I am about to start the day back at the 9-5 job and it is relaxing to be back at work!  All weekend was spent working to get my two new rental houses online.  I started off the adventure with a marathon shopping adventure Friday night at three different Lowes stores to get all the parts needed for the electric and water hookups.  Just over $2000 later I get home at 9:00pm and hit the sack because it is going to be an early morning.  Get up at 6:00am grab some coffee and head out to the lay out some lines as soon as it gets light outside.  In Texas you need to get things done early before it is 100F outside.  At 6:45 run to town to rent a Ditch Witch to put in water and electric lines.  Getting it Saturday morning gets two days for the price of one.  Get back and start work. 

Twenty something worker doesn't show up despite confirming the night before he would be there.  It is hard to find dependable people willing to work any more even for $12/hr.  You would think we had less than 3% unemployment or something.  Luckily dad offers to drive the tractor so we put the post hole digger on it. 

The ground is hard packed clay so putting in the two electric meter poles is going to be a pain without it since they have to go down 4-5 feet.  Can't find the 12" auger bit so are stuck with the 8" bit.  Great, that means that we need to carve off an extra 2-4 inches from the sides to get the 9-10" poles in.  First bit is dull and just sets and spins after digging the 4 inches of sand off the top.  Luckily I had gotten a new bit so we switch that out and the two holes are dug quickly.  The second one too quickly though.  The auger goes all the way down and then snaps the top link where the digger connects to the tractor.  We have to disconnect and chain the digger to the front end loader and pull the whole thing out of the hole.  Put the digger in the machine shed to weld back together later.  Proceed to trench for electric from poles to side of houses.  It is now 2:30pm and 101F so better take a break.

By 6:00pm we get a thunderstorm blowing through.  No rain, but it drops the temp to 92F so back to work.  Luckily for me but not my brother he gets off early from work and I draft him to help set the first meter pole.  This involves balancing, tipping, chaining, tipping some more, swinging, and lots of careful hydraulic work on the front end loader of the tractor to get the 18 foot pole from horizontal on the ground to vertical chained and strapped to the forks on the front end loader of the tractor.  Then carefully creep it over to the hole and set it in.  Then finding out the hole is still not wide enough and having to shave off another inch of rocklike clay so the pole will fit in.  Second time is the charm and the pole slides all four feet to the bottom and we can pack it in.  Now to trench 100 feet for the water line from the road to the connection on the back of the house.  It is 8:45pm and getting dark so I call it a night.

Break of dawn at 6:15am sees me back at work.  Time to dig out the sand and dirt from the second hole and enlarge it to 12 inches.  This is a pain.  Then start trenching in water line.  About 9am one of the two workers that I had talked to Saturday night finally shows up.  Put him to cleaning out the ditches and finishing up the meter pole hole.  Set the second meter pole like the night before but with the kinks worked out of the system it goes smoother and the first time the pole slides in nicely.  Tamp away worker bee. 

Now to go trench the rent trailer next door that I am converting from a well to the community water system.  Not too bad on the digging here except for right around the water connection where I need a big hole to disconnect the line running from the well to the house and connect to the community water.  Get it cleared and ready to connect up Monday evening.  Start laying water lines to connect two new houses to water but only get about half done.  Monday night will be busy with finishing water and starting on building the meter loops.

Highlight of the day, the father of my renter next door stops by and asks about the house and says that he and his wife would like to rent it so she can be closer to her new grandbaby.  I had kind of hoped that this would happen because I had known they wanted to move closer.  I really figured they would wait, but he said he wanted to be first in line.  He and the wife walked through the place and liked it and put in an application and deposit.  So one house pretty surely rented as soon as we can