The winter rains have turned the landscape to a lush green which is
a welcome sight after the dry summer season.  Calfire can now relax
until next year and they are now issuing burn permits so residents
can now burn the gathered tree limbs and brush (I've got some to
burn myself).

I still have a concern about our water security, but the shallow
well is currently serving our needs.  Consequently I think we will
break up the well project into phases to spread out the cost of
gaining access and developing the well on the back side of the
property (not a cheap prospect).  Phase one obviously will require
clearing and opening the road to that side of the property so we
can get some vehicles back there.  Unless we get an extended dry
spell, it will probably have to wait until spring.  The entire area
on the back side is quite sloppy with the rains we have been
having.  Any heavy equipment would just get stuck in the mud.  I
have been pricing solar well pumps along with the ancillary
equipment.  As much as I would like to have at least one well off
the grid, the cost is prohibitive.

I am bouncing an idea around in my head of perhaps just installing
a pump at the well site that can be plugged into a generator.  The
previous owner had already laid out 1" black poly line on the
ground surface to a location on the property where they once had an
Airstream trailer parked.  This poly line supplied water to to the
trailer site.  If the poly line is still intact after the previous
landslide, then it would be a trivial matter to pump water through
the poly line to a location where another line can be run into the
manhole cover of the storage tank we have in place.  This would
serve as a temporary water source until some more permanent
infrastructure can be installed.  I'll need to do some math to
calculate pressure requirements to pump water that distance as well
as up the hill to the storage tank.

Which brings me back to the slide rule.  Although I have had
moments where I have been scratching my head asking myself why in
the hell would I want to work with a slide rule when you can use
the calculator (or even an online calculator) to do any required
math?  I think I have a couple of answers:

1.  It is a good mental exercise where one has to look for patterns
as well as mentally work out where the decimal point should be
placed.  In addition, the practice helps to become more familiar
and proficient with the device.

2.  Perhaps in a way, performing these calculations either by hand
or with the slide rule helps the mind to slow down and concentrate
on the problem at hand and the steps involved in coming to a
solution.  In our fast track modern society of break neck
multitasking (along with a plethora of attending distractions) I
suspect we have, to a certain degree, lost our ability to focus or
concentrate our mental powers on a specific task.  Our minds are
frittered away trying to perform too many tasks in too short of a
time period.  The adage "do few things, but do them well" may be
applicable here.

Ironically, the internet has been a valuable tool to help me get
back to a perhaps more retro, simpler lifestyle.  I think the
caveat is that (at least for myself) the net should be viewed as a
tool and not a source of entertainment...I can hear the gasps of
horror.

Anyway, getting back to the math, I am going to roughly measure out
the distance from the well head to the water tank.  Then if I can
roughly determine the elevation angle viewing from ground level
at the well head to the tank (using a protractor and a plumb bob).
So now we calculate with a little Trig:

Distance(Tangent(degrees of elevation)) = Elevation

Thankfully, the slide rule has some basic Trig functions which will
get me within 3 significant figures...good enough.  Now we take the
elevation and plug it into another formula to determine total
dynamic head (the amount of force required to push the water
through the pipes and up to the tank):

Head = vertical lift + service pressure* + friction loss + pumping
level
* Service pressure is only if we are going to use a pressure tank
otherwise this number can be omitted.
Since this is a shallow well (only 15') most of the verticle lift
number will be from ground level up to the water tank.

I am going to have to take some rough measurements of the distance
to the tank which will require one of those roll around measuring
thingies (highly technical term).  Harbor Freight to the rescue.
Stay tuned.