So not done

So Lisa tells me (after taking Dad to the emergency room last night as part of the fallout of his traffic accident on Friday) that the Fr(uckh)e(a)d actually returned her call Saturday (but she missed the call).

He said we needed to contact Frank. And he dismissed the talk of stucco cracks as something he told us to expect.

Fuck him.

I'll take pictures today, and we'll follow up this week.

Stick a Fork in This... It's Done

To continue this blog, quite frankly, is too anger-inducing (in the last month, Fr[uckh]e[ad] sent a painter to paint to roof... so it doesn't look as ugly anymore).

This took place only after Lisa called him at the end of February to let him know that the rainy season was pretty much done, so we could probably move ahead with the resolution of the roof issue. Of course, the muthaf-er wouldn't take her call. And he didn't return it, either... but the next day the painter showed up.

He sprayed the roof (and oversprayed a little... he came back on his own [NOT ordered by the gutless fucks] and more-or-less fixed the overspray [there's some darkness on one part of the fascia... but really only I see it, 'cause I'm looking for it]). I told him to tell F(R)uckh(E)a(D) and Frank about the crack (what crack? you ask. There's a fairly major crack in the stucco in the exterior of the boys' upstairs bath) ... which according to the painter he did... not that we heard anything from those gutless fucks.

Dave the architect came by to check it out... he says we definitely need to talk to F(R)uckhead about it. And we were putting it off until Spring Break (begins today, hooray). But two nights ago when we had our latest (last?) rain of the season, Lisa and I went out into the garage (which, btw, Pa has "finished" and organized incredibly well, thank you very much), we found a leak in the roof. Same place as before.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT

So she left another call on his machine, telling him about the leak and the stucco crack. Which is kinda funny, really. Two days after the last call (before the painter), Dina from the office called Lisa to tell her to call Dina in the future.

Fuck that.

I want F(R)uckhead annoyed.

So, anyway, it's two days later, and still no response from the assholes @ Coastline.

btw, I did purchase CoastlneDC-Sucks.com, but I haven't done anything with it, yet... you see, I really AM trying to move beyond all this, trying to live the calm, loving, forgiving life.

Quote from Billy Jack:

"I want you to know... that I try. When [they] tell me that I'm supposed to control my violent temper, and be passive and nonviolent like they are, I try. I really try. Though when I see this ... and I think of the ... this idiotic [work] of yours... I just go BERSERK!"

and another:

"I'm gonna take this right foot, and I'm gonna whop you on that side of your face... ...and you wanna know something? There's not a damn thing you're gonna be able to do about it. "

gotta get me one of those hats

You get my point.

Anyway...

I'm putting this Home Addition Adventure (er, Nightmare) blog to rest at least for the time being. I will try to wrap it all up with some final conclusions, but I think this may be it.

For now, those who want to follow my wandering thoughts, rantings and ravings, can head on over to my new blog, "A Notion Deep Inside"... it's going to be more free-form, but probably a little less focused (or at least not so centered on reconstruction, bitterness, fucked-up workmanshit, and those GUTLESS FUCKS AT COASTLINE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION).

See you there. Who knows, since that blog is sure to be more positive, you might even find some finished home pics there... though I'm not promising anything in the immediate future...

Yawn

It's been over a month now.

Roof is still looking like crap... not that I'm holding my breath.

Nor am I waiting to have any correspondence with F(r)uckhead... That will need to take place to get the roof issue settled, but since he won't return my calls...

The gutter guys came Wednesday and put the downspout back up. They also looked at the section that was pooling... they did something... but they didn't test it, so we're left waiting for the rain.

Wow... what customer service (NOT)

Still no response from F(r)uckhead.

The roofing guys just left, though. After spending a whopping 15 minutes throwing tar on the roof. I had to go out there to show them where the leak was (otherwise they wouldn't have even checked with me). I'm not sure it's fixed.

What I am sure of is this: F(r)uckhead is hoping the rain is done so I won't have anymore leaks... gutless fuck won't even return my calls.

Bitch.

