Spring and CEB Progress

This has been a wonderful spring here in East Texas. The roses outside my office are just a whiff of the beauty and color of our Life-Place place in spring. I wish you all could see the really, tiny new bull copying his older siblings in bullishness! His name is Euripides since his father is Rex (or maybe Caesar), and we figured it’s time for more wisdom than might in the herd. Euripides appears to be very curious and funny---all signs of intelligence.

Anyways, we’ve been very busy with Spring work, spreading old hay in the pasture cutting weeds, planting the garden and getting the fish ponds and blueberries back on track for the year…all in all a full line of work for us retirees!

Busy as we have been, we have not neglected the CEB process, and I am glad to report real progress on the conveyor. Here is the basic 12 ft long roller set up and some details of the side rollers and the main rollers, which are set in pillow-block bearing. Each set of rollers is made from standard dimensioned tubing and 9/16th steel shaft available anywhere in the world.

It does take some care and craftsmanship to make these rollers, but that can be learned—and must be paid for—tuition and all. Still the entire custom job comes out far less costly than a commercial equivalent. We will install the hydraulic lifting mechanism and scissors-jack to elevate the thing this week; and then run some tests for weight and power consumption…then put it on site to make our blocks.

In the end, the dream of a CEB house and a machine that can make the required blocks comes down to one thing: solving each problem as it arises. Planning is nothing more than anticipating all the known problems in some logical sequence. The real test of character is staying with it as the un-foreseen problems pop up and demand patience, creativity and most of all collaboration. No one is smart enough to see all the problems and issues in advance. No one is smart enough to see all the potential ways of solving those unseen problems once they surface and either derail the project or call forth character.