95% Finished

It was around 7:30 am this morning when the concrete guy returned ready for the arrival of the Mini-Mix at around 8 am.  To be truthful, the mini-mix arrived around 7:45 and the work began.

I headed off the Computer Club but with the promise I would be home around 11 am.  At the club I was trying to help a lady who had only ever used her laptop as a 'typewriter'.  Now she wanted to connect to the internet.  It have never been updated and was an old Windows XP machine without wireless.  She had a wireless adapter but the thing would hardly work.  It had never been updated.  It sure took up some time to even get it ready to update!

When I arrived home at 11 am this was the sight which greeted me.  It sure will be great.  The spoon design was a little more than the concrete guy (Gary) had expected.  I was delighted with it.  With this deep gradient, heavy rain won't be an issue!  The only problem will be if the storm water system can handle all the water to release it to the front street.

Gary will return Sunday morning to do some final 'cleaning up' and remove his form work ready for the next job.  There are a couple of little spots which he will fix when everything is dry!

The concrete fix to the leak will probably work perfectly as well.  There is quite a bit of concrete around where it was leaking.  I think this lump of concrete should fix any leak though.

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Gary and myself then had a couple of beers and chatted while we continued to wait for things to set.

Around 4 pm this afternoon I will cut away the plastic covering the drain.  We are expecting showers later this evening and then again over the next few days.

I will need to find some dirt to finish off the drain.  Most likely I will put the border stones in place on Monday and get some timber to create a 'skirt' between the old fence level and the top of the border stones.

We expect around 27 degrees today but a cooler 22 and showers should greet us tomorrow.

But now it is off to the TV and the 2012 Grand Final! 

Almost There

We continue to be greeted with lovely fine and sunny days with the temp around the mid 20's.  It does cool off overnight which means any temperature the pool has gained during the day is lost overnight.  At just over 20 degrees in the pool a swim is usually completed in a short time!

I have been riding most mornings and enjoying a refreshing (but brief) dip in the pool afterwards.

It has been a "Computer" last couple of days.  On Wednesday a friend was over to swap some movies and for me to load Paint Shop Pro X5 (PSP) onto his laptop.  John is a bit of a whiz with PSP so he was looking forward to seeing what was in the latest version.

Meanwhile the concrete guy completed the drain yesterday.  There is a bit of a leak so the connection to the drain under the clothesline will have decent lump of concrete around it to seal the leak! See the photo left.  Where the weed mat is flapping around is where a shovel load or two of concrete will be used to block the leak to the drain.

Click on photos for a larger view.

Most of the form work and 'reinforcement' mesh is in place this morning ready for the 'pour' tomorrow at 8 am.

I have relaid much of the area after the drain was finished.  I look like I might need a few more stones and pebbles but that will wait until next week.  It is a quiet week for the concreter so it is a couple of hours here and a few more there.  However I reckon Saturday morning will be the busy one.  He hopes to be here around 7:30 am tomorrow for when the Mini Mix truck with the concrete arrives.

Needless to say the most time spent on any decision was the color of the concrete.

Another Computer Club member was around this morning for some help. I spent an hour or so over the road yesterday afternoon updating a neighbour's movie collection.

I grabbed 45 minutes and put another 'brew' on this morning after my bike ride.  Drinks this afternoon at 3pm should be very enjoyable!

Another Day Closer To Completion

The concrete guy has been successful in getting a 'mini-mix' concrete truck to deliver the concrete.  However right now they are all flat out and the concrete can't be delivered until Saturday morning.  So the next day or so will be spent getting everything ready for the 'pour'.  He is moving along slowly.  He may even get Friday off the way it is looking right now.

Instead of having a skip for the dug out earth to go into, he is putting the soil on the back of his truck and taking it to the tip himself.  He hasn't any other work right now so this method takes longer but saves him money.  But time isn't important right now.

He said if he had to, it could have taken him around two days to do the job. But as it is quiet this week he will take his time and do things the slow way.

As the photo above shows it has now all been dug out, the concrete cuts have been done and the large pieces of concrete have been removed to the tip.  He said that before today's trip to dump the soil he had carted away weighed over 2 tonnes.

Click on either picture for a larger view.  Then click on "X" in the top right hand corner to return to this page.

