Working with Dad

It's always more fun working on the trailer when there is someone to work with. And dad is definitely the best helper to have around. My dad retired a few years ago after many years as an attorney and an administrative law judge. But he is not your typical lawyer.

One of his first jobs, long before going to law school, was working at Lockheed in Southern California building missiles. So, he has more experience working with metal, precision tools, and rivets than your typical do-it-yourselfer. He's also a very skilled woodworker who has taught me most of what I know.

My parents still live in Northern California where I grew up. They have about 5 acres with sheep, chickens, and a bunch of beehives as well as a couple acres of wine grapes. Dad is an amateur beekeeper and winemaker who and spends a lot of his time either tending to the bees

and other livestock,

making wine,

tending to the garlic patches he and my mom planted for their granddaughters,

or tooling around on his tractors (yes, that is plural, for some reason he needed two tractors, which might explain some of my problems).

If you didn't notice, that's a Ford Tractor . . .

We are kind of a Ford family.

Although it's a 12 hour drive from their house to ours, they try to make it up here at least once every three months to see the girls.

Fortunately for me, that also means I get to put dad to work on the trailer. While they were here this weekend, we built the base for the toilet.

After they left, I managed to lay out the tiles and prep for glue.

Not terribly exciting, but it's progress nonetheless. I also finshed the remaining water connections this month and tested all the plumbing including the water heater on 110v. It's pretty nice to have hot and cold running water. I don't think I can procrastinate much longer on the gas line work.