Hale Mana Receives The Seal Of Approval

If there have been any betting pools going on out there, I am now calling the official date. Hale Mana passed the final inspection for a certificate of occupancy on the morning of Wednesday April the 13th with a little help from the inspector man.

That would be four days shy of three years and ten months from the day I arrived on the low spot of a North Carolina mountain top to start a brand new life from scratch.

And to think I thought I could build a tiny little 500 square foot cabin in six months, maybe a year if you factor in winter weathers.

Now the inspector man, singular this time, had to do something he probably isn't allowed to do to get me to pass. I did everything on his list and then some, but he still couldn't find a proper ground in a couple of light switches with his meter despite the fact that they were obviously grounded visually.

"I'm not coming back here for a couple of ungrounded switches. Give me a screwdriver, pliers and some wire." We then joined the ground wires of a double and triple light switch box in to a single ground and tied them back to the ground on the individual switches with short pieces of ground wire from the group bundle. The meter then gave the proper beep. You pass. Congratulations and hallelujah. And by the way bless you inspector man.

There are times when I know for sure my life is blessed.

Now the juice can be turned on. The pipes can be filled with fluid. Heat can emanate from gas appliances. Let there be light and fanning breezes. Satellite dishes for communication are scheduled to arrive. Perhaps soon the phone company will solve the little issue they don't want to discuss directly with me. Don't make me call my congressman. I just met his third cousin at the ER.



Hale Mana's passing grade comes with a taste of the bittersweet. The building contractor wore himself out cleaning, rearranging and planning a redesign of the luxury basement accommodations in the excitement of me moving out of his house. He didn't feel well directly afterwards, bad enough to go to the ER. From there he went to Asheville where the heart doctors are looking him over. Today was his mother's birthday, he told us.



I am now a fully trained house repair and remodel technician and will be living very close by. Still available for chores and assistance. As a matter of fact this afternoon I was on the roof of the resident gardeners house replacing the plumbing vent ripped off the roof this winter by a heavy load of sliding snow. We need to get some vent guards installed before next winter arrives.

But it is done. The cabin is finished. I can move in as the juices start flowing and continue on with the processes undone, but unneeded for a final inspection, the cozy little details to come.

The wheel keeps turning and now it is time to get back to the garden.