Snowed In / Plowed Out / Maggie's

 

Song:  Wandering (acoustic version)

Group:   Lethian Dreams

Yesterday...

we got one day of snow.

As usual...

we rarely get over half a foot of snow in any one snow storm.

Sometimes...

we will get two feet...

and very rarely...

four feet.

Yesterday's snow was just half a foot or so.

And while technically...

I wasn't snowed in...

driving on the mountain road before they plowed it would have been

unnecessarily risky.

Unless it is a heavy snow storm...

they will wait until the storm ceases before plowing...

unless it gets to a foot deep.

As it was Friday...

and the Vietnamese chef at Creations Everlasting took my request seriously...

and said she would make Bahn Mi on this day...

I was disappointed that I was snowed in.

It is always good to have some snow...

especially when it usually lasts but one day...

and the following many days are filled with clear skies.

The following morning was beautiful...

as usual.

I took Bandi to her forest bathroom.

This is her on the way back home.

Bandi sat at the loft door to the third deck...

expecting me to let her out on to the deck.

However...

I didn't want her tracking snow back to the loft...

so...

she just had to admire the snow from inside.

As I had said before...

the weather here never really gets extreme.

I live in an area that has four mild seasons...

considering my altitude of 9,650 ft (almost 3,000 meters).

My lower driveway from the second deck.

I could have just driven out without snow blowing it...

but as I haven't used my snow blower since last year...

I wanted to use it...

if only to ensure everything is kept in running shape.

Bandi photo bombing me.

She stayed inside as I operated the snow blower.

No...

I don't have a big belly...

I was wearing sweat pants underneath a snow bib...

and I was wearing my snow jacket over it.

Actually...

because of my naturally high metabolic rate...

my body hasn't changed much for many decades.

I am still of slim build...

and yet...

still fairly muscular.

I would put on gloves as well...

once I began snow blowing the lower driveway.

I got the snow blower into position...

...and I began blowing the snow.

As you can see...

the snow was shooting out well...

as there was little wind.

However...

just for a moment...

a gust of wind picked up...

and it blew back the snow on top of me.

As soon as I felt the wind pick up and shift...

I shut down the snow blower blade...

...but as the snow is made up of very fine powder...

it made a mist of powder which landed on my head, shoulders and face...

and just covered me.

As you can see...

the snow wasn't that deep...

so I could have driven right through it...

however...

they hadn't plowed the mountain road until this morning.

After I plowed enough of the driveway...

I took a long and hot shower...

and then headed into Cripple Creek in hopes of eating

some Beef Pho and Bahn Mi from the Vietnamese chef at Creations Everlasting.

On my way down the mountain...

towards Cripple Creek.

On the main road to Cripple Creek.

I parked near Creations Everlasting...

the restaurant I was all excited about.

But...

they were closed today.

They had no doubt closed yesterday during the storm...

and then decided that they would just remain closed today as well.

I was so disappointed...

as I had been waiting all day for a large bowl of Beef Pho...

and Bahn Mi.

But...

it could not be helped.

So...

I just went to Maggie's for a delicious burger.

I had their Swiss and Mushroom burger...

which was so good.

I love the amount of lettuce they use.

It was so good.

When I am very hungry for more than just a burger...

I will go to Russ' Place...

as their battered mushrooms and Tiramisu are just so fantastic...

but, if I am not so hungry...

and just feel like a burger...

Maggie's in Cripple Creek is just minutes away...

and their burgers are almost as good as Russ' Place...

and are substantially cheaper.

On my way home from Cripple Creek.

--------------

Later tonight...

I will just work more on my cover song...

I have so much work to do on it.

Perhaps Creations Everlasting will be open tomorrow

(I doubt it...but I will call them just in case).

I think I will take a nap until after sunset...

and then bring out the 12 string

(as today is just all blue skies...

with no clouds...

the sunset won't be colorful).

House Repair: One Success...One Failure

 

Song:  Moonlight Sonata

YouTube Channel:  Soutera

Yesterday...

as I was washing the dishes...

I noticed water backing up in the kitchen sink...

but on the side I wasn't using.

