Electrical Work Finished

The electrician showed up this morning and finished his part of the job to connect the meter to the incoming power lines.  West Penn Power called and said they would be a hour or so late getting there due to a higher priority repair that came up this morning.  They did show up and connect the meter to the power line and all is well.  

This upgrade sure was a long process and took almost three weeks from start to finish.  At least it is finished and we can move on to our next project.

We have a screened porch and the screening has been torn, ripped, etc over the years and needs replaced.  I thought I'd just buy some screen wire and do the job myself since it shouldn't be that difficult.  On to the internet to check screen wire prices and what a shock that was.  It looks like I will have to buy a 100ft roll of wire at $125 to complete the job.  I never imagined it would cost that much for screen wire.  Whew!

Cassie, Jack & Lexa went to Illinois to visit with Cassie's cousins and uncle out there.  They will be gone a week or so and we have the honor of feeding & watering their three cats for that period.  One neighbor will be helping so it won't be an everyday trip down the mountain to take care of it.

Not much interesting going on around here lately.  At least the weather isn't so hot and we don't have the a/c on 24/7.  

Hope you all are enjoying the summer wherever you are.

Final Inspection

The electrical inspector came out this morning and checked over the new upgrades.  He seemed less than pleased with the work but could only find one minor problem which was easily fixed.  He thought the work should have been done another way in a couple cases but that is more a preference on his part rather than a failing of the our electrician.  

The power company representative came out and checked it over and they have scheduled the change over on Wednesday morning.  Then we should be finished with this project and start on a couple others in the job jar.  Never ending work around an old cabin, especially with an old man doing a lot of the work.  

I was editing some old pictures and ran across this one.  Gerry and I went to the 1957 Prom together and drove up to Springfield, IL for a dinner before the prom.  The Lake Club was a very high end restaurant on Lake Springfield and very special for it's day.  We kept the menu for a souvenir and I scanned it into the computer last summer.  Keep in mind that this is an upscale place for special events when you check the prices on the menu.  This is one page of the 6 page menu.  It's hard to believe that I had to work a long time time to be able to afford to take Gerry there.  She was/is worth it.

Check out the prices for the Griesedieck Bros beer.  

The Lake Club had somewhat of a checkered past and was supposed to be haunted.  The link below goes into some detail about the place.  It was very common in the 1950s for bars, restaurants, night clubs, etc to have illegal gambling rooms in the back and many had adult entertainment for the male patrons.  

Lake Club History

Trees, Electric and a Birthday Celebration

Happy birthday Darlene!  

I am debating about putting your age out here but will hold off for a few days until you get used to being 6_ years old.  Fill in the blank.  For those who don't know Darlene, she is over 50 and holding.

I guess everyone all across the U.S. is feeling the summer heat now.  It sure is hot and humid up here on the mountain and we finally turned the window a/c on in the cabin bedroom.  It cools that area fairly well and a little bit in the main cabin area.  I think we need a larger unit for the living room and once the electrical work is finished we will look into buying another a/c.

The electrician showed up again today and started digging the trench to bury the electric line out to the RV area.  He dug a trench about 8ft long and 8 inches deep and said it was too hot and difficult for him to finish the dig.  His helper will have to finish that part of the work on Tuesday when they return again.  The only remaining work to be finished is one porch light, a 20amp circuit in the kitchen, the RV hookup and the installation of the new electric panel.  If they show up, they should be able to complete the job on Tuesday, but I would imagine that won't happen.  We will have to wait and see how it goes.  Then the County inspector has to OK the work and have West Penn Power hook up the new 200 amp meter.  Poco a poco.

I stopped and talked to a tree cutter yesterday and he said he would come up and see what needs to be done.  Today was the day he showed up with his wife and son and they were ready to start the job.  He works until 4pm and got here around 530pm ready to do the job.  We agreed on a price and he immediately cut down a maple tree that had a couple dead branches on it that were too close to the cabin.  Zoom zoom and the tree was down.  The tree had a beautiful center to it but had been wind damaged and was fractured.  They loaded most of it on the pickup truck and will be back on Tuesday to work on the other 4 trees.  They will not be as easy as this one since they are about 90ft tall with a lot of branches on them.  We will have to move the RV for them to cut three of the trees.  

Electrician Showed up

The electrician showed up today and put in about 5 hours of work.  He got a lot accomplished and should finish up the work in two more work days/evenings.  We are looking forward to having adequate power to the RV so we can use a/c on these warm days.

Kenny & Peggy showed up today to retrieve their Jeep from the cabin.  Kenny bought it from Larry Jr. and intends to rebuild it and restore it back to new condition.  I think he has a lot of work ahead of hime since it is badly rusted and needs a ton of work on it.  The Jeep is a Scrambler Jeep and there weren't many of them produced so it could wind up being valuable if he restores it.

I managed to find a tree trimmer/cutter person today and he said he would come up and check out what work we need to be done.  There are a couple dead trees close to the cabin and also a couple live trees too close to the cabin and where we park the motorhome.  The dead trees have to go one way or the other.  

Man, this has been a fun summer so far.  I hope we can get through it before the money runs out.