Three days in one

Time to catch up! 

Monday was a slog. There were quite a few loose ends to tie up. And the preparations for the lift. 

Hanging the slings and the rigging with the scissor lift seemed easy, but was complicated by the tight quarters.

Making a good jig for the drill, drilling a test hole, and finding out how easily a long bit with extension can get horribly stuck, took another long time. 

And it was a two person operation to actually drill the holes through 50 odd inches of dry fir!

All the while the first of the ceiling boards got installed. And even when tucked in two feet off the ground, the colors on a single board alone is enough to make the heart jump!

Having the photographers on this side of the site, now that the ceiling has been documented has the benefit of much better lighting!

These are the next level of ceiling, above the cove, referred to as the dome. Jim Kricker is installing these with the help of Anja and Olga.

Tuesday!

On Tuesday Jacob and I got the drilling system down and made headway. Also due in to a little hint from Jim: Levers are simple and effective!

Nowhere was that lever more important than on the last hole...where else would you encounter a beech peg, pretty much head on 24" into the wall. This is all that's left of it!

Sorting out the rigging and getting load cells (clever little devices that give you a reading on how much weight is being picked up) took most of the rest of the day. 

Jacob and I got to play at elevation, and moved a beam from one side of the truss to the other to be fastened where it belonged. Working with fall gear is not as easy as others can make it look!

Every time I snap a picture of the inside, I see more dome ribs. Jim must be moving along as well.

But finally, towards the end of the day, in spite of endless, mind numbing unstoppable 'Evacuation Announcments' over the PA, Alicia hollered at the top of her lungs to start pulling on the chain hoists. 

Eight hoist, each pulling about 1.1 metric tons...

 and the synagogue caught air! Not even a crinkle in the woodwork.

We had to deliberately pick up one corner ahead of the others (all properly supervised - of course) to get one little angry snap out of one of the log walls. Otherwise she's wonderfully solid!

And weighs round about 8800 kg

That was worth some beer and Vodka!

Wednesday!

is a separate post...