Let The Games Begin!

I mentioned in an earlier post that wife and I are working on a desert "property" we bought recently. I guess property is the right word... it's a HUGE mess and so a big project, and we started in earnest this weekend. It was one of those weekends I found myself thinking "Really? Why am I doing this again?"  No turning back now. Up to now it's been the two of us working like dogs filling up a dumpster on weekends with every kind of disgusting junk you can think of. But this weekend we brought in the "professionals"... a local guy who seems to know about construction (interesting and colorful story here, but not appropriate for blog-land), and a guy up the road from him who owns a Bobcat. So we were working today grading, trenching, and starting to lay the plumbing for the new outhouse. There will even be plumbing to the trailer and the original cabin (for a sink). Swanky, eh?

Bobcat with old desert cabin in the background.

From inside the cabin, looking out.

So meet Clarence (aka "Iron-man") and his wife Clarissa. Clarence is one of the hardest working individuals I've ever met! People all over the desert community call him to haul away their metal "junk", and Iron-man shows up with his little truck (which appears to be held together mostly with duct tape and wire) and miraculously manages to get an incredible amount of junk in his truck, way more than you would ever think is possible, then hauls it off for recycling. A really tough way to make a living, especially in the desert heat!

Clarence hauled off a B-B-Q, refrigerator, hot water heater, bathtub, screen door, large chair... and then went over and somehow got a full-sized washing machine in the back of his truck! And he did it all by himself... no help, no hand truck... just brute strength and determination! I'm in awe! Wish there were more people around like Clarence.

Clarissa & Clarence