The final push, at least that's the plan.

Back to the grind. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would still be doing this. Had I been told, I would never have started. However, it has to be said, I was basically buying myself a job and this is the job. By job standards, it's not bad. Truth is, what else would I be doing? Denise pays the heaviest price.

My buddy Tim picked me up at the barge. From there we hopped over to Friends of the Park where I picked up my personalized plates before driving out to Coral Bay. The electricity was still on as the ice cubes testified. Bad news, the pictures below.

The big plum tree came down while I was gone. This was one of several trees that I had "girdled/banded", or whatever its called. The theory being that by taking off a band of bark the tree dies dropping limbs as it goes. Wayne did it on some property nearby and it worked over the course of a couple of years. Limb by limb until it disappeared. Seemed like a solution to a few trees we have that were in difficult positions for the chainsaw. The plum tree was such a tree. Broken badly decades ago, it was very unbalanced and it was going to fall generally in one direction, towards the house or right on top of the shack.

Well, that didn't work. Instead of dropping limbs it snapped where it had been girdled, probably in the x-mas winds, we get from the east. It fell to the west narrowly missing the shack but hitting the house and outhouse with no real damage. The damage was psychological. It's pretty shocking to walk around the corner and everything looks like a bomb went off. Welcome home.

I lost a plank and ladder as shown. Countless trees were also snapped. It appeared the shack had been spared.

A complete mess on all three roofs. You couldn't walk alongside the house.

.

However, it could have been worse. Had it fallen on its own without the winds it would have crashed

into the shack. That's why I never cut it down. I built the shack before I knew it was a plum tree. In the years it fruits there are thousands lying all over the ground. Then the fruit flies and the place smells like a distillery. I love eating them but not living with them. They bury the truck. I have an even bigger one that I have to deal with at a later date. 

How ice cubes look after sitting in a bowl in the freezer for a couple of months. As long as they have a shape, I'm good to go on the contents.

The plates! They would kill for these in SF. Major drama with the truck of course. I got it started but the driver side window wouldn't go down. I failed the inspection--"dah window must go down to talk to the poolice". WTF. Plus the inspector demanded my grille which hasn't been on the truck for ten years since the head on collision. Come on lady, who are you kidding. Back to Coral Bay, I found it laying in the bush. Jumped over to Caravan to see what could be done about the window. Nothing! They just took the door panel off and lowered it, will have to order a new motor. With the window down, passed inspection. However, she says I have to repair the front end. She's dreaming. Hopefully, she'll be gone by next year or I'll have to hire a local to take my truck in. Yeah, that's right. I'll let you figure that one out. The going price is $100.

Now I have no power windows on either side, an open door panel, and a 2x4 to hold the window up when necessary. When my fake tooth falls out, it will complete the picture.

This is why god created pressure washers. I love my electric. Twenty minutes later, it's like I never left. It doesn't take long in the tropics to get funked up in a rain forest.

After the clean up, I found the damage I thought I had avoided. The tree had hit the corner of the new construction. The bolts held but suffered significantly. The gap you see above had not existed. The entire corner of the building was driven into the ground knocking everything out of plumb and square with the floor was no longer level. With jacks and levers, I got most of it back but still ended up with a trapezoid parallelogram, if there is such a thing! There was no way I was tearing it down and starting all over. I just have to find a way to hide it.

Lizzy is so happy I'm back. No matter the noise, she spends all day near me.

As part of the new expanded layout, I added four feet to the original footprint for a sitting area. With the bed taking up seven feet it will leave nine feet to the picture window/screen. I bolted the new rafters to the old in the picture above. The original plans called for a hip roof done by Ryan and I. Working alone I decided to go with the existing shed roof for a number of reasons, chief among them, I was working alone and the old plans called for me vacating the shack for a complete remodel. That was not possible now. I've got two months to make this liveable. Down the road, I can put a faux hip roof on it for hurricanes. Shed roofs are like plane wings. 747's take off at around 200 mph.

