Worked at Ahi all morning moving gravel. Concentrated on the Hilo side to create a pathway to walk down the driveway. Then went back to working on the Kona side
I fugure that I have moved about 1/2 the pile – maybe 7 tons. I had been using the wheelbarrow on previous loads. In order to do this, I would load it about half full and then pick up the handles just enough to drag the back legs through the gravel on the driveway. If I picked it up any higher or did not drag the back legs, gravity wouldpull the wheelbarrow downhill faster than I could move and I would lose control. I am trying to use a four wheel cart that I borrowed from one of my neighbors. This seems to be a bit better. A little easier to control.
Went down town in the afternoon for the annual safety inspection on the car. They check that there are no cracks in the windows, that the headlights, turn signals windshield wipers and back-up light works. They check that the driver’s side window rolls up and down. No mechanical system is checked. It seems to be just an opportunity to collect $26 from every vehicle without levying a tax or a fee. Further hides it as being paid to a private company, but I’m sure that a majority of that money goes to the state. Even if only a small portion goes to the state, it is still a burden that the government mandates with questionable value.
Afterwards, I went to the public library to use their internet to check emails, do some banking, etc.
As I went back to the Holowai lot in the late afternoon it was lightly raining and that continued until I went to bed.
Left Holowai around 10:00 am to go to Kona. Alanah is returning to Arizona.
Arrived in Kona around 11:30. Alanah received a text telling her that her plane was delayed thirty minutes so it was not scheduled to leave until 1:45 pm. We stopped and had fried fish for lunch before taking her to the airport.
After she left, I stopped off and picked up 2 more bags of cement, got gas in the car, did some grocery shopping, and picked up 6 more pallets.
Arrived back at Holowai lot in Naalehu around 4 pm. Unloaded car and went to Ahi lot to move gravel.
I moved enough gravel/sand to have a path on the Kona side of the pile so that I could walk up and down the drive a bit easier.
Went over to Ahi and watered all the plants. . . the papayas on the hill, the macademia nut tree, the two norfolk pines, the plumeria trees. Gathered up the empty water bottles and put them in the back of the car.
Back at the Holowai lot, I ran the chipper for an hour – it kept dying or running slow and almost dying like it was running out of gas, then run real fast for a few minutes, then act like it was out of gas, then run real fast, then out of gas – still have carburetor issues!
Tried to use the chainsaw. Very dull. Sharpened the chain as best as I could, and that helped, but a new chain wouldbe even better. I have one here somewhere, but I cannot seem to find where I have put it. Went on-line and ordered new chains for the chainsaw.
$26.00 for three chains. They should arrive on the 13th.
Went out to Honuapo. Very windy. Put up a tarp for shade and thought the wind was going to tear it to shreds.
Stopped at the park in Waiohinu on the way back and filled up the empty water bottles.
In the morning, I pulled out the weeds and did some trimming around where the chipper is sitting.
In the afternoon, we went down to Honuapo to the ocean. The ocean was pretty calm, and we had the area all to ourselves. The swimming pool was full as were both wading pools.
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.
Gathered the limbs that I had cut in the southwest section of the Ahi property and stacked them at the bottom of the driveway. Then, using the clippers, I cut them into short pieces less than 6 inches long. The portions that were too large to be cut with the clippers were placed on the pile of larger branches next to the driveway on the Hilo side.
I called the local gravel quarry and ordered a load of 2 1/2″ minus material to be delivered to Ahi. It arrived in the early afternoon and I started to spread it down the driveway. I had it dumped in the upper part of the driveway so the truck would not have to go up the steep driveway made of loose fill.
I was concerned that the truck would not be able to get back up the driveway to the road.
Then I ordered a second load to be delivered to the Holowai property. They could not deliver today, but they could tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM. The neighbors also ordered a load to be delivered to them. Tomorrow morning. Their driveway is not as steep as mine and they have more cleared area with a longer driveway. This gives more room to build up a little speed before going up the hill. . . giving a better chance of getting back out. Other trucks have delivered to them at the bottom of their driveway and had no problem getting out, so they should have no problem.
Back at Holowai, my little flock has grown. Now there are six additional red headed cardinals. All of these have the dirty brown heads instead of the dark solid red of Bert and Ernie. They seem to come in pairs. A little research on the internet and I learned that these are just younger birds. The darker red feathers on their head, the cleaner white feathers on their bodies and the black feathers on the wings will develop as they get older. I can’t keep track of who is who, so I have kind of given up on giving them names.
