Thursday, September 11, 2008

remodel updates and citizen's police academy class #3

The floor installers arrived on Tuesday. The guy who had been ill was actually in the ER to be treated for a spider bite that he had ignored for 4 days until his had became swollen and numb and the bite had to be opened and packed. I felt pretty small for thinking that they were making it all up. There were 3 in the crew...the boss and two helpers. All the carpet and padding was removed in less than an hour and the first course of flooring was laid and glued and nailed....Dust is everywhere. Wednesday...the boss didn't show but the helpers did. They think he had food poisoning from the evening before. So the workers continued the job...taking cigarette breaks about every 15 minutes...fortunately I am paying by the job, not the day. they finished 3/4ths of the kitchen. Today, the main boss was back with them and when he saw one of the cut out pieces next to a cabinet...he said it was not close enough and had to rip out almost 25 boards (this involved using a chisel and lots of elbow greece) because it did not meet his standards and he stands by his reputation of being the best in town. There were no raised voices that I could tell but the tension between him and the worker who cut and installed the piece was very evident....no one was saying a word and all were walking on egg shells around him. I don't like people not getting along and I thanked him for caring enough to make sure the job looked right but also tried to tell him the other guy did try to cut the piece correctly and had re cut it at least 3 times that I myself had witnessed. So with having to rip out half of what they did yesterday and not being here on Monday...has put them behind schedule by almost 2 full days and it looks like they will be here all next week too.... my house is dust city!!! My throat is so dry and scratchy from breathing in saw dust and since they leave the patio door open to go use the saws....flys wasps and other flying insects have moved into my house.

yesterday after they left...I killed the same wasp...3 times...!!! I swatted it and went to get a paper towel to clean it up and when I got back...it was gone... then I saw it and swatted it again ...and again.... I almost gave up and wished it could find its way back outside as it sure put up a brave fight....but was afraid Maggie would get stung.

anyhow...the floors or the part that is done is looking Wonderful !!!!
While all this was going on today, I tried to study for my 3rd citizens police acadamy class tonight. It was about lawyer stuff and legal procedures and probable cause and searches and degrees of felonies etc. I was having a difficult time concentrating as there was so much information and there seemed to be exceptions to each example or law. The assistant prosecutor spoke to us as did a beat officer and the examples they gave helped make sense of it all. In the middle of class, we were interrupted by pounding on the outside wall in the back and shouting and while we were turned to look at that, someone ran into the room and stole an object. So then we were told to fill out a narrative of what we witnessed...we will discuss it next week and see how we did with a re enactment. I said I saw a white female in sunglasses with a ball cap pulled down low over her brow and her long brown hair pulled back in a pony tail, slight build,medium height and wearing a dark blue jacket and dark gloves.... and saw her grab a bottle of water from a table and run out .... the guy beside me swore he saw a male .....LOL.... It could have been a guy with long hair as the person was flat chested...but the way the person moved suggested to me that it was a female.......so we shall see next week who needs to get their eyes checked. LOL... but he and I have an excuse...we sit in the last row of the room and the person did not run all the way across the room...we had the worst vantage point...so those up front were not only closer but got to see the person for a longer time as they can see the door from where they sit and could see the person coming and going and from head to toe...We could only see the waist up and only 2-3 seconds.

2 comments:

Joanne Huffman said...

Sorry about the delay in the kitchen work, but it sounds like it might be worth it. On the police front, I'd make the world's worst witness (I think it's because I don't think visually). When the girls were little, I wouldn't remember what they were wearing, even when I dressed them (made for interesting pick-ups from school).

Joanne

jackie said...

I know it's very disheartening to have to deal with all of the delays and glitches in your kitchen remodel but when it's all over, you probably won't remember all the inconveniences since you'll be enjoying your newly updated gorgeous kitchen! I hope the remainder of the job goes smoothly and that you'll be able to remove all the dust and bugs without too much hard work! I can't wait to see the "after" photos! And I've enjoyed reading all of the adventures!
I enjoy reading about your CPA classes also! It's great that you saw so many details in such a few seconds! I'd be terrible at that - I would have said someone ran in and took something - I don't notice details unless I have a decent amount of time to take it all in.
Thanks for all the updating!
And congrats on your anniversary and lovely roses!
hugs,
jackie