I’m pretty tuckered out, and there’s not really much to say about today anyway, so this is probably going to be short.
I managed to get a little bit more sleep last night than I have. I think.
Somewhere around I think 2:00 in the morning, I think the wind switched direction, because a loose piece of cardboard that wasn’t well weighted down with rock started flapping in the wind and hitting the top of the van, making a sound that was surprisingly loud.
I didn’t know what it was until I finally decided to get up and take a look. When I saw what it was, I grabbed some more rocks in order to get that little flap of cardboard weighted down.
Anyway, so it wasn’t a wonderful night sleep, but I did at least manage to sleep until 7:30. I believe I woke up around 6:00 something first, but then I was able to fall back asleep until 7:30. 🎉
Chatted about house stuff, and then I headed out to start digging the septic drain line and the septic tank hole. We had measured improperly yesterday, so the two different channels that I had carved for the drain line were both wrong, so it needed to be dug again.
Hans went into town to grab the pipe and fittings for the septic, and while he did, I measured as best I could and cut in a new trench for the septic drain line to go in.
Then I measured out where I figured we’d put the septic tank, and started digging that as well.
Hans came back while I was working on digging the hole for the septic tank, and I kept right on digging while he started putting together all the pieces of pipe to make sure I had cut everything in properly.
While digging down the septic hole, I ran, very quickly, into clay so dense that the poor excavator arm struggled just to make little bits of progress.
Pretty nutty. 😶
But I kept at it and dug and dug and dug.
Aaaaaaaaand then I hit rock.
And not just a rock: I hit a thick slab.
😶
Oh boy.
I had already dug down about 5 ft but still had another three-ish feet to go when I hit rock. So I spent the next couple hours, or so, trying to jackhammer out the rock in the septic tank area.
And that was pretty much my project for the rest of the night. 🙃
I probably spent… 10 hours digging today?
Heather made sandwiches and a smoothie, and I spent some more time breaking up Rock before Hans and I headed to Cascade Falls for another little dip. 😊
Once again, it was super crowded at Cascade falls, and once again, people had left trash all over the place–the regular beer cans, clothing, etc.
Really would be nice if people would clean up their stuff and not leave trash everywhere. Specifically tells everyone that they need to pack out their trash because there isn’t a trash in there, but it seems like a very large number of people just leave it trashy.
Despite always having to pick up trash, we still had a great time. Hunts swam down river and then back up, and I just stayed hanging out in the cool tub area, my back fairly unhappy with me, so I just kind of wanted to sit there in the water where my pain and discomfort level is the least.
After we got back from Cascade falls, I changed into some dry clothes and headed right back out to keep digging. I’m trying to get The rock busted through as soon as possible, so there’s no need to rent the jackhammer again.
Heather and Hans needed to do laundry, and I didn’t really need to do laundry, so I figured I might as well keep busting away at the rock, which I did, using the roto hammer drill tool thingy, as Hans had taken the jackhammer back.
Amazingly, the little drill hammer thing wasn’t much less effective than the jackhammer. 😶
Anyway, while they were out doing laundry, I kept banging away with the roto Hammer thing, alternating between breaking stuff up with the roto hammer, getting out of the hole with just my hands, and using the excavator to try to tear off chunks of rock after I had dug down far enough to create a bit of a lip or ledge for the excavator arm of the backhoe to grab and pull against.
When I started busting through rock today, I had about 36 and 3/4 in of rock to break through in an area about 8 ft by 12 ft.
I think by the time I finished for the night, with a lot left to do, I was somewhere around 16 or 18 in of rock left to break through.
I’m falling asleep while I’m writing this journal entry, so it’s probably about time to wrap up.
Another thunderstorm rolled in, and while it was just light sprinkling, I kept pounding away at the rock. Once the rain started coming down pretty hard, though, which was probably after 30 or 45 minutes of storming without a lot of rain, I called it good with the roto hammer, and went quickly around to put everything that had been left outside in the basement or in my van so as not to get ruined by the rain.
With the rain coming down pretty good, there was no more sense trying to use an electric roto hammer, so I moved my little butt inside the backhoe and did everything that I could to dig up more rock using the lips and ledges that I had carved out of the rock with the roto hammer tool.
I kept working until a little bit after Heather and Hans got home, and Hans came out to see how things were looking. Heather made dinner, some kind of scrambled eggs with all sorts of really tasty stuff on top.
Gosh, I’m so tired that I’m falling asleep while dictating–maybe because I’m dictating with my eyes closed. 😅
Gratitude:
- I’m grateful to have been able to make a significant dent on the very large Rock slab that is in the way of getting the septic tank to the depth necessary for legal code and for our design here.
- I’m grateful to be able to go to Cascade Falls to rinse off and enjoy the cool water.
- I’m grateful to my sister for making a tasty lunch and dinner.
- I’m grateful that the roto Hammer was able to make significant progress, almost as much as the jackhammer, I think. Pretty nutty.
- I’m grateful that the backhoe had really good lights, so that I could just turn on all the lights and keep working after the rain and had fallen and darkness had settled in
Success:
- There was a time today when there was something that I was in the middle of doing that I felt like I shouldn’t, so I stopped and went right back into the house from where I’d come. I’m grateful that I listened to that little prompting. I didn’t want to, but I did.
Improvement:
- I found myself getting a little frustrated today. I want to be more patient and more understanding.
Good night, all.
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 