Hades

We can't get out of the shower door contract... they have--technically--until January 3 to install doors. Of course, when Lisa spoke to them today, they said they couldn't even schedule the appointment until after the New Year... so I guess they'll call on the 2nd and say, "hey, we'll be there tomorrow"... She also got the impression that the doors won't even be manufactured until the New Year... so the 3rd looks really optimistic. And if they can't live up to their end of the contract, I guess we're allowed to be disappointed. Joy.

Lisa got a call from Dana, telling us that final inspections have been scheduled.

wait for it

wait for it

literally



wait




for





it






Wednesday, December 26. Lisa voiced her disappointment... but beyond that what recourse do we have? Nahmuch. And of course it wasn't HIM who called... the guy who on November 11 told Lisa and me "three weeks"... and when I left the room told Lisa "two weeks." ... the guy who on December 4 told both of us "two weeks... three if we get lazy"...

horseshit... or should I say

chickenshit

Lisa's pretty much devastated. We're scrambling to make the best use of our time between now and Wednesday. Lisa's calling Carpeteria to try to reschedule for Thursday (though Norm the manager said that they had no slots available Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun [which also means that we're screwed through New Years and into '08).

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Just talked to dad, prepping for a session Sunday to install some closet stuff. Tomorrow, we're just going to chill at his place, watch basketball and football and celebrate his birthday. In the midst of the call, HE called. I put him off, telling him I'd call him back. After dad, I called Lisa... wanted to see if she wanted me to call him or if she'd rather. She's so bummed, she actually wants me to. In the midst of THAT call, Carpeteria called: we're on for Thursday. And after that, he called back.

He outlined what was going on: We failed the fire inspection yesterday: not enough pressure. So they installed a 1.5" line from the valve to the house. [of course, all of this begs one MAJOR point of contention: back in September we were told that it doesn't matter what any ONE portion of the line from main to house is (main-to-valve, valve, valve-to-house)... they all have to be the same, otherwise it acts as a bottleneck... so I'm concerned that it doesn't matter that the valve-to-house is now 1.5... if the valve and the main-to-house is just 1.0, then we're still gonna be screwed... but I guess we won't know that until Wednesday... dear santa: can you pleez change the laws of fysics? i wuz a good boy this yeeer... billy]

He-who-must-not-be-named continues his litany: There are now temp stairs in the back. The exterior water outlets all have spigots. The garage door was approved... it just needs to be a firedoor. They bought a new one, but it doesn't open the right way, so they need to replace it. Wonderful competency there, eh, boys? So everything has passed inspection: Wednesday will bring a final Final inspection with both David from Fire and Steve from the City, and they'll go over the water pressure issue. So he says that we can move in after Wednesday. I tell him that we'll be moving in some stuff (not our bodies) over the weekend. He doesn't try to dissuade me, he only mutters, "uh okay."

I ask about the skylight (you know, the one he hadn't ordered by November 12... the one that on November 26 said "should be in this week"... the one that on December 3 he said would be in that day... ); he said it was ordered and paid for and that he's check it Monday.

He mentioned that he's be at the house both Sunday and Monday mornings. Whatever. He said that he also wanted to have a sit-down with Lisa and me after the final inspection.

Whatever. The end of the conversation was quick and without pleasantries (and certainly no apologies or commiseration). I just wanted to get off the phone without getting angry.

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so while keying in all the above:

He calls back again. "Everything is OK"... they're attempting to get the inspections done before Wednesday. I say that's going to be difficult as this is Friday afternoon (after 3), and Monday and Tuesday are holidays. He said that Steve's still in his office and Frank is trying to track down David. Great. His guys are returning the door as we spoke and they hope to have it replaced by the end of the day. And the skylight is here... he says the delays are because it was a custom size (both Lisa and I are pretty sure that Dave the architect made sure that this was one of the few "standard" sized items in the plan... but like he-who-must-not-be-named has ever followed the fucking plans before this). Whatever. But now, suddenly, he's concerned with the water pressure... he said the fire guy had said that there wasn't enough coming from the city. I told him that I had gone over this with the City guy in September and that he had coordinated with both the fire sprinkler designer and the Fire guys over the necessary size. lord voldemort said that it shouldn't be an issue for me to worry about, that the Fire guys and the City would work it out. Easy for HIM to say... he didn't shell out 6.8K in October for a twenty-foot stretch of street cutting.

So he thinks that they'll be done today; and he makes much to do about being two months ahead of schedule.

There are only, he says, two things left:

1. The cabinet guy will be in late next week to do the final touches and clean-up on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
2. He "hear(s) from Dana and some of the guys at the site" that Lisa and I are "angry" or "unhappy"... and he wants to meet on Monday to "clear this all up" because he "doesn't want to end the job with any hard feelings." What time works for me? Since he said in the earlier call that he'd be there Monday morning, I offer 10am as a suggestion. He doesn't want to meet in the morning... can we meet in the afternoon? Is this fucker on drugs? Seriously. I've been hitting Percocet and Vicodin over the course of last couple of weeks, and I know what it can do to one's concentration. OK, then So how about 2pm? "How about between 2 and 3?" ... Good god... whatever.
   

So that's when the sit-down will take place. Dad wants to be there, but I told him I want him there only as a silent witness. At least this gives me an opportunity to be at the house on Sunday and not have to talk to he-who-must-not-be-named if he shows up... I can just tell him that I'm busy and we'll discuss all this stuff at the sit-down on Monday.

Let's see if they can get the inspections done in the next hour and ten minutes. Given the short amount of time and my forty-four year-old's shortened lung capacity, I'm not holding my breath.