SharkSkin

I meant to add these at the end of the post above. Lots of cool critters up here!

Pine sawyer beetle, sorry about the crappy phone pix. it was a good 5" from tip of antenna to rump:



One of the poppies that I planted:



Something I didn't plant:



Lots of deer:





This guy better watch out around Thanksgiving:













I need a soduim filter to cut the light pollution, but this is a Milky Way shot that I couldn't have managed in Sunnyvale. It's very visible to the naked eye on clear nights though.

SharkSkin

Hey, how the hell are ya? Good to see you.

Why the move? Because we could. I have dreamed of living in a redwood forest since I was a kid. Just took a while to make the dream happen.

checkmate1996

I'm doing great thank you and thanks. I'm glad you are truly "livin' the dream"!!

bronto

What elevation are you at?

Ninespub

HOLY CHIT! What a story and what an effort ........and it also had to take you a hell of a long time to organize and compose your synopsis. No wonder you've been offline. Congrats on your accomplishment of creating a home from what seemingly was a battered house. Of course, I'm sure you well understand that your "new" homestead is just like the 928.......it's never finished. BTW, Nice photography too!

SharkSkin

As best I can.

Hi Rob, good to see you're still around! It's only about 2,000 ft. but it doesn't get much higher than that on the peninsula. I think Saratoga Gap is about 2500 feet.

Thanks for the congrats and compliments!

I've been picking at the synopsis for a few days, an hour here & there. That's not why I've been offline prior to that though.

The place has really good bones, the real gotchas here are the finishes and details. Like the french doors that were designed as in-swing doors and were mounted as out-swing with the wrong threshold installed backward so it *kind of* worked. We bought the location though, so it's all good.

I think you're right about the comparison with the 928. Huge $$$ and time catching up deferred maintenance, performing some upgrades, and enjoying the ride. With down-the-road upgrades and repairs expected for the duration, off course.

AirtekHVAC

One hell of an update, for sure.....congrats on the wonderful new chapter in your life.

Never got to chat personally, but after reading, and printing all your shark attacks, creating a great service manual, I feel like we are besties!

Hope to see more posts!

SharkSkin

Every time I think about the update I think of more of the adventures. For example, the power had been cut off and the propane tank emptied the day we closed. Temp inside when we arrived that night was 41°F. That scuttled our plans for that evening, and led to a whole mini-adventure with the propane tank needing to be on concrete before filling, lines inspected, waiting for the power to be hooked up then two days to get the inside temp into the high 60's before we could set out the hardwood flooring to normalize.

Anyway, thanks Ron, always good to hear the material is useful.
You live anywhere near ncgrowler?

blue928

I can see why you haven't been posting, I'm glad your back Dave.

Mrmerlin

Dave thanks for catching us up on your past adventures,
You and your wife are doing a terrific job.
The house looks great and it will be a rewarding long time investment.
A new better job is heading your way, just keep your eyes open
I am glad your shark is doing well.

So dont be a stranger , your missed on this part of the planet.

I would suggest that you might consider being a writer/ photographer,as a side gig,
as this could be something you do very well.
Be well my friend!

Alan

Hey Dave - I knew this would be a big project, but wow - tons of work, and not done yet - but sounds like phase 1 coming to an end...overall a fantastic project. How many get to make their childhood dreams come true (or even still want to)?

I don't think you are ever done though, some people can be content to say: good enough and mean it - others are so inquisitive that they will always find more to do, improvements here, new technology there, flaws with previous work... I think that's you! (and me).

Works fine as long as you can enjoy both the process and the results

Nice to have some time, make the most of it. Where you are you will find something else for sure.

I took a year off 2 years ago. the timeout was nice - got tons done (mostly house) which was relaxing for me - then eventually found a job that I like better than anything I have done for the last 20 years! - So it can all work out! (but now I need to convince them to pay me as much as in the jobs I hated).

Alan

Rob Edwards

Cool projects + time = Happy. Great to see the updates, Dave!

SharkSkin

Thanks Stan, I'll try not to be such a stranger. I've looked into writing, it really doesn't pay much. And I don't just mean the IB gig that is posted in the forums.

No doubt it's a work in progress. Regarding the job too -- I figure that there is something better out there, this was just my impetus to go look and my job now is to find it. Thanks for the support!

Thanks Rb, and I promise I won't email pics of the tub to your wife.

AirtekHVAC

Yes, about an hour or so apart, I think.....have not got together directly, one of these days....

I think I mentioned before...your shark attack works are the first I found, and got my project rolling. Priceless.

Hope to perhaps meet one day! I'm a CA native, San Pedro born....late sixties....been gone since 78.......one day I might be back.....

SharkSkin

I'm really glad you found the info useful. I mentioned in one of the earlier pages that the point was to give back to the community. Succeeding here and there -- priceless...

So we're similar age then. Stephen is around the same age as well, and grew up in NorCal. Born and raised in the bay area myself, and while there were some tough times along the way I always figured it would be tougher to come back than to stay when prospective employers tried to lure me away.