Friday. Finally. Odd week at that. Spent my evenings trying to recharge my batteries (semi-successful) and took advantage of the warm temps mid-week for some staining, planing and painting. Unfortunately, yesterday's oddball spring storm and day-long mist meant I'd be walking in the rain, through the mud and standing water (ground still frozen) for a little lodge action. And I was tired, too. I turned to plan B: courthouse for title transfer and plates, parts store for a pressure hose for the Blazer (rewards card, cha-ching!), a quick stop to investigate a couple woebegone Cads, inspection of a tractor that's priced right and will soon be needed out at the land, pickup of laundry and signing the lease extension. Then home for a movie, cold beer and a good pipe.
I had one of those life-imitates-art experiences Wednesday afternoon. Stopped by the UNI surplus sale preview after work and the fella that runs the place saw me eyeing a Radarange they had up for sale. We're perfect strangers except for him remembering I'm the guy that bought a 5' tall spotlight earlier in the year. While looking over the merchandise, he mentioned he had done a little research on it earlier in the day and that he felt the $10 price was fair. After all, there's a guy on the internet that will sell you the trays for $25 alone! I grinned, looked at him and asked, "would you believe I’m that guy?" He stared at me, not sure how to reply or if he even heard me correctly. After a moment, and without missing a beat, he replied, "Oh, so you have that model." And thus, the circle of absurdity is complete.
We'll be shifting into March here momentarily and suddenly, without warning, the water and ice on top of that soil is going to disappear completely overnight. It's strange to observe. An additional day or two of sun and wind and the dirt will be ready for work. The PoCo can get their trenching contractor in for power without getting stuck. I can deploy the post hole auger and get some timber in the ground. Temps will be up enough to schedule the brick work. And with dedicated power, I can actually weld. It really is the kickoff of construction season as it use to be (before the days of crews pouring cement in the dead of winter). But things won't be in full swing until May. The most action always happens in May.
It's interesting to look back 36 months to March '06. Pictures show a brown, dry landscape. Us in jackets. A pile of I-beams on the ground and a cement pad, waiting. I made a statement back around December this year that barring temp related activities, March will be the turning point, the "conclusion" to the project. I'll stand by that. We're ready for the carpet crew to roll in now (yet it might be May before we find the right red!). Interior glass gets ordered next week. All the sheetrock is in, upstairs and down; just need a mud job downstairs when temps improve. VCT is in boxes, waiting for a 50F slab. Same for the bathroom tile. Cedar is done. Woodwork is shellaced. End of the month, both garage doors will be ready for installation and the exterior front soffits and fascias should be done, too. Etc. Etc. April through June will be the finishing touches. The exterior railing, gluing Formica over the installed cabinets, epoxy painting the floor. Cars and furniture should be rolling in. Lots of exterior action in the yard, too, when summer breaks. Planting trees. Seeding the prairie. Building fences. Pouring more cement. Constructing both the pumphouse AND a picnic shelter. Improvements to the road. A new gate. Should be a "good" time!
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