Car Update and Camping this Weekend

This is the site where we will build the hotel. Once our construction starts it will be tight quarters as far as laydown room goes. The fence on the far side is the eastern edge of the property. Where that light pole is in the middle of the lot is about the middle of the building. Where the light pole and those trailers are will be a 22-foot deep hole stretching across the lot by next weekend.

I got the Honda back last night. They were able to fix it for a reasonable price. They had to reset the SRS system and they replaced the wiring harness that feeds into the washer pump. I don't know if there was more I could have done, but I am just glad to get that over with. I enjoy working on cars when it is not stressful; I hate working on them when I cannot find the problem. My old Dodge Van is ready to be put to rest. The brakes are starting to go. They cannot stop on a dime like our other cars. It slows to a stop. It is our mobile storage unit more or less.

Van has started to smile and giggle a lot. He watches Stone and Rusty and tracks them around the room as they walk. He will giggle and make big, bright-eyed smiles when he gets excited. I took some great pictures with my phone but haven't had a chance to upload them to the computer yet.

This is a shot of the 2 conventional cranes they are using on the other project.

Last night we got out the tent and set it up on the grass to make sure it is dry and ready. The boys helped me put the poles together and clip on the hooks to the poles. I made a couple phone calls to friends last night about Devil's Head, the area we are planning on going. Everyone I talked to said it is a great area and not a long drive from town. There is a 1.25 mile hike up to the lookout tower that takes you up just under 10,000 ft in elevation. Maybe Tim will be up for it bright and early Saturday morning before all of the kids wake up. We both need the workout as our fall flag football season is quickly approaching.

They are so tall we can see them from our place in Littleton about 11-12 miles away. On our job next door we will have a large tower crane and a smaller crane to pump concrete through.

Speaking of football, we had a scrimmage last Saturday against a fellow team in our league. They have an excellent quarterback who doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I was really happy with our defense though. While we never intercepted him, we did a good job defending them. We ended up winning by 2 TD's despite about 5 turnovers on our part. I did have an interception though it wasn't thrown by their QB. In the league we play in, they allow the receiving team on a punt to throw a forward pass if the guy catching it has not taken more than 2 steps. I punted the ball and then intercepted the pass.

This is a picture inside the lobby of the Palazzo Verdi job adjacent to the hotel we will be starting next week. It currently is at the 11th story of the first half of the building. They are building it in 2 phases. In this picture they are working on utilities and putting down void form. The stack on the right is void form. They pour the concrete on it when it is laid out and the ground is able to expand under the concrete without causing the concrete to lift and crack.

Janna and the kids came and watched and the boys did a good job of finding every possible ball that had ever been left around the field ( 2 tennis, 1 lacrosse, and 1baseball core with the yarn now off). Janna said Rusty found a plastic tampon applicator (? is that what they're called?) and he put it on the end of a stick. He was so proud.

Today my cousin Cassie and her boys are coming to see us on their way to St. Louis. We are excited to see them.

Car Troubles

I started the at the new office on Monday. I had to go drop off the truck at my old office and say goodbye to everyone before reporting at the Building Group. Janna and the boys followed me over and brought me back home. I spent last weekend getting the Honda Accord ready to go.

Unfortunately the electrical problems it was having before have gotten worse. I didn't have to worry about the problems when I had the truck, but now that the Honda is my primary form of transportation, it is a glaring mess. I replaced everything that I knew was part of the problem, but now other problems have surfaced. My battery is being drained by a grounded wire somewhere, so when I wake up it is dead and when I need to drive it during the day it isn't strong enough to start or even turn over the engine.

Thanks to Walmart's great warranty I replaced the 3 month old battery to eliminate the mechanic blaming the battery. I took it in to Ralph Schomp Honda yesterday and they are supposed to do a diagnostic on it and hopefully find the problem fast. All of the other shops I called wanted to start at square 1 and charge $90/hour til they find the problem. This place said they would do an electrical diagnostic for about $50, so I went with them. I felt better too, knowing they are a Honda-specific shop. I advised them to disconnect the battery until they could work on it since it was a brand new battery, but they didn't listen. I am hoping it is a quick fix-simple solution and not drain the bank account. I requested that they call me before charging me a small fortune.

As a result, I had to get the old '78 Dodge Van up to speed. I warrantied its battery also at Walmart and put air in the tire with the slow leak. It started up like the Ferrari that it is and is ready to drive. On a side note, when warrantying a battery at Walmart go to a one without an Auto Department desk. That way they cannot test your battery to see if it still has a charge. They just warranty it and send you on your way. This saved me a lot of hassle and discussion.

I believe nothing gets me more stressed than car problems.