Another Pit of Despair

There has been on ongoing problem with the septic lines in this house and one of the persons who came out to look them in June suggested there was a break. So, the man who dug up the yard last fall to fix the problem, came back. Jerry's tractor arrived over the weekend and he arrived with a helper on Monday. I was a bit annoyed cuz I had to move more rocks and garden than I had hoped, but it all worked out. 

 Carefully tying off the phone cord that runs directly over the septic line and down the drive in a meandering line.

 They did not find a break. They did discover the pipe wasn't at the right elevation/angle/ whatever. Jerry wanted to cut open the pipe and when they did, it was odd. They found it was full of sediment and some rocks and sand. Not much else. So, Johnny cleaned it out with the garden hose.

 They left to get a different fitting and attached it on their return. I was told to use the water to flush the system out. Jerry's not sure where the rocks and sand are coming from, (there was a small section of the drive that wasn't dug up this year or last year), but when Johnny sluiced the hose through, Jerry heard water in the pipe on the other end. I did not call anyone to camera the pipes.

On Tuesday, Jerry and Johnny filled in the hole. For some reason he had more hole than dirt, so Jerry had to find dirt from elsewhere in the yard. 

The lighter colored sandy soil is now dark from the rain. I wonder if it will lighten when it dries out?

 Unfortunately, in the movement of the soil, Jerry accidentally clipped the overhead power line. Homer Electric Association was called and they arrived promptly. They two linemen were informative and helpful.

 In this picture you can see the loop that was tugged free and a bit where the line the man's taping was clipped. We were fortunate. The loop looked bad and it appeared nothing at all was damaged! PTL!

 This was pretty cool, the man on the ground used a long extension pole to unhook the power from the house. Much easier, safer, and faster than climbing up the pole!

 The man in the basket twisted the lines back together til they look almost like they'd never been touched.

 The man on the ground opened up the breaker box and discovered all was still tight. The place where the power lines go into the house wasn't damaged either. The lineman in the air said it still looked secure. Which was good. I certainly wasn't going to climb up there to fix it Although, I probably could have hired Johnny if I needed to!!!

All in all, it was a long couple of days. Jerry's pretty sure everything is ok, but I"m betting the pipes still have problems. I'm going to have Peninsula Pumping out to hard vac them out every few months til something else can be done. I was going to replant all the flowers I dug up near the house and put the rocks back, but I'll leave it sort of plain and put the plants and decor elsewhere for the time being!

Pipe lines in Oregon and Alaska (5)

I'm glad I wasn't there for this. The sewer lines needed dug up. Steve and Jon did the manual labor and the company put in the new line. Jonathan thought it was entirely reminiscent of when he helped Randall dig  up the electrical line from the house to the garage last September. Although, he said it was hotter in Oregon and he didn't miss the mosquitoes. 

Steve said they had to take out this root below. The guys putting in the line said they often need to remove large roots and it should be ok. I hope so, that locust is rather tall and having it fall would be daunting. The pipes are all buried and now the guys get to put the sod back. It will be awhile til the yard is all pretty again, but the job is done and they can wash clothes and dishes and people again. Jon's still miffed about the internet being mucked up still! 

Not a lot has been going on with the pipeline by the house. Most of the work has been done elsewhere. I was able to talk to one of the managers and he told me the sounds I heard were real. Now I don't recall the name, but I was pretty thankful it wasn't my imagination! He also said they were moving faster as some new welders were helping and they were up to 20 a day instead of 6. 

I'd like to find out what these are for. Only a few pipes have this burnt ash end like thing. I'm assuming it is when it goes under the road. There have been many people out doing inspections and a welding truck drives by often. 

The lake is ice free finally and I need to retrieve the 'dock' from where I pulled it from the water last fall. So glad we have water in the lake this year!!!!!! The golden eye and mallards are fighting and the green teal are back! 

I visited the beach on Saturday for a bit. It was a bit frothy and chill, but so pretty!!!! No mountains, though. 

Jon's Alaska-Monday

 Monday it rained. Mr. Pippin had waited to fix the power in the garage til the kid showed up. Human backhoes are handy to have around! Randall gave Jon an idea of where to dig and Jon started. It was a bit more than either of them anticipated! He had to dig up the old wires while making a trench for the new ones. The old ones meandered all over the place!

Jon was particularly unimpressed with the no see ums being out, especially in the rain! 

The damage was eventually found. Later, I went into the photos from previous years and we realised this damage happened last July. But, the consequences didn't show up til this year. One part was fixed very well. The other...well, we think it was 'hidden'. Jon tugged on the wires and they came apart at first pull! 

 

Jon filled much of the trench in on Tuesday. I laughed when he asked what he'd do while up here, he also said he wished he'd brought up his Bobcat! Unfortunately, many of mum's bulbs got rearranged, but the power is back on! 

Other things we did on Tuesday included visiting Darryl-who proceeded to give Jon a million fishing tips. We then drove out to the bridge on the Swanson and Jon talked to a couple hanging around out there. Now, we need to get him a fishing licence. 

Never a dull moment around here!