Digging in Dubuque or As The Shovel Turns

Don't want to speak too soon, but the trenching is apparently done. Just pray the plumber agrees. Scott returns the THIRD and FOURTH rented jackhammers tomorrow. Cutting the concrete on this second trenching attempt was Scott's intended last act for his old circular saw - he has a spare. Tony and Scott finally hit rebar on this go-round, which they cut through with Scott's grinder. I just learned older rebar is called "twisted bar" and it is in some of our building, but this rebar is simply square and was laid with large diamond wire mesh on top of earth. The reinforced concrete floors date to the Sanitary Dairy, which owned and operated a plant and retail shop in our building from about 1921 to 1943, and which put in the smokestack. Once through the rebar, today's gentlemen hit dirt and found this little collection:

What the hell is this stuff?
Clockwise: Shards of pre-1880 earthenware bottles that once held Apollinaris Mineral Water,
imported from Germany; a clamshell;two small bottles of the exact same type, but from different manufacturers; 
a small round glass bottle; a broken bottle neck; and what seems to be a serving spoon

Close-up of the Apollinaris logo, the company and its spring still exist in Germany

This weekend's little archaeological find is likely from the time our building was a hotel, its original and intended usage. Built by Joseph Gehrig, who bought our property in 1851, the hotel first opened as the Adams House in 1856, but Gehrig took over its management shortly thereafter and changed the name to the Jefferson House. A Swiss immigrant to Dubuque in the 1840s, he soon became a '49er and allegedly dug the first two basements in Sacramento, made real money in the Gold Rush, then returned to Dubuque for good. He and his family operated the hotel until about 1916.

Our discovery is nothing compared to Gehrig's of 1852 when he leveled the Indian Mound, the site which would become his hotel, now our corner building. That's when the coffin and body of the murderer Patrick O'Conner was discovered, buried in the Indian Mound on which he was hanged on June 20, 1834, in front of over 1000 people who came from all over the region, for killing his business partner George O'Keaf, events which made national newspapers almost immediately and forced the United States to take its first step toward creating what would later become the State of Iowa. O'Conner's trial and execution were the first in what would become Iowa. Our property has a long and interesting history, but it's for another day.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat" or Our Building vs. The Jackhammer

Jackhammering

It is almost a year since my madman and I moved to Dubuque to begin what we anticipated would be the project to end all projects. We were right. This property has been and continues to be tenacious. The property is quite content in its present state and it does not yield anything without a battle royale. Yet another example occurred this weekend.

In January of this year, shortly after we came to Dubuque, concerning the 2nd floor of the smaller building on this property, the space that is to be our residence, Scott said to me, "The building is winning, but I am determined." Within a month, he told me, "I've got the building on the run."


We've now been working on the larger building for almost 6 months since it took at least 6 months for our seller and his family to clear out their belongings - let's say the place functioned as a chock-full, small warehouse. The smaller building was a beast to tame, but it has proved to be nothing compared to the larger building.

Those parallel lines? The saw cuts for the trench. 

Now back to this past weekend. To trench out the concrete slab for the bathrooms and kitchen on the first floor of the larger building, Scott went to our local hardware store and rented the electric jackhammer, the gas-powered 14" concrete saw and the diamond blade (instead of buying possibly 20 concrete blades). One would think these tools could handle the job. WRONG!

The concrete saw handled fine and most of the needed cuts seem to have been made. The rented diamond blade may have seen its last day cutting through this slab.

The jackhammer trying to create the trench

our building vs. the electric jackhammer? The building won, hello! Our friend Tony is working this particular task with Scott, he's worked serious construction, and he was flabbergasted. The electric jackhammer went back to the hardware store shamed. It was no match for the 9-inch slab which does not even have rebar, but is just straight concrete slab on grade. It took an hour of jackhammer insanity just to yield a foot (apparently this would qualify as "career work").

Next step: renting a pneumatic jackhammer and the diesel-powered air compressor needed to run it and another friend with a real truck to haul them to and from the rental shop across the Mississippi.

All Shall Be Well.

The Smokestack, Private Party, July 9

Just some photos from a private party Scott and I held earlier this week. Actually, it was our first gathering like this since coming to Dubuque in mid-December. It was a great evening.

There is no particular order to these photos, except the first was taken a month ago or so by our lovely friend Emily before the building was cleaned. Some of these party photos are mine, but others were taken by Emily, Dave and Katie - many thanks.

The supermen in my life...

Scott may be my madman, yet he is also my superman. And he is not the only superman in my life these days, but he is the one I see the most.

That's my madman, Scott Cornwell
Super power: Irritating yours truly

My Stockholm Syndrome is officially over. When back in New York in April, my brother-in-law coined the  phrase "Scott-holm Syndrome" which I now use to describe my former state of mind, which still comes back occasionally.