It took several minutes to go down...

so I knew I had a slow draining partial clog in the pipes...

however...

I didn't know how far down the clog was.

(However...even more of a mystery to me is why it had clogged in the first place.

I use strainers on my sinks...

I never put any oil or grease in the drains...

and I never use the garbage disposal or the dishwasher.

I will look into enzyme solutions which I may pour into the drains to dissolve

any future potential clogs before they build up).

But...back to the issue at hand.

By allowing the water to drain overnight...

and then turning on the water...

I could guesstimate how far down it was by how long it took to back up.

This morning...

I ran the sink and it took a while to start to back up...

so...

I figured since the kitchen and main living area is on the second floor...

the water pipe drain should be no more than 20 feet to connect to the main house drain 

below the first floor.

So...

I drove into the town of Cripple Creek to the ACE hardware store

to buy rubber gloves and a 20 foot drain pipe snake.

Before leaving to the hardware store...

I took Bandi out to her forest bathroom area.

It had lightly snowed last night.

After taking Bandi back inside...

I made a quick run to the hardware store.

On my way to town...

I drove extra cautiously...

as although the majority of snow had melted...

on certain corners which were in the shade...

there was ice on the road

(even at 20 mph...I could feel traction just beginning to break...

so I slowed down even more on the corners).

I disassembled the P-Trap...

(after ensuring the air pressure compensator head was clear on the riser

to the vertical drain)...

and I ran the snake down the pipe and whenever I felt any resistance...

I rotated the snake and auger...

as it was designed to do.

Although I had successfully cleared the drain...

it was only after I had run the cable to its absolute limit.

Only just at the 20 foot mark did I reach the clog...

and I had augered it clear.

I realized that I will need a much longer one in the future...

especially in case the third floor bathroom needs the pipes to be snaked

(a fifty or sixty foot snake on a much larger rotating drum).

-------

Well...

with one successful fix behind me...

I was so sure replacing the circuit breaker on the IR sauna would fix that problem...

but, I am dumbfounded as to why it hadn't.

More on that in a sec...

I also ordered high security door reinforcement locks...

only because in the future...

I will be doing some extensive traveling...

and because...

as my home has three stories...

and my hearing is poor...

I want to know that my first floor doors are secure from unauthorized entry

while I am up in the loft.

(another indoor project I will be doing soon).

I had received the replacement fuses...

and so...

I was hopeful of its success.

The original fuse was soldered to the wiring...

...so I cut them free.

And I put on one of the new fuses...

but...

the power is still dead.

--------

Just in case...

I just ordered exact replacement fuses.

I will get them next week.

Also...

on large outdoor air conditioning units...

what frequently goes bad...

are cheap capacitors.

My next hope is to check those...

however, my fear is that everything on the fragile circuit boards 

are so securely soldered and on such short leashes...

that I may heat damage existing circuits or physically disrupt some of the 

emplaced current carrying metal strips.

I will have to see later.

I will first have to unscrew the circuit boards...

the smaller one first...

as it has the capacitors soldered in tightly

(I will be using rubber gloves...

I know capacitors carry charges even when unplugged).

I also fear I am missing something.

The circuit breaker should have tripped once it overloaded...

either in the unit itself...

or on the house circuit breakers.

Although I had checked the fault interrupter in the bathroom...

it wasn't that...

as I checked the voltage directly at the outlet used using the multimeter.

Everything is powered as should be.

I had also checked the circuit panel at the sauna entrance for signs of overload...

but...

perhaps I had missed something there.

This is going to take me some time.

I think I will try the operations panel before doing anything else.

Perhaps it is as simple as a switch gone bad.

---------

Time to make Bandi and my meal for the day.

Today...

I will make a dozen butter poached eggs...

and a full large smoked sausage.

Bandi will have half the eggs...

and some sausage...

and I will make egg and sausage sandwiches.

------------

On another bummer of a side note:

I received a credit for the Cherry Trees I had ordered.

It turns out that they were against Colorado's Agricultural Importation laws.

So...

I will just concentrate on preparing the wildflowers for placement...

and for the other Japanese Maples.