Ten Years Waiting

Welcome to LanderLand's overdue blog and this first "post" as they say.

Now, I'm no writer. I never really learned grammar nor how to spell. In school I couldn't hold my attention span in class and was always looking out the windows wanting to be outside playing and making forts. I'm a builder and maker of "things" but I do enjoy telling stories. So please bare with me.

This story is about Ten Years Waiting and today was no different.

As most of our close friends, family and workshop participants that have visited us here at LanderLand know, our Timber Frame Mountain Cabin is taking forever. We have been creating this special place for the last ten years as time and cash permits.

This has been a good year of employment so it was time to spend a bit on our cabin. Otherwise how else are we going to move it along.

We finally got around to ordering our sliding door and awning transom window for the south wall. The 10 years of waiting was over, or so we thought. After a few phone calls and emails with Pella Doors and Windows in Las Cruces and Albuequerque, the date for delivery was set for today, July 7th 2011.

Exciting, for us any way. Delivery was scheduled for any time after 8 am. Their drivers like to get an early start, way before I'm up, but this morning, I was up at 7:00 in anticipation.
The drivers had another delivery in Silver City, the question was who would be first. I spent the early morning removing the false wood and door panel wall I had built and cleaned up the area for install.

Going to miss the old false wall

Back to the original Rough Out frame

10 am and no truck. Around 11 I heard a big diesal engine and rushed down to our gate only to see a sand delivery for the neighbors.

Obviously we were not first so the waiting continued.

The call came in around 11:30 saying they were leaving Silver City and would be here in 90 minutes. Oh how the anticipation was building.

Where was the truck, they should have been here by now. The phone rang and I just barely made it before the answering machine kicked in. It was Pella from Albuquerque, their truck was in an accident. An 89 year old man crosed over the center line on a hair pin curve up on Emory pass and wham! The guys would be a bit delayed.

The waiting continued. It was becoming a long day. I went out to get the mail and ran into a neighbor and fellow construction worker so I hit him up and asked for his help after explaning my story. He gladly accepted employment. If you lived in Kingston you would understand the scarcity of work.

Where was that truck, the day dragged on. I spent the afternoon cleaning my shop when I heard the sound. It was 3 pm.

After hearing the story of the accident I didn't feel so nuts about my waiting. The Pella drivers had their waiting too. First it was for the police, then it was for the ambulance. Being a commercial vehicle they had to wait for the DOT to arrive and then their rear driver side tire and rim had been destroyed so they had to wait for that too.

Thank goodness all the waiting was over, now it was time for heavy lifting, the install and a cold beer to celebrate the ten years waiting for our sliding door.

Let the pictures tell the whole story.

Tom

The Pella truck makes our trucks seem small

The big to small transfer

Almost up there

Installed

Frame expander installed

All that's left is the exterior lime plaster

So that's it for now. As I become more comfortable blogging to where it doesn't take 3 days to figure this all out I hope to post more progress towards out goal of moving in by late winter. Then the waiting will really be over.