January 13, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's
Refuge
It's Caturday the 13th
!!!
Betty says, Daddy .... keep my
feet warm .... why'd you let this cold come back ?
Brrr it's back to mid arctic
weather .... just look at yesterday's
photos and see how many more layers we've all had to pile on today !!!!
So I left you last night with
the big conundrum about the giant cavern by the well casing and the missing
water .....
Dig as much as they could all night between the horrendous down pours ..... a funny story about Doug chasing somebody out in that till almost midnight in a minute ... first let's solve the water problem .... absolutely NO source of a leak was found.
Dig as much as they could all night between the horrendous down pours ..... a funny story about Doug chasing somebody out in that till almost midnight in a minute ... first let's solve the water problem .... absolutely NO source of a leak was found.
photo
compliments of Doug Deal
So Wilson Well came out to
help hunt it down.
See who's on their truck? Keeping track of everybody is really a 24/7 job around here. Somebody is always into something. Including in and on vehicles. Very dangerous .... we have to keep an eye on them when anyone is around .... and make sure all are accounted for before a vehicle can dare move.
See who's on their truck? Keeping track of everybody is really a 24/7 job around here. Somebody is always into something. Including in and on vehicles. Very dangerous .... we have to keep an eye on them when anyone is around .... and make sure all are accounted for before a vehicle can dare move.
They will climb in and on
everything !!! Under seats, into
grocery bags, the chickens will even fly in thru open windows and lay an egg on
your seat !!! You might think that's
neat .... but not so much when you
don't notice and sit on it .... uh oh ... icky !!!
At first the well guys were baffled ..... then one guy said .... did you have this dug, say round 2005 ... 6 maybe? And did you have another shallow well that you wanted to keep working too? I sort of remember a system we set up so you could switch from one well to the other .......
At first the well guys were baffled ..... then one guy said .... did you have this dug, say round 2005 ... 6 maybe? And did you have another shallow well that you wanted to keep working too? I sort of remember a system we set up so you could switch from one well to the other .......
photo
compliments of Doug Deal
YUP !! That was us !! He remembered setting up a special check valve system so water
form the old well .... 30 feet ... hand
dug .... lots of run off .... could not flow back into the good clean
potable 260' deep nice clean new well ....
Ahhhhhh and that's what that
extra brass fitting was all about ....
yes siree ..... So they took it
apart and sure enough .... it had
busted and a part of it was blocking the flow !!!!!
Quick fix and the water flow
was like totally awesome !!!!
hoto
compliments of Doug Deal
We now drink close to 500
gallons of water a day .... DRINK
..... that doesn't count all that's
wasted when dirty bowls are dumped and pools are drained and all the water used
for cleaning .... cleaning bowls,
troughs, plates, platters .... and the mopping and scrubbing .... and laundry
... Oh the laundry ....
After getting all the cats
and dogs and goats and chickens away from the truck and getting the well guys
safely on the road to their next job .....
it was back to Refuge life as normal .....
But it wasn't so normal .... well for Refuge Life it was !!! Normal means expect the unexpected !!! Really, the only thing you can count on running a great big Refuge and taking care of over a thousand animals is that the unexpected that you never could have imagined will happen ..... and almost every day !!!! A quiet boring day is an amazing blessing !!!!
So what now? Doug !!! Doug !!! Doug !!! The dryer isn't working !!!
First you don't have enough water .... I get you water .... now you want to dry it all away .... Geesh !!!!
Doug !!! Doug !!! Doug !!! We've brought up the two spare dryers and neither of them work either .... what can we do .... we have wet laundry .... the cages need new clean beds ... it's gonna be cold tonight ... really cold .... and all the beds are wet .... HELP !!!!
Doug took about 3 breaths and 16 steps .... tossed off the plumber hat and donned the appliance repair hat .... In minutes he'd discovered an electrical problem ... Oh boy .... But really, think about it .... three dryers not heating up .... come on ... it's not the dryers !!!! So he knew to get the electrical tester and start at the plug.
But it wasn't so normal .... well for Refuge Life it was !!! Normal means expect the unexpected !!! Really, the only thing you can count on running a great big Refuge and taking care of over a thousand animals is that the unexpected that you never could have imagined will happen ..... and almost every day !!!! A quiet boring day is an amazing blessing !!!!
So what now? Doug !!! Doug !!! Doug !!! The dryer isn't working !!!
First you don't have enough water .... I get you water .... now you want to dry it all away .... Geesh !!!!
Doug !!! Doug !!! Doug !!! We've brought up the two spare dryers and neither of them work either .... what can we do .... we have wet laundry .... the cages need new clean beds ... it's gonna be cold tonight ... really cold .... and all the beds are wet .... HELP !!!!