Below you can see the new roof footprint extended out past the old galvanized. Essentially my overall plan was to construct the additional space, enclose it, and then remove the two old exterior walls which would now be in inside. All this was to be done while I still lived in the shack. Hahahaha....

Putting up the siding. What a drill getting them from under the shack and attached. Never has 80 lbs felt so heavy. Stand on a plank, bend over, pick up a sheet arms outstretched, start throwing it up in the air a couple of inches at a time, catching it. Rinse and repeat until it is in place. Gymnasts who work the rings would have no problem.

When I'm done I will have two sheets leftover. Amazing. It all worked out without really planning it.

Standing in the new doorway looking at the old door which I used until the very end. When everything was enclosed and secure I moved it even using the old lock. The square in the wall will be the bathroom window with a sink under.

Spotted her over in St Thomas, El Galeon. https://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/el-galeon/

This would be some comfortable sailing if you were an officer or the captain.

162 feet long with a 33 foot beam.

In local news...these could be a game changers.

https://www.stjohntradewinds.com/concrete-production-comes-st-john/

http://newsofstjohn.com/2017/01/24/jonstryker/

http://newsofstjohn.com/2017/02/18/boyson-inc-gets-mister-b-back/  Not soon enough. Spent ten hours getting to and from St Thomas for supplies and food with only two barges running.

http://viconsortium.com/crime/federal-jury-convicts-st-thomas-woman-participating-cocaine-conspiracy/

If ants/insects creep you out don't watch the video. These ants were living in the exterior walls. They were not on the inside but they were when I started tearing down the walls. What a shock. It felt really good to clean out what may have been ten-year old carpenter ant colonies.

In the picture above you can still see vestiges of the old wall alongside the bed. They were easy to take down primarily because half the wall were the flaps that could open but never did. Plus all my construction was with screws and bolts which make for easier demolition, one piece at a time. I reused a lot of it.

This picture was taken from the old doorway looking at the new. I'm reusing everything at the moment. The area to the right will be where the new kitchen is.

Instant kitchen. With all the prep done the move takes a day. I need to have my coffee every morning! I ran water up from the house so I'm no longer using my water tank on the roof. It's the little things I have done without for ten years. Now I have more water than I need with pressure no less. Denise is going to be very happy with the new layout.

Talk about white trash. OMG, I had no idea how much stuff I had in a small 12'x12' room. More than 100 books, countless dvd's, construction videos, clothes, music, plans, tools, etc. There was no end to the stuff. It all had to be moved around as I framed everything out. It was insane. Another one of my bright ideas.

Starting to come together. Both interior walls removed, the old kitchen taken out, and the bed in its new position. While this was originally a spur of the moment job to fill out the end of last year when I came up short on concrete, I wish I had done it sooner. Living large, so nice. After Denise leaves, I'll drop everything and go back to finishing the concrete work. Getting the storeroom/parking/driveway done is job number 1. It has to be done to move into the house.

The framing for the bathroom. Meanwhile, I'm using it to store everything. With Denise coming in a week I'll put in a toilet and put up a beadboard chair rail for privacy. I still can't believe it. Seriously, this footprint is 14'x22' and it's all you really need to live very comfortably in the tropics. When this is done it is going to be a really nice rental at a very affordable price.

Denise arrives at our shackteau!

Fur lined ruts are important

My favorite place to lay in the fetal position. Don't get me wrong I love the shack and the work but our apartment in SF is the perfect retreat. The oil faux work I did over 25 years ago is aging nicely. The idea that it will be painted out after we leave is really painful. Technically it could last as long as the apartment building does. Before our building was divided into a different family settlement the original owner's son stated he would rent the apartment as is to the next tenant and they wouldn't be allowed to paint it out. Now, it will be gone the next day.

Both are aging beautifully! One just turned 25.

