Day 1 thru 5 in Alaska

  We've accomplished a lot in the past days.  The RV is stabilized with supports under the slides.  The cargo trailer is unpacked (mostly) and organized, and WE FINALLY GOT POWER !!!!!  Here's the story.

SUNDAY 7/20
 We were expecting everything to be done and ready for us to "hook-up" and start living.  That dream was not to be.  Our contractor had put in the power pole, or remote base, as the electric company calls it, but it hasn't been inspected yet.  He says he's called MEA several times, but has had no response from them.  That doesn't sound right.  Since it was Sunday, I have to wait to call the next day.
  Since we have no power, we head over to our storage unit to get the generator.  Our son has put the geni at the back of the unit and parked our ATV in front, with the snow plow attachment.  We can't get the geni past  the ATV tires.  Only 1 inch more clearance needed.  After calling Steve, I'm able to get the battery reconnected, but the "Goblin" won't start. (I did tell you that Green Goblin was the ATV's nickname didn't I?).  Thinking with my brilliant brain, I use the wench to raise the snow plow, turned it slightly to the right, John and I pushed it forward until we were able to get the generator out, then pushed it back.
  When we got back home with the generator, we hooked up the RV to get power, but we still had the problem of no water.  (The pump is electric).  Luckily our contractor came by with a pigtail he used to connect the geni to the breaker box.  Voila---water---intermittently.  We used a period of good flow to fill the holding tank.
MONDAY 7/21
  When I call MEA and speak to the scheduler, she tells me they have heard nothing from our contractor.  I tell her that the remote base is ready for inspection.  She puts me in contact with the engineer who tells me she will be by around noon.  I run some errands , i.e., registering our address with the USPS so we can get our mail, checking on someone to replace the window broken by the Alaska Highway gremlins, arranging for trash pick-up, and a large tank of propane.
  That afternoon, the engineer with MEA did come by, BUT, corrections need to be made by the contractor.  He has the wiring in PVC instead of steel; the pipe must be secured AND CENTERED on the pole; a guy wire must be installed to stabilize the pole; and lastly, there needs to be another ground wire 6 feet from the first.  EGADS!  I would have thought (as a general contractor) that he knew the rules.
  We run the generator off and on until 7:00 p.m., when we shut it off to keep our neighbors friendly.  It's cool at night, and very refreshing, though we do set the furnace to kick on if the temp drops below 65*.
  The pups are having a wonderful time exploring the acreage.  There is so much to see and do.  They can smell the grasses, investigate the wildlife leavings, and so many other things that dogs do in their little worlds.

 Sassy and Rascal explore their limits on the driveway

 Sassy has always found rocks fascinating.

TUESDAY 7/22

  The contractor comes out and fixes his errors...all but one.  He says he's going to call MEA and ask THEM to install the guy wire.  I call the engineer myself.  She is a bit exasperated.  She tells me that this is something they really don't do, but if they did, it would cost ME over $650.00.  I call the contractor back, and he agrees to come out in the morning to put the wire in place.

  From the pictures I've posted, you can see that the fireweed is really tall. Both dogs are lost completely from sight when they go into the yard,  To surprise John, and aide us both, I go to the local Home Depot where I purchase a Ryobi string trimmer that can adapt with attachments including a brush trimmer, pruner, leaf blower, hedge cutter, and 4 time cultivator.  Just what we can use.  There is so much clearing to be done.

WEDNESDAY 7/23

  The MEA inspector comes out again.  This time, it's the ground wire.  It apparently must be one continuous wire, not spliced like the contractor has done.  Once again on the phone to him, and he promises to come out and fix it.  The inspector says she'll take his word, and schedule our connection.  Hooray!!!

  We spend more time getting things arranged in the shed and cargo trailer.  Still can't get the Green Goblin to start.  DANG IT ALL.  We could really use his "muscle" to get some clearing and cleaning done.  The weather is holding nicely, but rain is expected to begin tomorrow.  I really need the power as I need to get some laundry done.

  John and I have been working 12 or more hours a day, and are becoming exhausted.  It's still light out at 11:30 p.m. so getting to sleep has been a challenge.  Can't even watch TV, as I can't pick up any channels on the antenna, and DirecTV won't be here until Monday.

THURSDAY 7/24

  John finally gets a chance to play with his new trimmer.  He grins from ear to ear and makes that Tim Allen tool guy growl.  

I'm trying to get laundry done, using water from our holding tank.  I manage 4 loads, then the water runs out. The contractor came by early this morning and retrieved his pig tail, so I can't even get water from the well.

  On the subject of the well, many times the pump won't even work, so I call out a well service.  They check the breakers and the pressure tank.  I'm thinking the old pump is about to go, but she says "No, it's the generator not giving our enough power."  What a relief!  John goes to get more water in our 5 gallon emergency jugs and puts his back out of commission for the rest of the afternoon.

  4:30 in the afternoon, I still haven't seen or heard from MEA.  I call the scheduler and get voice mail (of course), but she does call back 15 minutes later.  She's telling me I'm next on the list as the truck pulls into my drive.  30 minutes later, we have power, and with power comes water from the well.  Picture us doing our "Happy Dance"  To celebrate, we watch a DVD together.  Finding Nemo one of our favs.

FRIDAY JULY 25

  We went to sleep last night to the sound of the rain hitting the rubber roof and awoke this morning to the same.  One big difference between Texas rain and Alaska rain?  Alaska rain isn't accompanied by strong winds.  We were able to leave the awning our all night.  This morning, we had a dry place to sit.

  We ran a big errand this morning.  On Craigslist-Anchorage/Mat-su a gentleman had a small trailer for sale that just fits our needs to pull behind the Goblin while we're clearing our land.  Good price too.  We loaded it into the back of Goliath and arrived home 1 hour early to greet someone who is coming to get that monstrous egg incubator out of our shed.  

  I put it on the same Craigslist last evening and by 10:00 p.m. had 8 people call about it.  (It's free to a good home, who wouldn't want it).  The niece of the lady who won the "bidding war" by being the first to contact me arrived in a car.  There is no way on God's green earth it will fit, so she'll come back on Saturday with a flatbed truck (currently off-loading hay).  We will be so very glad to see it gone.

  Then we decided to head over to storage to try once again to start the Goblin.  Jumper cables and starting fluid in the back of Trooper, we stop first to rent a trailer to bring him home whether he starts or not.  He doesn't.  No matter what we try the Goblin sits still, teasing us occasionally with a cranking sound.  

  To load him on the trailer, we must first remove the snow plow.  To remove the plow, we must push him out of the storage room, turn him around, and push him back in so we can drop the plow.  John and I got him out and turned around, but just couldn't get his front end back into the storage room. 

  A very nice young man (Ryan) showed up and took pity on a couple of old geezers. (John with his gray hair, and me with a cane).  He helped push Goblin into storage, helped drop the plow, then helped us use the wench so Goblin could pull himself onto the trailer.  The funniest part was when Goblin was part way on and Ryan wanted to get behind and push (weakening battery), John was helping steer, and I was elected to work the wench control (on the center console of the Goblin)  When I could no longer reach with my arm, I used my cane to press down on the control.  Loaded, and strapped down, we headed home (after stopping to get a new battery).

  Chicken noodle soup for dinner.  Hot spiced cider or hot cocoa to sip, and we've got a great evening.  Tomorrow we'll off-load the Goblin and work more on getting him running.  Maybe he knows what's in store for him and is throwing a temper tantrum (he is only 4 years old after all).