!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

After the morning meeting, Stephen and I headed out to the Abbey for the usual routine—feeding the cats and doing the full fence perimeter check. Once that was done, we made a recycling run to get some odds and ends off the list.

Back at basecamp, we put in more time creating and planting additional sunchoke flags, then processed another round of cardboard and aluminum cans to keep the materials stream moving. Also split more firewood to restock the classroom and the shop, since the cold is persistent and those stoves stay hungry.

Rounding out the day was some electrical troubleshooting. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the buried electrical line running to the shop/classroom was damaged. With more careful digging and inspection, we confirmed that one of the electrical lines was fully severed. More investigation to come, but at least now we know what we’re dealing with.

A full and productive day with a bit of mystery to solve.

Catching up...Thanks for your updates Estaban

Esteban Ademovski wrote:Rounding out the day was some electrical troubleshooting. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the buried electrical line running to the shop/classroom was damaged. With more careful digging and inspection, we confirmed that one of the electrical lines was fully severed. More investigation to come, but at least now we know what we’re dealing with.

Maybe someone had a lucky escape there - I once was present just after someone put a shovel through a mains electric cable in the city of London (UK) They suffered significant burns, but I gather did survive OK. Seems like the cables could do with re-laying....deeper, in a conduit, and with a telltale ribbon above perhaps. More $$ ...

Nancy Reading wrote:Catching up...Thanks for your updates Estaban

Esteban Ademovski wrote:Rounding out the day was some electrical troubleshooting. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the buried electrical line running to the shop/classroom was damaged. With more careful digging and inspection, we confirmed that one of the electrical lines was fully severed. More investigation to come, but at least now we know what we’re dealing with.

Maybe someone had a lucky escape there - I once was present just after someone put a shovel through a mains electric cable in the city of London (UK) They suffered significant burns, but I gather did survive OK. Seems like the cables could do with re-laying....deeper, in a conduit, and with a telltale ribbon above perhaps. More $$ ...

Wow, that’s intense — definitely a lucky escape. I can’t even imagine being there right after something like that happened. It really shows how dangerous those buried mains can be when they’re not properly protected or marked.

You’re right, though… a deeper conduit, proper shielding, and even a telltale ribbon would save a lot of risk (and probably money in the long run). It might cost more upfront, but avoiding accidents like that — or worse — is worth every penny.

B.E.L. Post # 37

After the morning meeting, I got started on processing more cardboard. Once that was wrapped up, I joined Stephen to help with some electrical repairs until about 11 a.m. Around then, we met up with Paul and started clearing out the ash from the rocket mass heater in the main house.

After lunch, Stephen brought out his metal detector and we laid temporary bamboo marking poles along the in-ground electrical wires. Once that was sorted, we reconnected a light fixture at the shop and then moved on to cutting young trees for junk poles to finish out the day.  And Stephen noticed my right eye was swelling and watery ... all puffed up

B.E.L. Post # 38

After this morning’s meeting, I headed out to shovel the snow buildup around the mailbox so USPS wouldn’t skip delivery. Meanwhile, Stephen was spreading sand along the driveway to keep things safe and passable.

Once that was sorted, we made our way over to the Abbey for the usual cat feeding and perimeter check. While we were there, we harvested a nice batch of sunchokes before heading back to Basecamp.

Back at BC, I got to work delimbing the young pine trees I’d felled up by Raspberry Rock for future junk poles. Stephen dove into electrical troubleshooting at the shop — and good news, he tracked down the issue and fixed it.

All in all, a productive winter day.