Finally got rid of the 32" monster. What a job, wedged into the tansu as it was. Never has 120 pounds weighted so much. Once I got it out I realized I needed a truck to get rid of it. Then the real ordeal started. It turns out no one takes them any longer and hasn't for several years. Jimmy, my buddy with the pickup, said the sucker stayed in the back of his truck for a long time until he finally dumped it somewhere. The real scandal in today's world--it worked perfect. However, I do understand no one wanting these monsters. The new 55" weigh 20lbs. Duh.

Not my picture of Napa but that's what it looks like. We found ourselves up here for a wine tasting. No matter how many times you go you're happy you went. I'm just happy I can make it a day trip. I like the driving so it's no problem. Staying somewhere when I know my own bed is only 1 1/2 hours away does not appeal to me.

It must be December. The Xmas windows at Nest on Fillmore. They always come up with something. We get to see them constantly as we frequent the Kabuki movie theatre further down the street where we took in all the usual suspects prior to the Oscars.

Denise's new weapon. The sound alone will scare the crap out of someone. I refused to test it on myself. haha.

Joni's Christmas visit

Who hasn't seen the movie?! I have to say the musical was even better.

Once again off to the Nutcracker.

Great seats. Front row of the grand tier, left of center. We could see the entire stage plus we were just far enough back so we didn't hear their ballet shoes making noise. I know, princess problems.

Minor drama, one of my crowns fell off just before a party! Super glue to the rescue. Denise was mortified. I still clean up pretty good but the charade ends when I'm missing a tooth! Every time I ate an hors-d'oeuvre at the party Denise had a heart attack. All joking aside, I learned a lot about California and San Francisco rules and regs. I could not find a dentist, albeit it was the week of xmas and new years, but no dentist would see me as my primary dentist was on St John. WTF. Ultimately I had to go go to the only place open during the week, A Russian run implant factory. Actually had good reviews. $3500 for the extraction, the implant, and a temporary tooth, all done in under two hours. What a racket. Return in six months for the new crown. You gotta do what you gotta do!

From the Fisher collection that opened at the new, expanded MOMA. Close up it looked like a jumble of wires.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/art/article/Unraveling-SFMOMA-s-deal-for-the-Fisher-9175280.php

The Waterbar. A great place for a drink etc with a very BAD seating policy. We duck in to catch  happy hour. The place is small and packed. Standing room only with peeps waiting for stand up tables, bar seats and a few small tables. We fall in line along the left side up some stairs. With four of us, we pass on some two-seat openings. There's another group in front of us. Peeps keep coming in. Another foursome comes in behind us. No getting on line for them. They literally walk and stand in front of us separating us from the bar and tables. I don't know if they are just looking around or whatever. I give it a few minutes and then I politely tap him on the shoulder informing him there is a line ahead of them. With attitude, he states, there is no line according to the host to which I respond sorry but there is and they are behind us and pointing I say, we are behind this other group. To which he basically says, that's my problem, again with even more attitude. Well, that's when I started dropping the f-bombs making it perfectly clear there is a line and he's on it. Don't raise your voice to me he bellows. Dude, I'm not raising my voice I'm just making it very f'king clear to you there is a line. Now the surrounding bar is listening in. Who's this grandfather throwing around f-bombs! With that, his wife jumps in between us screaming "you men" but directed it at me. Denise, not to be outdone, jumps in and says he's from New York, this is normal for me. Haha. I let them know the bar next door is empty. They leave in a huff.

Moral of the story...I'm going to get myself killed. There's no way I can back up my mouth now!

With Buzz, Joni and Denise

The bar is right at the foot of the bridge.....http://thebaylights.org/

In GoldenGate park next to the DeYoung museum.

And just like that two months fly by and it's back to the salt mines.

