Thursday, October 11, 2007

new structure

Don has a new idea for a building, which he wants to start on right away. This will be a cylindrical building with straight, not sloped, walls. The diameter will be 24 feet ( on the inside ), making the square footage 452 feet. Since the walls will be two feet thick adobe, the diameter from the outside will be 28 feet. We'll come back to the dome, but right now we'll be working on this new project. The past couple of days, we have been digging the foundation ditch, about two feet thick and a foot deep. I proposed making an arm out of C-bars and pitched the idea to Don. He said "what doesn't work is doing nothing", so we did it. The arm is a lo-fi version of one that Don has made for a giant 45 foot diameter structure that he has planned. The arm helps us keep consistent with our circumference. Don questioned whether or not we even need to dig a foundation, being that the ground is very rocky and thus very stout. He looked at the mountains and said, "Look, the mountains sit on the dirt just fine. We'll be putting into the foundation the same stuff we are taking out". We decided to go ahead and finish the foundation, since we had already started it. Don sits and breaks up the soil with his pick axe, and then I shovel the dirt away. Don said "sitting is the best way to work. You don't get tired and backached". Yesterday, while Don was taking a siesta, I sorted our excavation into three piles...Big rocks, gravel, and adobe dirt. I used a lathe screen as a filter, which made it easy. We'll be using the Rock, gravel, and adobe in the structure later on. I made a fourth pile of fossils and gem stones that I found during the sorting. Don mentioned that you can pay someone with a tractor to dig the foundation in a few hours, but they "always get it wrong." We also would be missing out on the free workout and jewels.



JEWELS !

Thursday, October 4, 2007

I was very fortunate to find a rideshare partner out to Terlingua ( who'd have thunk ? ). Cynthia is spending two weeks out in the Big Bend area to visit friends before she heads down to Mexico. Splitting expenses from Central Texas, we each only spent $25 in gas. We found that we have some friends in common, though she is friends with Lucinda Williams and I only wish I was. Ridesharing out here is a huge help, being that distances are far in this remote region. There is no area Craigslist ( where I've had the most success with rideshares ), but there is a Big Bend Bulletin Board where rides ( and other things ) can be posted. The pictures in this post were taken by Cynthia. Click on them for larger photos. Cynthia also has a blog, where you can find out about the papercrete studio she built in San Marcos, among other things.

Monday, October 1, 2007

I have a phone now


For $10, the Big Bend Phone COOP not only extended an underground phone cable a half mile to get to my property, but they also cleared me a driveway. My new phone number is 432-371-3002. Good luck reaching me there at the moment. It's still just a outdoor phone box. I'll try to remember to plug in a phone when I am around.