The day labor place sort of interests me. I'm just curious about how someone ends up there. The vast majority of guys there are over 40. I guess everyone has a story.

I had one guy that I used many years ago that was obviously very intelligent and well-read. He told me he had worked for the legislature for years. Something had happened that we wouldn't disclose other than some vague "life happens' reference.

Roosevelt (the guy helping me with the stone) claimed he owned an irrigation business. He told me he got high ratings on Angie's list, but I haven't verified this. He probably did install irrigation on some level.

He talked a lot about politics and his son who is in high school. I was sort of curious how he ended up at the day labor place but I didn't ask.

Crispin, it turns out, is 66 YEARS OLD! Holy crap. This guy shoveled and wheelbarrowed all day. Amazing.

I asked them about the day labor place. Apparently you have to get there at 6:30. Your name gets put into a lottery that assigns the order you go out. They told me that the first 15 are a pretty good bet to get work but after that is is iffy. Anything over 30 and it is probably not worth hanging around. I've been there on days where I have seen at least 50 guys. Tough way to make a living.

Pics.

The last one is the stone next to the sidewalk. The sun through the trees is making it pretty much impossible to get a good pic.

Super happy with the stone and the granite. The pics don't do the stone justice.

I have a big pile of dirt to put in the circle in the middle of the stone. And more granite to spread.

Anyways,

A lot of those day labor guys are ex-cons who can't get hired anywhere because of their criminal record.

I never thought of that. I just sort of figured they had alcohol/drug issues and couldn't hold a regular job.

I knew I wouldn't be able to do much today since my back was buggered from yesterday. But I at least wanted to get the remaining sand out of my driveway so I could get my truck in.

I spread some on the flagstone we put down yesterday in hope it will get in the cracks a bit more than the granite. I think it will eventually but I think we'll need a good rain to get everything settled.

The rest of the sand I put in the bamboo planters and spread around in the middle where I'll eventually put dirt.

I really didn't have enough left in the tank to do more dirt/granite spreading so here is what I still have left.



Here is the stone I have left. I'll put it on craigslist for free. I think someone will get those pavers but not sure about the limestone. I think I can find something do use it for if not.

I'm baffled at how my garage can be a complete mess all the time. I clean that sucker up about once a month and it is filthy in a week. There seems to be a neverending layer of dirt/sawdust/leaves on the floor.

I cleaned it up once again today.

Even after getting rid of several big things yesterday, it still looks cluttered.

Today was a holiday so I celebrated by shoveling dirt. I really didn't have a lot of WIM today but I got some stuff done.

I really want to clean up the gravel along the side of the garage. The water flows from the driveway right over this area. Through the years it has become just dirt/mud with some gravel in it. So, I think I'm gonna try to clean it up some. There is also some mud filled gravel in the back where I put some of the stone next to the driveway.

So, I built a little sifter. You can't see it in the pic but it is a box with some wire fencing for a bottom. The theory is I can put some gravel in there and wash away the dirt. I'm not convinced this will be anything but a tedious process but we will see.





I did actually shovel some dirt too.

I'm continuing to attempt to get my house/yard/life cleaned up. I decided to just give lots of stuff away. Saves hauling fees.

I put an ad in Craigslist to give away the leftover limestone, pavers, lumber, and 2 interior doors.

My plan was to tell people that I would be around Saturday and it was first come first serve. But within 10 minutes I got over 30 emails so I quickly deleted the ad.

One woman wrote that she runs a day care for special needs kids and they had a flood that ruined their interior doors. I couldn't say no to her so I called her and she said she could be here in the morning (today). I scrolled through some of the other emails and found another woman that wanted the limestone and also said she could be here in the morning.

So, I arranged for them to be here at the same time.

The door lady came first. She was super nice and spotted some stuff on the trash pile that she asked about. I told her that she could have anything in the lumber pile as well.

While she was picking out stuff, the second lady came. When I was on the phone I told her the limestone was pretty heavy and that everything was in the back yard and she would need a wheelbarrow and a couple of guys. And a heavy duty pickup. Well, 1 out of 3. She had a heavy duty pickup. This woman was about 5'2" and probably weighed 95 pounds. And dressed not in work clothes. After seeing what she was getting into she decided to go find a wheelbarrow and a couple of guys.

I had to get back to work so I let them at it. The door lady took quite a bit of lumber. The rock lady took all of the limestone and about 1/3 of the pavers. She texted me to see if she could have someone else get the rest. I said fine.

