Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Park Bros crash and burn


"Another fine mess you got me into, bro."

Talk about the day from hell!  I generally don't put much stock in the Monday jinx thing, but I might have to rethink that.

Ahh, Houston....we have a problem.

Monday morning first thing we were told by one of our repeat customers to hold up on the big addition/remodeling project we were to do for them.  It seems the Mr. wants one thing, the Mrs. wants another, and the MIL wants something different, too.  (It was to be MIL's new quarters.)

We finally had to play bad cops and insist they ALL sit down face to face and agree to something as we were not going to bid this again.  We've been dicking around with it for 4 months!  Grrr!

Then bro called to say the gas to his subdivision was off for some reason and his house was getting colder by the minute. He would soon have to bale, leaving The Empire untended.  *I'm up*   

Before I could get out and go anywhere, though, I had to go by our apartment office and get a new key FOB that gets us into our secure parking garage as mine broke.  *When it rains....*

Meanwhile, to stay warm in his truck at least, bro went all the way across town to get a bid from our custom cabinet maker, and on his way back his "check engine" light came on.

When I finally caught up with him I asked bro to make me a copy of the (30 page) geotechnical report that I needed to take to the structural engineer....and the printer died. *Pffft*

I mutinied and came back home and when I got here I found that I had somehow lost the key FOB I picked up just hours earlier.  I guess I pulled my gloved hand out of my pocket and inadvertently pulled the key out, too.  Back to the office for a new one.  *Bye-bye $50*

Then bro called to say the survey we were waiting for before we could begin another new complete gut and renovate job came back and something was very wrong.  *Surprise!*

Some how, some way, the new addition portion was over the building line.  The plat said one thing, the surveyor said another.  HUH?  All I know is the plans we were given won't work.  *Beating head on desk*

By this time I was totally shell shocked and just wanted to sit and vegetate, but first....THE FIRE ALARM WENT OFF!  Time to round up the dog and the Ms. who had just walked in the door and go out for dinner.  Screw it!  Let it burn.  (Turns out it was ANOTHER frozen fire sprinkler line, no fire.)


Now (it's still Monday night as I write this) I'm just wanting to sit in my shiatsu massage (whack-in-the-back) chair and unwind, hoping it doesn't short out and fry my ass.

Next Monday....I'm sleeping in!

S



13 comments:

  1. How is it again that you are retired?

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    1. Just tryin' to find that middle ground....something to do to keep me busy, but not too much. So far I haven't found it.

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  2. and about that time I turned his advice around on him and said "attitude is everything" :) Ride the wave baby and when the wave crashes and tries to kill you .... pick that coral out of your knee and get back on the board....

    K

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  3. So nice to finally meet you yesterday! I was having trouble with my hearing aid and could only pick up every other word of the conversation. :( Love your blog!
    NancyR

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    1. Hi Nancy. It was great meeting you, too. Please feel free to stop in here any time and read and comment if it strikes you.

      S

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  4. Some days you're the dog, and some days you're the fire hydrant. Looks like you're going through a period of getting hosed. Hang in there.

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  5. Wow that's a REALLY bad Monday! Hope your Tuesday was MUCH better!

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  6. Gulp...what a day. Run - RUN, do not walk - to yesterday's post and grab a couple of those craft beers! After a day like this, you deserve a few.

    Curious - do you guys do a geotechnical investigation before building a residential structure? Or was this for a commercial project? And what kind of stuff does such a geotechnical report tell you or the structural engineer?

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  7. Yes, Betina, every home has a site-specific engineered foundation, and before the structural engineer can do a design, he has to know the soil conditions on site. The geotech investigation is at least 2 borings that are analyzed for plasticity, potential vertical rise, types and depth of specific subsoil strata, etc.

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    1. This is interesting...now I have even more questions...like how deep the borings go, if there ever is a clay plastic enough to warrant not building at the site, etc. Are foundations in TX underpinned, or what do you guys do to deal with the shrink/swell clays? And how much does such a geotechnical investigation cost? You really piqued my interest now! Feel free to ignore my questions - I'm sure you don't want to "talk shop" here in the comment section of your blog. ;-)

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  8. I've had to return to your blog twice because my boy had to see pictures of the dog!

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