Mondays are always the busiest day for me at the house. I have to touch base with my contractors, make plans for the week, solve problems, make decisions and line things up so the works keeps progressing without any lags. I don't always do things in the right order but I actually like it that way. It keeps life interesting. For example, I called to have my garbage dumpster removed this morning and a new one brought in. This time, however, I needed the new one parked on the street so that my Jamaican foundation guy can access all edges of the foundation. Of course, when the bin delivery came the driver was trippin' out about leaving the bin on the road, not to mention the wrong side of the road, without a permit. I talked him down, signed a waiver that I would be responsible for any tickets and I got my bin....right where I wanted it. Then I decided I probably should call the City to get a permit. What's the saying? It's easier to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission....I called the City, which much to surprise connected me to the right guy on the first try. The permit guy in charge of my zone was so awesome. I told him I already had the bin but that it was not blocking Emergency vehicles or anything like that and he said no problem. Permit was in an e-mail within an hour. Sweet!
Work is moving quickly now. Rest of the floors are scheduled to be sanded and re-finished on Friday. Baseboards and painting moving along this week. I will pick up my cabinets early next week and the kitchen will be underway. Bathroom will be finished up this Wednesday. I'm heading there shortly to rip out the rest of my deck, a small patch of floor I gave up on a while back - time to revisit it I suppose - and rip out a few silly pieces of random wood in the shed. This morning I had the furnace guy come in. I was actually afraid. The house is heated by water radiators and oil. I have never turned it on yet. Turns out my boiler is not that old. It just needs a good cleaning and a few valves and things changed. Nothing major. I'm just happy it works. That's very good news!
My Jamaican foundation guy told me to call him when I had the deck ripped out. I told him I'd have it done by the end of day Monday so first thing this morning I called him and told him it was done (I actually did it on Saturday) and he laughed at me. He knows me. He did the foundation and the driveway for the house I currently live in. Perhaps he was using reverse psychology on me on Friday by laughing at me when I said I'd have it done by Monday. You see, I am the kind of person that if you tell me I can't do something, I will do it if it kills me just to prove you were wrong and I could so do it! Well, it worked if that was his plan because that deck is ready ahead of schedule. So I tell him on the phone I'm ready for him and he says "ok". What does that mean? You'll come tomorrow? The next day? Next week? Next month? God only knows. I know better than to mess with the man's schedule. He will come when he is good and ready and for his price you don't argue.
There is a tiny bit of tension between my team these days. Everyone works on their own schedule. I am not a micro manager at all. As long as the work gets done I'm happy. For example, it's not unusual to find my electrician working there at midnight and my contractor at 6:00 a.m. Unfortunately, that doesn't allow for the best communication. For example, the electrician will do something at night that the contractors weren't ready for and then it's actually causing more work...and me more money, of course. I spoke with all of them today so hopefully things will go smoothly from here on in. It really just makes me laugh, like most things. Because, really, in the scope of life, a light switch in the wrong place is really not worth stressing about if you think about it.
Wow very informative.
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