That's a Big 'Un

Went to look at a trailer today to haul shipping containers and my first thought was "that's a big un".  I have been dragging trailers around since forever.  Well not forever, but close to it. There have been homemade short box trailers, wide construction trailers, farm trailers, dump trailers, goosenecks, several different travel trailers, and tiny little sailboat trailers. Trailers have been hauled in the pouring down rain during rush hour traffic, cross-country on roads not wide enough for cars, directly into the setting sun, during the middle of the night on unknown backroads, with and without brakes, and many times overloaded in capacity.  Every trailer is different yet all the same.  Until today's trailer.

Today's trailer is 37', an impressive amount of trailer for anyone who has ever pulled a trailer!  This is not a trailer you just hook on to and drag around through the neighborhood for funsies.  No, this is a trailer where curbs are jumped, small cars are pushed off the road, takes four lanes to make a right turn and three for a left. This is the mother of all trailers. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of long trailers out on the road, I just never noticed how long they were until buying one. 

What's more impressive is the fact it used to be 40'. Bob, the older man who sold us this massive beast, has been pulling this around all over Texas and back just for work. He had it shortened for ease of maneuvering and load hauling.  Load hauling, yeah right,  He probably shorted it in order to get in and out of his suburbia neighborhood.  I mean seriously, he had a driveway installed just for the trailer!  Even though Bob was reluctant to part with his beloved trailer, he completed a final walk through.  Trailer geek!  He checked air pressure, tightened some loose boards, greased hubs, and found an extra tire for our usage.  And these were only just a few of the many things he did to "prepare the trailer for its next trip". 

Why would anyone not in the business of needing a trailer like this buy a trailer this specialized?  Well, I am glad you asked.  Plan473 is now in the business of hauling shipping containers.  When all things are said and done, Plan473 will have purchased 8-10 shipping containers.  Four for the shop, two for the house, one for the kid, one for storage, one for the business, and one for rentals/guests.  Buying locally means that the seller has tacked on the shipping costs to his base purchase price. Depending on the seller, the costs can be as much as double of the wholesale prices.  Sellers in Houston or San Antonio, where boxes are much cheaper, will ship to a destination at a price of $4 a mile. At a minimum of 300 miles round trip, it became financially clear we would be hauling our own shipping containers.  Even with wear and tear on truck and trailer and time investment of each trip, the trailer will have paid for itself in the purchase of three shipping containers.  Besides, once completed with this project the trailer can always be sold.  Honestly, what I am gonna do with a 37' trailer? Take it to the grocery store?

Water, Water, Everywhere

It that not the most beautiful bottle of water you have ever seen?  Look all you want but you can't have it.  Sailors used to say, "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink".  Yup, salt water! Not slightly salty, where a Britta filter could be used, no SALTY.  As in it might as well be drawn straight from the bay itself.  A week has gone by since the well was completed and all progress to Plan473 has been put on hold. Who knows what this will mean for rescheduling, but without water, there is nothing.

Phone calls have been made to various local government officials, health departments, state resources, water filtration companies both local and national, other drill companies, and people you think would be able to offer assistance.  Let me tell you right now that these people all refer to one another, yet not one person has an answer.  Many hinted at in a non-supported basis to run the well for up to 48hours. Sometimes it takes a while for the well to clear out from being drilled. With the use a borrowed generator, the well was flushed again. Once again, water was wasted in attempts to produce drinkable water.

When this didn't resolve the issue calls were made again to these same people on what should be done next.  The closest we came to a next step, not even a solution, was made by a nationwide water filtration company.  It was suggested to have the water tested to show A) exactly how salty the water is and B) what other minerals were involved. Salt water was one issue but having hard salt water was another whole level of complexity.  HARD WATER!  Are you kidding me? We live less than a mile from the bay in the sandy soils of the coastal plains.  There is not a natural rock to be found for miles!

After more frustrating phone calls, a third party testing lab was found an hour away.  Having the water tested is no simple process.  The well had to run for several more hours, one gallon of water was collected in an approved, secured transport container, and once collected it had to be delivered to the testing facility within 24 hours.  The lab is testing for a wide variety of minerals and should have the results within ten-twelve days.  Ahh....the waiting place.

The Well Man

 

I have heard of New York time, Central Standard time, and beach time.  Where we live there is such a thing as local time.  Locals have a love-hate relationship with what is referred to as "our city's name" time. This is a small mom and pop county of 20K people.  There is no rush hour traffic, no rush to beat peak hours at the one and only grocery store, and there is surely no rush to get work done.  In fact, the only rush experienced is by the summer and weekend tourists trying to accomplish vacation goals on their limited time frame. These are the people that speed through town, clog up the shopping stores, and complain about the general lazy manner of the locals.  This city takes the coastal image of relaxation seriously.

And oh how FRUSTRATING that image can be when relying on others for a job to be done.  The well man was referred to us by residents in new neighborhoods, long time residents in old established communities, and county officials.  Wow, this company must be the best of the best!  We should have  well within a few weeks.  Yeah, umm, no. After scheduling around "city" time, holidays, and backlogged work, the well man finally showed up with his crew of two.

Having grown up with a well, understanding the workings is not a new experience.  A well is dug based upon reliable factors such as aquifer boundaries, water tables, and tidal plains.  After attempting to get a better understanding of our geological structure and having no results, our well was dug based on the experience of our driller.

Having the crew show up in a truck leftover from a Mad Max movie gave me a few reserves.  This skill is pre-historic in terms of revolutionary.  The only advancement in the last 60 years is that the drill is now mechanically powered.  Drill a hole, wash the dirt out, drill a hole, wash the dirt out. This process is slow, messy, and water wasteful.

Here we are at Plan473 trying to conserve water in a dry environment by installing items like low-flow toilets, shower heads, and faucets.  Where gray water will be used to water plants and every building will have a collection barrel. The creation of a well requires lots of water. Being that city water is unattainable (more about that in another post), a well must be dug.  In doing this, thousands of gallons of water was dumped into the yard where we are wasting water to create water.

After three days, 145 feet later, the well was completed.  And golly, what beautiful water it is.  Unfortunately, beautiful was the only positive descriptive available for our well water.  What is the saying; Never judge a book by its cover, Looks can be deceiving, or Don't knock it until you try it?

Too bad none of those things applied here.  What can be applied is: "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink".  In short, what we have is pure-D, grade-A salt water.  UGH. UGH. UGH.  EXPLICIT! EXPLICIT! EXPLICIT!