Tried to start the chipper – no go! I had to take apart the carburetor, clean it, and reinstall it. Ended up with gas pouring out the carburetor throat. I did not set the float valve correctly. So, I had to take it apart again. Got the chipper started, but it would not run at full power. There are still issues with the carb, but as long as it is running, I’ll use it as long as it lasts. I chipped the pile of limbs I had stacked next to the chipper as well as two piles of branches I had stacked in the driveway that I had cut from trees next to the road and next to the driveway. Then the chipper began flooding out, so i shut it off, and turned off the gas valve from the tank. I probably need a new carburetor.
My neighbor has a hot tub. It is similar to this:
I don’t know if he has had it for a while or if he just got it. It is older, but still all there. He set it up a month or so ago but needed to get a plastic liner for it, which he got last week. He and another friend of his set it up, installed the liner and filled it up. When they set it up, they made no provisions to be able to get to the drain under the bottom, so, he needed to either empty it out, raise it up so he could access the drain and refill it, or try to simply raise it (lift it) wihout draining it. He wanted to just lift it without draining it, so he asked four other friends to come over this morning at 11 AM to help.
So, I took a shower at 10:30 AM, put on clean clothes and walked over to his place.
Nobody else showed up. they had all cancelled, so he would have to do this some other time. So, I walked back to my place and sat under the gazebo and read a book.
I promptly fell asleep and woke up around 1 PM and went into town to fill up my water bottles. I had about 20 of the one gallon size and 30 of the 2 liter size in the car.
After unloading the water bottles at Holowai, I got out the chainsaw and after struggling to get it started, I cut some of the small trees and branches next to the road opposite my property – making the road and the driveway more accessible. then i took the chainsaw over to the Ahi lot and cut some of the small trees on the Hilo side of the driveway as well as some of the branches overhanging the driveway. Then went to the southwest corner of the lot and used the chainsaw on clearing out more of this area. The chainsaw started acting up and over-revving. It would not idle and continued to run at full throttle, so I shut it off. It was 5 PM anyway and time to go start dinner.
I took my rake over to the Ahi lot to repair the damage to the driveway from yesterday’s foopah! I was able to rake some of the gravel back into the holes I had created yesterday with the wheels of the car but I still need more fill material to raise the bottom of the driveway.
Ahi road leading to property at dead end.
I also cut some of the tall grass along Ahi road in front of the property to the north or Hilo side of the driveway. Then I started on the Kona side and cut the grass for about 20 feet along the property line and about ten feet into the road. I piled all the clipped grass on the driveway over the places where I had raked the loose gravel back into the holes.
I watered the plants and the trees with the water I had brought the other day.
Then I went back to the Holowai lot and cleared out more of the weeds at the bottom of the driveway where it flattens out.
I also cut out the weeds for about 5 to 10 feet around the tires I have used to create my “garden”.
In one of the tires, there are some papaya plants that are 12 to 18 inches tall.
It started out bright and sunny so I decided to attack the weeds that have sprung up in the Holowai driveway while there was shade over parts of it. These are the weeds that produce those pesky little furry seeds that cling to cloth surfaces that comes near to them. Once they get attached, they are a real bother to get off. I cleared the sloping part of the driveway and had quite a pile. I also had a pile of small pieces of broken wood and short ends from dismantling the pallets. I loaded these weeds and odds-n-ends broken pieces of wood into the car to take over to Ahi and dump at the bottom of the driveway.
At the Ahi lot, I backed down the driveway to the flat level area at the bottom. Then I opened the back and dumped out the weeds and boards. I got back into the car and backed over the pile I had just dumped there to crush it. Then I drove forward moving over a foot or so. Then back, then forward, then back, each time moving sideways a little bit. Well, one time as I was backing up, I went a little too far to the right and slid off the driveway into the soft, loose gravel on the side. By the time I stopped, I had backed up against two small trees about 2 inches in diameter, and maybe ten feet tall. I tried to go forward, but my tires just dug into the loose gravel and proceeded to dig four holes. I backed up again, this time pushing back these trees. My tires came out of the holes a few inches. I filled in the holes my tires had dug the best I could and tried to go forward. But I could not get enough momentum to get the tires up over the front edge of where these holes were. I was stuck!
So, I got the handsaw and cut down the trees as close to the ground as possible. Then I was able to back up another 5 or 6 feet. This gave me enough room to gather enough momentum to get up and into the center of the driveway onto some more compacted and solid material. Then I was able to continue on up to the top of the driveway. I was so intent on getting unstuck, that I did not take any pictures!
I need more fill material to raise the bottom portion of the driveway and reduce the angle of slope. This will also reduce the possibility of getting stuck again!
TropicalCastaway 