Once the garage was done, Jerry started on the cabin. That took almost four months. Luckily, getting building inspections was fairly easy. There wasn't a great amount of building being done around the area, so the inspectors were able to get there without much delay.
The cabin went up without problems. Jerry knew his stuff: too bad that the economy was not doing well then so that he could get more work. That was good for me, though, because Jerry could concentrate on my cabin.
The cabin was a basic wood frame system. The walls were double thick, for extra insulation. The winters don't get that cold up in Foresthill, maybe a little bit of snow during the winter, but I did want to minimize my use of heating during the Problem. I made sure that there was plenty of electrical wiring, and even put network wiring in the walls for possible future use. I also pre-wired all the doors and windows for the alarm system I would put in later.
While Jerry was there, there weren't any special features for self-sufficiency being built in. I planned on doing that later, after Jerry was gone. I had good luck on the well, the well drillers only had to go down 200 feet to get into a good supply of water. I built a small house over the pump area to protect it from the elements and the occasional freeze. I made sure that the water pipes were deep enough in the ground to protect it from freezing, and put two layers of foam insulation around all the water lines from the pump to the house, and in the house and garage walls.
The two trucks came in handy. I used the big Chevy to bring in materials from the lumberyard and Home Depot. That saved a bit on delivery charges, and kept the visitors to the site to a minimum. The Chevy worked well. The mechanics had done their work, and I didn't have any breakdowns during the heavy use it got during the building. Jerry would give me a list of things to get, and I'd be the delivery boy. A couple of trips to Home Depot a week were good for getting the materials up to the cabin.
The cabin was finished in by September, two weeks ahead of schedule. Jerry earned his bonus. And I learned a lot about building, skills I would need to keep the cabin in good shape, especially during the Problem.