Oct 13 - on schedule

Like clockwork.  Paul and his plumber arrived in two cars.  The plumber set to work immediately on his little job and once finished, cash was exchanged (from Paul) and he was on his way.  The only thing that he did to assist Paul was help steer the hand-truck along the grass. 

Paul took the sides of the skid off the generator and then man-handled it into his trailer.  I provided minimal assistance, moving a piece of pipe to help roll it along.  At 400 pounds including the skid, that's no mean feat.

He then backed the trailer down the hill to the top of my concrete ramp, got it out and onto the dolly and then basically slid it down the ramp on the skid really only using the dolly to help with the slide.  Once at the bottom, the generator was partially tipped up and he pushed, the plumber steered, across the 20-or-so feet of grass.  I didn't see them actually move the generator onto my concrete pad but there it was, pretty as a picture.

He drilled the holes in the wall for the #6 and the 14/6 conduit.  I pulled the conduit through to the utility room with David's help.  Connections made at the generator, he did the same inside.  In between he installed the "cold weather kit" which is a little warmer pad for the battery and a block heater. 

I then went online to get the activation code -- that must be input during the setup programming and governs the warranty -- he worked through the menu and away we went.  The menu is simply date and time, frequency and time of auto-test (we set it to weekly, Tuesday at noon) and the aforementioned activation code ... oh yes, and language.

He was out of here around noon.  We made a good deal for the 2-0 cable that I had from the old 100 amp service to the old cottage, which we netted off the price. 

Buying the generator myself and contracting with him separately from Home Depot saved me some money.  John did a good job with the electrical; I learned a lot from him and the transfer switch is in a better place and better setup than I'd have done on my own.  I didn't strain myself moving the beast around and the final installation went bam-bam.  With me doing the time-consuming work of running wire and conduit, this was an easy job for Paul, good profit, perhaps better than most ?  Who can say.  You win some and you lose some.
He's throwing in the first year's maintenance as well, which means a trip here to do an oil change ... seems silly but what the heck.  He does warranty work and ongoing maintenance, so it's good for him to keep up with his clientele after the installation.  He estimates that he's done 2,000 of these of various sizes.  He and his son are both certified Generac installers -- which is not a big deal but helps maintain the warranty.

Done, or rather, Finished !  The rain held off until after Paul left, so timing was perfect.

David gave me a hand with a couple of things and then headed out in the afternoon.  Kyle left mid afternoon as well; Gavin would have left last evening.  Jason, Lo and Kim leave today.

Dennis across the lake has left; the Troups will have left.  Jim and Bonnie are still down south, returning today.  It's quiet the lake.  It will be even quieter after we leave on Thursday.

Speaking of which ... I've got the trailer pretty much packed, the groceries that we're taking in a storage bin along with my cycling bags (clothes etc.) and bicycles.  The car will still be full, no doubt -- plug-in cooler, Abby's stuff, our travel luggage, satellite receiver, camera gear, the usual carry-with-me electronics (disk drives, backup disk drives etc.), BUT BUT -- it won't be as full as it would have been without the trailer.

I talked to Ticycles and have decided to get the titanium fork.  I'll need to go online and start ordering and accumulating other stuff but it will be months before I get the fork anyway.  I should have done this about two months ago but from the conversation that I had yesterday with them, that probably wouldn't have changed the delivery date since they do forks in batches and are about to do a batch.

Today it's supposed to rain, last I checked, so I'll wrap up as much as possible inside.

Onward ...