Scumbag

Called f-head last night around 5pm and got his voicemail. Left a message outlining the problem: the garage is leaking, so either the repair discussed on January 7 either didn't happen or weren't very good.... left my number.

It's now after 11 the next day, and no word.

So I guess not only is he a liar, but a scumbag, too.

What a fucking surprise.

When It Rains...

It fucking pours... or at least the garage leaks.

Again.

FUCKING LIAR!!!!!!

Scumbag...

Shoddy

Jose showed up at 11:30... by 3 he was done with the under-the-house draft fix (seems to have worked)... the rest of the time was him NOT being able to complete assignments (due to the fact that there's no matching grout or caulking left at the house)... he was able to clean the floorboards of the vanities (whoofreakinghoo). As for the messy attic access, not so much... now it looks even worse.

Fuck.

We sent him home by 5:30... I'm done with all those fuckers.

or so I thought...

The downspout of the gutter (you know, the one that's pooling water above the garage) that goes down the support of the porch roof just blew down. It's not exactly hurricane-force out there (14mph)... can't wait for Santa Anas... the neighbors better duck or they'll be impaled.

The gutter guys are sending out someone (didn't even call F--fuckhead... like I said, I'm done with demfuckers).

Bitter? naaaaaahhhhhhh

Waiting

Lisa called yesterday so we could get our "one day" with Jose.

Dana just called, he's on his way, maybe an hour out, depending on traffic... so that means he could be here as late at 11am for a full day of work.

What a crock of shit. The dark lord is a liar.

Jose will need to fix the draft under the island and the kitchen cabinets. Bet that takes all day.

I hate all of this... just want those fuckers out of my life so that I stop having these flashbacks of anger and hate.

Of course, looking at the water pool on the second story deck doesn't help. Or the water pooling in the gutters. Or the two dozen other small things that probably can't be fixed anyway.

The fact that we had to buy a space heater for downstairs is a pain, too. Looks like we're going to need to get a ceiling fan for the family room in hopes of forcing the hot air down that way.

I love my house.

I hate my house.

Welcome back to my world.

The Last Meeting

Met with the dark lord today... almost typed that as the "dark load"... but that would be "load of shit"... a little too pissed off right now to do this entry,

but suffice to say

He lied.

There will be no "30-day" list of items to be worked on; he said he doesn't remember saying that. But if it's "so important" a deal, he'll send Jose out for a day.

He lied.

There will be no re-roofing, only a paint job. He said that I (me, Bill) discussed the matter with Frank, and that I agreed to the paint job. I told him that it never happened. And he blew me off.

He lied.

He lied to me to my face in my house.

He handed over the check for 1500. I told Lisa later to make sure it gets cashed within the next two days. I don't trust him.

He handed over a paper saying that we were "satisfied" with the resolution of our contract... "the matter" as it was stated on the paper... so I made note that the "matter" pertained only to the "wood rail" and then signed it.

Fuck him.

He handed over the lien waiver.

He said that he would send Jose over at the beginning of the week to staple felt paper under the island, beneath the house. Yeah, I'm holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

The shingle painters will be here next week as well. Yeah, waiting for that to happen.

According to Fred, roof repair guys were here in the two hours both dad and I were away from the house on Monday, and did the repairs. We EVEN SPRAYED WATER ON THE ROOF to prove that they did it. Wow. Like it only took a full day of rain over the weekend before the roof started to leak.... and so three minutes with a hose should prove it, right?

What a fucking scumbag.

At the end of the signing of papers, I excused myself to help Kyle with some math homework (and to walk away before spitting in the son of a bitch's face).

At the driveway, he had the nerve to ask Lisa why I was so angry with him. She pointed out the damage to the porch, and he said it wasn't his responsibility. Dad, at that point, told him that he was "smooth." From, what I hear, he-who-must-not-be-named didn't take kindly to that.

Well, fuck him.

Let's see how kindly he takes what's coming: BBB complaint, CSLB complaint, letter of complaint to the city, and a little internet free speech.

What can he do to us now? It's not like he's going to provide us with any more "service."

