Pump House 2.0

We have a well in our backyard, right next to the shed, and there is a pump in it. Actually, there is a 7 feet deep squared hole with an ancient electric pump, and in the bottom of that hole there is another hole, 3 feet wide, under which the water is (this was a very grammatically complicated sentence for me... I'm exhausted.)

On top of the squared hole there was a construction that covered it and that looked like a huge dog house. It wasn't so bad, except that it was as old as the house, and it was rotting. When you opened the door of the pump house, you could see spider webs and earwigs everywhere. Nasty.

So, we decided to tear the dang thing down, and replace it with some kind of cover, and maybe put flowers pots on top of it, so it would look decent. Actually, most of the garbage we had the other day was from the pump house.









We tried to cover it the best we could, but we are not experts at this, so we tried to build a couple of cover doors out of 2X8's, which we thought would be strong enough to put stuff on top of it, and then attach it with hinges to the concrete. That part was harder than we thought: we bought special drill bits for concrete, but they didn't go very far deep; so the bolts are there, attaching the hinges, but they are not very stable. Anyway, the thing is there not, and it's steady enough for now, and at least it looks alright.

In Which We Finally Get Rid Of Our Crap!

So, we heard that ou neighbor who lives two doors down has a truck with a big trailer, and man, was it a big trailer.

So, I get enough courage to go and talk to the guy and explain my situation, and he points at the truck and tells me to take it, that it's just fine, and all that. The trailer was so big that I thought that I wouldn't fill half of it. Two or so hours later, I was done, and the trailer was completely full! So the guy tells me that I might as well take it to the dump myself.

Taking it to the dump wasn't a big deal, but backing it up once I got there was way hard. I had never driven a truck with a trailer before, let alone a huge one like this. I finally did it, though, and I thought that it would be a nice gesture to fill the truck's tank. Let's just say that it would have been cheaper to rent a Volvo convertible and do the dump rounds on it... But I can't complain, everything worked well, and we are finally garbage free!!

In Which Meg Finishes the Sofa Cover

We have a big sofa that Geoff gave us a while ago, and it had this blue cushions, which were nice, but a little too dark for our taste.



So, Meg chose a material with a nice red and white patern, and changed the whole thing in like two weeks!

In Which Our U-Haul Motor Explodes

It was Saturday morning, and we finally decided to get rid of our massive pile of crap (rotting wood, branches, smelly armchairs, asbestos-ridden insulation, etc.). We just wanted to do it the fastest way possible, without having to bother anyone, so we rent ourselves a U-Haul pick-up truck.

First we went to the closest one on Washington Boulevard. When we get there, we ask the attendant: "Do you have any pick-up trucks available?" to which he replied "no." Which surprised me, because he looked like he ran out of words years before. We were completely unsuccessful in eliciting any kind of helpful response from this dude, just nods, head shakes, and grunts. We gave up, and went to the next U-Haul location, which location was the only useful information we got from him.

In the next location we waited in line for fifteen minutes, while listening to repeated, non-stop, renditions of the theme for Super Mario Bros 1 on the cellphone belonging to the U-Haul employer who was currently on her break. When we finally reached the counter, things appeared to begin moving in our favor. We secured ourselves a small U-Haul truck, and waited outside for the lady to come out with the keys. Ten minutes later we wondered where the heck she was. We went inside to ask her what was taking so long, to which she replied "Oh, yeah, you come to get the truck for your mom, right?" We answered no, so she said "Oh, ok, you are returning one, right?" No again. After explaining her in detail what our situation was, she remembered. We finally got our truck, and went on our way to the dump (after taking our car home).

But alas, this was never to be (dum-dum-dum-TADAAAA).

While driving the U-Haul, we noticed a knocking sound that progressively grew louder and louder, to the point that we couldn't hear ourselves think. While pulling onto the freeway, this knocking sound worsened, and suddenly stopped. It was at this moment that smock and steam (I couldn't tell you which was which at this moment, but there were both...) began billowing out of the vehicle via each possible crack and hole. We knew we must pull over and abandon the vehicle ASAP. We wanted to call the customer service, but we couldn't find our cellphone, which only made Megan and I grow closer together than we've ever been. Yeah... That's how it went... I'm pretty sure...