All photos here are from one of the first truly warm and sunny days of this year in Dubuque, March 21, 2014, when I was sitting outside with my three supermen. We had just closed on this property one week earlier, so we were in a relaxed state at long last.

Our beloved seller, Bill Feye
Super power: Baiting bureaucrats

Great moments with Bill abound. We're friends now and he continues clearing out at least one lifetime's worth of stuff from the main building, so I'm fortunate to see him regularly still. Bill has no end of fascinating stories, some of which involve city officials. There was one time he told a city inspector, more or less, "The only difference between you and the Gestapo: the Gestapo had a submachine gun while you, sir, have a clipboard!"  I have even had the pleasure of witnessing a city official literally scoff when speaking about Bill. I think he is the most interesting man in Dubuque and also one of the kindest.

Our tenant, Dave "Spider" Weber
Super Power: Staying sober

The third man in my life is Spider, our tenant with his own auto body shop, and formerly Bill's tenant of over 25 years. He's wonderful, the first to help a person in a jam, and we get along real well. Years ago, he had a serious substance abuse problem; today, he is a leader in AA and he works to help people rebuild their lives. When Scott and Spider were clearing out the cavernous basement of the smokestack building in the dead of winter, Scott remarked to Spider, "You could put a  bath house down here. Imagine it, Spider: a pool, steam room, sauna, cold vodka, girls in bikinis!" and Spider's reply as he smiled and shook his head,"That's it, I'm going back to jail," still one of the greatest lines we have heard these last five months.

They sadly broke the molds after these men, but they keep it interesting and they are each insightful in their own unique ways.

A couple's dreams realized

The first of these realized dreams is that we finally closed on our real estate transactions in mid-March. Both in Brooklyn and in Dubuque. My Facebook post "We own it at last! was accompanied by this photo

but not this one of me standing inside the corner building at the window overlooking the roof of the smokestack building. It's a commercial property in Downtown Dubuque. There is very serious work ahead of Scott and me. Can't you tell? There will be more on this dream later, rest assured.

Another dream realized in the last few months was a very personal one for me: to live in a hotel. I have fantasized about living in a hotel for decades. I don't know why, but maybe it's related to my reading some of Stephen Lewis's writing about his life growing up in NYC hotels when he was the son of a hotelman in Times Square and they had a family apartment. I first read his articles in Gourmet magazine many years ago and then his memoir Hotel Kid. Forget Eloise, I never read it. Whenever things got rough in my life, particularly in my early 20s, my escape seemed to always include moving to a hotel for a long-term stay. So Scott and I got to live this fantasy at the Hotel Canfield in Dubuque. Since we first rolled into Dubuque in July, 2013, the Canfield has been our favorite hotel.

To say that the Canfield is a little quirky is an understatement. They do things old-style, no Internet presence, but they do take credit cards. The Canfield was our introduction to Dubuque back in July when we first accidentally stumbled upon Dubuque. Every room is decorated uniquely. It may not be the place for everyone, but the price and experience are fabulous for many of us!

Christmas in the Canfield lobby

The card on the inside of our room's door,
"Fixing, Limiting and Determining the Liability of Keepers of Hotels,
Inns, Eating Houses and Steamboat Owners to Inmates Therof" 

When we checked in for the month stay, we got the 6-page list of rules, on legal-size paper, for monthly and weekly guests. The owner explained that they started out with maybe three rules and then they had to keep adding over the years every time something happened. An example I vaguely recall was they once had a liberal pet policy, until the guest with the snake. Whenever I would feel low, I'd turn to this list for reading pleasure. I got perverse delight in reading, "Please turn off all lights and T.V.'s when you are not in the room to assist in saving electricity - the cost is 'going through the ceiling.'" Or, on reserving the right to limit the amount of personal property in any guest's room, "These are not storage units, but rather living quarters." Or, on the need to close windows for proper heating and cooling, "One open window "screws" up everything." Or, on the lovely deck, "This was built for your use and pleasure, let's not violate this... Let's keep the deck neat, it is a nice place to visit. Cigarette butts should be put in proper containers and not just thrown about - work with the Hotel on this." You get the idea. 

Good ol' Room 419, I miss you!

Hallway alcove on 4 with my replacement cat

Just a few of our room's decorative touches

Our dining and kitchen area

Our sleeping and sitting areas

Decor from one of our summer rooms

Further decor from that summer room

My first view of the lobby back in July.
Yes, these are Native American mannequins, and they are not the
only Native American mannequins in Dubuque.
I so wish they could talk 

The exterior, showing the wonderful Rainbow Lounge.
Whether you do or do not like karaoke, you must check it out.

Every once in a while, I get wistful and think of moving back to the Canfield permanently. Not that it's so difficult trying to rehab our place or that Scott has gotten on my nerves once again, but I truly love and miss the Canfield and the kind and interesting people there.