My main job this week has been to get all the thermostats programmed and ready to go for the guests coming in this weekend.  All 29 of them. The thermostats, not the guests. Previous to this exercise I was pretty good at pushing the button to make the numbers go up and down.  Now I was going to have to deal with equipment settings and limits and differentials and….well, you get my drift. Gary had marked the trusty Instruction Manual with the changes I had to make and set me loose. Disregarding the notation in the manual that specifically said that programming should only be done by a trained professional. Hrmfph.
It took a while to just figure out what the thermostat was saying.

OK – that one was pretty easy – Cycle (6 times an hour)
This one, though…

CF9? Oh, I see – It’s CFG. And after discussing it with Gary, we figured out that that stands for “configure”. Go figure.
Then there was the clever use of the Fahrenheit symbol, to help spell out DIF (for differential).

Took me a while to catch on with that one!
Here are my friends from today –

Ah, yes, it was a day for adjusting how I read things!
By the end I had it down to a good system – Hold, press, scroll, select, up arrow, fan button, mode button, menu, menu, etc. Phew. After I had checked and double checked that I had them set correctly (I think), I wrote up some “Basic Programming” instructions for the folks at the conference center and happily handed in these cards that had been placed above each thermostat over the winter –

Because, friends, 2013 is HERE and the A/C is ON!

Hey – have I mentioned (lately) that this little cutie is coming to our house (which will be moving about) on Saturday? And that we’ll get to love on her for a whole week?????

Just in case you missed it, I thought I’d mention it again.
Saturday.
Yes.

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We’ve had a productive week here at MBC.
– Returns in closets on the first floor installed, painted and all trim reinstalled – Check
– Mess cleaned up by trusty assistant – Check
– Review of parts still needed and ordered. – Check
– Build bracket for unit in crawlspace – Check

– Discover a supply of carpet strips to use in the crawlspace. 🙂 This should really help with the crawling about!
– Hang the unit, and have it all ready for when the supplies arrive on Monday.

So that’s a summary of where we are on the official job. Since we were just hangin’ around this weekend, we were also able to help out with some back-to-back banquets. The first night I was in charge of the gravy, and the second night they actually had me out serving folks. Black pants and white shirt and everything.


What trusting souls they are!
And while I was either dishing up gravy or delivering food and pouring coffee, Gary was busy here –

Yep, turns out that Gary LOVES working in the dish pit. Who knew???? I’m pretty sure he’ll be spending some more time in the Pit over the course of the summer!

And on a final note – we’ve moved!



OK, it was only a half mile, but I don’t often get to drive behind the rig and take pictures!
We’re back in our same spot from last year

and while we have a bit more settling in to do (it’s been pretty nippy outside, and not especially conducive to putting out the awning and rugs) it’s nice to be back in the old neighborhood!

That delivery truck is expected tomorrow morning, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be spending some quality time on our knees next week.

Let’s hear it for Knee Pads (and old carpeting)!

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So.
Let’s do a little recap about what we’re doing here at Montrose Bible Conference.
Last summer we began the task of installing central Air Conditioning into Dreyer Lodge, a circa 1925 building that includes 26 guest rooms, a large lobby and a dining facility. We knew that the entire job would be a two summer event, so when we almost completed the second floor rooms (22 rooms, 5 units and miles of control wire) by the end of last summer we were delighted. (I’m using the word “we” quite generously here. Let’s face it, while I suppose I was a valuable helper, my man is the total brains and talent behind this job.) When we left in August last summer we left a big ol’ notebook with all of the equipment information along with a detailed list of what still needed to be done.

And believe me, already we’ve realized how smart we were to write that all down, because man, we’ve slept a lot since then and now. But aside from the finish work that needs to be done for all those units on the second floor, we haven’t even started on the 4 rooms on the first floor. Now you might think that only having 4 rooms (one unit) as opposed to 22 rooms (5 units) would make this part of the installation a snap. However, while the actual job is quite a bit smaller, the working location is quite a bit less than favorable.

And that picture was taken AFTER we cleaned it out!
So that was where we started this morning. Gary in the cave crawlspace, moving “stuff” to the doorway for removal.

The rest of us carrying it outside for disposal. Now there was a fair bit of copper and metal that can go to the scrap yard ($$ :)), but we may never know why some of this stuff was stored in this crawlspace.

Christmas trees, nursery toys, lots of lumber, pieces of drywall, vacuum cleaner??????

And then there’s all the general rubble – guess we’ll just be crawling over that!

So after we got most of the trash out of the way, Gary and I worked on stringing lights. Let’s face it, we have to be able to see to work!

Gary would get them hung, and I would follow behind and put in the light bulbs. When all was said and done, the lighting was pretty good.

But in a sense, it really just illuminated some of the more delightful parts of the work area….

OK, let’s face it – this stage of the job will be challenging for both of us, but especially for whimpy ol’ me. These will be my new best friends –

…and I think a hard hat will be joining the collection!
Later that morning we trucked up to the attic to see how the insulation made it through the winter. And yes, there are a couple of pieces that will need to be re-taped.

But after our short morning in the crawlspace, the attic looked like the Taj Mahal of work areas.

I’m really going to miss the whole standing-up part.
Oh, and the no cobwebs.
Sigh.

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