We then walked five blocks to the closest gas station, and called U-Haul from a pay-phone. Luckily, the number was toll free, so the call didn't require any money. We had no cash, no car, and no phone!!!

The first person who helped us was extremely patient and understanding. She assured us that she would be in contact with a U-Haul mechanic, who would come to our rescue soon. Unfortunately our situation required a call back to the pay phone to verify that we were really at that location. She called back, and when Megan answered, the operator asked to insert 50 cents, which Megan hurriedly did. Alas, the phone call was paid for, but there was no voice on the other end when the call went through. The dang phone ate our money and we were really sore out of luck with absolutely no more change.

We called back half an hour later, and you can imagine Manuel's frustration when he had to explain the entire situation yet again, this time to an employee of U-Haul's customer service who apparently was experiencing his first real day on the job. The employee's supervisor could be heard on the other end directing this poor kid's every move. The new representative denied that anything could be done to help us, or that a contractor could even be reached in order to help us. WHAT??? We were apparently being told that U-Haul assumed no responsibility for the nightmare that had just occurred!

We were finally connected with the mechanic who was supposed to come pick us up, and he told us that at the current moment he was in Brigham City, and that it would take him an hour to come pick us up, and asked us if we had something to write down his number. Megan replied that we didn't, to which he answered asking us for our cellphone number. Megan explained to him that we had forgotten it, and in that precise moment, our cellphone begins ringing and sending threats to us from Meg's purse (that's a funny ringtone, by the way).

After talking to the mechanic guy, and having over an hour in our hands to relax and enjoy the view, we went inside the convenience store one more time, and had lunch. When the guy at the sandwich store inside the gas station asked what did we want in our sandwiches, Manuel leaned in the glass in order to see the toppings better, and asked very enthusiastically "Is that pickle there!??" To which the guy, who had a Mahwah and black finger nails responded "yes. Please don't lean on the glass." We seated to eat our lunch, and the other attendant, a woman, came and wiped our neighbors' table while she complained about having to actually having to do something at work, and how much life stunk. In the meantime, our truck's emergency lights blinked in the distance...

A little over an hour later, the mechanic calls and tells us that, unfortunately, he won't be able to make it, so he decided to send his friend in a yellow AAA truck to come pick us up, and that he should be there in five minutes. Fifteen minutes later, a guy in a yellow AAA truck comes into the gas station, and Meg waves her hand at him. He waves back and drives right through us. A few minutes later he comes back and says "Sorry, I guess you were the guys I was looking for."

The AAA guy takes us to our U-Haul truck, attaches it to the yellow truck, sneaks through the window and says "Do you want to know what happened to the truck? Out of curiosity? The motor blew up!!"

This guy took us to the U-Haul store where we got the truck, which is, according to mapquest, 2.95 miles away from our house. So, it is 4:00 PM, and we are walking home under one of the hottest days of the summer's sun. Life can't be any better.

Oh, I almost forgot. The garbage is still there...

Big One Two: The Power Thingy Is Finally Done

After we moved, we realized that the power cables that came from the street pole were about to fall into pieces. Piece of crap. The cable must be old as the house (and according to the neighbors, who try to demonstrate the historic importance of the house, this was one of the first ones in the neighborhood!)





When I called the city to see if they could replace the cables, they said "yeah, sure, no biggie. There's a problem, though. Your meter doesn't comply with the code, and you need to move it to the west side of the house." It's a "wesside" meter now. The problem was that these cables shouldn't turn around a corner of the house as the old cable did (first picture up there), and it has to be at least 30 inches away from any window, and these cables are like two inches above two of our windows.

It took the electricians three days to finish the thing. They removed the old meter and installed a new one. Then they had to connect the meter to the switchboard (which was also replaced), and it wasn't easy, since they are in opposite sides of the house now. Anyway, it's done, it looks better, and above all, now I know that my power cables won't fall apart any minute now.

The red bubble shows the old cable from the pole to the part of the house where it goes around the corner. The old meter was in the back of the house (south side):


The new cable is in the red bubble, and the green circle surrounds the new meter. You can see where they cut the old cable. For some reason they left a little bit of it:


Old/New switchboard. We still have to cover that hole on top of the new switchboard, but we have like 200 projects to complete first...

