Wednesday
The load of 2 1/2″ minus sand and gravel arrived at the Holowai lot around 7:30 AM. I had the truck driver dump it just outside the double gates. It extended from the rock column supporting the gate to the roadway where vehicles travel.
There is room for vehicles to get past, but I probably should move some of this to make it easier to drive past. As I was doing this, I got a call from my neighbor at the Ahi lot. She said that my second load had arrived there and they were wondering where to dump it.
I told her that it was not my load, that my load had been delivered this morning to my other property. She insisted that it was for me. I told her that her husband had ordered a load for them, and it probably was theirs, but I would come over to talk with the driver.
When I arrived, the load had been dumped in a location near the bottom of their lot and the truck was backing up their driveway. He got about 1/3 the way up when he lost traction and the truck just started bouncing. He went down to the bottom and tried again, with the same results. I suggested that he try going frontwards instead of backing, but he claimed that there was no where to turn around . So, I directed him back and around the solitary tree left on their lot from when they had it totally cleared. by having him do a series of three point turns, I got him turned around so he could attempt to simply drive out.
He tried to drive out and got about 3/4 of the way out when he lost traction again and could not get out. He rolled back down the hill to the bottom. I suggested he back up further and try getting a running start to build up some speed before reaching the hill.
No good. Still could not get out. As he sat at the bottom of the hill, he was revving the motor. I thought he was maybe building up pressure in some hydraulic system, or maybe the truck was over heating and he was circulating the coolant, or something. But there was a lot of black smoke coming out from under the cab. After a few minutes of this, he shut off the motor and made a call on his cell phone – most likely to his boss – the guy who had delivered my load to the other property.
A few minutes later, his boss called me. He told me that his truck was stuck at the bottom of their driveway – that the driveway was too steep – as if it were my fault!
I told him about the driver’s attempts to get out, and that he almost makes it, but just not quite all the way, and maybe another truck with a tow strap would get him out. He said that would bend the bumper. After lamenting about unprofitable deliveries, he finally concluded that this was his problem or as he put it, it was “on him” to resolve.
Ten minutes later, a service truck shows up. The service truck driver gets two 5 gallon cans of fuel out of the back of the service truck and they put it into the gas tank of the dump truck.
The dump truck driver starts up the dump truck, backs up to get a running start, and drives out. Are you kidding me?? He simply was low on fuel?
I went back to the Holowai lot and proceeded to move enough gravel and sand to clear the road. I moved it to beyond the driveway, to the pathway leading past the footing excavations and to the septic leach field area.
I also moved some to the side of the gazebo where I plan on pouring another concrete lanai.
Then I cleaned out the back seat of the car – I’m going to Kona tomorrow to pick up Alanah at the airport.
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 