Category: Commentary

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Wire is still hanging low

Long, long overdue update: AT&T fixed their wire and it is up to code, but now the low hanging wire belongs to XFinity/Comcast and despite numerous calls, they refuse to do anything to correct it.

Well, strike that. They are bumbling idiots, so they have no problem sending out a crew to the wrong address. Or saying they can’t help me because there’s no service at the actual address. Or getting the name of the street completely wrong.

Typical interaction with Comcast Low Hanging Wire Support

Comcast: Hello Comcast, how can I help you?
Me: Yes, I’d like to report a low-hanging wire at 100 Apple Pie Way
C: (tap tap tap) I see here your home address is 1545 Elaine Rd, is that where the wire is?
M: No, that’s my old address. The wire is hanging across the driveway at 100 Apple Pie Way, which is a property I own.
C: (tap tap tap) Are you saying you don’t have service at 100 Apple Pie Way? We don’t provide service to that address.
M: Yes, I understand. Your wire is suspended over my driveway and it is sagging low.
C: Okay, got it. We’ll send out a crew.
M: Thank you

(A few hours later)

Comcast Tech: Hello, this is Comcast Tech
Me: Hey, what’s up?
CT: I got a ticket about a low wire as 1545 Elaine Road, and none of the wires around here are low hanging.
M: Yeah, that’s because the wire is at 100 Apple Pie Way.
CT: Ah. okay. That’s outside my area, so I’ll cancel this ticket and you’ll need to call and have them open a ticket for the other address.

(Sounds of head banging into the wall)

The low hanging Comcast wire is attached above the other wire on the pole, but because it has way too much slack, it is draping below the AT&T wire.

Image of the two data wires coming off the telephone pole, with the low hanging wire actually being the high wire
Comcast wire hanging low

There are a few things I can try doing, but in the meantime I’ve let this thing go on far too long, so I need to get going, as it were. The concern is once I get the tiny house on the property, if I need to leave for any reason (an impending hurricane is a pretty good reason), the low-hanging wire will be an impediment to GTFO quickly.

Complaining to the PUC is still an option and I should probably follow up on it, but in the meantime, I need to get Tiny down here and parked.

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Grade and Fill for Dummies

Things have been pretty quiet what with all the world-wide pandemic and all. In the meantime, I started planning a fence, but two things stopped me cold:

  1. The price of wood went through the roof
  2. The neighbor’s elevation changes caused more water to flow onto my property than normal
  3. I discovered I have several depressions significant enough to accumulate an excess of water
  4. Excess water will accelerate wood rot
  5. Wood rot will kill my fence fast

Ugh.

Wood? Wood!

Good news everyone! The price of wood came down!

Wait, no it didn’t.

Okay, we’ll pass on the wood for now.

Elevation, smellivation

I had to get an elevation survey in order to know how much dirt I would to grade and fill the property. Turns out most places I called never heard of them, but two did, one that cost way more and one that cost way less. The cheaper one was fishy, so I paid for the expensive one.

Before the surveyor came, I had to clear the jungle out and pile up all the trash donations people had provided me.

No more jungle!

Now I have some calculations to do. If the amount of dirt to grade and fill is lower than 1000 sq ft, I don’t need a permit. Stay tuned!

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Not dead yet!

Just a quick check-in. I have a bunch of old posts and photos I need to publish to catch you up to the current state.

I’ve run out of cash for building, and I have a big expense coming up: windows.

I would like to buy them all at once so I can get them all installed and be done with it. We’ll see!

See you (hopefully) soon!

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A disagreement, threats and why written contracts are important

It has been about 9 months since the last entry. In that time, I’ve had to move the Tiny House from its build site.

What happened was there was a disagreement from the management (or overlord) about my continuing to rent the space. I had agreement until after mid 2016, but the problem was it was verbal (some what via email, but a crucial part was done in person).