The Nastiest Shed Ever

These guys used to have a dog in the shed. The shed was covered with straw, and surrounded by a kennel.





Problem: there was poop in the straw. Lots of it. The shed was so stinky, it wasn't even funny. So, after a few hours, and a bunch of garbage bags, later, we were done.



The shed now shelters our garden tools, and after having bleached the floor, thoroughfully sprayed the place with Fabreze, and letting two of those nice smelling cones that are supposed to di-stink rooms, the shed still smells like a zoo. Gosh, I hate that dog... Yeah, it was all the dog's fault...

It's doorless for now, but as soon as someone gives me a door, I'll fix that.

Big One One: The Tree's Gone!

I mentioned this huge, ugly tree that we had in the front of the house. It was ugly, the pine needles killed the grass, and it didn't let any light in. So, it's gone.

This is how the house looked with the pine (ugly):





View from inside the house (dark):



View from the back:



A friend of a friend of a friend came and chopped off the tree for really cheap. It took him three days, but he used most of that time cleaning up the branches. I wanted to film it, but I thought that the guy would have felt really uncomfortable, so I just took some pictures now and then. The process was very interesting. We noted that at some point or another, all of our neighbors came to see it, and also that the people that drove by had their heads in funny angles trying to see the guy in top of the tree.

The guy first cut the branches, from the bottom up.



Then, he started cutting the trunk, chunk by chunk.



End of the first day:





Final thing:



View from inside (with tree and blinds gone!)



The front of our house now:



Leftover wood (cheap!!!)

Paint

I definitively hate painting. But we finished the living room, so that's good. It's actually the hardest room to paint, because it's so big, and because it was painted this ugly dark brown, so it took like three coats of paint when we applied the lighter yellow.

The paint took forever to get here, because it's supposed to be this really good paint (Benjamin Moore), and we had to special order it.

We painted two of the walls Butter, and two Yellow Something. In this picture you can make up the butter color in the right, and the old brown in the left (the brown looks brighter than it actually is).



The Butter color in the opposite wall:



Comparing the three colors: The Butter (right), the old brown, and the Yellow Something (Left). I accept donations of new digital cameras.



Final thing:



The wall that connects with the kitchen had some ugly gray, 70s looking, counter tops, and I forgot to take a picture of them, but here they are after we ripped them off:



Wall without the counter tops:



After plastering and painting:



Meg wants to put some ceramics on it, which I'm sure will make it look much nicer than it is now.

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Random Picture:

Little Things

So, a week after I fixed that danged pipe, it broke somewhere else. Fortunately, this time it was easier to fix because it wasn't under concrete like the last time, but it still was a pain, and it worries me that the whole thing is going to come apart.

Besides that, we've been cleaning the shed and the house. The shed was covered in hay, because it used to be the dog's house, so it was also covered in crap. Literally, crap and solidified hair. Nine large hefty bags later, only the zoo smell remains.

It kills me that I can't organize better inside the house because we can't paint yet, and we can't paint because the paint we ordered is not here after forever, and who knows when it's going to arrive. So, in the meantime I have to entertain myself doing the lawn and cutting the ugly bushes outside our windows.

Some little things we've done this week:

1. We replaced the outside light fixtures. The old ones were pretty rusty and full of garbage inside.




Yes mama, I'm cheap and crappy, but I'm clean, I'm clean!
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2. We replaced the shower head. The old one was dirty and it didn't have any presure. We replaced it for one of those huge ones. I love it.

Ok, I forgot to take a picture of the old one when it was still installed, but you got the picture. It's up there, in the left. You know.

3. The mail box.
This was supposed to be an easy one, but it took me a while. The soil was fill with rocks, so I had to dig two feet and just then I could stick it. It's a small thing, but the front of the house looks much better already.

I told you these were small ones. This and next week we are doing the big ones: we are changing the power meter to a different wall, because the wires are extremely old and about to fall apart, and the power company won't replace them until we decide to comply with the darned code (big and expensive: now you have a hint for birthday, Christmas, son's day, etc.'s presents). Also, we are cutting the big tree in front of the house. There are two big trees, but we are starting with the bigger one, because it's right in front of the living room window, and we can't get any sunlight at all.

Right Before Hitting 30...