Lots of accumulated stuff leaving which is good.

Sorry, this is the only thread I can vent about this in.

I don't mind if an inspector doesn't know the code that well and had a few questions, but this guy has me emailing him codes, manufacturer's instructions, getting him on the phone with tech support to talk about things that are tested and listed for use.

Effing eff eff

Vent away. I hate them all.

Continued yardwork yesterday.

Went to the day labor place and neither guy I had used the last 2 weeks was there. The 2 guys they gave me were both really good, though.

I started by trying to clean the gravel with my little home made sifter. It became apparent very quickly that this was not a good idea. Water and mud everywhere. And, it took a lot of turning the rock to get it clean. It was a super slow process. I did enough to put a thin layer of clean gravel over the worst area then gave it up and tossed the damn thing on the trash pile.

We concentrated on finishing up the dirt and granite piles.

Meanwhile, the mother of the girl that picked up the limestone called to see if she could get the rest. She showed up with her son around lunch time. They were both quite the chatty cathys, as was one of my laborers, so everything sort of slowed down. And, it started to drizzle around noon and got progressively worse as the day went on.

But, in the end it all worked out. We finished the dirt and the granite and they took every last piece of stone I had. Even the trash pieces. Woot!

So, wow.

I feel like I'm on the home stretch now.

Next weekend I'll get rid of the trash pile.

Then, after that I just have some planting to do. I wasn't going to do this until spring but I talked to a friend of mine who is a certified gardener or something like that. He knows his stuff. He said this is a good time to plant. Not grass, but perennials (I think that's what he told me). So, hopefully Thanksgiving weekend I'll get all of that done.

Not sure what I'm going to do after that. I have a lot of little things but the big ticket items are just about done.

Time to invite a couple dozen people over for BBQ, I think. Put all that beautiful yard and deck to work.

Looks good.

Been checking in on this thread for a looong time.

Hey, that's looking good!

Btw, aren't you looking for a job elsewhere (seems so from LC thread in H&F). So....does that mean you'd sell this place or rent it out or....?

Looks like we're getting an air source heat pump. Don't ask me how it works, but it magics heat out of the air, and a renewable energy subsidy from the government. We've not had a boiler since July, so it would be nice to get some heating again before Christmas.

^()_$#*()%$#!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ordered a 30yd. dumpster because it is 5ft tall and I can easily toss stuff over the side. The mf'er in my driveway is probably 8 1/2 feet tall. I can barely reach the top and I'm 6'4"

bastards

The back door opens...

lol, I know that

My first plan was to get all the trash cleaned up today. But as the week went on the weather forecast got rainier and rainier. Last night they predicted a 100% chance of rain.

So, this morning before the rain came I went to Lowe's and bought a bunch of bermuda grass seed. I figured I'd toss it around in the back yard before the monsoon came.

Then I had breakfast and took it easy for a bit and noticed it wasn't raining. So I figured I'd start on the massive trash pile and just do as much as I could.

Although the door does open, you still can't get around having to pile stuff pretty high which is a pain. I started with the big lumber and all of those huge pieces of wall tile from the bathroom. I stacked it up very neatly in the back of the dumpster. I got about 1/3 of the way through and realized I was in pretty good shape. I think I could have gotten away with a 20 yd. dumpster after all.

Anyways, I knocked a good chunk of the pile down before the bad weather hit. Feeling pretty good. Tomorrow won't be hard at all.

p.s. Still pissed about the dumpster. Sent them a nasty email.

After the monsoon last night, it was clear skies and beautiful weather.

It didn't take too long to finish up the trash pile. I have a clean driveway!

That 30 yd. dumpster turned out to be more than enough. I could have fit it all in a 20 yd. (see second pic.)

With the leftover space I decided to forge ahead on my life cleanse. I tossed some big stuff that, although was still usable, didn't have much life left. Some lawn furniture that was rusted and frayed, my old miter saw that I can't believe made it this long, a really old TV, etc.

Anyways, it's really nice to sort of get all of this cleaned up. I find myself holding onto stuff way too long. Good day.

I'd like to one time see a designer who thinks a space doesn't need to be opened up.

I wonder if that trend will ever go back the other way.

Bought some plants. Plants are expensive.

I planted the expensive plants yesterday. I didn't go too crazy but something had to be done.