Random Access Memories

Found out today that I put the yurt rafters up the wrong way.

The good news is that I can fix it without disassembling the whole thing.

The bad news is, I have to wait until it stops raining/blowing (Which could be next weekend according to the weather report).

Apparently they needed to be installed with the “point” down, not up. However our engineering minds thought “rafters go in this way with the point out”. *sigh*

At least it’s not a horrible thing, the yurt “works” for now.

I also see no option but to pickup a small dehumidifier to deal with the humidity, since the heater is making it too warm for me in here even on low. (it’s currently 73f inside and 52f outside, I would be happy around the mid to low 60’s Fahrenheit)

I’m sure the two to three people watching my pages want to know what’s up. So i’ll be happy to post some info.

I finally got the yurt finished. It’s not a bad structure, but it could use a few improvements. The top doesn’t fit very well with the roof insulation. So I get some condensation on the walls, trying to figure out what to do about that. The other major issue is that the dome is facing the wrong way for the prevailing winds. (It was raining when we put it up, and we were rushed, so we didn’t really think about it) the issue is that the hardware for the dome is built into the center ring. You can’t simply turn the dome orientation without removing the roof completely and reinstalling it.

I have a small propane heater now, and while I don’t find much of a need for it to be warm i’m running into some humidity issues. So this evening I turned the heater up and attempted to “dry out” my possessions. We’ll see how that goes.

Right now there is a wicked howl of a wind outside, and heavy rain is expected for the next 24 hours (glad I just got new raingear at the store today). The yurt has at least shown itself to be mostly waterproof. So things could be far worse.

We’ll see how it goes.

So, i’m in the Port Hadlock Library (I think it’s the Jefferson County Library actually) with Nanci and the kids while the caulking dries in my yurt. (I had to fill the cracks between the floor sections).

The yurt is pretty much done. I bought a heater yesterday and that’s working out well.? (“Mr. Heater” brand, the model is the “portable buddy”, I think i’ll name it Gilligan) All that really remains to be done is the sealing, and to try and seal the underside of the floor if possible. (I put down water seal already when it went up, but i’d like to seal the cracks from the underside)

I put the Tromso (loft bed that I use for storage) together yesterday, along with the plastic shelving units. Once the caulk dries i’ll move in the computers and the remainder of my junk.

I found out that to get a resident drivers license I need to show residency. One of the things that can do that is an out of state license with a WA address. Pretty simple to get if you ask me.

Anyway, that’s all for now, back to work.

So, the yurt is finally up. We had to haul it by hand up the hill.

I will say that I am less than impressed for the cost. I will not be doing business with Yurtco again.

So, when I got up here Yurtco said “Oops, we forgot the floor” and that it would be an additional 2 weeks.

After some complaining they managed to shorten that down to 10 days. I am still less than happy. We will see friday if they will give me anything more than an apology.

Karen’s family will need a 30′ diameter yurt, and right now Yurtco isn’t looking like the likely builder.

The foundation is done and waiting at least, if i’m lucky i’ll have it up before saturday.

So, I made it. Dropped the trailer off in Quilcene and wandered up to meet the village.

Whew.

So, after spending a fun morning chatting with family I headed back to the road at 1pm.

After making it to Oregon (Where the roads are in fact better) I called it quits in Canyonville and got some sleep.

Tomorrow I should be able to make it the last 440 miles to Quilcene.

So This morning I left Phoenix. For what will probably be the last time (excluding short visits).

The truck was very fully loaded, the trailer too. Which of course is weighing heavily on my mind.

My first “event” happened at the rest-stop west of Phoenix, while checking the temperature of the hubs on my trailer with my infrared thermometer (that a Burger King employee had just mistaken for a tazer) I laid it on the trailer as I dug for something in the back of the truck. Of course I thought “Better not forget that”. Well, I probably forgot it since I haven’t seen it since.

The trailer is holding up quite nicely, far better than I expected. The hubs aren’t overheating at all. *phew*.

Similarly the truck seems to be doing ok (Even tho I put in 15 hours of driving today, it sounded a little rough but I guess that should be no shock).

Made it to Bob & Jan’s house at around 11:30. It seems it’s going to be a longer trip to WA than I first expected. Let’s hope the roads and drivers in Oregon are better than those in California. Heh.

So, we’ve spent about a week straight sorting things out and moving Sarah out of the apartment.

We’re almost done, at that point I can get started on all the things I need to get sorted and packed to take them up north.

Nothing like moving in 110f heat, oh yeah…