The City Sewer Saga Continues!

More "Molehills!"

Remember when I said that the city boys were done with the sewer?

Right through the AstroTurf!

Well,  I was mistaken!

Today,  for no reason at all.... they tore up the very area they had seeded yesterday!  So much for the bets on how well the seed would perform.

Looks like they forgot somebody

This would explain the unusual surveying that happened a couple of days ago.   I thought they were simply reaffirming where the gas line and underground power cables were buried.   I did not know they were planing on digging....AGAIN!

Under Buried Powerlines

The whole things gives me pause about what I previously said about them.  Maybe they are not as squared away as I first thought.  Sure,  people make mistakes.   Everyone may hit a water line or telephone pole accidentally.    And maybe the tangled network of underground lines  are a challenge to work around.   But why they did not do all the digging at once  while they had the lawns tore up is beyond me.

Under the Buried gas line.

Maybe it is a stage thing.   A little here...then clean it up.... then a little there...  clean it up..   and so on.   The good news is that they did not damage any lines this time.   ( Yippee!)


With uninterrupted service,   Cheryl and I were able to do 23 stockings....   The White felt arrived and we set up two embroidery machines to get all the names on faster.

I was also  able to change Subies oil.   Granted...  I had to change it in the dark....since we just finished the stockings when the sun went down.   I did not want to wait another day, because colder weather is supposed to sweep into Friday...or with my luck...tomorrow!

Unfinished stairs Top

The upstairs apartment was re-carpeted today,  But they did not get to the  stairs yet.   Maybe they had to take more measurements and settle on the final selection of carpeting.   I took a few "before" pictures to show off the dramatic change that is bound to occur.   We shall see.

Unfinished Stairs  Bottom.

I'm going to miss this November weather in Iowa.   It has been pleasant for the last several days, and outside of running every morning, we have not been able to enjoy it as much as we would like.   I guess being busy with the stockings is ultimately a good thing,   since they generate revenue.  And November is not normally this nice.  

More Trenches, Dogs, Utility Disruptions, And Stockings! ....Time for Another Run!

Digging across Don's Yard

Adding new pipes...again!

The city sewer project continues to tear up the environment around us.   The trenches have moved...ever so slightly, over to our neighbors back yard.   The line cut through his small victory garden and into the other neighbors dog pen.

This upsets the dogs...

Unless they get a rawhide treat!

This causes the two Papillion dogs located in the fenced  in area to go crazy!   I'm somewhat of a dog guru here.   Not to pat myself on the back, but I bribe the dogs to keep quiet.   It works most of the time.

More Trenches along the driveway

And more pipes!

I find it interesting that these guys have been digging, burying, and re-digging up the same areas over and over.   Each time they drop in something "new" into the hole and cover it up again.   And,  of course,  they continue to hit the utility lines.   They have hit the water three times now, and finally,  they hit the gas!

The temporary gas line fix.

The guys test the gas line before re-hookup

Luckily,  they knew there were going to cross it and took precautions so they would not blow up our house!    They disconnected our apartment as well as the neighbors before cutting into it.   This caused the gas to leak out into the air and stink up the yard with the fragrance of sulfur.  Similar to the smell  the pig farmers spread when they fertilizer their fields around here.

A small side note on the utilities. Mediacom came today to fix the broken cable from the downed  telephone pole. From   OCTOBER 27!   Talk about prompt service!   I'm not sure what is going on down at that place, but I knew we were VERY  fortunate to have the cable fixed the same day the damage occurred.  I just didn't know HOW fortunate!   Seriously!   Two weeks?  I'm just happy that the city guys were able to flag down a nearby tech to fix it the same day.  I guess he must not have told anyone at the office that he already had the job done.
MediaCom came today, offering to fix the broken cable line... the one that was damaged when the telephone pole was knocked down by the sewer guys!    That was

Cheryl and stockings

Lots of Designs today

And finally,  the stockings are picking up.   It's about time.   We did another 14 today in addition to the 31 from yesterday.   The familiar scene of Cheryl and Ethan dropping off a HUGE satchel of packages at the post office was witnessed again.  The post office actually like us for taking care of all of the orders in advance.  Just like the good old days.

And cool cat names!

All this business around here causes Cheryl to want to run again.  And Lucky for her!   There is a race in Madison Wisconsin this weekend!   Another Half-Marathon in the fall...  What could be better?   We were supposed to drive to IKEA to finish up our redesign of the apartment.

