Maybe Done…

Friday - The septic contractor brought another machine this morning and I think that they are finished. The small loader is still here in the driveway so I’m not sure if everything is done. 

Saturday - The never-ending garage sale continues. At least it isn’t too smoky and the temperature is a very pleasant 71°F. Several large items sold and some things, such as the snow blower, will probably just be left with the house. 

We also had a couple of high school boys come by to move some heavy furniture and the refrigerator. A contractor will be here working on the floor, rear deck, and drywall repair. 

New Septic System

Tuesday - Work continues on the new septic system. The tank arrived first thing in the morning followed by several dump truck loads of rock. They needed to move a lot of dirt to get the leach field at the right grade. 

Wednesday - So far, four dump truckloads of rock for the leach field. The area for the rock is in the next picture. That's quite a pile of rock. The contractor said 35 yd³ were needed for a four-bedroom house. The fifth bedroom is not "legal" as the bottom of the window is too far from the floor. And the window is too small.

This is looking uphill towards the house. The tank is buried at this point and they are just starting on the leach field, which is where all of the rock is headed. 

Progress. They started moving rock into the leach field. It'll take quite a few trips from the rock pile to the leach field.

Pretty smoky today but not as bad as it was a few days ago. This is looking southwest towards the University from the neighbors' lot.

Thursday - The contractor has backhoe issues (the engine keeps going into regen). They had a mobile tech out here with his computer for most of the morning but I think they are bringing out a different machine tomorrow. Meanwhile, the septic system is mostly done but there is still a huge pile of rock next to the garage. 

I rode my bicycle this morning to coffee followed by heading across town to the old Fred Meyer location. About 10 miles in total. 

Moving Stuff…

Saturday - Sunday - Yesterday, I drove out Chena Hot Springs Road to the local radio club’s ARRL field day at the volunteer fire department. I saw quite a few people who I haven’t seen for several years and also met Delta John, one of the other volunteer examiners. I’ve talked to him on Zoom numerous times over the last 4 years but this is the first time I’ve met him in person. 

I didn’t take any pictures but several people had some impressive portable HF setups and there were a few participating in contests. Basically, trying to make as many contacts as possible. I’m not very interested in contests. But it was a fun couple of hours. Some were planning on staying all night until the event ended at 10am this morning. It’s probably easier to do that up here on the summer solstice.

Today, we hauled more stuff to storage in preparation for the contractor starting work in another week. The high temperature hit 80°F. 

We went to Hot Licks, a local ice cream stand, but the interesting flavors were sold out so we didn’t wait in the long line. We’ll try again some afternoon.

Monday - Waiting for the septic contractor again. Communication doesn’t seem to be one of their strengths…

It’s a smoky day with the fire south of Harding Lake. The McDonald fire is over 50 thousand acres and was started by a lightning strike. Normally, you would be looking at the Alaska Range all the way to Delta. 

Still getting decent performance from StarLink. No complaints. The download speeds do vary quite a bit but rarely go below 70Mbps. I believe that upload is capped at 20Mbps. 

Work has started. They are digging up the septic tank and getting rid of a lot of trees. They asked if we had any sentimental attachment to any trees as they were all going away… 

Almost Solstice

Monday - After the morning test session, we met with the credit union about a short-term load to get started on the house repairs. So much stuff to get done. We then stopped at Costco and Safeway for groceries. I'm still floored by the cost of groceries here in Alaska. 

The days are almost at the maximum with sunset at 12:55am and sunrise before 3am. So it really doesn’t get dark.

Wednesday - We attended a community band concert at a park in downtown Fairbanks right next to the Chena River. We brought our dinner with us. 

This weekend is the Solstice festival where they close down several streets in the downtown area for food booths and entertainment. 

Other than that, it was hauling boxes to storage and to the transfer station (trash).

Thursday - Today is Solstice, i.e. the longest day of the year. From this point, it’s just a slide into winter…

We were scheduled to have the septic system worked on today but the contractor put it off until Monday. I’m not sure if that means actually starting or just showing up with equipment and material. 

Friday - Another week down and even more stuff hauled off to the transfer station. The septic work was postponed by the contractor until Monday. He said that he was running behind. We still haven't heard back from the other contractor to work on the interior projects.