Is there any estimate when the contractor will finish the building?
Not really. The outside cladding should arrive at the end of this week but there are also things to be done inside still and on the roof. Not that much but I think at least a few weeks.
OK, lets hope that we can start our part when the volunteers come in MayâŚ
Bhante, how are you with volunteers so far? Do you have enough people coming to help?
I believe we have about three volunteers so far - each coming for a few days -, in addition to the monastery resident community. But our place is small, so that should work out.
Yay, finally things are moving!
That Bosch hammer drill youâre using makes quick work of that concrete slab, doesnât it, Ayya @vimala? Congratulations on the progress!
Yes, maâam⌠can I come and play with the big drill? :wagging_tail:
Congratulations tilorien Venerables. Itâs looking great!
Absolutely! This is a great piece of kit to have. I first thought that this concrete seemed rather soft, until I tried it with a normal concrete-drill. What a difference! Now all I need is a much larger drill because the floor is at least 20 cm thick.
Update: A fourth volunteer just signed up! And he is a professional carpenter.
But at the moment we do not know when the contractor will be finished and when we can actually start working on the technical installations (other than drilling large holes in the concrete with a diamond drill machine).
So for now, please donât sign up for volunteering until we have a bit more of an overview. We also donât have space to put people yet. We will keep you all posted here.
May the Force of SDS be with you!
Who needs a lightsaber if you have a hammerdrill.
my new toy!
(Disclaimer: This is NOT a Bosch commercial!)
For the ignorant ones: What does SDS mean?
That looks just like my precious! I remember when I first felt the power of the Bosch SDS hammer drill ⌠but then they tried to steal it from us â nasty little hobbitses! They just want to âborrowâ it, they said! For a small project in their basement! But theyâre wicked, tricksy, false. Theyâre thieves, theyâre filthy little thieves!
As the Buddha said: âLet go of attachments!â
Iâm sure you were strong enough to resist the temptation, Ayye. But maybe there was a little wavering at first, when you first held the hammer drill? This is how I imagine it:
"Wielding this hammer drill, I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the monastery. All shall love me and despair!â
She lifted up her hands and from the Bosch SDS hammer drill there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before them seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful.
Then she let the hammer drill fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender nun, clad in simple robes, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
âI pass the testâ, she said. âI will diminish, and attain nibbÄna and remain Vimala."
Iâm only kidding, of course. Much respect to you, Ayye, for the path youâve chosen and the difficult work youâre doing in building the monastery. Both are very inspiring. Wishing you, and all of us, much diminishing!
Iâm sure the hammerdrill will soon get boring once I get my hands on the (rented) diamond drill rig next week! We need a few holes of 20 cm diameter in the concrete floor for the ventilation system as well as some smaller ones.