It’s The Little Things In Life
One of the things I love most about living in West Virginia is the morning fog. The tops of the mountains look like they’re floating in the air. By late morning the fog lifts to remind me that I am not alone in this world, as my neighbors across the road are revealed.
Since I feel like I’ve actually made some progress, I can sit back and appreciate things like the fog again. I finally dug back as far as I need to for the north wall. I was especially happy when I realized that as a retaining wall, the tires would slope backward toward the hill, making the top row of tires 16 feet, and the bottom, around 15 feet.
Translation: I’m done digging.
Because most, make that, all of the people I describe my plans to stare at me with a brow furrow until I stop talking long enough to allow them to speak the words, “I just don’t see it,” I made a crude drawing of a cut-away view of the hill.
Again, when I’m finished, there will be a square foundation, 16 x 16 feet, of tires, stacked three high. On top of that, a concrete base that anchors a wood frame. The pyramid blocks will rest on top of a platform on top of the wood frame.
I decided to make the wood frame as a result of some anxiety over the accuracy of the tire foundation. If I was building this pyramid on a flat surface, I’d be able to obsessively measure to ensure that it was a perfect 16 x 16 foot square. Because I can’t – the wood frame will cover my mistakes. It will also allow me to put a few windows in.
The drawing:
You can barely see a green perforated line that shows approximately where the hill comes down in relation to the side wall.
Note the tires on the left against the back of the hill, and the backward slant. By placing them this way, they will act as a retaining wall, holding back the hill. The white space behind and below the tires will be filed with gravel. Below the tires will be French drains.
The bluish line on top of the tires represents the concrete base that will hold everything together and act as an anchor for the frame. The frame will be as high as the old windows I’ve been saving for years in my attic. To be determined later.
The entrance pad is to the right. This is a view of the north side (aligned to true north).
The forms:
The newspaper is soaking in the garbage bin waiting to be mulched. My first block, still not dry, will be added to the mulch in the mixer when I start making papercrete again, maybe as soon as Monday.
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:31 am
Astrophysicist Alexei Dmitriev says that both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 satellites reveal that our sun, as well as our entire solar system, is now moving into an interstellar energy cloud.
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