The Seattle grandparents arrived yesterday around dinnertime, so the house is now officially "full". Since James is roughing it in the basement, they're taking Deb's room and the girls are roomies again (just like old times).
We've had fun catching up with the Greens about all their adventures on their current cross-country road trip, and all the things that have been going on back in Washington these past few months. Kind of makes me want to take my own road trip somewhere, but there's too many things that need to be done around here.
Like the basement.
I noticed an interesting (but annoying) little thing this past weekend while preparing to work on the back bedroom. The guy who came over to complete the HVAC and plumbing (shower install) apparently "borrowed" one of the 2x3 studs from the bedroom wall in order to build the shower enclosure support wall. I was looking at the back wall in the bedroom and something about it just didn't look right. It took me a second to realize that the stud was missing. Typically the studs are located every 16 inches, all across the wall, but on this one wall section, there was a gap.
When I took a good look at it, I noticed that the guy used a reciprocating saw to cut along the bottom of the stud (between the stud and the base plate), neatly slicing the screws that held it to the base plate, then apparently pulled the stud out from the bottom, leaving the two top screws dangling in the air.
Of all the stupid ... !
Naturally, I took photos so I could send them to the plumbing company to ask them about their hiring standards. And to ask them what they're going to do about it. And to tell them that I will never hire their services again.
Especially after they were already responsible for this fiasco.
And people wonder why I want to do things myself. Can't trust anyone these days. Can't find a good mechanic, can't find a trustworthy plumber.
===
On the subject of reading and writing, we attended Susie Finkbeiner's book-signing last night. She's the lady who led our Writer's Group these last few years (but hasn't had time for it in quite a while). She just published her 3rd book, "A Cup of Dust", which is a story set in the Dust Bowl days of Oklahoma. We took the Greens along to the signing, and they won a copy of the book for having come the longest distance!
(Yes, book-signings these days always have giveaways ...)
Susie read a chapter from her book, and then people got in line to have their copies of the book signed. I had been hoping to chat with her awhile, being as it's been a million years (give or take) since we've had a chance to exchange pleasantries, but I realized after standing around like an idiot for ten minutes or so that she wasn't really there to be sociable, she was there as part of the book tour, which is kind of like being at work; and since all the other people, including a few who were also in my Writer's Group, were busy chatting with each other (the group was 99.99% women), it occurred to me that my presence there was completely superfluous, so I took refuge in a place that always brings me comfort and joy: the hardware store.
After all, I needed to buy some replacement 2x3 studs.
What? You think I should make those idiots at the plumbing company come over and fix their stupid mistake? Not on your life! I wouldn't have them within a mile of my basement, if I could help it ... but I wouldn't mind getting a bit of a refund on a job not well done!
Meanwhile, I've installed some nifty little stairwell lights so people heading downstairs can see where their feet are going...
==
The Greens brought me a little present: a book, Blind Descent, an inspirational tale of one man's attempt to scale Mt. Everest. I just started reading it, but it is very well done, interspersing the author's background and theological viewpoint with details of his quest to conquer the mountain. Apparently this guy, Brian Dickenson, lives in Snoqualmie amidst the mountains of Washington state (near where we used to live) and came to the Green's church to speak one Sunday, so they got the book autographed -- just for me!
So I have two books to read now, and very little time to do it in. Plus a basement to finish. Plus a Marching Band performance on Friday. Plus a Marching Band Invitational on Saturday. Plus I'm teaching two classes on Sunday.
Time for more caffeine!
We've had fun catching up with the Greens about all their adventures on their current cross-country road trip, and all the things that have been going on back in Washington these past few months. Kind of makes me want to take my own road trip somewhere, but there's too many things that need to be done around here.
Like the basement.
