Monday evening I was in the trailer listening to Dean and Tannon
hammer away as they installed the hurricane ties on the trusses.
It was dark and very cold.
Suddenly...
"OUUUUUUW-WAH!".
"OUUUUUUW-WAH!".
It was Dean.
When I bought the five pound box of 'shorties' at Wheelwright
for securing the hurricane ties,
for securing the hurricane ties,
I hadn't realized there was an option to get the 1-1/2 inch nails;
I brought home 1-1/4's, which is just short enough
to make them a lot more difficult to work with.
to make them a lot more difficult to work with.
A few minutes later..
"AAARRRRR-GAH-GAH-GAH!"
"AAARRRRR-GAH-GAH-GAH!"
Dean again.
And I could tell it had REALLY HURT.
After a long pause, the hammering continued.
I thought to myself how grateful and proud I am that my husband isn't,
and never has been, the kind of man that uses curse words.
and never has been, the kind of man that uses curse words.
And then just moments later...
"DAMN IT!"
Yep.
We all have our thresholds, don't we.
His thumb was pretty %#@! sore for the next few days.
His thumb was pretty %#@! sore for the next few days.
All the hurricane ties got nailed in that night.
Tannon is awesome and was here a few times this week to help Dean
work on those ties and the framing in the basement.
Tannon is awesome and was here a few times this week to help Dean
work on those ties and the framing in the basement.
Why the framing in the basement, you ask?
Yeah, I know...
the plan was to put that off until after we were closed in.
But framing the basement was just about the only thing that could be worked on.
Other than being really cold, Monday wasn't too bad, but Tuesday...
Tuesday was the the first big snowstorm of the year here along the Wasatch Front.
Dean worked on the framing in the basement that night.
When he'd finished for the night and came in, he mentioned he was concerned
that our pipes might freeze and that we had better
get showers before bed just in case.
Sure enough...
frozen pipes in the morning.
No water was coming into the trailer.
Even our hot water heater wouldn't run.
We had insulated the hoses that are connected to the trailer,
but apparently it hadn't been adequate.
So, Wednesday night we worked on beefing up the insulation and putting
more heat tape on.
It was so cold working out there that I was nearly in tears.
I'm a wimp when it comes to cold.
I can easily deal with triple digit temperatures, but frigid cold -
no so much.
I thought about the Willie and Martin handcart company as I watched Dean's hands
working under the beam of the flashlight.
My toes and fingers and nose were hurting just standing there next to him
in the nearly single digit temperatures.
And I knew he was cold too even though he didn't once shiver, let alone complain.
As I continued on thoughts of the account of the Willie and Martin
handcart company and what they went through,
that's when the tears threatened to spill over.
Here I was with a heavy coat, a fleece liner under that, gloves. thick socks and
boots and still shivering and miserable, but just a
few feet away from a warm shelter to retreat to.
So, not only did my fingers and toes ache, but my heart was hurting too for those
poor souls stranded in such unimaginable conditions so long ago.
The thought also came to me that if there is such a thing as a
"John Wayne Man-Up Award",
my husband should be the recipient.
Seriously, he always has and always does whatever needs doing
no matter how difficult, uncomfortable of unpleasant it might be.
I know...my mind is a quirky thing and I can't decide if that's a curse or not.
Let's sum up, shall we?
Two days later (and we figured it'd be at least two days) our Wednesday night efforts
paid off and the water started flowing again.
We were ecstatic when it finally started drip, drip, dripping
and then FLOWING from the kitchen sink valve that we'd left open.
Saturday, though, it all froze up again.
I've been showering at Jo-Tan's.
Dean?
He's been showering here.
How?
This...
.JPG)
is how.
He's been putting 2 liter bottles of water from our storage on top of our little oil heater.
"It works great!", he says.
(he's a guy and you cannot make me believe for a minute I'd have the same experience)
It also works great for face and hand washing, brushing our teeth and
keeping Ally and the chickens hydrated.
What's hard and really bothers me most is not being able to easily
mop the floor and clean the trailer bathroom .
I won't be dishonest here and sugar-coat this week's events -
it's been frustrating, for sure.
We had not anticipated this kind of cold until January, which
is usually the norm here in Northern Utah.
We'd planned on being all closed in by then.
We'll figure this out and get through it, though, and it'll be
a part of our story that we look back on with not a small degree of satisfaction
remembering how we stuck it out and weathered this storm well.
Yeah, I know...
the plan was to put that off until after we were closed in.
But framing the basement was just about the only thing that could be worked on.
Other than being really cold, Monday wasn't too bad, but Tuesday...
Tuesday was the the first big snowstorm of the year here along the Wasatch Front.
Dean worked on the framing in the basement that night.
When he'd finished for the night and came in, he mentioned he was concerned
that our pipes might freeze and that we had better
get showers before bed just in case.
Sure enough...
frozen pipes in the morning.
No water was coming into the trailer.
Even our hot water heater wouldn't run.
We had insulated the hoses that are connected to the trailer,
but apparently it hadn't been adequate.
So, Wednesday night we worked on beefing up the insulation and putting
more heat tape on.
It was so cold working out there that I was nearly in tears.
I'm a wimp when it comes to cold.
I can easily deal with triple digit temperatures, but frigid cold -
no so much.
I thought about the Willie and Martin handcart company as I watched Dean's hands
working under the beam of the flashlight.
My toes and fingers and nose were hurting just standing there next to him
in the nearly single digit temperatures.
And I knew he was cold too even though he didn't once shiver, let alone complain.
As I continued on thoughts of the account of the Willie and Martin
handcart company and what they went through,
that's when the tears threatened to spill over.
Here I was with a heavy coat, a fleece liner under that, gloves. thick socks and
boots and still shivering and miserable, but just a
few feet away from a warm shelter to retreat to.
So, not only did my fingers and toes ache, but my heart was hurting too for those
poor souls stranded in such unimaginable conditions so long ago.
The thought also came to me that if there is such a thing as a
"John Wayne Man-Up Award",
my husband should be the recipient.
Seriously, he always has and always does whatever needs doing
no matter how difficult, uncomfortable of unpleasant it might be.
I know...my mind is a quirky thing and I can't decide if that's a curse or not.
Let's sum up, shall we?
Two days later (and we figured it'd be at least two days) our Wednesday night efforts
paid off and the water started flowing again.
We were ecstatic when it finally started drip, drip, dripping
and then FLOWING from the kitchen sink valve that we'd left open.
Saturday, though, it all froze up again.
I've been showering at Jo-Tan's.
Dean?
He's been showering here.
How?
This...
.JPG)
is how.
He's been putting 2 liter bottles of water from our storage on top of our little oil heater.
"It works great!", he says.
(he's a guy and you cannot make me believe for a minute I'd have the same experience)
It also works great for face and hand washing, brushing our teeth and
keeping Ally and the chickens hydrated.
What's hard and really bothers me most is not being able to easily
mop the floor and clean the trailer bathroom .
I won't be dishonest here and sugar-coat this week's events -
it's been frustrating, for sure.
We had not anticipated this kind of cold until January, which
is usually the norm here in Northern Utah.
We'd planned on being all closed in by then.
We'll figure this out and get through it, though, and it'll be
a part of our story that we look back on with not a small degree of satisfaction
remembering how we stuck it out and weathered this storm well.