Today saw the trench dug for the drain pipe as well.  The pipe will be fitted tomorrow, the final contouring of the site will be completed and he will set out the form work and the get the reinforcement mesh in place.

Despite being careful, a substantial amount of dirt has finished up in the pool.  He would swing his mattock up high and some bits and pieces of soil would fly off and frequently finish up in the pool.  I took a good 30 minutes to clean the pool this afternoon and a heap of time then to clean the filter afterwards.  The worst of pool cleaning should now be completed as well.

Roll on Saturday!  At least I can get to the area around the clothes line after tomorrow and get the pavers up to the shed back in place!

One final point, the concrete guy much prefers the Lager I make to the Black Ale!

It Is Now a Saga!

As the photo shows much of the area where the 'new' concrete will go has been dug out.  It took the guy around 4 hours of digging.  He arrived around 9 am left around 2:30 pm.  There is the threat of a storm so he packed up and left early.  It was over 30 degrees in the backyard today so it was hot thirsty work.  He will possibly need to dig down another inch or so to get the 'depth' he needs.

As he was leaving he mentioned he was having a problem getting the mini mix concrete delivered and at this stage he was looking at around Thursday or Friday depending on availability.

Before he arrived I made the area where the drainage pipe will go a little wider for him.

His wife works tomorrow and it is school holiday time so he is looking after his 8 y.o. son and expects to be back on Wednesday.

We have decided to cut a section of the old concrete away and put the new stuff there.  This will also help with drainage and solve a problem!  In the top photo the cut will go from the top left corner of the 'red' concrete to level with the sewerage observation point. There has been an adjustment in his quote.  Despite the added cost I reckon I am getting a super deal.

Both Trish and I went to the cardiologist this morning.  Trish is fine while I need to go onto a 'stronger' cholesterol tablet.  My levels are fine but there is some plaque buildup there.  To be on the safe side he wants to 'up' my cholesterol tablet to try and stop any further plaque forming.  This is strictly precautionary!

And to top the day off, I managed a bottling as well.

Right now the storm clouds are building up again and we could get another thunderstorm.  We still need the rain!

Sunday And No Footy!

The storm anticipated late on Friday afternoon from the post below eventuated around 4pm.  Originally there were warnings regarding hail but as the storm front approached the hail warnings were withdrawn.  Nevertheless we had 18mls of heavy rain in a pretty short time, too much for the pool to handle and a test for the backyard without any drain for water to get away.

The pool level rose over an 1" and there was some backup from where the concreting is due to be poured on Tuesday.  Overall it wasn't too bad with some debris getting into the pool but it sure could have been worse.

Despite there being no footy on TV today, we saw a couple of great games on TV over the weekend.  Trish has very few fingernails left but eventually her team won its way into the Grand Final next Saturday.  What was supposed to be a walk in the park for Hawthorn turned into an epic struggle.  Sydney is the other team which won its way into the big game next Saturday.

Drinks with Kerrie and Ian was as pleasant as ever on Friday.  There has been some talk of a group of us going to Malaysia next year.  Ian and Kerrie are unable to join us as only just last week they have booked something else instead for earlier in 2013.  Other friends from Melbourne may be having second thoughts as well as they could upset another couple who hadn't been included in the proposal.

It is only very early in the planning stage and already it is looking like being 'too hard'.  But it is fun thinking about it.

The new estate just 'over the road' is powering ahead.  The blocks are small with some homes having virtually no backyard.  This is all done to keep prices down in the quest for 'affordable' housing!  The park areas look very impressive as this photo shows.

We are in for a busy week.  We have the cardiologist for a follow up visit on Monday morning, the same day the concrete guy arrives to begin work. I have a beer bottling to complete.

Trish has a chiropractor and doctor appointments on Tuesday for her shoulder.  We are set to have lunch at the Tavern on Tuesday with Ian and Kerrie.  If all goes OK, the concrete should be poured as well.  On Wednesday Trish has Stitchers while I have a mate coming around to check out a computer program.

Wednesday may also be busy finishing off the new concrete area, I will need to put stones back and reset the stepping stone pavers from the patio to the garden shed.

After my 12k bike ride this morning I had a quick swim.  The pool temp at 8 am was a little over 21 degrees and a little on the brisk side!

It is all looking busy!