Eventually, the overlord made threats (“get it out now or we’ll burn it to the ground”), we (using the law) blocked, and both parties agreed that I’d vacate on a specific date. That date arrived, I packed up everything and took off, never to set foot there again.

During this ordeal, I received support and advice from several friends, for whom I am eternally grateful.

All of this would have been avoided (or required much less energy) if I had a written contract that specified the terms of housing the Tiny House. The saw goes, “Experience is mistakes one learns from.” I certainly have a lot of experience now. 🙂

During the move, I noticed one of the short walls was wobbling terribly, as it was only supported on one side. I braced it with a spare 2×4 and it stopped wobbling. Once we got on the freeway, Tiny performed beautifully with no problems. I speed up to 65 mph and took it to its new temporary home.

Epilogue

This turned out to be the best thing to happen to Tiny, which I will elucidate in a future post.

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We are Back, Baby!

We are back, baby!
We are back, baby!

It has been long, too long for sure.

Running out of funds cascaded through my situation, and I’ve only just now been able to crawl out far enough to poke my head above water. With the new year comes a chance to restart.

I purchased some wood for the loft about a month ago; sadly twenty of my 2x4s were stolen. At least they left the loft rafters and floorboards! I’ll take this as a lesson-learned: use the wood ASAP; don’t leave it lying around!

 

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Out of Money

English: Finnish spruce plywood
Plywood (Photo: Wikipedia)

So, with the next phase of building approaching, it is time to get more wood, notably the plywood for the walls and roof.

In addition, I’ll need:

  • a bunch more 2x4s for the rafters, loft walls and interior walls,
  • some 4x4s for the loft beams,
  • floorboards for the loft,
  • 6x6s for the last wall, and
  • an 18 foot 2×6 for the roof beam.

I’m guesstimating this will all run me about $500ish + about $50-75 for the truck rental.

Taking a look at my Tiny Home piggybank, I’m out of money. I should have enough money in the bank at the end of the month.

In the meantime, I still need to plumb and square the remaining walls, so I’m not completely dead in the water.

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Raintastrophe

Wet Floor
Wet Floor

Wet Floor
More Wet Floor

We got a strong rainstorm yesterday, and my worst fear was realized. I’d neglected to tie down one side of the tarp, so the wind must’ve picked it up and flipped it (the tarp) over the side of the house, exposing everything.

Then it rained long and hard, soaking the walls and floor. As far as I know, two “compartments” in the floor got water in them, maybe more.

 

I repositioned the tarp and tied it down, but noticed it is full of holes. It is disintegrating from being out in the sun for so long.

All tarped up
All tarped up

The only thing to do is wait for the rain to stop and let the surface dry out. Eventually those compartments in the floor will mold (the insulation seems to be very good at resisting mold), so I’ll have to open up them up from the bottom and take out the insulation so I can dry everything out.

Next steps? Plow ahead! I’d been afraid of getting the floor wet since I laid it down and now I don’t have to worry about it!

This weekend I plan on squaring the walls and bolting them down (using the brackets I made) next.

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Rain, Rain

Lots of rain, lately.

English: rain
English: rain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I discovered that the floor had been getting a bit of rain, so there’s a possibility that the insulation is wet. I’ll have to cut open the aluminum under-barrier later and take a look, but it will make sense to get the roof up first so I only have to do this one time.

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Bill got ‘nothin!

Tropical Storm Bill rolled into town the other day.

Radar image of Bill
Image courtesy National Weather Service

The ground was already saturated, raising fears of flooding. I went to the build site to verify the tarps were in place and secure.

 

One of the tarps was ripped; hanging over the corner of the walls caused extra stress that caused the tarp to rip. I repositioned the tarp and retied the ropes so water would not enter via the tear.

Frogs have taken up residence in and around the underside of the trailer and wherever the tarp is on the ground. I suppose because it is wet and there is lots to food for the  (mosquitos!), this makes a good habitat.

English: Photo of a Frog
Photo of a Frog (Photo credit: Wikipedia)