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Shipping Container Woes

I’ve been looking for a shipping container to buy in which to store items that don’t as yet fit into this house.  This search has been harder than you might imagine.

Every day last week I called one particular company trying to get one ordered.  On a few days nobody answered my call, and the other days it was answered by a different person each time.   Those people didn’t know if they had any containers available nor did they know exactly how much they’d cost if they found one.

Aggravating to say the least.

So this week I expanded and started calling other companies in the area.  One of the men I talked to highly suggested that I check with the city to make sure that a shipping container was “allowed.”

GOV’T INVOLVEMENT

Of course, no personal decision is complete around Utah without a little government involvement.

I don’t want to get into the politics of it (I’ve steadfastly not posted anything political on here before), but the absurdity of needing to ask for government’s permission to purchase, with private money, an object meant for private use,  and kept on private property, is Orwellian.

So today I called Bluffdale and they said that it is a “firm NO” on a shipping container.   He said that people typically get around that however by putting a roof on it.   It is disallowed apparently because it is “open storage”, but if I put a roof on the container it isn’t “open” anymore.    I’m buying a container to avoid building a roofed structure, why build a roof over a water tight, already roofed, container?

LOCATION

I think I may have located a container in the mean time.  It might be pointless now that I know I might not be “allowed” to have it however.   I say I think I might have found one, because apparently they are in short supply.  I called 4 other companies today, and only 1 said they might have one available soon.   Guy said he’d send me an invoice and set it aside for me.

This lack of containers baffles me, why is there a dearth?  I thought SLC was a fairly major train depot in the region.   Shouldn’t there be a lot of these available?  I know that a few years ago I heard there was a troublesome surplus because more were used to bring goods in than were needed to take goods out.  Where did that surplus go? I guess they fixed the problem.

I’m going to go in and talk to the city guy and hopefully find a work around for the legality of having one.  But once I do that, can I even find a shipping container available?

ALTERNATIVES

As an alternative I looked into prefabricated sheds/barns.  Those are obviously more aesthetically pleasing for the neighbors.  However, they don’t hold nearly as much storage and cost significantly more.   I’d rather not pay more money for something less useful.  I suppose all of us know that is what happens when gov’t gets involved though.

I’ll go that route if it is all that is allowed by the city, but I’ll be doing it grudgingly.  But even as a shed is delivered I’ll be silently cursing the government intrusion.  And I will forever laugh mockingly at those who still sing/talk about this being the “land of the free.”

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Like a Louse

That is how I feel sometimes: like a louse.

 Louse: a small usually sluggish arthropod that lives on other animals or plants and sucks their blood or juices
I’ve been feeling very sluggish, and that I’ve been living off of Julie’s efforts and work.  I feel like I’m sucking the life out of her.

Yesterday it wasn’t because of the mental issues, but the physical ones.  We’ve gotten to the point of putting down flooring in the house and bought 50 sheets of tile backer board to put down.

Those sheets are 3’x5′ and weight approximately 42lbs each.   We bought an entire pallet of them (50 sheets).  That is a weight of just over 2100lbs.  It had the trailer tires looking over taxed on the drive home.  We need 75-80 sheets, but were worried about the weight.

Being the broken louse that I am, I carried exactly ZERO of those sheets up to our work area.  My Wonder Woman wife carried all 50 of them, alone, from the trailer, across the lawn, up a flight of stairs and into the remodeled space of the house.   That is over 1 ton of material moved by her 5 foot tall, 135 lbs frame.

And not content to stop there, she proceeded to then start laying them out on the floor.

Lousy, Yes?

Gentlemen, you would feel pretty lousy too if you couldn’t help you out in such a situation, right?  I’m a big guy, broad shouldered with a fair amount of muscle on me.  I get asked if I’m a bouncer (often), a bodyguard (a few times), or played professional football (really?).  Yet I might was well be a 110lbs weakling for all the help I have to offer around here.   And knowing that I used to be able to do that precise type of thing without feeling taxed at all… well then the mental pains really begin to set in.  Watching my wife do it all in my place … well, makes me feel like a louse!

 

 

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Life in Bluffdale

Week two

Well we have been in Bluffdale two weeks now and I guess its about time I let me fans (I use the term loosely) know that I am alive and well.  It has been a bit crazy trying to settle into a good routine for the family but I think we are just about there.  I am grateful the kids got into the local charter school but man…I broke my budget this month.  Completely annihilated it.  Uniforms for 6 rugrats and school supplies to boot…I’m ready to just hide until October.

A Typical Day

Although nothing for me is typical, here is what a typical/ideal day looks like.  We wake up at 6:30 and spend the next hour … getting dressed, changing diapers, eating breakfast, brushing hair/teeth, doing dishes, family prayer, individual scripture reading.  Whew…did we get it all?

The older kids head to school while the younger 3 and I do chores, stories, and play time.  This is the time for me and the three boys.  Jax is having a hard time getting me to slow down and enjoy life.  I see too many projects all around me, too many things that need to be cleaned, organized, finished, etc.  I need to improve these 3 hours and focus on the needs of the ones at my feet.

Lunchtime comes all too soon and Andrew heads to school.  The 2 boys left at home take their naps while mom gets to do some serious work.  I’ve got 3 hours to tackle any project I choose.  But don’t get too involved because from 3-4:30 it’s a rat race trying to pickup kids from 3 different campuses (thankfully all here in Bluffdale) while getting two of them to and from cross country practice.

Let me tell you, ironing out the wrinkles in our pick-up routine was rough.  The first day, Caitlin waited for over an hour at the high school, because I had to pick up Kristie and get her to the Jr High and I was sure it would be faster than the shuttle.  The next day we tried the shuttle, but that meant the little kids waited 30+ minutes for Caitlin and we still had to head over to the Jr High.  It took some playing around but I think we are finally all satisfied with the pickup routine.

Evenings are nice, dinner, more playing together and enjoying family time.  The kids are always wanting to play with friends but I’ve missed them all day and I don’t like to share much.

Reality

Alright, so I mentioned that was an ideal routine.  In reality there have been a lot more projects to make this move comfortable.  I have made endless trips to the store for clothes, school supplies, groceries, etc.  (And I mean endless both in the quantity and length.  Truly it is ridiculous.)  There have been multiple trips to PG to get beds, furniture, food, etc.  It took me an entire day to set up bunk beds, the daybed, and the crib.  Not to mention having to run to the store for a new bolt for the trundle bed.  Jax and I spent an entire day cleaning up the driveway area to make room to park.  I had to re-caulk the bathtub before bath night.  We blew in the insulation at night but painted the whole addition in a 24 hour period.

Thankfully the library isn’t too far away (Riverton – Why doesn’t Bluffdale have one?) because I think I have been there 10 times in the last 2 weeks.  I am extremely grateful that we have internet up and running here now and I really feel that things can simmer down from this rolling boil to a gentle rhythm.  I still can’t sit still, I am going crazy sitting at the computer instead of wiring outlets.  But things improve each and every day.

I choose to enjoy this adventure called life…It’s a journey worth taking.

Jensen Family minus Jax (taking the pic)
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The Wonders of Electromagnetism

I posted a few days ago with a video of Julie working hard blowing insulation into the attic.   We finished the project the next day and I noticed in the daylight something I had missed during the dark, electromagnetism at work!

 

I find physics to be fascinating, and watching these pieces of insulation defy gravity and “jump” up onto the hose was cool to me.  I have nothing profound to share about it, just that I thought it was neat.

 

Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

My thoughts and prayers to you in Houston and the vicinity!