So just when you think you're on the home stretch in a building project, a new wrinkle comes up.  As most of you know, I'm entering the final stages of a very long building project with my girlfriend.  This week, we're getting the hot water heater (a tankless Takagi) and I was getting the space cleared for it and making sure we'd be ready when it arrived.  Much to my surprise, I noticed on Saturday that the gas meter was...gone.

Now, the meter itself has been replaced by a bar that blocks up the city and house side of the gas line, so we were sure it was a PG&E thing.  I called them and they confirmed that they had removed it at our request.  I assured the woman on the phone that no one who was authorized to do that would have done that and could they please give me a new one.  She said that wouldn't be a problem and gave me a number to call.  So off I went.  If Dante were alive today, there would be a level just above the lake of ice where you die and are convinced you lived a good life and had to call a large corporation trying to straighten out your record.

So I finally reached voicemail in their phone system and left a message, a human could not be reached.  The next day, I received a call back telling me that the reason that the meter was removed was because we hadn't used the gas for over a year.  OK.  I explained the situation to the guy on the phone and he told me to call their main number.  I explained that they had sent me to him, but he claimed there was nothing he could do.  Back to the main line.

The very nice woman who answered this time said she couldn't tell me much about the account because I wasn't the name on it and there was now a flag on the account.  Great.  So now I have my girlfriend call.  When she calls, they tell her the meter was removed a year ago when we began digging.  Ugh.

So now we have to have the city come out and reinspect the lines that have already been inspected so they can sign off so PG&E can replace a meter that they removed for a reason they can't confirm on a date they can't confirm.

As many times as you do construction, you never learn every trick.  The other important lessson for those not in the field is that construction is about a quarter jumping through hoops, half finding out what the hoops are, and a quarter actual work.

As a lot of you know, I was in Bako this weekend for the Bloggers' Roundtable or whatever we're calling it now and I was also help my mom out with a few projects around the house.  So we added an outdoor outlet for her fountain and patio lights and hung up a hammock.

The outdoor outlet was a simple but long job, the main issue being we had to go through the stucco on the side of the house in order to mount the outlet.  since she's using it for a device that stays plugged in in an outdoor location, we used a plastic flip cover faceplate and a GFCI outlet.  She had an outlet inside that backed up to the exterior outlet location, we made the jump with a short run of Romex and were on our way.

The other project was the hammock.  It runs from the outside of the house to a tree.  So the first thing to do is to find a stud in the inside of the house.  I use a magnet for this rather than a studfinder just because I find them more reliable.  You run the magnet over the wall and it finds the stud by sticking to the screws that are used to hold up the sheetrock.  Then you go to the outside of the house and transfer your measurement, drill through the stucco into the stud and mount your first screw eye.  The other end is easy, since you're almost assured of a solid connect when going into a tree.

The hammock looks great and the fountain and porch lights are lovely.  In a fit of geekiness, my mom added in a plug in device that is designed to go outdoors that allows you to control an outlet by remote control.  So now she can walk out and click everything on.  Pretty sweet.

If you've got a project or problem, this is your construction and green building open thread.

First, on a personal note, I just passed the last of the pre-final inspections on the house I'm working on, which is a great relief.  I went to get the last structural inspection  (just some roof nailing stuff) and realized that the plumbing and electrical hadn't been signed off as OK to cover.  Which would have been less of a big deal if I hadn't already rocked half of the space.  Fortunately, the inspector came out and remembered that she had said it was OK and I'm back on track.

But last week, as I was prepping the roof for this inspection, I started thinking about the value of making yourself comfortable as you work.  A lot of people won't have the chance to hang out over a 20 foot drop as they tie a roof together with straps (inspectors love the shiny) but after a day or so of doing work like that, your muscles can get pretty cranky if you don't take 5 minutes to make sure you've got a secure place to stand or sit while you work or else your muscles will be constantly shifting to provide balance and stability.

When I first started in building, I did a lot of things that I know I shouldn't have.  Working over my head on the top step of a step ladder that was on top of a scaffold comes to mind.  Aside from the possibility of instant death, everything takes longer because you can't focus on what you're doing.

All of this to say, a good stable place to work from and comfortable clothes go a long way towards making sure your home improvement projects (and everything else in life) go well.


Speaking of getting comfortable, this weekend is the Bloggers' Brunch.  Hope to see all of you there.

I've been holding off on writing about green autos for a number of reasons.  There is a lot of info out there, a lot of new tech out there, pluses and minuses and hidden costs etc.  There are hybrid cars that get bad milage (including some hybrid cars that get worse milage than their all gas equivalents).  There are a lot of arguments over what direction we should take.

There are great arguments for pure electric and biofuel and air powered and hydrogen powered vehicles.  There are also arguments against each of them.  All cars run on energy storage mediums right now.  Whether that energy is stored in hydrogen, gasoline, fry oil, or a lithium battery, this is what makes them go.  So how do we even begin to weigh to cost of each against the costs of the others?  Is it pure consumer price or do we count the externalized cost of envirnomental damage?  What about the cost of maintaining access to fuel supplies and the geopolitical opportunity costs of having to maintain relations with and send money to nations who don't particularly care for us?

I know most people aren't going to a car dealership thinking about whether their next vehicle will help or hinder an independant Kurdistan or if the car they are buying is actually helping Iranian leaders maintain control of their country. That may be too much to ask of people who just want to go to work, pick up their kids and go to the beach on the weekend.

So the real question is: when you buy your next car, what are the factors you're considering?  Is it operating cost or capital cost, how it looks and how it drives, or are you one of the few who is thinking about sticking it to the Middle East and going green?