[And yet, through all of this, Lisa will not call him a liar. She barely admits that he lied. I don't know what she's waiting for. He lied in front of her today. He will not get another chance to fuck us over, or to redeem himself, so I don't know what's keeping her from finally believing what is so obvious: that he truly is a lying sack of shit.]

(guess I wasn't too pissed off to key this in... just pissed off enough, I guess)

Progress?

Yesterday, took Kyle to the pediatrician (the foot problem was a strained ligament), checked on the shower doors (coming today... actually here right now), waited for the dark lord to show (despite the fact that Lisa talked to him Sunday night, telling him we wanted to postpone our meeting -- ostensibly to have him hand over the 1.5K check and lien papers, but also to take a look at the leak in the garage [and the water heater issue... which seems to have resolved itself... though we started talking about tankless water heaters Sunday night] -- since we had much to work on re: Dad's surgery this week (more on that later), and waited for Cain the electrician to show and fix the network issue.

The results: Kyle's out of contact for a week (what this bodes for Saturday's goalie clinic is still up in the air), jerkweed never showed, I missed Dad's surgical pre-op session at the hospital, and Cain's brother (the network "specialist") showed up at 5:30... by 7, he had successfully set up Dad's room with connectivity... by 9, he was done... for the night. No other rooms were connected, so today, I'm back on the couch (and it's having an effect on my back and shoulders and neck... looks like I won't be canceling my "last" chiro appt tomorrow). Now, Dad's sick (some kind of upper respiratory thing)... and he'll call this morning to postpone tomorrow's surgery.

On the plus side, we hung clocks yesterday, Dad's done a great job of cabinet pulls and hooks in the boys' closets, and Lisa's settling into the closet. Also, the dryer guy came (bad lint issues and a nickel jammed between the drum and the side of the machine)... so we can now dry clothes!

Sunday, Sunday

Sunday morning, keyed in at Oakland airport, waiting for our flight.

Dad said yesterday, despite the rains, went uneventfully. The cabinet and drawer handles are done, and he's pretty satisfied. That's good.

Not so good is his report this morning that the water temperature is not as hot as yesterday. This could grow problematic. Maybe we need to call in the troops after all.

We're seriously considering calling off our meeting with the dark lord tomorrow. With Dad going into the hospital Wednesday for vascular surgery (and tomorrow being the pre-op meeting), it's going to be pretty stressful and hit-n-miss re: scheduling.

When we get back to SoCal, I'm expecting a call from Cain... I'm still hoping he'll be able to set up the network tonight... if not, then it looks like tomorrow night.

-----------------------

UPDATE: Sunday night.

No call from Cain.

The garage roof is leaking.

Bastards.

Isn't it grand?

Greetings from the soggy Bay Area, where we are holed up in the hotel, in town for the Bruins basketball game at UC Berkeley.

According to dad, the gutters are now in... and he's been putting on cabinet hardware (the cabinet guys didn't do it). Before we left, the water heater wasn't working well (this morning's showers were lukewarm)... but by the time we arrived in Oakland, dad said that it was OK. So, OK.

All this is still creating stress between Lisa and me, as last night was the second fight we've had over this. We're OK today, but it IS a pain in the ass.

But at least it's a dry pain.

As opposed to the Bay Area. We decided to do the whole public transit thing (instead of the rental car, as we would usually do it... my idea... and a bad one). We took the tram to the BART station, then BART to McArthur, then a bus to near the hotel... across the street. When we were let out, a HUGE cell hit with a deluge and brutal winds. We were soaked to the bone by the time we walked the half block to the hotel.

At least it made us forget the house for a while.

And since we brought only enough clothes for the two days we're here, we're trapped in the room, so we don't wet anymore clothes...

