Grand and Glorious Curmudgeon

 Things are moving right along.  Starting this week they tied on extensions to the truss work that went up last weekend.

It turns out there is a tremendous amount of framing to be done to finish out the roof. We had to erect the two side walls on the outside of the containers, add all of the hurricane clips to tie the walls to the rafters, bolt the side walls to the containers.  Finished up most of the framing by Tuesday. Rain washed out most of Wednesday, we finished up all of the framing about noon today and went out to Menard’s to get 60 each 4’x8′ 5/8″ thick strand board.

Once we got the sheets of strand board they started slapping them up on the roof.

Took about 3 hours to get half of the roof covered.  Should get the rest of the roof covered tomorrow morning.

Half Done With the Roof.

Another View

In other news, I got the propane bottles re-inspected and filled; and then tested out the heater. After one false start (probably due to air in the lines) it started up and heated up the trailer nicely (it was 45 degrees out so getting the heater going was timely), Also checked out the propane hot water heater and that works fine.

Visited Bridger Steel Company (about halfway to Menards’s) to pick out steel for the roof and siding. After looking at what was available in the area (they have the same supply chain problems as everyone else) I picked out a light brown shade for the roofing. I’ll let AT actually order it, since he’ll get a contractor’s discount.

Finally, I gave the apartment my 2 months notice, I have to move out by Thanksgiving (Nov 25th).  At the rate this is going I don’t see any issues. 

We started off the week getting gravel delivered and spread between the containers. 

It took most of the day to spread the gravel and get it more or less level. But levelling it out provided a firm base for the scissor lift.

The next step was to glue & bolt some 2×6’s to the edge of the container and erect the side walls.

The next step will be to add extensions to the trusses out to another wall on the outside of the containers. The roof should extend beyond the containers by a foot or two.  The next step after that is to cover the roof with 4’x8′ sheets of stranded board and then with metal roofing.

While they were erecting the trusses, I was in Portland doing closing on the condo. I had signed all the paperwork a couple of days previously, but decided to fly back to Portland just to be sure. As it turned out it was needed. The original deed was issued to the family trust and the title company needed a copy of the Trust Document as well as Lindsay’s Death Certificate.  Ultimately the sale went through and the Trust Company paid out the proceeds on Friday afternoon.  I cleared enough to allow me to pay off the land loan and finance the initial stages of construction.

We seem to be making great progress.  This week we got both containers up on the concrete pads, welded 1/4″ steel plates that next week will be bolted down to the pads.  The welder also had a plasma cutting torch so he cut out spots for a door in each container.  See below for pictures.

Erect 4′ walls on top of containers to support roof trusses.

Put roof trusses above the walls to allow 12-14′ overhead clearance between containers to allow room for the 5th wheel trailer to park underneath.

Put on metal roof over trusses, and wall off the South end of the structure to allow trailer to be parked out of the prevailing winter winds.

Put down layer of gravel between containers and park the 5th wheel trailer in between the trailers.

In other news the Condo in Portland was on the market for about 4 hours before I accepted an offer. The offered price was $617K, well above the asking $599.9K with the provision that it be accepted before 9:00pm. It is scheduled to close next Friday 9/24.  Counting down.

I met with doctor with an eye to establishing a Personal Care Physician. She happened to be a female, Dr. Corrie White, but after having Dr. Lori Gluck for 20 years it was a non-issue. She was younger, (est mid-30’s) but knowledgeable and we discussed my health issues at length.  She wants to see me in 2 months for a A1C check and foot exam (poking) and is planning to do bloodwork, etc.  I asked her my go/no-go question: “What is your opinion of Ivermectin?”. She immediately acknowledged that that was a medicine whose use was now heavily politicized.  She acknowledged it’s use for 20 years without issue, until COVID hit. I think she gave a reasonable answer.  

 It’s now into the second week of September and I am finally making progress. This week we started pouring the pads for container #1. They are 2ea  40’x2.5’x1′ concrete pads (basically $1,058. of cement). AT had a couple of minions on call to help with pouring, surfacing, and edging.

The forms should come off tomorrow and we’ll set them up 26′ to the East for the other container. Should get them set up and poured by Friday.  Next week we should be able to place the boxes on the pads and sink the epoxy filled bolts and weld the plates on the containers.

 So, since I have an address I went back to the Buildings Dept to get a set of Address Numbers to post at the property to allow fire dept, etc to find the location.

Since there are a bunch of mail boxes at the intersection, I went into the post office to apply for one of the boxes. Unfortunately I got a call the next day that all of the dozens of boxes were currently occupied and I would need to go to the Evansville Post office. Once I had established that I indeed owned the property I was offered a free Post Office Box until the situation was resolved. So my mailing address will be 

• Dean Kling
• PO Box xyyz
• Evansville, WY 82626

I spent a couple of hours going through a ton on RV documentation. I think that the RV will be much more livable than I had been planning for. I need to look at getting slab put down and maybe a roof to ameliorate the summer sun.  Something like this: