Blog

Gary’s post: I think I’m going to stop identifying who’s writing the post and just assume it’s me. Clearly, Wendy isn’t going to post anything as it’s been 3 months and she hasn’t posted anything. No big deal, just keeps this blog oriented toward my point of view, which is the most important!!!

Happy Easter! Today was a chill day with amazing spring weather. No wind, 70’s and clear skies. We got snow/rain, .32″ which we sorely needed. Of course, the trailer is now a dried, muddy mess because of the dogs. The dirt hear is adobe and it dries hard, so Harp has all the mud in his paws and when it dries, he limps because it’s rock hard. I’ve been working out the dried mud in his paws all day. I think I finally got most of it. And the dogs are driving me crazy. Juni keeps going around the property and eating cat poop. Harp is doing the same thing. I’m going to have to fence them in when I put them out because they can’t be trusted to be smart about what they eat. Sometimes dogs are just dogs – stupid animals that eat anything that smells good.

We walked the property today and tried to pick up all the trash that blew around from the construction site. I’ll pick it up this week and move it back to the site. There’s a lot of work the foundation guys need to do to clean up the trenches and get all the rebar installed this week. They also need to reinstall the insulation as it blew away from the foundation. I’m not sure they’ll be ready for CID this week. Tomorrow my handyman shows up and he’s going to install a gate on the northeast corner of the property between Dennis and I. I’ll have him install it on the property line so Dennis and I can use it.

We spent the afternoon riding our Can-Am in the desert with Wendy’s brother. It was fun and exhausting. We found some property the Dennis and Margaret bought on the west mesa. It was a great ride. We put 50 miles on the Can-Am and it’s pretty dirty, which is to be expected. Next week we are doing a ride in northern NM with a group of people. It should be interesting, and we’ll need to pack some food. I’ll test the UTV on the trailer and make sure I can get it strapped down. I need to research the off-road vehicle laws of Valencia county to make sure I understand the legality of driving our Can-Am on streets. I do have a horn and turn signals on the Can-Am, but I don’t think that’s enough. And after driving it for a while, I think I need to replace the tires as they are a bit unstable at higher speeds and in some of the loose sand. I’m thinking a cross-country tire is a better fit for this Can-Am. Just need to tweak it a bit, but it’s fun as heck to drive.

Tomorrow is laundry day, as usual. Need to wash off the dirt and clean clothes. I’ll wash the Can-Am, get the trash in for my in-laws and change a door handle. It’s kind of annoying that my days off are spent doing things for everyone else and not for me. I’m going to have to have a conversation with Wendy about volunteering my time off to do chores for everyone else. I’m NOT stoked about redoing the bathroom for Jim and Ann. It’s a lot of work and will take a lot of time that I don’t have. If I was retired completely, then maybe but not in this part-time state.

Speaking of part-time, I’m starting to think that this isn’t for me. I really don’t want to do anymore Itron work. If I work, I want to work for myself and do things that I want to do. I’d start my drone business but this current, lawless administration and the whole stupidity of “China fear” is making work with drones made in China impossible. There are so may laws about using China drones that make no sense and are passed by representatives that have NO understanding of reality of using drones and what’s available in the market. I may get my part 107 and try to do drone work on a piece meal basis and not start a company. Too many regulations about usage that make it hard.

I think I’ll do the part-time thing through the summer and see how I’m feeling. Having the workshop unusable with all our crap in it is starting to cause me angst. It’d be great to have the house done, but patience is required – which I’m not sure I can endure until the house is done. I really don’t understand how people can live in a trailer long-term. It’s DEFINATELY not for me. Too cramped and restrictive. It’s clearly a different lifestyle. I’ll endure.

Time for bed, need to get some sleep and rest. Pretty beat up (in a good way) from riding today. I’d love to go again tomorrow but can’t really go yet as I’m not familiar with the area. And I need more familiarity with our Can-Am and driving it. I think it’s smart to go with a partner as it’d be easy to roll the vehicle and get hurt with no one around. Safety is important.

Have a good evening.

Gary’s post: Haven’t posted in a few days as I was up in Seattle for an appointment with my Cardiologist. Things were in good shape, and he didn’t have much to “ping” me on. He was happy that I was starting Ozempic as it has some significant impact on heart events, i.e. a 20% decrease in potential events. Interesting side benefit. I house sat for my oldest and took care of his cats. He has two “Rag Doll” cats that are insane but really loveable. They are brother and sister, both neutered.

The house. Thursday the foundation crew finished up the insulation and covered it up with gravel fines. Those will be smoothed out and then packed right before they concrete is poured for the foundation.

Friday was crazy. The wall and roof panels were delivered and stacked. It’s amazing to think that the house is stacked and wrapped up waiting for the foundation to be poured and the frame to be built.

The large vehicle is used to lift the panels in place once the fame is built out. Foundation is scheduled to be poured this coming Friday, then sets for a week to harden. Then things begin to move forward pretty quickly. We’re looking forward to seeing the shell of the house to get a sense of the space.

Now we really have to start watching budget as we have all the fixtures and kitchen to pick out. And that’ll be easy to quickly overrun the budget if we’re not careful. We have a meeting with our General Contractor about budget and timing. We’re going to have to have a cabinet plan done also so we know how and where cabinets are installed. We’ll get Wendy’s friend to do the cabinet design and then drop shop the cabinets here. We’ll have out framing guy do the install.

Wendy finally got the stucco samples and picked out a color and it goes well with the brown windows. I think we have the major stuff done so it’s all about the small things – lightening, faucets, fixtures and wall switches.

Enough for tonight. It’s been a long day of travel. Time for a glass of wine and then bed. Tomorrow is Easter and breakfast with Wendy’s brother. Lookin’ forward to that and maybe a ride in our Can-Am in the desert. No dust now that it’s rained.

Take care and more later.

Gary’s post: Lots of work today on the foundation. They came and resized the foundation and adjusted the forms so that they fit the plans perfectly. There was work to clean out the foundation and compact the dirt so that the plumbing trenches are compacted and the foundation was even and level. I took the shot above at dusk this evening with my drone. It shows how the house is sited on the property and aligned with my brother-in-laws mobile home. The picture turned out pretty well and looks a lot like the site plan in the construction drawings. The house is sited a little bit different from the drawings, but I’m happy with it as it’s oriented on a true north/south axis.

The electrician was out also, and we discussed how to power the house and provide electricity to the site. We talked through the permanent solution and then providing temp power to the site. He also measured for the in-floor conduits and power for the island.

Met with our contractor a while ago and discussed a number of items. Friday the house panels are going to be delivered. Two semi’s for the panels. I talked to Dennis and Margaret and they are going to let us use their back pasture so the semi’s can exit after unloading the panels. Then next Monday the North gate get updated so Dennis and I have better access and easier ability to move things around both properties without having animals escape.

Tomorrow will be more of the same with the foundation folks putting down the insulation and then the gravel over the insulation. It’ll all get packed down. Next Monday will be the foundation pour.

More to come. Exciting times (and expensive times) with two years of planning finally coming to reality. It’s going to be really fun and educational watching this happen. I’m going to try and take lots of pictures and put together a timeline. We’ll see if I have the discipline to do that….

Gary’s post: A pretty routine day today. We shared breakfast with Wendy’s brother (who’s dealing with some back issues) at TJ’s New Mexican Restaurant. Then we went to the Albuquerque Home and remodeling show. It’s definitely NOT like Seattle and Dallas home shows. Much smaller and many fewer vendors. We did find a couple of good vendors at the show. One for sconces that are custom which we’ll use outside for lighting and another that does countertops – which are amazing. We talked to a landscaping company that does beautiful work using native plants and water conscious designs. Most interesting part of the show was the RV’s. We toured a beautiful 37′ 5th wheel that was a 4-season trailer so it would be much warmer and cooler than our current trailer. We’ll see where we are financially after we get the house built. We may trade in our current trailer for a new one that’s 4-seasons and livable full-time.

Did the Sunday shopping at Whole Foods for fruit and veggies. Didn’t get to ride the side by sides this weekend as Wendy’s brothers back issues precluded us going out on the UTV’s. Since I’m in Seattle this week, we’ll try for Sunday next week and maybe do a 40-60 mile ride in the desert. Should be fun and nice to take out the UTV. After we do the ride at the end of the month, I’ll do some maintenance on the vehicle and get it ready for our ride in May in the Monzano Forest out by Mountainaire. That should be fun.

I’ll keep this short tonight as today as pretty laid back and nothing huge happened with the house. Tomorrow will be more activity with foundation work continuing. I’ll post pictures.

‘Night

Gary’s post: Not much happening on the house yesterday and today. Yesterday things sat and I went and schedule to have an induction loop put in for the gate. That will let people out automatically without having to have a “clicker” or the entrance code. Simplifies things a bit.

Today Wendy and I went a looked at “stuff” for the house. It’s mind-numbing how many decisions we need to make for everything in the house. It reminded me of when my late wife and I tried to build a house early in our marriage. It was a complete disaster. We couldn’t agree on anything. She had a degree in interior design from Parsons School of Design – very prestigious design school on the East coast. I was an arrogant, pigheaded engineer who knew everything and wanted it all my way. Total disaster and largely my fault for being an idiot.

SO, this time I’m learning and trying hard to work with Wendy on this project. For me, the issue is the massive number of decisions we need to make. At this point in my life, I’m okay with just about everything Wendy picks out as her sense of style is similar to mind. One point of contention is that she is a big mid-century modern person and I’m not. I grew up with mid-century modern and it’s not my thing. I’m more into Shaker, modern and Chinese Chippendale – so there’s a disconnect there. Generally, I’m trying to stick to the construction, plumbing and mechanical stuff and let her pick floors, tile and colors. There are so many items that we need to decide on that I don’t really care what we get as long as it works and looks decent.

Today was a bit overwhelming but we did make progress. We found some lighting that we liked for outside. And we did make progress on cabinets, but we need to make sure they fit in budget. I think we’re going to have a professional friend of Wendy’s do the cabinet layout and design for us. Too many choices and options for my old brain – so let someone who does it for a living do ours.

Tomorrow we’re going to the ABQ Home show and wander around to get ideas and talk to people about fixtures, bathroom stuff, tile and landscaping. We need to get tile for the entrance picked out, flooring for the house, carpets for the bedrooms, hardware for the cabinets and the list goes on and on…

As for building the house. Next week a lot will be happening, and it’ll happen while I’m in Seattle (of course!) Monday, the foundation guys come and fix a few things and begin to lay out the insulation. Then the electrician comes and puts in the conduits for the electrical needed for in-floor and kitchen island. Then they put in crusher fines and pack things down. Week after is the slab pour. Then things sit for a few weeks while panels are delivered, and windows come. Then things begin to happen. May should be an interesting month. I need to talk to the electrician about how we power the house. And I’m a bit concerned about the heating and cooling. Our architect only has three mini-splits in the house. Two in the living areas and one in the garage. I know the house is super-efficient, but I would think we’d need them more in the bedrooms. That’s a conversation I need to have with our HVAC guys so we can wire for proper outlets.

Well, that’s pretty much it for today and yesterday. Life is a bit slower down here, which is a good thing. Tomorrow will be more house stuff, so I’m sure that will be interesting. It’s time to put out the puppies and get ready to wind down. More blogging tomorrow evening.

Gary’s post: Rough-in plumbing is done. Wendy is inspecting the work, fortunately the real inspector passed everything so we’re on to the next phase. Now for the electrician to set the conduit for the in- floor outlets and the outlets for the kitchen island. We had a small disconnect with the wall faucets, Wendy wanted them on the long side of the tub and said the back wall. The plumbers put in on the narrow side of the tub, but on the back wall. We’ll figure it out with our contractor on Monday.

The house is starting to take shape, and it’s going to be beautiful. This weekend we’ll spend looking at floors, faucets and lightening. And we need to get the kitchen appliances purchased. I’ll call our builders rep tomorrow and start getting quotes on appliances. I’ll need to go to Ferguson and look at their appliances also – the issue will be column refrigeration as it’s expensive and GE Cafe doesn’t have those, so I’ll have to mix with something else.

Tomorrow, I go on semi-retirement and start working 25 hours a week. I’m excited and not excited. With the current administration, it’s hard to know what is going on with Social Security the next four years. I would think that making any changes would cause massive revolt. You’d get a grey hair revolution. Hysterical to think about that. Thousands of wheelchairs flooding the streets of Washington DC. I think this will be good for me and what I needed. I’m more focused when I’m in meetings during the 3 days that I work. And I have a lot more energy, so I think this will work out for the next year. On my days off I’ll end up sitting the contactors and playing golf, shooting and riding my vehicles including my mountain bike.

Not much more happening. I think tomorrow will be electrical work and then foundation work early next week. Next week I’m back in Seattle for my cardiologist appointment. I have another appointment at the end of the month with a cardiologist here in NM. And I’ll get an endocrinologist and general MD lined up this month.

Well, it’s time for bed so I’m going to cut this short. We’re slowly starting to meet people, so we’re expanding our friend circles. This will take some time, but we’ll get there.

Tomorrow is Friday, so everyone enjoy and have a good evening.

Gary’s post: I’m skipping yesterday’s post and including all of it in this post. Yesterday was more of the same, plumbers finishing out the rough-in plumbing. Today they finished their rough-in plumbing and are ready for inspection tomorrow. I’m wondering if the inspector is our friend, John Tanner. We’ll see in the morning. So, plumbing rough-in is done. Next step is rough-in the electrical floor outlets in the living room, which is not a big deal. Then the rigid insulation is put down after the trenches are filled and compacted. Then the final 6″ of crusher fines which are compacted and then the concrete pour. Panels will arrive next week. Concrete should cure in about a week. During the cure time, I’m going to have the gate company put in the induction loop that does that auto opening of the gate.

Finished up the work on the Can-Am, added a spare tire rack so I think it’s about done. I just need a rear bumper and some lighted whips and the vehicle is as complete as I need it. I’m waiting on our dealer to call with the on-road license and sticker. Once I have that, I’m good to go around here. I still need the trailer license plate. Then I can load the Can-am on the trailer, bolt down the wheel locks and it’s ready to be hauled around NM and Utah. I’ll pick up a spare tire when I get the license plate from the dealer. I’m stoked to take it out again into the desert.

Wendy and I settled on a kitchen. I think we’re going GE Cafe for all the cooking and either Z-line or Jenn Aire for the refrigeration and wine cooler. We’re doing column freezer and refrigerator which is crazy expensive, but it allows us to separate the two and create a more interesting setup for the kitchen. I think we’ve decided on doing a “dark” kitchen because the house will have so much light that a dark kitchen will look much lighter and have a huge impact on the visual aesthetic without appearing like a cave.

I’m starting my semi-retirement this Friday, so I’m excited and nervous, but I believe this will be a very healthy thing for me. I think this will help me focus better when I need to work and be more productive. I really need to start moving back from work and focus on my new life here in NM and adjust and start to integrate into the city and circle. I’ve been thinking of running for political office at some point, but I’m not sure I’d be good at the job. We’ll see if maybe I run for a county commission position. I really want to integrate into this area and contribute to its growth and future.