Another pour to close out the year

Dreams of grandeur! We all have them but this one is especially grand. While island old timers put this at having zero chance, I am secretly hoping for the pool! As the plans show in the link below they hit all the right notes getting daydreamer hopes up. Back of the envelope realists know right away someone is hitting the bong. We shall see. Check out the link, it's worth it in case you ever have to do some development p.r.

http://newsofstjohn.com/2016/09/14/working-plans-for-potential-resort-at-concordia-released/

Back to my dreams of grandeur. The roofless storeroom with the exposed notch for the mid point support beam. A solution provided by Fitz, a local builder. I happened to run into him at the Marketplace in Cruz Bay and mentioned my concerns, how much weight can a 12x16 slab withstand etc. The whole exercise was to try and avoid any support columns inside the room. Being a pro, it took him all of five minutes to tell me. A concrete beam across the middle packed with #5 rebar and stirrups. Duh.

Finally, a job where I could drive up and just drop the supplies off. It only took almost ten years!

The slab divided into two 8x12 areas with the future support beam framed in down the center. Each panel is numbered. They simply lay on top of the framing underneath. I expect to take them up while waiting for the concrete otherwise they could suffer from the elements. After numbering them I quickly realized I can't take them up. The rebar goes on top! Another duh.

After the pour, I'll remove the supports from below and in a perfect world the plywood will drop down revealing the underside of the slab. Clearly, I live in a fantasy world. The divider planks you see are 6x6 also notched into the storeroom walls and the future support beam. Besides giving it an old time look they actually are providing significant support. Until I ran into Fitz I had planned on running them all the way across the room in the same direction of the now created concrete beam. In doing some research, however, my problem started when I found out 4x4, 6x6's etc were not very strong laterally. Their strength comes as posts.

Same view as above but with the bumper wall constructed. Just enough to keep a vehicle from going over. There will be a two-foot railing bringing everything up to 36". I just didn't want more concrete which would have been easier but at a certain point enough is enough visually speaking.

When completed, this will be the parking area for two vehicles. No small luxury here on island. In fact, there is space for four when it's party time.

The view from below with the future concrete beam to the right. The larger beams running perpendicular are the 6x6's with 2x4's framing out each individual panel. As I said, if my plan works, I'll remove the screwed in 2x4's and the plywood panels will drop from the ceiling leaving behind just the 6x6's. Add a little "aging" and I'll pretend the room is a hundred years old.  ;~)

Temporary roof. Monster rains are ruining everything. While the lumber is all treated and can withstand the elements, the plywood is not. Major problems could ensue if these rains don't stop. Rot.

Mighty Mouse with a small load of lumber and rebar. Busted. We are sitting at the bar at Aqua Bistro.

In the continuing episodes of a sunny place for shady people, the latest.

https://stjohnsource.com/2016/09/06/member-of-mapps-security-detail-appears-in-court-on-drug-cash-charges-2/

https://stjohnsource.com/2016/09/09/officer-arrested-in-double-murder-mapp-calls-for-federal-screening-of-security-personnel/

It comes in threes. My stereo died from the ants, my replacement radio/cd player in the truck died along with my microwave. The Bluetooth speaker delivered by Amazon works with my phone. You would be surprised how old three thousand songs get. I miss my dead ipod with 15,000.

The flooding starts. Relentless rains approaching over 20" this past month or so saturate the parking area above leaking through the old cold seam in the retaining wall which doubles as my back wall in the shack. When it gets going it floods the room even overpowering the holes I drilled in the floor years ago. Yes, the ceiling leaks also but not over the bed so I have learned to live with it. Everything is strategically placed so the damage is doable. It got so bad one night that I had to go outside and dig a small trench by the truck to reroute the water to try and stop the hemorrhaging coming through the wall. Finished, I threw the shovel under the truck to protect the wood handle.

