Yep, out at the property moving dirt again. That’s what I do on days it doesn’t actually rain. Got a LOT moved today. I think I’m about as far down as I’m going to go in the dome hole. Now the opening to the dome hole is full of dirt that I get to push downhill. Ought to have plenty of dirt for the bottom of the road!
Damn nice day out. Well, it could have been 20 degrees warmer; but it wasn’t raining or snowing! That’s always a plus up here!
Took the new hydraulic hose out and spent about 20 minutes running it where the old one was. Then took 5 minutes to take it back out because I had put it in wrong end first. Then another 20 minutes putting it back. Screwing the one end of the hose in was a bear but it mostly went in easily. Then the next hour was spent putting the dozer back together. Phew. But I did get to push dirt today and pushed a lot. The dome hole is starting to look like a hole again! Cool!
I have a rather nasty leak in one of my hydraulic hoses (can’t tilt the blade left) that I should have fixed; but decided that I was going to hook up the backhoe and use it today. So I did that. Moved a LOT of dirt away from the sides in the dome hole and tried to widen the road leading to the dome hole. Then I moved it all around with the blade (remembering NOT to tilt the blade). Got quite a bit of work done. Started trying to take the hose off when I was tired of moving dirt for the day. I wish JD had made a dozer with something easy to repair/replace without taking half the damned dozer apart! Can’t get the ’step’ thingie off to have access to the hose and it got dark before I was finished. So I’ll have to do that tomorrow. Then I’ll have to run to Tacoma for a new hose. Then back to the property to put it on. Looks like my day is planned tomorrow.
Let’s see if I have this right: Jenny N. at the Planning Dept is insisting we hire a company to come out and measure the little wires that will be sticking in the shell (used to measure how much shotcreet is sprayed) and said company (located in Tacoma) will have to come out EACH DAY for 10-18 days at a cost of $45/hr (minimum 4 hours) AND travel expenses each of those days to measure how much shotcreet has been sprayed that day. We have to hire this company because the Inspectors for the Planning Department have not been taught to read a ruler and cannot be taught to read one to measure these wires with any degree of competency NOR will they allow SWMBO or I (who can read a ruler very well) do the measuring ourselves. Well, let’s just add that to the list…
This on top of having to hire a company to take several ‘cores’ of the shotcreet at $400 per because the Planning Department can insist on the tests but are incapable of doing said tests.
This on top of the Planning Department talking to ONLY their ‘experts’ (you know – people that have built swimming pools but have NO experience with cement DOMES) and not to one of the folks we’ve suggested they talk to. Plus putting any decisions on our place on a back burner for a couple of weeks until the new Manager came on.
I’ll tell you: it’s MY opinion that these people don’t know if their heads are buried in the sand or up their butts. (I’d vote for their butts.) I have never seen a more incompetent group of people in one office. (And I’ve seen a LOT of offices. I was in the NAVY for cripes sake!) You’d think anyone would want folks to build more energy efficient, safer stronger homes in their county and be happy to be in that county. Not to mention the bucks these folks would bring in! But these folks seem to have only THEIR butts, and jobs, in mind. I believe they believe if they can make it SO complicated that no one can possibly understand or comply with their ‘rules’ then their jobs are secure. Not that actually DO anything. Seems Jenny N. has set up a series of BAD decisions but is too (proud? Stupid?) to change her mind so she has to keep coming up with things to make her BAD decisions seem legitimate. And she’s so far in that she CAN’T change her mind for fear of looking like she doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing. Mike and Emmet are just as useless as far as I’m concerned. Neither is willing (able?) to tell their workers to get of their butts and DO some research and actually TALK to people that know what the heck they’re doing. Seems strange the the Planning Department can require all these special inspections (read: expensive inspections) but have NO IDEA how to actually DO them themselves. And they charge you a LOT of money to do Nothing.
Am I getting bitter? You bet I am. Stupidity always gets me upset. If I had ran my sick bay this way I’d have been crapcanned early! “Sorry, you need a flu shot. I’ve been trained how to do it but insist you go to this doctor in town and pay $180 for it.” No, wait. That won’t work. I indicated training there. It’s pretty obvious that the Planning Department has NO training nor any desire to educate themselves. Sounds too much like work I guess…