Life is GOOD

Finally, the blankety-blank framing crew is gone! Funny thing is, they are very good carpenters - just lousy at dealing with the real world. We got all sorts of promises from "we'll be done before Christmas" to "we'll be glad to put in the dog door", and not ONE promise was kept. Along with that, we were hit up for side payments in the form of "you don't need to talk to the general about that extra window you want, just give me $50 on the side and I'll frame it in for you." When I asked where the window itself would come from, they had no answer.

So, here's the happy husband, that would be Scott, on what will be the small balcony off our bedroom. This was last week, which as you probably know is long after Christmas, and the house still wasn't framed.

Friday, after mid-week assurances they'd be done by then, one of the guys hit up George, the General, for an extra $50 to install the doors to said balcony! That takes some nerve. By then, George was as sick of them as we were and paid the kid just to get it done. So, Monday AM, I went up to the site to find George alone installing the doors! He was furious and said he was going to tell the kid he wanted his 50 bucks back. Of course, he'd have no problem finding them since they STILL weren't done and were overdue to arrive at the site. I figure they've cost us $2000 in delays. Here's George coming in those doors - after I got to help put the pins in the hinges, it being really a 2-person job.

When we did that, the little balcony still had no railing. Yuk. But it does now, and I love how it looks. Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? Pretty Cool


You can see the dividing line between siding and what will be stucco below. The house is to get wrapped for the stucco tomorrow.




And these handsome characters are the electricians who bailed us out after we came to our senses and decided that installing the central vac was more of a job than we wanted to take on.

That proved to be a very lucky choice on our part, both 'cuz it did turn out to be complex, and because we've been dealing with frozen pipes, broken pump, no water, etc., etc., at the place we rent - starting last Saturday! With every plumber and pump guy busy with the big orchards that have much more serious problems than us, it's been a challenge. Scottie and his buddy Rene' worked on it repairing broken parts and doing all they could, then Scottie disassembled the big pump and took it down to Visalia to a pump person since we simply couldn't get anyone here. We now have outdoor water running, but still something frozen in/under the house. But, we are closer. Fortunately we have a wonderful landlady who put us up for several nights in a motel. Hopefully, we'll finish thawing out soon and won't need more of that.


Now, for a couple of things you haven't been treated to on the blog before.

First, our house as it appears from the "down" side at Mineral King and Hammond.






Then, my beautiful Lucy Cat. I know, I know, it has nothing to do with the house building, but isn't she pretty? Her eyes just match the soft green throw. There are SOME silly people who think that Lucy has a bad attitude. I know that she's simply expressing the proper disdain for lesser beings.


So, we're doing well. Life really is good. More later.