Bought airline tickets today for our journey up north on Memorial day. We’re meeting up with friends and going to Walla Walla for a weekend of wine tasting. I need to get a tour arranged this week, so I’ll get on that later this week or first of next. Trying to sort out which company and which vineyards. It’ll be a fun weekend with friends. Hopefully we can see the grandkids before we head back to NM.

Alright need to head for bed as tomorrow is a big day with plumbing inspections and electrical work. And I get some packing materials delivered tomorrow so I can repack the rear bumper and send it back. I need to schedule a UPS pickup for Friday.’

I’ll update tomorrow on the inspection results. Take care and happy hump day.

Gary’s post: Not much thrilling happened today. More work on the rough in plumbing. It’s taking shape and you can start to see where rooms are and when sinks and toilets will be in the house. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Fortunately, the weather is excellent, and it’ll be warm for the plumbers.

I need to get the NE gate replaced. Dennis (Wendy’s cousin) took his cow to the butcher and the gate is pretty makeshift. Harp and Juni are always going over there and getting into Dennis and Margaret’s pasture. I’ll work with Dennis to get a gate installed so it’s more secure for his animals and my dogs. Wendy’s brother has a guy (I’m sure we’ve heard that phrase before) that does good work. I’ll ask him about building the gate.

This house thing is pretty stressful. Picking the appliances is really putting a lot of stress on us, me especially. We can’t agree on the appliances or the budget. I come up with a solution that’s within budget and Wendy doesn’t like it. Then she shuts down and won’t participate in the conversation, then I get frustrated because we don’t make progress. I’m just going to let it sit until it becomes a fire, and we have to make a decision. I’m really starting to dislike this process and want to disengage competely.

I finally got construction liability insurance yesterday. Cost me $920 for a year, but at least I have the insurance. It’ll cover most everything except the material loss – which I’m not expecting to be an issue. When the house is built it converts to homeowners, which I’ll use for a year, then reconsider our insurance needs. I really want to move to USAA for auto and home, so I’ll let the Farmers homeowners lapse after a year. I like USAA but they are pretty limited on what they insure. Our RV, UTV and trailer are insured under Progressive, USAA’s partner. Farmers would ensure everything, so all under one policy. Need to think through that.

More parts for the UTV arrive tomorrow, so I’ll install the spare tire carrier on the UTV then and we should be done with accessories that are needed. I still need to add a rear bumper when one becomes available and some lighted whips but those aren’t mandatory. I do need to get a portable pump, some tools and a first aid kit. That should round out most of the mandatory stuff. I’ll got to our motorsports store and buy a spare tire for the UTV and add it to the vehicle.

We need to go to the home show this weekend to start working on A/C, faucets and flooring. Still need to pick out stucco and light fixtures. I’m going to leave that to Wendy and just deal with budget. And we need to pick out toilets and wash basins along with shower fixtures. It’s crazy how much stuff we need to deal with. Wednesday our contractor is going to meet with us to discuss schedules and everything else we need to pick out. Big one is cabinets and getting a cabinet plan put together. Our designer is in Croatia on vacation, so that’ll be a delay in the plan.

Alright, time for bed. It’s been a stressful day and there’s house tension between us so that makes for a miserable evening. And Wendy’s allergies are getting worse, so that doesn’t make for her to be in a good mood. Gotta love the human side of living. Stupid stuff that makes you crazy and riles up your emotions when you least need it. Time for some meditation before bed.

Later.

Gary’s post: Evening post. It’s been almost 3 months since we left Seattle. Hard to believe that we’ve gone from living in a house in a residential neighborhood to rural living in a trailer. It’s definitely a night and day experience. To go to Costco, it’s 18 to 20 minutes and 20 miles in New Mexico. Seattle it was 18 minutes to go 12 miles. Crazy, crazy stuff. We’re settling in this life’s routine and finding that the weekends are busy. It’s similar to Seattle, but with a different focus. The house building is starting to move at a much faster pace in terms of getting organized ahead of the need. We’ve picked out appliances, now it’s about faucets, light switches, lighting and all the little things that go into making a house complete. We’ve still not focused on flooring, tile and countertops, but we’ll get there. We are working with a designer in Seattle to get a cabinet plan put together so we can get cabinets picked out.

