Progress!

This has been a good week, overall. No real downsides to it, for once. I didn't get all the stuff done that I wanted to get done, but when do you EVER have that happen in homesteading? (For example, I found my battery recharger here, but once again, forgot to charge up the camera batteries so I could take photographs. sigh.) Though the apartment is starting to look pretty bare after yesterday. We kept Q's small TV that he usually uses for playing his PS2 here and hooked up the complex cable to it so we can still watch some TV. The big 27" we usually use to watch whatever TV we want to see got loaded in the van, along with his little recliner (we actually put the TV inside the recliner and ratchet-strapped them together so the TV wouldn't bounce around - my idea and Q loved it when I came up with it). We also took the two small bookshelves we keep videos and his stereo on with us, and his stereo. Apparently the complex managers don't like people playing their stereos at any volume anymore, so we can't have music here. Yet people can play their TVs at all hours at all volumes. Ye gods. Add in that there's a new dive shop in what used to be a restaurant on the complex property that "rent" the complex pool for diving lessons all the darn time so the actual tenants here can't use the pool for four or five hours a day and you get a bit of testiness at management anymore. Moving Day cannot get here fast enough.

We got a lot of things boxed up, like the movies and music collections, and some of the knicknacks as well, but no room for them, so they are sitting in a corner for the moment. Q is scoring boxes for us at his plant as he can through the company store, so that's a big help. He got one huge box the other day that I can use for the dishes and pots and pans, thus knowing when we get up there exactly WHICH box has them in it! That'll make unpacking a tiny bit easier. He is a big help with packing, even though I'm the packmaster and he's the loadmaster. I help him as much as I can with loading, too, so it balances out. As an example, while I cleared out the clothes we don't need and loaded them in my car early last week, he packed up the movies and music and labeled the boxes. (Monday.) My poor little car was stuffed to the gills a couple days this week, but we want to make the final load as small as possible. We hope to avoid having to rent a trailer to move things, and since most of the big stuff is already gone, we might get lucky. Doubtful since we still have the small TV, the mini-fridge and his toolbox to take in the van, but we shall see.

This week is more small stuff in the car, because the more small stuff we can get out of here, the better off we are come Labor Day weekend. We won't get his holiday pay, because he's taking half a day off Thursday to get the last of things packed up and loaded, and hopefully get a few hours sleep as well prior to getting everything shifted that Friday. It might take a couple of loads, but with not having to pay rent at the apartment for that week (can you believe it's a weekly rental?) and the property payment as well, we should be okay financially. If we're not, there's something wrong.

As for yesterday and the rest of the week. It got a bit hairy Thursday morning just as I made the last turn to head to the plant. My right front brake pad had been squealing a tiny bit first thing when the car was cold for a few weeks. We knew the pads were about a year old and likely due, but hoped they'd last a few more weeks. No such luck. Slight grinding ensued. So it was baby the heck out of the brakes for two days and not drive it at all yesterday so we can get the pads today at O'Reilly's Auto Parts and Q can change them out for a Sunday project. At least it's a CHEAP fix, and one he can do without us going to a mechanic. So tomorrow, I'll have new pads to go to work with, and be able to drive much more safely. That makes me and the hubster happy. He doesn't like me driving on bad brakes. He'd rather risk his life than mine. (He was in the Marines, what do you expect?)

With what we shifted yesterday and got set up, the house is starting to look so much more lived in and loved. Of course, the floors are going to have to be swept daily in the condition they're in right now, and considering how much dirt we tend to track in, but that's a minor chore. We stopped at Lowe's on the way to the house to pick up some plumbing supplies (PVC pipe, pipe glue and some connectors) so we could get started on that after we got the van unloaded and things in the house. Thank goodness for the little dolly, because while moving stuff was still a pain in the butt with all the freaking rocks in the driveway, it was a lot easier than if we'd had to carry it all in. The TV's in place, the bookshelves and his stereo are in place, his chair is in place. YAY US!

We also put props under the fridge. The floor there is okay, considering it held that nasty old fridge for years without problems, but Q wanted to make sure that any soft spots wouldn't be an issue till we fix the floors. So a piece of 2x6 we had lying around got cut down a bit and two supports stuck under the fridge legs. They cross over the joists under the floor, so there's two or three joists giving extra support to the fridge props, making for any soft spots not being an issue. Heh. We've got this whole soft spot thing figured out, and while it's annoying, it also works for the moment, so we deal with it.

And Q went out the back door into the mess of a "yard" and kicked down the fence. It wasn't that well put together to begin with, so it came down easily. We're going to salvage the lumber from it to help with the whole building a small chicken coop thing later on. He crawled under the trailer and fount the water inlet, and the pipe coming from it. He doesn't like where it's at, as it's hard to get to if you want to work on things, and he's not totally happy with it. When it was set up, they used black flex pipe to come down from the cistern to the house and hook up. We pulled on what we saw out back and one of the connections had come loose, so we got about fifty or sixty feet of flex pipe to use. That's good in a way. He is bringing the pipe all the way under the trailer to the front where the hot water heater originally went, and running the T-connector for the bathroom (which that's right next to) and the kitchen from there, so we can more easily work on the plumbing if something goes wrong. We also found some clamps and fittings and things that will allow us to take the flex pipe and connect it to PVC pipe to go up the mountain to the cistern, thus making for a nice run of pipe for water.

I've never had gravity-fed water before, so it'll be interesting for me to see how well I handle it. I know basic physics, so as long as the cistern outlet is above our taps and showerhead at the house (which it will be), we'll get water, if not great pressure. Long as I've got water, I can deal. Sure, I'd love great pressure, but we both primarily want WATER. So some pipe got laid and in kicking over the fence and working on things, Q also found that screen outside the one living room window and pulled it out of the leaves it was buried in. Lo and behold, it needs a good cleanup, but it's in one piece! So as soon as we can clear the tracks enough to get the thermal window out of there and clean up that screen, that's one less we have to replace. With the one being buried and broken, we have one or maybe two to replace with the little sliding screens. Big deal. Considering how cheap they are, it's not an issue. We can do those and the screen door at the same time.

I'm getting a bit disjointed here, because honsestly, I'm pooped! At this hour, hubby's still sleeping, and I'm normally up anyhow, so here I am, typing away and trying to make this sound interesting and keep it halfway pulled together. Time for me to take a knitting break. I'm still kind of pooped and my fingers want to play with the other sock in that pair (yes, I finally found time to finish the first sock in the pair, now I want to get the other one done so I can wear them!). Till next time!