Never Has So Much Been Spent On So Few Chickens
'Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - About 9:00 AM Eastern time.
Kevin, the six chickens, and the Honda pilot pulling a U-Haul leave Sarasota.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - About 6:00 PM Eastern time.
Entourage arrives in Gulfport, Mississippi to pick up driving companion, Anna.
Thursday, February 14, 2013 - sometime in the middle of the night.
The U-Haul trailer breaks an axle and requires four hours of downtime to get a new U-Haul.
Friday, February 15, 2013 - about 1:30 AM MST.
Kevin, Anna, the six chickens, the Honda Pilot, and the U-Haul arrive at the new house in the Wet Mountains of Colorado.
Saturday, February 16, 2013.
The furnace isn't working yet but they're working on it. The DSL isn't working yet. The well is frozen and isn't working yet. The interior of the house is definitely a fixer upper. The chickens are doing 'magnificently'.
Sunday, February 17, 2013 - about 12:00 PM MST.
Kevin dropped off his driving companion, Anna, at the airport for her return trip to Gulfport, Mississippi. The furnace was kind of working but needed a part for the thermostat (right now it has to be turned on and off manually). He put a heater in the well house to thaw out the frozen water pipes (hopefully). There is a problem in getting the DSL up and running through the provider, CenturyLink, but he's working on it. He had a chance to meet some of the neighbors who, he said, seemed very nice. He checked out the 'general store' down the road which appears to be more of an eating place than a store. He is going to be on a teleconference Monday morning with his contractors. He said he would also look into getting a satellite hookup on Monday. The chickens are puzzled by their new non-tropical surroundings.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - about 12:15 PM MST.
Still no DSL hookup so he's working in Canon City in the mornings. DSL should be up within the week. Water pipes still frozen and now furnace quit altogether. It's cold. Dish Network people and furnace people not returning calls. Chickens still doing 'magnificently' - even laying eggs (at least Kev won't starve).
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - about 11:55 PM MST.
Shortened report today. CenturyLink still dragging their feet over Kevin's identity as title owner of the house. They want to install DSL on Mar. 18. Has a guy coming to work on furnace and frozen water problems. No refrigerator, former owner took the one that was there. The chickens are well.
Thursday, February 21, 2013.
There was no report today.
Friday, February 22, 2013 - about 10:35 PM MST.
Today's report was a good one although he did get snow yesterday and stayed on the mountain. When he called he was on his way back after working for a while in town.
The furnace guy was coming to look at the furnace and the frozen water pipes and the dish network people were coming to install the dish service which will get him back on the Internet.
He said his real estate lady directed him to another company called DD wireless which he may install as well for backup. She also found him a washer and dryer. He had breakfast down at the general store which is now
more like a diner. It's run by a nice old couple and the lady stone grinds the wheat for her bread. He piggybacked on their wireless for a short time. He met someone from the volunteer
fire department and may volunteer himself. Apparently, the chickens are puzzled by their new surroundings since there are no bugs or other critters to eat. All in all, a good report.
Kevin sounds very happy with the new surroundings.
Saturday, February 23, 2013 - about 10:05 PM MST.
Kev still doesn't have phone service on the mountain but he sent the following email.
"Just wanted to let you know that the guy made it out here yesterday and got the internet installed. It's a satellite service, so it's limited and doesn't do things like VoIP or TeamView well,
but it is better than nothing. Hopefully DD wireless will be able to handle the main connection, and I'll use dish as a backup. I'll keep you posted as I get things hooked up and/or running."
Sunday, February 24, 2013.
Kevin posted the following note concerning his satellite service.
"Yeah, I talked to a couple people at the general store the other day, and they said good things about DD Wireless. I have high hopes for them, because the satellite isn't really going to cut it. I'll keep you posted. I'll be going into town on Monday, and will give you a call when I'm in town."
Monday, February 25, 2013 - about 11:50 PM MST.
Furnace and water still a problem. Receiveed only about 3 inches of snow yesterday. Hopes DD Wireless gets out tomorrow so he'll have phone and improved internet service.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
Snow on the mountain. No report today.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013.
Since I hadn't heard anything, I sent Kevin an email today asking him if the wireless people ever showed up. He finally responded that they had been there but couldn't get a signal from their nearest wireless tower.
The DSL provider, CenturyLink, was holding to their March 18 date. Kevin said he was going to buy an antenna like he had used in Florida for his wireless connection to see if that would work
with DD Wireless in Colorado. Because the conversation was through email he didn't mention anything about the furnace or the well.
Thursday, February 28, 2013 - about 9:00 PM MST..
Kevin went down to canyon city early this morning to get some work done and to call CenturyLink again to talk to them about his DSL service. As far as other stuff goes,
the furnace still doesn't work and the guy he bought the house from isn't returning calls. He has a guy working on the water pipes but they can't discover where the pipe is frozen.
I think he's fairly happy with his new surroundings but he has to get the work environment up to snuff.
Friday, March 1, 2013.
No report today.
Saturday, March 2, 2013.
No report today except Kev said on Facebook that his stuff from Florida was supposed to arrive today.
Sunday, March 3, 2013.
No report today.
Monday, March 4, 2013.
Kevin reported in and said his stuff did get there from Florida except for the garden tractor and Jeep which is coming in April. The water pipes are still frozen but the pump works
so he's toting water into the house from the well. The furnace is still a problem and he doesn't know when that will be resolved. He is most concerned about not having his phone service.
There has been some progress with CenturyLink but it's like pulling teeth to get anything done. His wonderful 'neighbors' in Myaka City Florida says that they won't press charges
against Kevin for trespassing if Kevin sends them $5000. Kevin's lawyer says there is no case. It was just a property line dispute. Besides the 'neighbor' owes Kevin $6800 for
software development.