I think we (I speak as the Queen…) are done digging new holes in the yard. This weekend it got up to four gaping chasms as work to adjust the sprinkler set-up to the swimming pool revealed a gushing leak in a distant pipe associated with our well. Several hours later, I and several neighbors had water again. But I digress.
The better news is that part of the swimming pool project has actually been completed. That is to say, we are not tearing up another part of the yard or doing major labor just preparing for the next step. We now have underground electrical service to the house.
I’ve written about how we had the concrete patio cut up, then the excitement of the earth shaking under my feet as we had a tunnel bored under our yard to get ready for the electrical cables. Yesterday, the power company came out with their industrial spool of wires and showed me how to thread a cable underground.
- The first thing to be done was to attach a long metal tube from the top of the power pole down to the plastic conduit in the deep hole at the foot of the pole. I was late for this step, but they were able to proceed without me…
- Next, a single fiberglass cable was pushed into the tube from the other end, until it showed up at the top of the pole.
- There was a strip of flexible material used to tie the thinner fiberglass to the heavier electrical wires.
- Then the man in the bucket guided the electrical wires into the tube, while the man at the electrical box end pulled.
- Next, the wires were cut to exact length and attached. Voila! I was back on the grid. People talk about not being on the electrical grid, but so far it has worked out quite well for me.
underground service finally attached
The hole in the patio was filled with dirt this morning, so now we can walk there without fear of being swallowed up. No animals have been harmed in this production, either, amazingly enough. I would have at least liked to have had a fox drop in, heh heh, but even though they have again and recently been seen wandering the neighborhood, none of them have fallen into our mud pits. Maybe I do need another hole someplace, after all!
