Today became truly miserable outside with high temps and humidity so it came as a major surprise when the back yard hill finally died. It was touch and go who would die first, me or the hill. The hill did have one last, heart stopping surprise in store as I made much quicker progress than I thought possible. As I was leveling out the bottom of the last piece of hill, I ran into what could only be a canvas encased pipe. The dig safe folks said all the pipes were in the front yard but here it was. I was trying to come up with contingency plans on how I would incorporate the pipe into the patio, it would have stuck about three inches over the height of the future patio floor. I felt a bit of despair as I made another trip up the hill lugging two pails of gravel.
I
gave the pipe one more look and discovered that it had ribs which meant it wasn’t
a utility pipe but one embedded in the gravel to help drain off water when the house
was constructed. Since it had been buried four feet underground after construction
was completed, I wasn’t needed any more. An exacto knife later the offending
pipe had been excised from the job site. I’ve decided, based on the amount of
work that has gone down range that I can officially call it a job site. At any
rate, the last of the hill was removed and carried up the hill and wall
construction continued. I should be able to finish the wall off tomorrow (after
another trip to Home Depot for more bricks) and then the great leveling event
will start. I’ve included a couple pictures of the amount of dirt, gravel and
rocks that made up the excised part of the hill that I carried up the stairs
for disposal. In a matter of perspective, the hill of dirt is about six feet
tall and twice as wide. I managed to impress myself but I am so glad I don’t
have any more two filled bucket trips up those damned stairs. 
Day 25 Progress
The Dirt Pile 
My Favorite - The Rocks I ran into
Two
movies fell in my A-Z effort, both keepers: American Assassin (based on one of
my favorite literary heroes, Mitch Rapp) and American Gangster (much better
than remembered Denzel just rules).
The Gravel
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Curbside Girls – close friends of my
daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions
once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite
Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR
- First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since
high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited
with after many years; Maine and
Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my
wife is the 3rd musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and
Soxfather namad after me; Neighborhood
Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of
my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; Pittsburgh
College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in
Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather
- my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my
son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s
mom, of course
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