Thursday, March 31, 2011

Back in the High Life

It's been an interesting last couple of weeks. First there was the trip to St. Louis for Blake and Hannah's wedding, rounded out with a brewery tour and some time around the arch. No sooner than we had gotten back to town than I started re-packing for Europe. Destination Germany. Monday morning I was in the Blazer headed down to CR with a bag packed and laptops aplenty. The initial leg to Detroit was quite favorable and I was able to experiment with various window configurations for the new building using the MBA. Oddly, the woman next to me spent much time flipping through her binder of what appeared to be window configurations and cross-sections. After a short while she realized what I was doing and we struck up a conversation about...windows.

The 4 hour layover in Detroit went much quicker after a burger and a couple beers and after a bit I was in the air. I remember looking out the window as we went over St. John's Bay and watching the lights disappear into the darkness of night; next stop, Frankfurt.

The week was a blur of large and delicious meals, dark beers and little sleep. There's much to take in and much to wax philosophically about. Eventually I concluded that the people I traveled with were oblivious to their surroundings. I was searching out details- comparing and contrasting human behaviors, energy saving schemes, road signs and markings, construction details, similar but different items in stores, etc. They were searching out...bars. Eventually I got over the jet lag...just in time for the return trip. The 8 hour flight was made easier by the "on-demand" video system. I rewatched the highlights of The American, took in Unstoppable, and an awful movie, Hereafter. Described as "a thriller centered on three people who are haunted by morality". "Thriller" is not exactly the word that comes to mind.

Now it's been a week back in the country and I'm pretty much over the jet-lag. However a new problem...Construction Season.

Since we've been "on shutdown" I've had a little time to line the ducks up for April. Not only is the official move-in this weekend, but if weather holds for Sunday, the initial stages of construction will begin. This means hammering out details and drawings for the steel beams and columns, gathering materials for the downstairs framing, and at the same time getting the lodge back into shape. Today's post-work task was stocking up on 2x6's that were actually straight and usable, loading them all into the Blazer, and hauling them to the lodge. All 42 of 'em. Yesterday it was treated lumber post-work. The day before it was hauling the trailer to Waterloo for a load of glass and jalousie windows. And the day before that it was a lodge visit (damn mole!) and getting the trailer roadworthy.

Tomorrow, a visit to the steel fabricator's and the engine rebuild machinist. Plus starting on the Lodge's spring punch-list.

I think it's time for bed.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Know when to Hold 'em

There's a certain something in the air. Not quite the indicators of spring, after all, March in Iowa has been known to dump a lot of snow on us. But the pavement is covered in sand, and not the white stuff. The lawns look like matte paintings. A slight tinge of green and brown with the consistency of a brillo pad. And occasional days of sun.

This bodes well because I'm eager to get Cold Storage III off the ground, and that means excavating for pier footings. Hard to do with frozen earth.

It was a whirl-wind-weekend. I spent the majority of Saturday fighting off the effects of Friday night. Getting up after only a few hours sleep and hitting the open road was rough, too. A tankard of coffee and Mickey D's helped get the motor going, and after a couple hours Ben started feeling better as well. We took his Tahoe down to DM for an appliance haul, and a random CL search turned up an extremely rare appliance find in CR of all places. It was unfortunate we didn't have a lot of time to snoop out the small towns, but that kind of venture really needs a dedicated day. Flashlights. And a flatbed. So we criss-crossed the state, unloaded the goods shortly before Cara made it back to CF and decided at the last minute to grab a bite to eat at Z's. My hot beef sandwich was pretty good, but not as good as Cara's reuben. Exhausted, I hit the pillow shortly after getting home and slept for 12 hours.

I've pretty much hit the wall with headway on the basement front. What needs to leave in the first wave when the new bldg is complete is packed and ready. A big pile of stuff is set for the spring garage sale. And there's still some items that'll hit the rubbish bin once there's more room to maneuver. So now it's a waiting game. My goal is to get the new building up and closed in this year. Yes, start laughing now. It may not be sided (I'd like to focus on the siding as a single event), and I don't plan on full bathroom/kitchenette completion upstairs. But structure complete, insulation and wall covering, typar wrap, roof, locking doors, downstairs floor, operable windows in, etc. is the goal. Then the exodus will begin!