Pool Construction is under way

I will add some pictures to the blog, but this is a free service and the picture feature decided to have a small fit and refuses to work. It was a hectic week with the demo which I added earlier and then the actual dig on Friday. They ended up knocking down about twenty feet of fence which I've jerry-rigged back together for the time being. They finished the demo on Thursday and I was at work and listening to Darla describe the devastation over the phone ("You better get here, they just knocked down another fence post..oh, and there goes the fence!") Very comforting as I'm sitting at my desk trying to get some actual work done. I told Darla that I'd relieve her in the afternoon, but that I had an agency lunch that I had to attend. She called me at lunch about 12:50 and said that she had to leave, but the fence had been moved to the side and she was concerned about the neighbor's dogs. She called Dwight behind us and he'd put the dogs away. Darla claims that I can't handle the mess of construction, but she sounded pretty stressed out herself.

I finally did get home and they finished up about 2:30 and were on their merry way. They pulled the tree stumps out which is what caused a portion of the fence to fall. I spent the balance of the afternoon putting the fence back together. It was a jigsaw puzzle of broken crossbeams and broken fence boards. There wasn't any one section long enough to close the gap in the fence, so I had to put two broken fence sections together as one longer piece and nail that on to the existing fence. It took me about an hour, but what's there should hold us over until the construction is done.

Darla and I have decided to have a fence contractor come in and redo all of our perimeter fencing. As part of that job, I will have him extend the fence onto the side yard behind the shed and will pour a driveway for the jet ski. The boys and I will have to take out two eight-foot high shrubs that sit along the fence line next to the shed and also border our next door neighbor behind us. Those areas will now be part of an expanded backyard where we will store the ski. Currently we have the ski at Alicia's house, which is nice as it is stored in a garage, but it doesn't lend itself to spontaneity. I will also build a shelter for the ski that will sit over it and keep it out of the sun and rain. The driveway will be 10'x 20' and will be able to accomodate a car if we ever buy an old truck or a toy to drive on weekends.

It is getting exciting as we can now see how the backyard will look with the pool. I will have the fence guy build a retaining wall of 18" in height behind the pool which will hold the dirt behind our raised waterfall and will be a focal point of our planting behind the pool. The spa is gone and we won't replace it for a few years (or until I get a sizable bonus)and I will put in a sundeck on the spot that the spa sat. I will likely follow the theme of stamped concrete, but I'm considering having a deck of pavers put in. I have to replace the sidewalk that Dad and I poured when we put in the shed as it is being beat up by the Bobcat, so I will extend the deck to the shed and up to the driveway that we will pour on the side of the house. The driveway will follow to the street and the fence will have a double RV gate that will swing open to allow us to pull in the ski. The fence has to sit back off of the sidewalk by 24", which is code in Roseville. That will allow us to keep the basketball goal that we have cemented in on the side yard. The boys don't use it much anymore, but the neighborhood kids do.

I had a contractor come out on Friday and give me a quote on the fencing and driveway and his sum total was $16,400. I just about swallowed my tongue when he came out with that. I am having a redwood fence put in for $20.25 a linear foot, or $4,232 for the 209 linear feet of perimeter fence I'm having done. I figure that I can get the driveway poured for about $1700 and the deck and sidewalk should run about $2500. Where this guy got $16,400 for his job I don't know. He was charging $11,500 for the fence, which is about $55 a linear foot. I got a quote of $15.25 a linear foot for cedar, but want to upgrade to pressure treated redwood and metal posts set in concrete. The driveway was going to cost another $5,000 with this doofus. He was shocked that I didn't jump at his proposal.

The dig on Friday was actually pretty easy. I stayed home and was there when they laid out the template for the pool and we made a few minor changes, moving the steps for the shallow end closer to the slider and moving one of the two pool lights so that it wouldn't get shadows from the steps. I was very impressed with the bobcat operator. He's been doing it for about 14 years and he can spin that on a dime. He had about six inches of room between him and both the shed and side of the house and he was able to maneuver it by at a fairly high rate of speed. He was also able to pick up dirt in the pool shell and spin the bobcat around and drive it straight up the ramp and through the gate opening without slowing. He narrowly missed breaking the benderboard as he shot up and down the ramp. The actual dig only took about two hours. They spent three hours leveling the backyard, setting the template and then starting the dig.

I have a stump from a tree I had taken out that needs to be removed and it is right in the access for the pool electrical and plumbing. I talked to my tree company and they scheduled the stump grinding for December 6th. I called her back and said that I need it done Monday or Tuesday. I have calls in to three different tree companies to see if someone can get out here this week to grind down that stump. We can't pull it as it is right next to the existing concrete stamped deck and right next to the fence.

With all of the excitement of the pool dig, I was still able to get out and play golf this weekend. It rained overnight Friday and was still sprinkling on Saturday, but Bob Pando and I braved the elements and were one of a small handful of golfers at the course on Saturday. Boyd bailed due to the rain (if you are retired and play every day, why play in the rain?) Karl, from our life group, also bailed and Bob and I played 18 holes in about 3 and-a-half hours. The course was wet and my grips were soaked by the time we finished. I struggled to a 44+42=86 and Bob shot a very nice 43+40=83 which included three straight "chip ins" on the back nine. Bob played high school golf in San Jose and is one of the best chippers I have ever seen. He has soft hands and the ball just seems to float out of its lie and land softly on the green. He was chipping beautifully when he shot 74 last weekend.

We will celebrate Thansgiving with Darla's parents next Saturday. I have a tournament in the morning and have asked for the first tee time and will join the family in Paradise for turkey and ham and some thanksgiving to our Lord and Saviour. Jennifer and John will join us. Jennifer hasn't seen Earl and Frances since she got home and the extended family hasn't met John either. It should be a nice day.

Well, I have a Home Office visitor in again tomorrow and that usually takes me off my game in the office. If they aren't addressing the staff, they usually take up residence in my office and want to "chat". I suppose with the twelve or fifteen managers that don't produce business, it would be a welcome diversion. For me, it just places me squarely behind the eight ball which I have been lining up since the start of the pool project. That is the main reason I'm updating the blog from home. I need to start right in with my sleeves rolled up at 7 AM tomorrow morning.

I hope that you are all well and that you give some real thought to what you have to Thank the Lord for this holiday season. For one, I thank HIM for all of you. Ciao.