YouTube link: Day 20 No Sleep No Cry
Nov. 25,2017
Woke up at 1am, 3am, 7am
Today was a bit of a struggle for me. I didn’t get very much sleep last night due to the rain.
YouTube link: Trotting Through the Mud
After trotting around in the mud all day to take a shower, use the restroom, and cook breakfast, I finally Continue reading “Day 20”
Nov. 26, 2017
Woke up at 7am
Today started like any old day. Only this time I was immediately greeted by the neighbor’s dogs (all 9 of them). As soon as I leave the confines of my tent they are all huddled about 30 yards from me barking like crazy. After about 6 days of this, I have just about had enough. I decided to start throwing rocks. Don’t worry not at them, but at the trees near them. This usually scares them off. Well, they retreat into their own property and continue to bark from there, but it’s good enough for me to continue my morning. I will try to get some video of this so everyone can see what my morning routines have become.
Later in the day, I decided it was time to go do laundry. So I loaded up the van and headed for the laundromat. Only 3 miles into the drive the engine stalls and the wheels start to lock up. So I Continue reading “Day 21”
Edit: Replaced the video after having the grammar and spelled checked by the wife.
YouTube link: Day 22 Rain Rain Go Away
Nov. 27, 2017
Woke up at 7am
Today I received the deliveries for the floor material, piers and bases via Home Depot. This proved to be somewhat difficult due to the torrential rain. Also, the guy came to drop off my water catchment tank. Luckily the driver was able to come up on the property and drop the tank because he was driving a 4X4. The home depot delivery seemed to be a bit more challenging.
Obviously, the materials are a lot heavier than the catchment tank, but that did not stop this driver. This guy really knew how to drive that forklift. Keeping in mind it was no ordinary lift. More like a forklift on Continue reading “Day 22”
YouTube link: Day 23 Placing Bases
Music: www.bensound.com
Nov. 28, 2017
Woke up around 7am
This time I woke up to the sound of Hank coming up the driveway. He hopes that we can go and take back my chainsaw to get the one he prefers. If you are wondering why does he care which brand I get for a chainsaw that’s not even his, it all became quite clear after purchasing the one he said was better. He asked if he can borrow it to cut some bamboo trees on his property. I was a bit hesitant at first, but he did offer to give me some of it afterward and I could definitely use this for some decor around the home.
After agreeing to let him borrow the chainsaw he quickly shifted the conversation into Continue reading “Day 23”
YouTube link: Day 24 Making Breakfast
Music: www.bensound.com
Nov. 29, 2017
Woke up at 4:00am
This was a pleasant awakening as the wife and I found out we are going to have a baby boy today! She called me after the ultrasound and sent me the photos. Obviously, I was unable to go back to sleep after this.
Nov. 30, 2017
Woke up at 7am
Today was a bit of a wash for me. It rained all day long. I was forced to reschedule my Home Depot delivery, which means I should be starting on the walls by now, but it seems that this will not be happening anytime soon. So far I have 6 bases with posts on them. It rained biblically today so no telling what I might find tomorrow. I started off today making a run to the hardware store but realized I had nowhere to enter my property, as the rain had flooded the driveway home site. So, I drove back to the shopping center and sat in the parking lot for 6 hours while I waited for the rain to clear. When I returned most of the water had gone through the cracks in the ground and I was pleasantly surprised by this feature as this means there should be no puddling in our garden. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be a bit better.
YouTube link: Day 26 Building a Driveway
Music: www.bensound.com
Dec. 1, 2017
Woke up at…I have no idea… as I really didn’t get to sleep last night.
There was a big lightning storm all night and it sounded like a freight train as it passed directly over me. I pretty much got out of bed with the sun, but things were still pretty wet from the night before.
Nolan, the excavator guy, came and we decided to bring in some rocks for the driveway. Continue reading “Day 26”
YouTube link: Day 27 Finishing the Foundation
Dec. 2,2017
Woke Up at 7am
Went to Pharmacy first thing this morning and got some blister Bandaids along with some corn cousins to put under my socks. This has relieved some much-needed pressure of the blisters on my left foot. Now to heal the cut on my right palm I got yesterday as well. I slipped in the mud and caught my hand on a rock when I tried to catch myself. I had to go out and buy a new pair of gloves as the ones I have now are all soaking wet and starting to smell like mold.
I did manage to put up all the two by sixes that will hold up the subfloor. However, once I started putting in the bolts I realized I had ordered the wrong size. I did not account for the depth of the washers on each side and therefore came up a little short on my measurements. So it is off to HD in the morning to exchange these for new ones. Also, to talk with them about not receiving the last shipment I had rescheduled. They were supposed to show up today with all of my wall material. We will see how it goes.
Dec. 3, 2017
Woke up at 7am
Made it to Home Depot and got my delivery rescheduled for Monday. Also got the new bolts and made it back in time to install these guys into the framework. They didn’t have the amount of the size I needed, so I improvised on four of the bolts with even longer
ones. I can either cut or grind them down later, or not worry about it since they are on the inside posts and cannot be seen from the outside.
On a side note, the gate is starting to wiggle back and forth a little. This should not be too big of a problem as it is mainly a deterrent. You can basically just
walk around the thing if you really wanted to. I will make sure and reset these into concrete before I leave here.
Dec. 4, 2017
Woke up at 6:00am
Went to go meet Nolan out at Home Depot around 7am. Of course, they did not make it until closer 9, but hey, it’s the Island right. I swear I will get used to this island time situation. 🙂
After we purchased the materials we headed over to Nick’s place to gather the generator and some water. Once we were done there it was a quick stop for breakfast and then off to start making the cap for the cesspool. (11 am). About a little over halfway finished and we realize we do not have enough cement to finish the job. And by this time it was too late to go back and get more as it will be dark soon and we will be unable to work. This was again absolutely my fault. Nolan told me we would need 36 bags to finish the job and I went with 28. Well, guess how many bags of cement we were short by? That’s right, 8 bags. You would think I have learned my lesson by now and listen to the pros when they offer their knowledge.
So, it looks like I will have to go and get the rest later and complete this myself. I have no
one to blame but myself. I could have gotten a whole pallet of cement but I was so sure we had enough with 28 bags. I am really beating myself up about this as I knew this would mean working on this project tomorrow instead of continuing on the house. At this point, I feel like anything and everything is preventing me from working on the home.
Munky's Hawaiian Adventure 