Weekend of May 1st, 2005

Let me say this first: I love driving a bobcat. I could cheerfully work with one for a living I enjoyed it so much. Remember those Mechwarrior video games where you drive around a giant fighting robot, blowing things up? Well it’s like that, only the enemy is dirt instead of Clan Jade Falcon. Which rocks because dirt doesn’t shoot back.

Kevin Brittner of the Dog Ranch was kind enough to loan me his for the weekend, and Frank was kind enough to come out in his big welding truck and haul it over to Midian Ranch for me. Within six hours I had cleared the spaces for our planned vehicle and trailer storage area, our usable materials yard, and cut a pad for Tina’s upcoming building. It was silly easy; the thing turned on a dime, lifted a half-ton of dirt and rock without blinking, a swept through sagebrush like Tamerlane cutting his way through the Ottoman army. Which is to say, quickly.

Frank also hauled his old jeep out to Midian for us to use. It’s a terrifying thing with a big V-8, 350 cubic inch Corvette engine stuffed under its tiny hood that gives it awesome climbing power. Frank used it to drive to the top of “Walters’ Wart,” the small mountain directly behind our ranch, and experience which was…. exhilarating for all concerned.

Tina has begun to tear up the old flooring in the office, but it has proven to be an exhaustive and time-consuming process. The old GE installed floor panels seem to have been adhered using a million gallons of industrial grade glue, making getting each one up very difficult (there are hundreds of them). Still, Tina’s goals of freeing up the wooden floor planks and allowing the building to breath is a good one. Years of neglect have caused a build up of mold in certain spots as well as several leaks in the roof. I am confident that when we are done, however, the office will be lovely and serve us both for many, many happy years to come.