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

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.

B.E.L. Post # 39

Woke up early this morning and took little Chapito for a walk up near Raspberry Rock. While we were up there, I checked the area where I fell ten pine trees the other day for junk-pole fencing. That project should satisfy a BB requirement, and I’m planning to submit it tomorrow.

I brought the metal detector with me because somewhere during the process of lashing the junk-pole fencing onto the work vehicle, I managed to lose my multitool. Searched around for a while, but no luck finding it today.

Back at base, I did some Nest BBs and managed to get two of them completed — one for cleaning an area rug and another for cleaning an oily dish without soap. After that, I processed two wooden crates full of shop scrap woody bits and got those sorted out.

I finished the day by writing letters, getting some reading and journaling done, and tending to this annoying eye irritation that popped up, hoping it clears up soon.

B.E.L. Post # 40

Started off during Blitz Time by knocking out the Nest: Clean the Kitchen BB. Counters, dishes, stove, sinks—everything got a good reset and the place feels a whole lot lighter now.

Right after that, I moved on to the Four Window Cleaning BB. Inside and out, frames wiped down, glass shining. Always satisfying to bring more light into the space.

Later in the day I took little Chapito for a walk up to Raspberry Hill—good stretch for both of us. On the way back I processed more cardboard for future use and finally got to meet the new boot, Molly. Super friendly energy; excited to see her around the place.

Wrapped things up by unloading the junk poles I harvested off the work rig earlier. They’re staged and ready for whatever project needs them next.

B.E.L. Post # 41

After the morning meeting, Stephen, Molly, and I headed over to the Shop. I got the fire going while Stephen and Molly jumped right into processing a big batch of cardboard. Once that was handled, they took off to reattach a snow chain on the tractor while I stayed behind to keep working through more woody bits.

A little later we all regrouped and made our way to the Abbey to take care of the usual tasks. Stephen also took some time to show Molly around and point out a few different areas of the laboratory.

When we got back to Basecamp, Molly and I spent some time putting up more lights along the paths. After that, we started on the maintenance process for the tankless water heater in the kitchen. We wrapped up the day by working on some junk pole fencing.

Thanks for the update Estaban. I hope your eye is feeling better. Good that the electrics are back on - good lightlng makes (working) life so much easier!

B.E.L. Post # 42

This morning I spent some time guiding the new boot, Molly, on how to properly light the fire at the shop. Once we got things going, we met up with Stephen, who was busy handling some puddle control. After that, the three of us jumped into bucking, splitting, and stacking firewood.

While Stephen headed off for his meeting with the Duke, Molly and I wrapped up the maintenance on the tankless water heater. After lunch, we switched gears and worked on repairing and reinforcing the lattice fencing in front of the Fisher Price house—trying to stay one step ahead of those pesky deer.

Later in the afternoon we made our way up toward Raspberry Rock to harvest some junk poles. We wrapped up the day with some awesome bread soup bowls courtesy of Stephen. I finished things off by doing the Nest BB for washing the dishes.