No, literally; I’m crushing rock with my pick axe to cut my trench. It’s a slow process which has taken about a week to get to 10″ deep.

This bad boy is the biggest one I came across that I could not pick axe through. But other sections have a more clay like base, making it a little easier. But a shovel is useless here; it really does take a pick axe and many blows. But I’m getting there and a trencher (big machine with diamond saw tooth on tracks) would have been impossible for me to get out here alone, as they are super heavy. And the rent alone would set me back a thousand bucks. So that’s why I’m ok with the manual labor.

Friday GVTC (Guadeloupe Valley Tele Communications) are planned to hook me up to their fiber internet.

Going from a few Kb to 250Mb will be a delight. And no more data limit. The LTE I’m using now is ok, but hugely expensive and capped at 30GB per month, which I reached in about a week.

I had power for a long time, in fact earlier than a roof or windows. But a requirement for fiber internet is a power outlet outside, to feed the router they will install at the end of the conduit.

I will probably glue the conduit pipes together tomorrow. Today I took a 26 miles bike ride to Wimberley to get a pulling line and lubricant, so the fiber cable can be pulled through the conduit pipe. I did not want to take my truck there as I like the ride and last time I drove my not yet passed inspection truck to Wimberley, I got pulled over by two not too friendly cops. I don’t want to risk running into them again.

Apart from flat tires, the bike (that I bought two and a half years ago) was in pretty good condition; all it took was some vegetable oil to lubricate the brake lines.

Vegetable oil turns out to have many purposes besides cooking; I also used it to fix the hood of my truck not popping open when the lever was pulled.

Although I’m not complaining, it’s been a little too hot to dig trenches with a pick axe. To minimize blisters (avoiding them altogether won’t be an option; that ship has sailed) I’m digging for short times, and then take a break. Some parts are relatively easy, like tough clay, yet other parts are literally hard as a rock. But it’s doable.

Here’s what it looks like near the pole;

It’s not very deep yet, I think I will stop around 10-12 inches. The guy from the cable company stated; we don’t care how deep it goes. And fiber cables can take frost.

A long time ago, in the previous century, there was a project in the Boston area called the Big Dig. It was a highway that decreased travel time through Boston. It took over 20 years to complete and cost billions.

My Big Dig project will hopefully take a little less time and a lot less money; I have to dig a trench for a fiber glass conduit pipe that will speed up my digital highway.

The length is 130 ft (40m) and will cross my driveway. The plan is to make it as straight as possible as any corner means more friction to pull the fiber cable through.

The picture below shows the trajectory;