Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Our property is so flat, our driveway was the low spot of the entire parcel. This led to the creation on "Lake Campbell" every time we had a good rain. Winter and clearing the snow from the drive was horrendous for Bill, snowblowing water and chunks of ice. We agreed early on to have the driveway filled in and graveled, and asked Hanner to do it for us. We talked to him in March about it. Later he told us it might be July before he could get to it. July came and went, no Hanner. Finally in October he started moving his equipment out here: excavator, bulldozer and dump truck; he parked his trailer over at Henry Excavating, the next property over.

Somehow the simple driveway plan turned into a garage, having the electric and cable buried underground and removing a utility pole, the clearing of a LOT of trees, and rerouting the gas line. I was surprised that first the driveway had to have the black dirt scraped off before it could be filled with the sand and gravel. Actually I was surprised there was that much black dirt! Hanner dumped a lot of it in the front yard, to be seeded with grass seed later. I think we'll end up with a lovely front yard! The lilac tree that was at the end of my wheelchair ramp was pulled up and replanted in the middle of the front yard. A nearly-dead pine tree was pulled up from the back yard and dumped back in the woods. Gravel was dug up from out back and spread on our driveway.

And all the measuring! The garage floor has to be higher than the driveway or it won't drain properly. The driveway has to be higher than the rest of the yard or it will collect puddles again. For three weeks it seemed like a constant "beep! beep! beep!" was coming from the yard!

And of course everything that COULD go wrong with the utilities did. First the AT&T lines underground were dug up, but that was no biggie--we will never go back to using that company for a landline again. Then the power company wanted to charge us an extra $400 some-odd dollars to pull out the utility pole and dispose of it.  We keep telling them no, we'll take care of it--what's one more log added to the pile of trees out back? But they keep wanting to do it. Then they cut through my gas line while they were trenching for the new buried line, so the gas company had to come out. The power company didn't even tell me--I didn't find out until the gas company guy rang the doorbell to come in and re-light all my pilot lights!

While he was here, the gas company guy noticed that the approach apron to my garage will go a few feet over the gas line, so he got the idea into his head that the gas line had to be moved all around the outside of the garage and a new meter put up. I said why don't we just re-route it between the house and garage and leave the meter where it is, and of course he had all these dumb-ass excuses why that just wouldn't do. Fortunately Hanner came back and set the guy straight. I have to say, I'm glad Bill and I are using Hanner more or less as a project co-ordinator! He knows who to hire for what job, and who to call if things aren't going the way they should, and everyone knows him and acknowledges he knows what he's talking about. I think I must come off as being retarded because EVERYONE wants to put one over on me, I swear!

The driveway is done and it's great. Now we are waiting for Humphries to come pour the cement floor for the garage. I hope this project is wrapped up before winter! It would be so great to have friends and family over for holiday gatherings without the mud, and a new beautiful front yard to welcome them with!