The hard part about all of this is that all the places we need to go are 8-5 working hours during the week. That makes it impossible for Wendy to attend as she only gets a 30-minute lunch break. We’ll have to make a bunch of appointments on a Friday and then pick out stuff. I’m thinking a couple of Fridays, and we can knock out the simple stuff like faucets, drain covers, shower fittings and get all of that ordered.

Today was a routine day for us. Felt sorry for the dogs as they were in the trailer most of the day. Breakfast with Wendy’s brother, grocery shopping and then visited with Wendy’s dad and mother-in-law. Pretty tame. Looking forward to next weekend. We’re going riding in the Can-Am’s on some local trails and spend some time exploring the desert. Should be fun. Jaret will be here, so we’ll see how much drama that brings.

Tomorrow is back to the house building. Plumbers will be here to work on rough-in and we should see our electrician come out to put in conduit for in-floor outlets in the living room. We’ll have the discussion on how to power the house and get some temp power closer to the site (i.e. move a power pole 100 ft). Debating on pulling power from the shop to the house or doing another meter on the pole to the house with a separate 200-amp service. It’ll be cheaper to pull from the workshop meter but more useful to install another meter. I’ll have to weigh the cost versus benefit.

I need to talk to our plumbers tomorrow about the supply plumbing. I’m thinking a manifold system where we have shutoffs for each part of the house on a supply manifold. I’ll see what they think about that concept.

Enough blogging, time for bed. I’ll blog more tomorrow. Have a good evening!

Gary’s post: Today was the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest in Albuquerque. What a good time and crazy event. There were over 200+ chocolate, coffee and food vendors there sharing their products. Frankly, I had no idea that Albuquerque had over 60+ micro brewers here for beer. It’s quite a scene. Of course, we bought coffee, chocolate and some biscochitos. Wendy signed us up for a chocolate and beer tasting which was quite and experience and super interesting.

The photo above does not show the other two beers, but it was 5 beers and 5 chocolates. 2 ales and 3 lagers. We got a lesson in beer brewing and chocolate tasting – brief but interesting. All of the beers and chocolates were from local companies. My favorite was the pairing in the top, middle – a Mexican Lager and Cappuccino chocolate. Really interesting how these all played out. Some complemented, some played down a tase in the beer (like a smoky Ale) and some played up a taste in the chocolate. Fun.

We didn’t get to spend a lot of time there as I had the truck in for a windshield replacement. The shop closed at 1 pm and our breakfast burrito took over an hour to make, so we missed the opening by about 45 minutes. Not sure that would have made much difference, but at least we had some time to shop, experience some of the vendors and do our class. There are a couple of other classes I want to take next year, like chocolate tasting, making truffles and some other fun classes.

With the cold weather coming today, we didn’t do much outdoors because of the wind, snow and just cold. We had planned on visiting with my father-in-law, but his wife suggested it wasn’t a good idea today since her kids were visiting. While I think she’s a decent person, she’s definitely a schemer and not a good one. I keep her at arm’s length and don’t get involved with the family drama. I let Wendy manage that part of the relationships and I support her. Jim’s wife’s daughter is worthless and a gold digger. It’s clear she doesn’t have a clue about anything other than her immediate world. Hard to take her seriously, but I do try and treat her with some respect. Wendy on the other hand makes is clear to her that she’s not Jim’s daughter. Kinda like watching out political drama – reality politics and reality family drama.

We spent some looking at appliances and lighting for the new house. We need to get on this and get stuff bought before tariffs.

Well, time for bed. More tomorrow.