I noticed an interesting (but annoying) little thing this past weekend while preparing to work on the back bedroom. The guy who came over to complete the HVAC and plumbing (shower install) apparently "borrowed" one of the 2x3 studs from the bedroom wall in order to build the shower enclosure support wall. I was looking at the back wall in the bedroom and something about it just didn't look right. It took me a second to realize that the stud was missing. Typically the studs are located every 16 inches, all across the wall, but on this one wall section, there was a gap.
When I took a good look at it, I noticed that the guy used a reciprocating saw to cut along the bottom of the stud (between the stud and the base plate), neatly slicing the screws that held it to the base plate, then apparently pulled the stud out from the bottom, leaving the two top screws dangling in the air.
Of all the stupid ... !
Naturally, I took photos so I could send them to the plumbing company to ask them about their hiring standards. And to ask them what they're going to do about it. And to tell them that I will never hire their services again.
Especially after they were already responsible for this fiasco.
And people wonder why I want to do things myself. Can't trust anyone these days. Can't find a good mechanic, can't find a trustworthy plumber.
===
On the subject of reading and writing, we attended Susie Finkbeiner's book-signing last night. She's the lady who led our Writer's Group these last few years (but hasn't had time for it in quite a while). She just published her 3rd book, "A Cup of Dust", which is a story set in the Dust Bowl days of Oklahoma. We took the Greens along to the signing, and they won a copy of the book for having come the longest distance!
(Yes, book-signings these days always have giveaways ...)
Susie read a chapter from her book, and then people got in line to have their copies of the book signed. I had been hoping to chat with her awhile, being as it's been a million years (give or take) since we've had a chance to exchange pleasantries, but I realized after standing around like an idiot for ten minutes or so that she wasn't really there to be sociable, she was there as part of the book tour, which is kind of like being at work; and since all the other people, including a few who were also in my Writer's Group, were busy chatting with each other (the group was 99.99% women), it occurred to me that my presence there was completely superfluous, so I took refuge in a place that always brings me comfort and joy: the hardware store.
After all, I needed to buy some replacement 2x3 studs.
What? You think I should make those idiots at the plumbing company come over and fix their stupid mistake? Not on your life! I wouldn't have them within a mile of my basement, if I could help it ... but I wouldn't mind getting a bit of a refund on a job not well done!
Meanwhile, I've installed some nifty little stairwell lights so people heading downstairs can see where their feet are going...
==
The Greens brought me a little present: a book, Blind Descent, an inspirational tale of one man's attempt to scale Mt. Everest. I just started reading it, but it is very well done, interspersing the author's background and theological viewpoint with details of his quest to conquer the mountain. Apparently this guy, Brian Dickenson, lives in Snoqualmie amidst the mountains of Washington state (near where we used to live) and came to the Green's church to speak one Sunday, so they got the book autographed -- just for me!
So I have two books to read now, and very little time to do it in. Plus a basement to finish. Plus a Marching Band performance on Friday. Plus a Marching Band Invitational on Saturday. Plus I'm teaching two classes on Sunday.
Time for more caffeine!
3 comments:
ROB, You just need to take a week off and come to the country where you could do nothing except watch your father work on his playthings.
Hope you enjoy your company and are able to repair the damage in the basement.
Glad you didn't call those clowns back to repair their mess. If you had the time and money, I'd say take 'em to small claims court, but who has time for that? I only lost $100 earlier this year to a scam business earlier who sent me a part that didn't work and charged an outrageous restocking fee plus postage both ways, but oh, it was 100% money-back guaranteed! Better Business Bureau, Facebook, hmmm. :-(
My dream vacation: taking my Subarus down to Dad's shop in Abilene and spending two glorious weeks just fixing them up, and lending a hand now and then on those old Plymouths. Man, that sounds so relaxing!
As for those idiots who messed up my basement, I consider it a "lesson learned". Not worth my time to go legal on 'em, but I can post a Yelp comment and see what happens with that. But I did send pictures of the damage to the company just so the manager knows what kind of help he's been hiring.
Post a Comment