Escape From the Prison Planet

[DRIVEN]

Boring update...
Pantry door, cabinet glass, and some of the backsplash stuff got installed.



Doors and hardware got installed. Front door is the wrong one. I offered to accept it if they sold it to me at cost but they didn't want to bargain so now I get to wait for the right one. Theirs will be beat to shit and unuseable when they get it back.

The deck handrails got installed.

And when the 2nd trim-out guy showed up he couldn't locate the house numbers to put up. I told him not to worry and I'd get something for the end of the driveway down by the road. Guess what I just noticed? Idiots.

I pressure washed the garage floor this morning and let it dry for a few hours. Started stacking boxes in there this evening.



I'll be in St. Thomas for work next week. If things go as planned we can start moving the week after when I'm back. Fucking finally!

[Laecaon]

Paint the garage white. Two reasons, unfinished drywall is never good, and the white will make it brighter inside.

[DRIVEN]

Agreed. Haven't gotten that far yet. I'll be doing that myself. Paint crew wanted $1500. Ridiculous.
It's on the list for after we get moved in. There's also lots of work to do in the basement and outside.

[510freak]

It coming along nicely, the light in the library looks cool

[DRIVEN]

Thanks, man. I'm headed out of town for work. If things go well I'll be able to move in when I get back.

Last of the concrete happened yesterday.




Also had a booster pump installed to increase waster pressure at the top of the hill. Its got 30psi now. Pump will have it at 80. I think we'll be dialing that back some.

[DRIVEN]

Well, most everything went somewhat sideways. Finally got to start moving in around the 8th of July. Then the neighbor tried to burn me out.

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I found out after the fact that there are specific engineering requirement for my "decorative" retaining wall. Still gathering bids and additional info and trying to find a workaround. This little oversight by my builder is going to cost a LOT.

Another after-the-fact complication is that the driveway doesn't get a permit unless I can talk my neighbor into signing away one of his access points. Driveway was built to their specs 10 months ago. First I heard about the neighbor thing was yesterday.

The plumbers, paint guys, HVAC guys, and handrail installers all need to come back and fix stuff. Landscape crew should be here next week.

Build another house? Not this guy.

[510freak]

Oh shit, glad he didn't.

Decorative retaining wall needs to have an engineer look at wtf, hope the builder is going to go good for that

Shitty to hear the hassles Jess, Being out in a small town one would think things would be a bit easier or less political so to speak.

Good trades people are hard to.find even up here so much half ass done shit, automotive or homes etc.
I do.mynown everything except install tires, just redid basement door frame today(made.my own)was rotting the bottom few inches, a contractor would.want about 800 or so to do this, meh like to do things myself, learn certain things along the way.


Hopefully it all sorts itself soon enough for you Jess

[DRIVEN]

It'll get sorted -- just not going as smooth as one would hope. I could write a couple pages going deeper into all the factors involved but I won't. The HVAC/plumber/painter things are just standard fixes. The driveway is a hassle but I'm not too worried yet. The retaining wall has potential to turn really ugly. We had originally budgeted $20k to do it, and that number was probably high because I was going to do the majority of the work myself. Now I'm looking at $40-150k additional, depending on how rigid the county wants to be. No problem, I'll just pull that out of my ass.
I don't normally stress about much but money puts me on edge. It was important to me that I didn't have to go to the bank for this build. That appears to no longer be an option. So, my Indian dream is probably dead and the shop is on indefinite hold.
Dammit.

Sorry for the sidetracked rant but I think you can better understand my frustration now.

[DRIVEN]

In more fun news...
My dad's El Camino is back together and running.

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The boat sold a couple weeks ago.
I became a diesel bro. Sorry, you'll have to wait for the big unveil photo shoot.
And I did some more on the TW. Before and after...

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Refinished the plastics, new gators, seat cover and grips, had the rear rack stripped and re-powder coated along with the front rack I made last summer.

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[510freak]

Ouch,thats a bit of coin,here is to hoping its on the lower end cost wise.rant is good somethimes.

Diesel you say,hmm

Dads el camino is rad.

[Taterhead]

Wow. What a load of shit you’re having to put up with. Engineer for the wall is probably so they can make sure it isn’t shoddy work and it falls on someone. The money though, geez.

And I try to do just about everything I can myself also. I just finished installing a 5x6 foot window in the basement den. Installers wanted $600-$900 just for installation. It took me 2 days but I saved that money.

Hopefully all goes smoothly for you from here on out.


Oh and the rainbro warrior is looking less faggy. Making it harder for you to laugh at your friends that ride it.

[DRIVEN]

Try not to let the jealousy overcome you.

[wayno]

So what is the car?
I see it has a diesel engine with a VE type injection pump, it should get good mileage.
Turbocharge it!!!

[DRIVEN]

Chevette with 1.8 Isuzu. 51 blistering horsepower.

[Laecaon]

That is a pretty silly car. What are you doing with it?

[DRIVEN]

I bought it from my coworker here in town. Hes building a new house and won't have room so he made me a deal. Plan to clean it up and sell it. Seems to run great, just super gutless.

[wayno]

Yep, fairly gutless, that is why I have been dealing with trying to turbocharge my 71hp SD25 engines in my trucks over the years, and have them operate normally without any issues.
You are not likely going to soup it up without a turbocharger, so fix it up means????
Them small diesel engines in small cars got really good mileage, I have heard way over 40mpg, if it gets 45 the way it is, the odds are it will get over 50mpg with a turbocharger if driven normally, not 75/80mph like I drive, keep in mind that I don't drive it like I stole it, I just push my trucks on the freeways, around town I drive normally and usually get 25mpg or better, the worst I ever got was 21mpg towing a 720 diesel truck with my 720 diesel truck with a SD22 engine(61hp), all my diesel trucks have SD25 engines now, that 10hp did make a noticeable difference, but the turbocharger made a huge difference.

[jtinluvr]

Try not to let the jealousy overcome you.

Knew they made them, never saw a diesel model. For whatever reason, mom loved the Chevettes. Had ‘78 and ‘81 models.

[DRIVEN]

Yeah, it's a bit of an odd duck. We'll do some cosmetic stuff and a little general maintenance but it'll remain as the factory built it. It's just a winter project. The goal is to haul it down to the swap meet next April if I don't sell it first. I'm betting some Portland hipster has veggie plans for it.

[flatcat19]

Fuck that. VW Diesel swap it with a husky-sized turbo. Cage the thing and have a really cool sleeper.


I'm envisioning the Can't Touch This video clip now.