THANKS TO JAMES AND BRAD!!!

Many, many thanks to James and Brad for helping with the truck on Saturday....  Absolutely couldn't have picked up the bed and moved it on the truck on our own... Jim asked if I could help, and I was like, "No.."...  thank goodness we have sons that live so close and are so willing to help at the drop of a hat.

You guys rock!

Cheri

The arrival of SNOW has slowed the progress. . .

OK, so a week ago the weather turned cold and snow blew in. 

I've had to wait over a week to mount the dualie pick-up bed.  But today there was a break in the weather and Brad, James and I picked it up and set the bed onto the chassis.  This looks easier than it was.  Oh, my back. . .

 

 

Well, it fits.  Now all I have to do is bolt it down and make the side panels to fill in the space where the diamond plate tool box is.

ARCHITECT ISSUES.......

So, we've been communicating with the architect on this project for several months now.  Suddenly, all communication with this guy has flat stopped.  We've tried to contact him, but we get no response.  Finally, I get an e-mail from this guy and he says that has been sick and is recovering - but, it's going to take him a couple of weeks to get back on his feet.  I'm having a freak!  Sounds like this guy has had a heart attack or something and have this major surgery, and my brain goes into overdrive and I'm thinking we need to find a new architect, and is he going to die and what do we do, and on and on and on...

Well, it's been a couple of weeks and Jim gives him a call yesterday.  Turns out, it's not a heart attack... he had gastric bypass surgery...  says his recovery is taking a really long time, and we need to wait a couple more weeks....  I'm glad he's not, like, dying... but, would have been nice if he gave us a little heads up on this one....

So, what's the correct protocol on this one... Should you ask someone who has had gastric bypass how their stomach is doing?



Cheri

Honey, we need a truck. . . .

Ok, my wonderful wife agrees that we really needed a truck to pull the backhoe around with, but I'm not sure she knew what she was in for.

I was looking for a one ton pick-up truck that could pull a 14,000 lbs. trailer load.  The trucks I found in my price range were rather worn out and still relatively expensive so I expanded my search.

I found a 1995 Ford F450 (2 1/2 ton) cab and chassis that came from Arizona (no rust in the bodywork) with power windows, door locks, cruise control, air conditioning, etc with 123,000 miles on it.  Well we bought it!  But it has a 10 foot frame behind the cab so some creativity was required.

I bought a diamond plate tool box and a dualie pick-up bed for the back.

After sandblasting a very rusty looking frame, I applied primer and black chassis paint.

RUSTY WITH THE TOOL BOX MOUNTED

 SANDBLASTING THE FRAME

 PRIMER - BROWN

 PAINTED - BLACK

 LOOKS LIKE NEW!

The Dualie Bed with bed liner and diamond plate sills and tool boxes.

This will make a super pick-up truck (work truck for Manzanita). 

Bye for now, Jim Streeter

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

Nothing much has happened with Manzanita the last little bit.  We are waiting for Architect Dave to complete the plans, Jim is still excited about the backhoe - I think we are going to be picking it up within the next couple of weeks, and the F450 (yes, I said F450) truck is just about ready to make the journey.

This truck is seriously....big...  I haven't figured a way to get into it yet - I have to all but pole vault to get into the front seat.  Jim says that he'll be happy to boost me up..... uh....  no....  I don't think anybody deserves that mental image burned into their heads....

But, it was Jim's birthday on Saturday, and I was happy to buy him a CD with plans for pergolas, and gazebos and stuff like that... I just have to keep him thinking about a jacuzzi and stuff like that.  He politely said thank you, but I know, inside his head he was groaning....

I know Jim has some pictures and the like, and I'll leave it up to him to post them.

Cheri