Street Reconstruction Part 12, & Car

The work this week consisted of wetting, grading and compressing the gravel, and raising the manholes to the new street level (the orange barrels in the middle of the road).

 Then on Friday they laid down two layers of asphalt.

So by the time I got home from work we had a completed street!

There are still wires to move, poles to remove, terraces to finish, trees to plant (next spring?) and signs to put up, but the worst appears to be behind us and the end in sight.  We've been parking a block and a half away for quite some time now so it will be nice to park at home again - though we may not be able to some days due to the continuing work.  And I'll have to have the local second hand shop pick up a dresser in the garage so I can park in it again.

As for my car, I talked to the shop first thing Monday and they were booked for the week.  I've been taking my car there for 15 years and trust them, so do I wait or try to get it into an unfamiliar shop earlier?  I chose to wait, but did have it towed to the shop that day as they said if they had a cancellation or extra time they may be able to look at it earlier, otherwise it's scheduled for Monday.  Well, I heard nothing from them all week so I assume they never had a chance to check it out.  I have the rental car through Friday though I hope to be able to return it sooner.

Street Reconstruction Part 11, More

It appears we're ready to have a new street installed very soon.  There's not been a whole lot of activity lately other than grading and compacting the gravel.  They didn't work at all over the weekend, so maybe Monday.

I've not had many fires this year, and I've kept short the few I've had.  It was either too hot, too windy, or I was just too tired on weekend evenings.  Now, with cooler weather and an earlier sunset I may get out there more.  I did get out there for a bit on Friday evening.  It was nice, but I did build it up and let it burn down in just a few hours rather than spend all night.

And Basil got a visit from a neighbor cat.  People aren't supposed to let their cats out here in the city but many do, even despite the construction and large machinery going back and forth all day.

On my way to pick up groceries this morning I noticed an odd sound as I arrived.  I didn't see anything outside the car so kept the radio off and paid close attention on the drive home and I heard horrendous noises coming from the car.  I'm not sure what's going on, but first thing in the morning I'll have to try and get it into the shop.  I can use my wife's van sometimes, but I need my car.

Street Reconstruction Part 10

First order of business on Friday morning was pouring our driveway apron.  I hadn't left for work yet and they got started.

When I got home on Friday they had the steel plate over the new apron.  I thank them for the trouble but we never used the steel to enter the driveway.

No work happened over the weekend, but today (Monday) we got our terrace walk poured.  They've been working on all the concrete work and might be finished with it today or else very soon.  I did park in the driveway this afternoon.

The pole you see in the pictures is propping up our cable from the pole across the street.  It had been attached at the top of the pole but was knocked off early on, so is attached much lower and would hang too low over the street.  Apparently the cable will be moved to the new pole toward the end of construction.  We don't use the cable at all anymore, but the wire is still there and I don't want it to be hit and pull siding off the house or anything like that.

Aside from the construction it's really been life as normal, though it is starting to feel like the dog days of summer.  I started to do some fall yard cleanup last weekend and my to-do list has grown, but all in due time.

Street Reconstruction Part 9

Curbs and gutters were installed yesterday, an interesting process.

Yesterday I had off, so I was able to watch the progress made in front of our house.  They spent the morning on the other street, likely doing curbs and gutters, before moving to our street.

They gave our house driveway access at the end of the day, but we won't be using it.  Not all houses were given this treatment, curiously.

Today they appear to be working on finishing the sidewalks on both streets.  I'm not sure they'll finish, but probably tomorrow.  They're also framing up the driveway aprons, though ours still has the steel plate over the new gutter for access.  It may take a few more days to finish up all the concrete work, but we're still pleased with the progress so far.

My wife just popped in, we just had a knock on the door and she was told we would have our driveway apron installed tomorrow and we should be able to drive on it by Saturday.  Good news!  We think they may be prioritizing some over others as a few older and disabled people seem to be getting the same treatment.  And they may have noticed the wheelchair lift in my wife's van, so...

500,000 Hours Old

At some point today I will turn 500,000 hours old, per this website.  (Or 30,000,000 minutes old.  Or 1,800,000,000 seconds old.)  I'm guessing it will happen 3 hours and 40 minutes after the site says, since to go back to that date would be to go back to midnight and I was born at 8:20 pm, but splitting hairs here.  A couple years ago I turned 20,000 days old, and a few years before that I turned 50 years old, but I think this is about the last of the notable round numbers I will achieve in my lifetime.

Street Reconstruction Part 8

As work on the roadway continues, we still had a driveway apron for the weekend, though we began parking elsewhere.

The driveway apron was already removed by the time I left for work this morning, just broken slabs to be hauled away now.

But they built us ramps to our driveways, so technically we still have access.  Overall, we're pleased with the progress so far.

57

Won't be official until about 8:20 tonight, but unless this bout of covid gets me very soon it looks like I might survive 56 after all.

Street Reconstruction Part 7

Vacation Starts With Covid

This is the third or fourth time I had Covid, I forget.  Saturday, my first day of vacation, I took a trip down to see my Mom and watch the Badger game that afternoon.  I felt a bit stuffy, is all, so I took allergy meds with me.  Once there, I took one of the pills and became groggy and started to have a headache.  I was in and out of sleep for the game and felt like I was coming down with something as we sat around and watched videos all night.  

I slept hard that night and felt terrible when I woke up.  It was the headache that made me fear it was Covid.  I quickly gathered my things, got a mask from Mom, and we finished up the last few chores before I headed for home.  I took the test right away and it was positive.  I let my Mom know, and I really hope she doesn't get this.

I haven't moved or done much since I got home Sunday morning.  My list of things to get done on vacation will have to wait at least one more day.  Back to bed.

Beef 2024

I picked up our latest split half of beef this morning, along with some other meat candies.  The 1/4 cow was $906.54 for 136.8 pounds, about $6.63 per pound.  That's about a dollar more than last year, but not unexpected as the price of everything has risen and last year's went down to $5.60 from $5.98 the prior year.  We pay for the hanging weight, these numbers are for the amount of meat we actually received.

I forgot to get a picture until after I had everything sorted and ready to put in the freezer.  Not pictured is the 48 pounds of ground beef.

While I was there I also spent $132 on various things from their store, some we've had before and much we hadn't.  Overall we spent over a grand on meat today but it will last us for over a year.

I wanted to finish with a joke about meat, but I was afraid I'd butcher it.  ;-)