my current address on them.  Then I called Gordy to find out when he is going to finish installing the stairs.  He said he will be over here at 8:00 AM on Monday morning to put the stairs in.  I will be happy to have the stairs done.

We installed the new toilet seats on both toilets.  These are stiffer and more stable than the flimsy plastic seats and lids that came with the toilets.  Little by little we are putting things into the house to make it feel more and more like home!

Today's crash took out my right turn signal.  Now I will probably have to replace the right front fender and get the turn signal lamp assembly replaced.  I want to fix the grill and straighten the bumper too.  So, I guess I will have to order these from Centrifit, drive to Denver and pick them up, and install them.  I am not sure where the money will come from.

Longer term we want to get a bigger truck with 4-wheel drive.  After we get Gordy paid off for the tile and stairs, we will have money available to put toward a truck payment.  We will have to have a bigger and safer truck before next winter comes.

Clark, Wyoming

Today was my Friday - the last day of my work week.

I was assigned to the boiler room again today.  I was outside almost all day.  Around lunch it was nice, warm, and sunny.  The workers opened up the roll-up door, but later it clouded up, got cold, and even began to snow!

Bob applied more polyurethane to the wood hand rail on the loft and he started coming down the stairs.  He also cleaned the bathrooms and made a chicken dinner.

Tomorrow we intend to go to Billings to buy groceries.

On Monday night I will start six weeks of night shift.

Clark, Wyoming

I drove the 36 miles to work in 32 minutes this morning.

We did not have a lot to do today because the plant is shutdown for maintenance.  I was assigned to go outside to the boiler room and babysit contractors who are working on the boiler system.  Basically, my job was to escort them to the bathroom if they needed to go.

I drove home in 27 minutes.  It was still fairly light when I pulled up.

Today was the Wednesday of my work week.  Tomorrow is my Friday!

Tomorrow night, at 10:57 PM, Spring begins!  Yay!

Clark, Wyoming

160 Brushland Drive as seen on Google Maps.  August 2013.

With the past few days of mild temperatures, I got the front door painted a nice dark red.

Yesterday we drove to Powell, had breakfast at Pepe's Mexican Restaurant, went to the Post Office across the street to mail some Space Shuttle memorabilia to Emily Carney in Florida, and then went to Ace Hardware to get a couple of screws.  The sales lady at Ace said, "Oh, you're only spending $0.32 today?"  I replied, "Yeah, it's a sight lower than the last time we were in here.  I think we dropped over $160.00 last time."  She said, "Oh that's right - you bought paint!"

After this we visited the ATM, got some cash, and went to J&S Laundromat to get our clothes and rugs cleaned.  We had 5 loads of clothes, plus the rugs had to go into the big commercial machine.  While this load was running we went to the Book Rack and turned in 3 cases of books for store credit.

We returned to the laundromat and put of stuff into the dryers.  Then we went to the Lil' Spark Car Wash.  Here I used two cans of Gunk Engine Brite to clean off the engine.  Then I pressure washed it clean.  I cleaned the rest of the outside of the truck and even cleaned the floor mats.

Then we went to back to the laundry, folded our clothes, and left for our lunch at Subway.  Before returning to Clark we stopped at Blair's Supermarket to get a few things.

The weather deteriorated in the afternoon.  It began to rain, and then snow.  The wind began to really blow and the snow came in sideways!  It stormed for most of the night, but the skies were clear by morning.

I left for Cody at 5:10 AM this morning.  The first 5 miles of the trip were a little slick, then the road steadily improved for the rest of my trip down there.

Work was easy today.  Tim paired me up with Nick and we delivered some finished product to the Vault.  Then we took some pumps apart, put new plastic diaphrams in them, and put them together again, and we wasted time out-of-sight for the rest of the day.  We expect tomorrow to be quiet for us too.

It snowed all day in Cody, but the snow did not stick.  It was still light when I left work, and while the road was wet, it was not frozen or slippery.  It got to Brushland Drive and our mailbox while there was still some twilight.

I am glad the days are getting longer, and I think the worst of the winter weather is behind us now.

The picture I have posted this evening is an aerial shot of our new home construction site as it appeared in August of last year.  I found this view by accident while picking the post location on Google Maps.  You can see quite a bit of detail if you look closely.  You can see Chris Gunn's construction trailer, the port-a-potty, the roof SIPs stacked off to the side, the dumpster, our burn barrels north of the dumpster, and if you look into the house, you can see the two 35-gallon Rubbermaid trashcans we bought for this project.

Vince Is Back Online!

After a hiatus of 4 months we finally have Internet access at home again!  The DirecTV technician came today and put in two satellite dishes - one for television and one for Internet service! 

Man, so much has happened since my last post!

• We moved into our not-yet-completed house and had to endure dust, noise, dirt, cold, no water at times, and other hardships.
• We had a severe winter and I discovered that the drive to and from work could take over an hour when the weather is bad.
• Daisy died in January from an apparent obstruction.  We had her body cremated and we will plant her remains under the root balls of the trees we will plant in the spring.
• Dad was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer in January.  He was gone by the end of February.  We travelled to his bedside and arrived two hours before he passed away.
• We continue to make progress on the house - the stair railing is finished, the interior painting is finished, the floor tile is finished, the kitchen is done, the baths are done.
• I got a large tax refund and I cashed out my Wyoming Retirement funds.  I am going to use those monies to complete improvements to the house.

I am off Saturday, Sunday, and Monday this week.  We are going to Powell to do laundry tomorrow and I will probably paint the front door this weekend if the temperatures remain in the 50's. 

Now that we don't have to go to the public library to check our email, I will be able to get some recent pictures of the house posted.