Beer and Brats for Breakfast!

 But with all this stress around here,  we decided we needed another chance to release some steam.  So...Off to Wisconsin..again!   Perhaps we will score some more beer this time.   Different beer, but still from Wisconsin.   Oh,  And some Brats!   How can you go to Wisconsin and  not have beer and  Brats?

Water Main Woes in Wellman

First it was the sewer.  Then it was the electricity and internet.   Now it is the Water!  What's left?   The Natural Gas Main?   Seems we will be getting new utilities no matter how you slice...or in this case:  DIG it!  You dig*?

 (*That's '70's lingo for " Do you understand")


So I should explain.   The crew that has been working on our sewer for the last three weeks has done it again!   This time,  while digging the trench for the sewer to our neighbor's house...  they cracked into our water pipe.  Thus we have been without water for the better part of the afternoon.  Luckily,  we don't drink the stuff and our showers can wait for a little while.

The guys noted that the pipes were almost completely filled with "Iron Sediment"  and a new pipeline was long overdue.  When they finally fixed it ( a few moments ago) the water ran this wonderful brown color for several minutes.  Reaffirming  our choice to never drink it!


The poor crew working out there do not strike me as "incompetent".  Actually, they strike me as fairly competent.   Every time they break something...they know just who to call to get it fixed right away!  I guess practice and experience make perfect....even when things go invariably wrong.  Planning to fail seems to trump failing to plan.  Or so every insurance agency would have us believe.

Speaking of screw-ups:   Check out my new embroidery mistake!   I blame my meaty paws with the pushing of the "X" button on the touch screen instead of the "Y". (They are right next to each other on the touch screen, after all.)  It is the first time I have ever done anything like that... even though I have caught myself  with typo's before.  Heck, this blog is a prime example.


Other than those little things,  it has warmed up to a pleasant day outside currently.  So warm, in fact, that the last few remaining butterflies have been stopping in to sample our flowers.   Those Marigolds are wonderful Fall flowers as they seem to continue to bloom despite all of the chilly nights and mornings.  I wonder how late into the Fall they will last.    We shall see.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday.   The weekend is right around the corner....good news for those folks with jobs.  Enjoy the next couple Autumn days while you can.  It's the best time of year!

Scary Fall Spiders and Falling Telephone Poles

Monster in the Kitchen!

Cheryl's quick thinking...and snack dish

With the cooler weather, certain outside creatures are looking for a place to hold up and hide out for the winter.   Usually, these are ladybugs and Box-elder beetles.    But last night,  Cheryl noticed something slightly larger in the middle of the kitchen floor....

Look at the size of that quarter!

Cheryl takes it a "safe" distance away.

I'm not sure what kind of spider this was,  but BIG sums it up nicely.  After covering it with a dish...  and doing the "creepy crawly dance" for a few moments,  both of us mustered up the courage to bundle it up and release it outside.   As a rule of thumb, we try to not kill spiders.   Maybe it is that human biologist in me...or the fact that bug guts are disgusting.   Whatever the reason,

Hurray for  plastic protection!

Cheryl and I both headed outside to the removal.   Cheryl selected a "far enough away from the building" location so the spider will "recognize he is not welcome"... and hopefully pester one of the unsuspecting neighbors instead.

Cheryl and Hiro run to safety!

After we released him,  Cheryl fled to a house with Hiro providing security.   Everyone knows cats are good protection from spiders...

Old and rotted,  this pole is history.

I wonder what caused the issue?

The other thing that is notable today was that the Sewer guys knocked down the power/cable line to the apartment this morning.  My suspicion is that the excavator bumped one of the lower lines while digging the trench.  Add in that the pole was ancient and rotted...and you have a recipe for disaster.

Our "New" power pine pole!

With the new pole up.  time to string up the wires..

The power guys were swift and agile.   They got the power back up before 1:00 PM.   Then the Cable guy moved in...

Now to connect to the grid!

And now Mediacom get to it.

This looked like a two man job...  but there was only one guy so it took a little longer.   The good news is that we finally have the Internet up and now have a new pole with new lines.   The bad ( -ish) news is that we were both supposed to score today for ETS....and with our internet... quite literally DOWN down,  we were unable to begin on time and thus..unable to participate today.  I only say this is kind of bad because after three weeks of scoring for Pearson....I was not particularly eager to get back into the fray.

I'm impressed with MediaCom.   They actually came out on the day of the emergency!   Usually there is a five day waiting list for things like this.