January 3 - Starting the Plumbing

An Indicator of Change - 
I do not want to be overly sentimental, but I suspect the original building may be feeling a little blue.The faithful structure, the very first one on location, has served faithfully through rain, snow, sleet and bitter cold. Alas, today, parked very close to it, is the portent of the demise of its usefulness. While I am sure that it has many days of useful service remaining, the beginning of the end is here.

  The plumber's truck is on site and with it comes the sure knowledge that the portable outdoor service center will not remain forever.
Digging Trenches - 
Just inside the overhead door there is a trench running the back outside wall. Greg is just visible in the back next to the machine he used to dig the trench. The white lines visible in the trench are the pipes for which the trench exists.

The picture on the left shows the spot where the pipes exit the building, where they will join into the brand new septic system.

 Don Lehtola, the plumbing contractor, is shown here with his son Brandon. Brandon recently returned from working in Wyoming to join dad in the plumbing business. They are starting to lay the pipe that will run the length of the aforementioned trench.















Here Don is making sure the pipe runs downhill towards the exit point. It is very important that the downward slope is maintained with all the sewer pipes. Whereas the carpenters are so careful to assure things are level, the plumber is a half a bubble off.

Once the proper slope is determined, our trusty laser is again employed, this time to help maintain the proper pitch for the trench, I bet the Egyptian pyramid builders would be extremely jealous if they could see how helpful these lasers are in construction.

With Greg on the backhoe and Brandon in the ditch with the laser, they team up to adjust the trench to the proper depth and slope.














Another Wireless Remote - 

I had previously seen Sam effectively use a wireless remote to control a cement truck, Now I see a much younger Brandon demonstrate mastery of operating a remote to control a backhoe. I suppose all the experience that young people get with video games enables them to master these skills at an early age.

I am not sure how the evening crews are going to be able to get much inside work done with the trenches and dirt piles as they are. The sanctuary is still open if there is work to be done there. Don said he will be done with the sewer rough-in
in a couple of days and then the trenches can be filled in.

I am looking forward to more digging and more piping for the next couple of days.