[btw, the title of this post refers to our Grand Canyon trip of a couple of years back, when we spent two nights at a "ranch" in the Grand Canyon... the longest, most boring day of our vacationing lives... of course, this was cold instead of hot, wet instead of dry, and in a city instead of the middle of nature... but other than that, we're still stuck looking at the clock and saying, is that all? good god]

Alone Again (naturally)

It's Thursday morning... and I'm still working on the couch since the network isn't fully up yet (Cain says he'll be back today... hopefully, we can get this all worked out before we leave for the weekend tomorrow morning). The boys are playing on their Nintendo DS's (Pa's Christmas gifts... and the ones that have supplanted the Santa gifts [skateboard for Kyle, who has already suffered an injury due to the gift; guitar for Jack, who is proving South Park right, preferring to play Guitar Hero than become one]), Pa is out to see the general practitioner (in preparation for his appointment to see the vascular surgeon later today... within weeks he'll need to clean out a carotid artery... it's over 90% blocked), and Lisa is drying her hair.

And other than that we are ALONE finally... no workers [though the dryer repairman is coming by today to take a look at the dryer, which hasn't been drying as well as we think it should since the move to the condo].

The dumpster is gone. The driveway and porch are cleaner (yeah, I'm a prick... but it's not completely clean). The debris is finally all gone. The touchups have been done. The front and garage doors finally close and latch on their own. The kitchen glass is up.

The only outstanding items (off the top of my head) are the draft under the kitchen island, the gutters, the shingles, and other odds and ends.

That, and getting back to life.

Quick Update

It's now the new year. I'm copying files (via CD) from the desktop to the laptop so that I can get some work done today... the network doesn't work... the only two network jacks that connect to the modem/router are in the bedroom and the living room (not upstairs in the family room where I need it)... so I've got a call into Cain to fix that). The Cabinet Guys have come and gone (the sink fold out is in, but the glass is not [the knuckleheads brought the wrong size]... and will be back. Jose is cleaning up (back for one last day... making up for his absence Thursday... his last day here had been Sunday). The dumpster is gone. And the roofing guys are back... and it looks like they're shaping up to spray again. Whatever.

lord voldemort is supposed to be back today. Joy.

We were waterless on Sunday... the dark lord calling us back after noon to tell us that his plumbers would be by Monday to install the cleanout. "Beny" showed up Monday, checked things out, then asked where he could get day laborers... great. Three hours later the cleanout was installed and he had cleared a path through the blockage (which was between the under-the-house cleanout and the new front-of-the-house cleanout... under the driveway Beny thinks... he also says that he thinks it's not the last we've seen of it). But this is NOT what he relays to the dark lord, who arrived in the afternoon. He was not at all in "charm" mode, as Lisa wasn't there. He was in full prick mode, lording over this, implying that it was only his magnanimous nature that made the cleanout happen, that none of it was his responsibility, but that we should be grateful that he did these things.

Fuck him.

He also insulted Jason, who was there helping put together the bed. He said that "some neighbors" should keep quiet about things they know nothing about. Jason was incredibly restrained... as was I. Fucker's a prick. He's coming back today to "finish" things. Joy.

Also, on Sunday, the gutter guys came to estimate (to send stuff to the dark lord).

The file transfer ended... I'll get back to this when I can.

---------------------

Installation hell: so I take a break.

The cabinet guys are done... fully functional. But as we find out, not complete... to repair the back of one cabinet (nasty hole in the drywall, unpanelled over), and the need for felt paper under the cabinet (nasty draft).

The inspector has been by... guess we're done.

The dark lord called: he's not gracing us with his soul-sucking, chill-inducing presence today. Lisa talked to him about the spraying of the roof, noting that it's a windy day today... and since wind caused the problem in the first place-- well, you know. His response was something along the order of: "yeah, Frank said something about it being windy"... yeah, his care for workmanship is a shiny fucking example.

The power spray guys are coming later today for the porch and driveway.

Gutters won't happen today. They'll happen on Friday. When Lisa told him it was supposed to rain (from Thursday through next Tuesday), he said that it might not. Whatever.

he-who-must-not-be-named will be here Monday to give us a 1500 check... the 2500 for wood rail minus the final grand we owe him... Lisa didn't want to ask about the roof shingle non-replacement, so I'll ask about that then... and if he says that he never said he was going to replace the shingles I'm going to take his check and call the fucker a liar to his face.