The hole, the hole, it haunts me so...

I would have posted this update earlier, but I couldn't make my arms work. Stupid digging.

So, the plumber came and looked at our hole. He was not impressed, and so we dug some more. Then we sprayed the hole with water to soften the clay.

Note to self: water does not soak into clay.

Anyway, this is what we see now (click to enlarge):



And because the pictures still don't really do it justice, here's me standing in the hole:




On the plus side, the plumber ran the new 3/4" water service in from the street, and has all kinds of new water pipes installed in the soon-to-be-bathroom. If we can get the hole done tonight, he reckons he should be able to call for the inspector by the end of the week.

Ah, what the hell, one more picture. Here's where the new water service enters the house:



A couple of things to note about that picture: first, the War Department did all of the digging for that herself; second, that picture shows how close to the surface our previous water service entered the house, and is a pretty clear indication of why one of our "winterization" procedures was to heap a big mound of soil over that part of the flower bed. Oh, and note the size difference between the pipes. We can already feel the difference in the water pressure.