Chapter 18

June 12^th 2043

The past few days have been pretty busy. I used the excavator to dig out a hole for ... waste products. It took ages to get it down from the garage and back again but I think it was worth it. At least the seat was padded. Any way, I used it to dig a little sloping trench for the waste hose from the pod out a ways and then I worked on the pit. It took a bit to figure out the controls but after a while, I got the hang of it. It was even kind of fun. I wouldn't want to do it everyday but it was fun.

I wasn't sure how deep it should be so I dug down as far as the arm would reach. I also used it to scoop out dirt from underneath along the sides. That was a little worrying because I didn't want the hole to collapse but I did want it to be as big as possible with a small opening. I did it on each of the sides. Then I dug out some more dirt on the top to put the lid in. I didn't want a big lump in my yard. Once I had that done, I started on building a cover for it.

I drove out and cut down a couple good sized trees and, when they were ready, dragged them back. I tried lifting them into the bed of the truck but after the first one, I quit. After cutting the lumber up, I made a cover for the latrine. I didn't want it to wear out and collapse, so I built it really sturdy. The frame itself is like 4 inches thick and the boards I covered it with are about half that. I tried to keep the bark facing out to protect the wood as much as possible. I'm hoping it'll take a long time before it wears out. Once I had it together, I had to use the excavator to push it into place. It was heavy!

Once that was done, I started on the trench. I used some of the trimmed boards to make a ... I guess you'd call it a wooden pipe for the trench so the hose wouldn't get damaged. Then went over to the left side of my pod and pulled the hose out of its storage area by the window. It was pretty hard connecting the hose to the waste connection since I had to work around the boat engines but I managed it. Then I laid it out in the wooden pipe and nailed the lid on.

After everything was in place, I used the excavator to cover everything back up. Then I took it on its long drive back. After parking it back in its spot, and putting the other vehicles back, I went down and jumped in the lake ... well pond. I needed the bath and the water felt so good!

I'd like to stay in and relaxing tomorrow but I really should continue to get ready for winter.