4/22-24/08 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

The drive over was absolutely beautiful with the mountains covered with fresh snow. I arrived at 12:30. As soon as I entered the trailer, I discovered that the heater had gone out. For the past couple weeks, I had been leaving the heater on while I was gone but with the thermostat set to 50 degrees. That way it would keep the mayonnaise in the refrigerator from freezing.

After moving in and having lunch, I worked on the heater for a couple hours trying to fix it. I could see where the heating element had separated from one connector and I tried to reconnect it using the spring from inside a wire nut. The problem was that I didn't have much access and I just couldn't fasten it by reaching between the fan blades with needle-nose pliers. I decided to take the heater home and work on it there. In the meantime, I got the big electric heater from the cabin and used it to heat up the trailer. It worked fine, but it is awkward being so big.

Next, I went to work cleaning up the mess the boys had made on the marble hearth under the wood stove. There were big black sooty oily stains and splashes all over the front. Ellen had done some research on how to clean marble and she sent along a bottle of special soap that I was supposed to use as the first attempt. I mixed up a bucket of hot soapy water and went to work on the marble with a brush. To my amazement, the black stains came right up with very little scrubbing. I had some towels and a bucket of clear water which I used to rinse and dry the marble. It ended up looking as good as it did before the boys' mischief. I was relieved and happy.

The snow that was covering the gate log had melted down quite a bit since last week, so I decided that this would be the week to put it back up. I shoveled the remaining 6 to 8 inches of snow off the top of the log so that the sun could melt it loose.

Then I sawed 6 inches off two of the legs of my trench depth gauge. Now I could use it to check the depth of both a 21" deep trench and a 27" trench. I tested the depth of the trench I had already dug and found that it was plenty deep in most places. I went to work digging and got all of it deep enough except where the bedrock was near the surface. That's where the concrete vault will be needed.

On Wednesday it snowed a little, but then turned to a light intermittent rain. I called and talked to Darren Wurl at the PUD and learned that the post I bought for the meter base was too small. I need a 6x6x10. I'll have to go back to Dunn Lumber and exchange it. Darren also briefed me on how to proceed with the service installation and he said he would send me a booklet explaining it all.

Since I planned to work in the loft, I built a fire in the stove so it would be nice and comfortable up there. With the fire started, I rerouted the temporary service wire to get it out of the 2" conduit where the permanent service needs to go and run it through a smaller conduit that also goes through the foundation wall. I had to remove a receptacle box from the end of the wire, reroute it, re-attach the receptacle box, and then replace the mouse and mosquito screens over the ends of the conduits. I made a few dumb mistakes in the process, but I got the job done.

In the process, Bill called and we had a nice chat. He told me about Dave's latest experience in the sailboat regatta and he told me about the mysterious guy who built the Coral Castle in Florida.

After I hung up with Bill, and finished the wiring, I re-energized the cabin and went in for lunch. After lunch, I brought a scaffold frame, a short chain, a come-along, and the cordless drill down and replaced the gate log. I've got the system down pat now, so it didn't take me long to get the gate up.

Next, I removed the distribution panel, turned it upside down, and screwed it back in the same place. Brian Kemly told me that Square-D makes the only panels that can go either way like that. The way it is now, the feed is from the bottom rather than from the top. That will make a lot neater installation.

Finally, I went up to the loft and laid out the receptacle boxes against the wall where I want to install them. I hope to get them and the connecting EMT installed in time to get them inspected at the same time the L&I inspector checks the service trench and conduit. That way I can go ahead and finish chinking the loft without a separate inspection. I set up my tools and got a start chiseling before I quit for the day.

On Thursday morning, I started another fire in the stove and started chiseling the recesses for the first outlet box in the loft. I got the first box installed and left for home at 1:45.

4/25/08 I exchanged the post I had bought earlier for a PT 6x6 10. I also bought four lengths of 3/4" EMT and some connectors. I also called Verizon and ordered the telephone wire I will run in the utility trench after it is dug and before it gets covered. I also received the booklet from the PUD. I read the booklet and learned that I need to include a conduit for a fiber optic cable along with the electrical conduit. The booklet says I can pick up the fiber cable in Wenatchee.

4/26/08 Ellen and I attended a meeting of the LHBA. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had a great barbeque and ate on the grass outside Skip's house. We brought our model and albums so we were allowed to drive up instead of walk. Ellen won a door prize of a set of drill bits and attachments. We had a good time talking with other LHBA members.