Of course, I forgot the shovel a couple of days later when I left to get supplies. Up the driveway in reverse, stopping when I heard some horrible grinding noise. Of course, I thought something major had broken down on our 18 year old tired mule. Rolling back down I parked and looked under the truck. The shovel! The handle had gotten pinned under the mud plate partially ripping it off the truck at a corner. Removing the shovel it was apparent that the plate could not be forced back into place. I tried everything including my jack. The metal was too springy. No matter how much I reformed it, it caught the slope of the driveway as I tried to leave further ripping it off.

I spent the next couple of hours grinding the entire thing off the truck. So much for town. The moral of the story is don't go digging trenches in your birthday suit late at night and forget where you put your shovel. Or better still build a shack that doesn't leak but then it wouldn't be a shack, would it?

When I first saw my friend's house built many years ago I wanted to tear ours down! This for me is island building and living at its finest.

Solid stone walls and handmade Mahogany doors and shutters.

The kitchen area. The doorway and trim are concrete. Talk about attention to detail in reverse. A true islander, no screens, a few fans, with a gas stove and refrig. It's almost too beautiful when you are there. The setting on a ridge top with pano views doesn't hurt nor does the centuries old gravestones from the original families. I could go on and on.

Matthew stayed south. Close call.

Only in the VI...;~)

https://stjohnsource.com/2016/10/27/911-dispatcher-charged-as-accessory-in-attempted-murder/

Finally, finally, finally. The concrete I ordered in early August arrived on October 26. This at the end of 20" of rain over three weeks. The ceiling to the storeroom looks really bad from the continued leaking. I have added a dozen or more support posts, 2x4 joists, and countless patches to the retaining walls. The stairs are not perfect any longer with all the swelling. Termite trails are everywhere. Even in the best of times, I'm a nervous wreck. I have ordered and spread another three yards of gravel where Jeff parks the pump truck so he doesn't repeat getting stuck. Just typing this makes me reach for the Tums.

Could it get worse? Of course it could. It's Patrick and concrete. This Outward Bound/face your fears stuff is a bit much. Here's the latest snafu.

Late in the afternoon on the 25th Jeff calls and says his pump truck is not up to climbing up the mountain. WTF? Not only is he not coming but he also provides the crew I hire to do the pour along with myself and one other, in this case my bud, Starbutt. He says he'll try to find a replacement. The dispatcher from Heavy Materials is now on the line asking what do I want to do. How the fuck do I know. There's only a couple of small pump trucks in the VI. He says he'll help also. If I don't get this pour who knows when I will with the barge situation and the existing backlog. I'm dying.

Jeff calls and says Leo, in retirement, will get back his leased truck and make the pour. I had previously used his nephew who was a nightmare. I'm having a heart attack. I call Leo. He'll be doing the pour. He got rid of his nephew years ago. I call the dispatcher and let him know. Leo says he can provide some crew under the same terms as Jeff.

My heartburn is killing me. Jeff is my crutch during these complicated pours. He understands mono pours, risky as they are. I have had other crews express serious doubts which in turn scares the shit out of me.

Upper stairs

Leo gets lost. He hasn't been on island since the Bordeaux mountain road was graded. Parked by the side of the road, a dump truck passing by asks me if I'm waiting on a pump truck? If so, they are waiting by the side of the road a few miles back at another turn. The good news, I know one of the crew when I find them. The infamous other "Jeff" who screams and yells all the time. Built like an NFL linebacker he now has piercings all over his face. He's happy to see me. He knows he's going to get paid cash!

In what was a huge surprise, Jeff is not the crew boss and he's not screaming. Pierre, a much younger Haitian who has spent time in the Dominican Republic and Martinique, speaking three languages including English, is the lead. I tell him how I want the pour to proceed. Top to bottom pulling the concrete down not up while also addressing my concerns about the state of the forms given the rains.

He's against my outline. They make their case about the pipe, saying the forms can withstand the pummeling they will take with all the standing on them etc. So empathic about what they want they say, as an added bonus I can just watch. It won't even be necessary for me to help. Basically, they like to lay all the pipe out to the furthest point and shorten as they go. I get that but I'm worried about the fragility of the forms, especially the steps. Pierre convinces me that my construction is bulletproof. Flattery gets him everywhere, I say ok. 

