We Got Slab!

Okay, ya know what? Actually posting something should be optional with a clever title like that.

It's true, we're the proud owners of a 24'x32' monoslab! Many thanks to the incredibly efficient, professional, and good guys at Gembala Concrete! (FYI, the little blue box in the lower part of the photo is a 4'x4' garden box under a tarp).

The first cement mixer arrived at 9:00 this morning, they began pouring at 9:15, and were done at 10:00. Luckily it was much nicer than the snow flurries and cold wind we've had the last couple days, and it helps the concrete cure more quickly.

Rod, John, and Shane work well together, and they most definitely know what the heck they're doing. I watched for a while, in between phone calls for work and rewriting an invoice posting routine I've fiddled with on and off for months.

Tomorrow the form boards get removed, and in a couple weeks the slab will be set thoroughly, and the garage can be moved into place! There's also rough plumbing pipe in place so eventually we can have a sink / toilet / shower out there, and we have a line on a couple different wood stoves for heating the building.

I'm learning a lot living here... not so much about how to do things like pour concrete or rough-plumb, but more about how these things are not rocket science. I totally and unreservedly appreciate professionals doing their job, and I accept without hesitation that I could not do what they do with anywhere near the speed accuracy, confidence, or skill. However, PVC pipe is just PVC pipe, and digging a trench only takes skill in avoiding other buried gotchas like the power line and making sure it's graded properly.

Rambling, rambling. My point is, I'm gaining confidence (mostly theoritical) that I, one of the least mechanically-inclined people EVER, can maybe do some stuff around the property. That's exciting.

Plus with the economy tanking and Obama and Clinton having their time wasted by Stephanapoulos Gibson last night on ABC -- most of those questions were not worthy of a candidate in their first pre-primary run for school board -- Maverick McCain might just have a chance this fall. But sorry, I don't talk politics in this blog :)

We're in for a cold, cold, snowy weekend, but that last couple evenings have been beautiful.