Got a phone message from Mark the dozer driver yesterday that they had hit the 6" water main with 160 pounds of pressure. So the day got really interesting.
We had a map of the old 1960's water line - but it wasn't shown in the correct place. So, everyone from the architect to the dirt guys had been relying on incorrect info. Oops. Lots of fun photos though. We had water running off the hillside in a stream while we waited for the only guy with the key to the well house for the small community water system to drive up from Visalia and turn off the water. I called Scottie, who was also in Visalia, and suggested he might want to join the fun and games.
Meanwhile, the guys continued working - and Lupe got the big ole water truck stuck. Mark flattened out an area around the truck to work and managed to pull him out forward after first breaking a chain trying to get him out backwards. Oops again. Watching Mark work is a dream. He was driving the dozer with the blade inches away from the truck's wheels, calm as could be, seeming totally unbothered by anything. I asked how long he's been doing this, and he tells me he started at TWELVE years of age helping his grandpa. It shows.
Scottie arrived. Ray Murry from the water Co still wasn't with us and water was still running. There was a fear that the line could be hit yet again so Lupe and Scottie started digging in the suspected location. No luck. 
Mark also kept working, grading the cut in front of the oak trees. He's promised me a ride but wouldn't let me in the cab when the dozer was on tilt. Darn. Ray finally arrived and we learned that parts to repair the main were available in Visalia. Scottie volunteered to go get them and Mark knows how to do repairs. So off we went to Visalia where the first pipe place had the fittings, but not the pipe despite having said that they did have it. Luckily the second place had pipe and we headed back up the hill. 
Light was fading as the guys reassembled the line (which, by the way, had caused a total lack of water to quite a few households in the interim). It held. Water ran. Back in business. The plan now is to get a bid (quickly) to move the line out around the house site. Water company would split the costs with us, and I plan to ask the original real estate company to chip in also. One way or another, work goes on. Worst case: We move the house back five or 10 feet and risk losing one of the old oaks. Best case: we move the line and keep on keepin' on.
Today I work at the Gallery, cell phone in hand, well pocket, the whole time, hoping I don't get an emergency call.
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