Back to School!

Today was the first day of "teacher school" before the real thing starts next week. There is a great deal to do in my classroom to make it ready for the school year, so it's not likely that I'll accomplish much more on the house in the next few weeks. Tomorrow I plan to scrape and "foam" a crack in a concrete slab outside and above my classroom. It funnels water right down the basement wall, where it leaches through and crystalizes on my inside wall. I'm going to try to stop it from doing that before I attempt to seal and paint the inside wall.

However, this evening I did go over to Walnut Hill with a tank of water and get the well running again. It seemed to take a lot more water to prime it this time than it did last time. At some point in the future I will have to install some modifications to the system to make re-priming easier if it should be necessary, but for now it works and I can hook up a hose and get water out of it. The pressure tank appears to be functioning as well. The pump cranked the tank up to pressure and the cut out switch worked. That was something that was new. Last time when I flushed out the well and ended up running it dry I don't think the pressure tank ever got charged up. I still need to get the water quality tested too.

I rigged up the hose this evening and set to work scrubbing down the panels that ring the pool. They've got probably five to seven years of grime and dirt on them, but it's amazing what a little elbow grease can do. They scrub right up with a stiff brush, which pleases me inordinately. It was a singluarly pleasant experience to have the hose gushing out clear, cold water under pressure and be able to make a visible, tangible difference in the look of the place from the effort. Standing in that warm water, with the occassional spritz of cool water backsplashing on me from the panels, scrubbing away. It was a nice hour or so. I brought over a nozzle for the end of the hose that let me control the flow so as not to run the well dry this time. It did raise the water level in the pool about an inch, when I let it run in a while. That should translate into about 270 gallons if my math is correct. Nice to know I can get that much out of it without risking a problem, even in dry times.

I plan to put on a party for some of my students a week from Saturday so I'm cleaning a few panels each time I'm over there and making a dent in the job. I managed to get all the decking cleaned off a few days ago. It was so lovely to be there today with the cool evening air and the water warmed by the sun. Some year I'm going to put a solar heater on it so that it gets even warmer, but it's not too bad now.

The party will be a "bring your own snacks" picnic affair. I'll whip up some lemonade and have some soda on ice and we'll have a good time. If I had the time and lumber it would be fun to build some picnic tables, but that will have to wait for this one. I might be able to rig something up with saw horses though...

Sal has discovered that she can work on her computer over there and is busily hunting up leads for a new job. She'll feel a lot better when she finds something productive (with benefits) to put her energy into, I think. Her rib is improving in fits and starts. She's anxious to be able to work on the place again too.

That's all for tonight.

Doug