Doug took about 3 breaths and 16 steps .... tossed off the plumber hat and donned the appliance repair hat .... In minutes he'd discovered an electrical problem ... Oh boy .... But really, think about it .... three dryers not heating up .... come on ... it's not the dryers !!!! So he knew to get the electrical tester and start at the plug.
Toss the appliance repairman
hat ...... don the electrician hat
....
One line into the dryer had 118 volts and the other ... 60 ... uh oh .... if you can do simple math ... you can tell that don't get you close enough to 220 to work !!!! It wasn't in the outlet .... it wasn't in the quarantine building where the laundry room is .... it wasn't at a connector area that's had trouble before ..... it was all the way back at the main panel for the entire planet of Rikki's .... a breaker had gone bad ....
So off for a trip to town .... first place didn't have one .... but the other one did .... back to Rikki's ... install the new breaker .... and the original dryer was working !!!!! Luckily we have two dryers and one washer in storage now for the next disaster !!!! Of course our machines last the longest when we have a spare !!!!
Time to put the Refuge Manager hat back on !!!! How much can Doug get done before the next disaster strikes !!!
Oh ... wait .... there's a ditch that needs to be filled in .... but first .... the tail of a bad kitty cat ....
One line into the dryer had 118 volts and the other ... 60 ... uh oh .... if you can do simple math ... you can tell that don't get you close enough to 220 to work !!!! It wasn't in the outlet .... it wasn't in the quarantine building where the laundry room is .... it wasn't at a connector area that's had trouble before ..... it was all the way back at the main panel for the entire planet of Rikki's .... a breaker had gone bad ....
So off for a trip to town .... first place didn't have one .... but the other one did .... back to Rikki's ... install the new breaker .... and the original dryer was working !!!!! Luckily we have two dryers and one washer in storage now for the next disaster !!!! Of course our machines last the longest when we have a spare !!!!
Time to put the Refuge Manager hat back on !!!! How much can Doug get done before the next disaster strikes !!!
Oh ... wait .... there's a ditch that needs to be filled in .... but first .... the tail of a bad kitty cat ....
photo
compliments of Doug Deal
Yesterday was a wonderful
warm day and despite the rain, everybody wanted to be out ... even Mouky
..... At night Doug makes everyone go
in .... and Mouky has always been a
good boy and gone inside with only a little coaxing. But not last night !!! He
wanted to be out .... and even as the drizzle turned into torrential down pours
and horrendous wind ... Mouky wanted to
be out ...
He ran under one vehicle ..... then as Doug, out in the rain, tried to coax him out and started crawling under to get him .... Mouky ran under the porch .... and on and on it went ..... Doug was worried about Mouky, he'd never been out a night on his own, and it was storming, what if he got scared and ran .... And it was almost midnight when Mouky got tired enough to slow down and bit and Doug nabbed him and got him inside !!!!
And I bet you wondered what refuge people do at night for entertainment !
With all emergencies solved and everything running nice and all animals taken care of ..... the fillin in of the ditch began ... and it was a lot dirt to move to cover up all that diggin from yesterday
Fine .... leaps wide ditches in a single bound !!!
He ran under one vehicle ..... then as Doug, out in the rain, tried to coax him out and started crawling under to get him .... Mouky ran under the porch .... and on and on it went ..... Doug was worried about Mouky, he'd never been out a night on his own, and it was storming, what if he got scared and ran .... And it was almost midnight when Mouky got tired enough to slow down and bit and Doug nabbed him and got him inside !!!!
And I bet you wondered what refuge people do at night for entertainment !
With all emergencies solved and everything running nice and all animals taken care of ..... the fillin in of the ditch began ... and it was a lot dirt to move to cover up all that diggin from yesterday
Fine .... leaps wide ditches in a single bound !!!
photo
compliments of Doug Deal
Chevy offers to help Clarence
Goliath helps cover up the
ditch ....
photo
compliments of Lauren Todd
after all ... it's only fair
...
photo
compliments of Katie Terrill
Obie helped to dig it up
!!
Cats vs Dogs .... the competition just never stops ....
photo
compliments of Lauren Todd
photo
compliments of Lauren Todd
And while the hoomans work so
hard ..... Just what are all those
animals doing?
Standing around snacking
photo
compliments of Katie Terrill
Or rolling around goofin off !!!
And no .... that thing you heard about horses who lie down or are on their back with their feet up in the air .... no, they're NOT dead !!! They love to lay around and roll around and scratch their backs on the ground and kick their feet in the air just like everybody else !!
Ohh ... look at that dull gray barn ..... who's got exciting colors, patterns or murals you'd like to paint !!! Volunteer !! Help make Rikki's Beautiful and Colorful and Fun !!
Love, Opie
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