Even though everything went according to his plans I still think pulling down is better than shoveling up. Guys in their 30's don't see much of a difference. They will learn. He was right however about the logistics of this job. Getting the pipe back up the hillside was going to be a monster, avoiding all the fresh concrete. Breaking down the pipe is also a lot easier than putting it together. 

All in all, the pour went better than expected until you guessed it, a few shoes dropped.

The first shoe. Pierre, Jeff, Starbutt and I, worked the pour. Another crewman, who's named I'm happy to have forgotten, stood on top of the storeroom and signaled up to Leo on the pump truck when to start and stop. Somehow, we have no idea how, when the final concrete truck was getting in position, he signaled for Leo to pump water through the unattended hose sitting on top of the partially poured retaining wall. Dangerous chaos ensued. By the time Pierre got control of the pipe countless gallons of high pressured water had shot out removing the top of a previously poured wall and dumping itself on top of the stairs going almost all the way to the front door. If you look at all the prior pictures it appears like a whitewash is over all the forms. Large gravel was everywhere. We had to scramble to clean up the mess. It actually wrecked the five steps to the front door. They will have to be redone at a later date. 

The water went everywhere. It got inside the storeroom soaking everything. West Indians pride themselves on screaming, especially Jeff. He witnessed Bronx. Someday I'll probably get myself killed. I dressed the culprit down so far everyone was shocked. And to make it very clear he got paid nothing by me. Yes, it was an accident but he made a fatal mistake in the beginning by saying it was only water. That's when I went off. 

The second shoe. The last truck with six yards showed up almost two hours late. Let's just say I think he pumped a few yards somewhere else or I made a major miscalculation, something I have never done before. Even the crew was shocked. You can see in the picture above how short I was. Only the bumper wall and some of the beam was poured. I was working on the damaged steps when this happened so I did not know it at the time otherwise I would have confronted the driver. By the time I found out he was long gone.

The final shoe, Just as we were finishing cleaning up the mess from the water episode the skies opened up with a deluge. The small wall above shows the damage. Those snap ties are supposed to be under a couple inches of concrete. A slurry of concrete went down the shute depositing itself on the bottom steps further damaging them. The surface of the steps are all pockmarked. It turns out to be not a bad thing but I didn't know it at the time. The steps are naturally non slip now. A very good thing. The lower landing has some problems where all the fine concrete deposited itself.

This yacht has plied our waters.

Say goodbye to the shack. My 12'x12' man cave is being renovated. As George Jefferson used to sing, we're moving on up!

10'x14' footprint, bath on the right, kitchen on the left

I spent the last few days of October in a fetal position trying to recover. The stress and adrenalin of the last seven months, the barges, the concrete pours, the rains, the work, and all the episodes I choose not to include here left me in a heap. I went in for beach therapy.Very affordable. It only takes a couple of days.

Now what? My flight doesn't leave for three weeks. Originally I had planned on spending this time taking down all the forms, cleaning out the house and moving everything into the storeroom. With the roof not poured and leaking now worse than ever, I decided to start on the shack expansion which had been planned much later in the new year--in fact, after the house was done.

The central idea is to connect it to the existing structure. A 10'x14' post and beam room which would be a small kitchen and bath. Tiny houses rule!

Kitchen window. All sizes subject to change in this post and beam.

The monster rains continued. Another 10 inches. On the positive side, I now have steps from the gravel parking area all the way to the front door of the house and a sidewalk to the shack. The days of slipping and sliding in mud are over. 

Despite the rains, it has been a good year, hurricane-wise. Nothing got close. Drained the cisterns once again of about four feet of water, hugged Lizzy goodbye, and fled to the airport. I was running on empty, fumes actually.

Miami never looked so good!