Sunday's Excitement

I have no idea why my header photos are so small.  I am using the same sizes I always have.  I blame blogger.

Yesterday I hinted at things that happened Sunday.  So here it is. 

 

Sundays, without fail we head to the church house.  First one up let's Snickers out to do doggy things.  This will happen a few times throughout out the morning.  'K' had just showered and I was in full soap made when she comes in to tell me Snickers got out.  She runs out to catch him.  She could see him wandering around a few houses down having a grand old time.  She is out there in just her robe after her shower.  Not a good thing.  She gets her keys to chase him down in the car but tries shaking the keys and calling him.  He comes running, thinking he is going for a ride.  She gets him inside.  That's great.  Oh but that's not all.  

'K' had found that the gate had been left open.  We assume it was one of the workers but we can't be certain as I went through it at least once the day before.  Sometimes when you close it, it doesn't latch right.  She closed it when she found it.  We let him ack out while we are still getting ready for breakfast and church.  I am out of the shower by now.  We hear Snickers barking frantically.  Very unusual bark.  Next thing we hear the bleating of a deer.  I knew immediately what had happened.  A deer got in through the open gate and the chase was on.  This has happened before with deer getting in an open gate.  Only it wasn't a deer.  It was a fawn.  'K' had already gotten out there as I was still getting dressed.  She found two fawns not one.  They apparently had been in there long enough to lay down and not be found on Snickers' first trip out.  They had awakened and were roaming around when Snickers spotted them and the chase was on.  If you have ever seen a scared fawn run from danger they have little awareness of their surroundings other than to escape.  They don't understand fences and will repeatedly run into it.  One of the fawn was laying by the gate.  'K' picks it up and moves it outside of the fence where Mom is waiting for her to deal with it.  Snickers is in full chase mode with the other and I am trying to get where I can grab the fawn, almost but failed.  Snickers catches up to the fawn on the other side of the house where the gate is and wants to play.  All he does is try to sniff the fawn.  I thought for sure he would do harm.  But no, not even close.  I finally herd the fawn out the open gate.  

I return to check the other fawn.  It's not breathing.  I try several things to try and revive it.  It kicked once and gasped a couple times but is just limp.  I assume it broke it's neck running into the fence it did not see.  Mom deer is watching me closely but doesn't stomp me like I have seen.  I'm sorry to say the fawn did not make it.  All of this happened before 7:30 AM in a very short time, much less time than it took to tell it.  At least one of the neighbors saw much of this due to hearing the ruckus.

We finally get inside and 'K' let the tears flow.  Her very tender heart is just overwhelmed with all this and the build up of the stress of the repairs.  It had been a little tense.  Of course I don't really understand at first why she is crying.  Yes, I'm a dumbass.

Happy Trails

And It's Still Dusty

I can't really find fault with the construction guys.  They are a very hard working crew but they aren't cleaning pros.  The Project Manager came by Friday and told them they needed to clean up so we could at least use the living room.  That meant cleaning the furniture.  They said they would be bring out a cleaning lady the next day.  Didn't happen.  The hardest working oldest worker was tasked to clean.  He tried, he really did.  In a normal situation it probably would have been good enough.  But this dust, just doesn't come up with a feather duster and a little spray of some sort.  I even got out my shop vac and tried to pick up some dust in places where we would walk the most to try to keep from tracking it all over the house which has already happened.  The vac was pretty much useless.  So we got a wet Swiffer mop and all we did was make mud.  This will take people that really know how to clean this stuff.  I don't know that they exist but they are going to have to do something.  Even with them using the tools they had there was still and fine layer of dust on our leather furniture.  We were told by a friend that had this done also to not let them use anything that rubs the wood furniture as it scratched hers pretty badly.  This dust is a very fine abrasive it seems.  I had to hose down the front porch to get that stuff off to keep from tracking it back in the house.

The PM is going to try to come by today but certainly tomorrow.  I have a short list of things he will need to explain to me.  We have decided that 'K' and I will deal directly with the flooring contractor.  The PM recommended we do that as we would most definitely get a better install than the sub contractor plus he would have to add some for his profit.  I certainly appreciate his honesty.  

They did not have to remove the cabinets, they weren't as bad as feared.  That also meant they wouldn't be removing the granite counter tops that would probably break.  

Today they are focusing on finishing the painting of the cabinets.  They tell me it will take 3 coats.  Not sure if that counts the primer they already did.  The sub plans to finish Wednesday.  They also have to paint the wall where the sheet rock was repaired.  Matching the paint has been an issue.  

All this work has actually caused us more work.  With all the furniture out and pictures off the wall you see the flaws in your current paint job.  Plus the color we have does not go with our floor color choice.  I hope there is enough lead time for us to do the painting before the floor contractor starts.  

I have a short story to tell about our exciting (not in a good way) Sunday morning.  I will save that for the next day or so as this is getting too long.

Happy Trails

Day 3 of Repairs

What a dusty mess.  We knew it would be a mess, but still, this is just awful.  They started the serious grinding of the slab to get all the thin set from the tile off the concrete.  They even had to use the grinder and a power chisel to get some of the tile off.  They told me that it seemed to be stuck down with and extra layer of thin set.  It just would not come off with a hammer like usual.

 

We were forced to sit outside yesterday as there was just too much dust in the house.  I got a sore throat and headache the day before when I holed up in my man cave.  And that was with plastic placed to keep the dust confined.  We had to move from our spot under the trees when they started.  They were venting the grinder dust outside and it looked like smoke it was so heavy.  It was heading right for us.  It just can't be avoided when work like this is done it seems.  They are bringing a cleaning lady today.  I'm not sure what she will do.  I hope she has some sort of commercial vacuum.  That very fine dust will kill a regular vacuum.  Don't ask me how I know this.  They also have a very big job cleaning our furniture.  They told us they were going to move it out into a pod.  They decided to just shift it around.  We didn't object since we didn't know the containment wouldn't work that well.  I'm not sure how this extremely fine dust will ever get completely cleared out.  I used my shop vac on the floor where we would be walking, a sort of pathway into our other rooms to try to keep from tracking it in there.  It got some but you can still see it adhered to the concrete.  Only water will get that off.  I vacuumed the front porch where the vent was and had to resort to using the water hose to see any difference.  

Today they will finish repairs on the sheetrock, the repairs to the cabinets, sanding and painting of all the cabinets.  And yes, we got our dishwasher.  It will get installed after they finish painting I assume.  Somewhere in there the remaining wood floor will be wrecked.  Maybe another week to get to the point floors can be installed.  But that will be another contractor and details still need to be worked out.

Happy Trails

Well That Didn't Work Out

In my last post I had 'planned' to lay low and catch up on my reading.  Didn't even come close.  We were running all over the place much to my displeasure.  At least I got to eat some of the best pizza I have had in a while.  It seems that the New York style is my favorite.

I'm taking a much needed break to write this.  It is Wednesday evening and we are scrambling.  The contractor came out yesterday and he answered all our questions and his crew will be here Thursday morning 8 AM...tomorrow.  We have been clearing out the kitchen of everything, cabinets, drawers, things hanging on the walls, counter tops.  That is where they will start removing the tile and grinding the concrete in preparation for new the new flooring.  Since that silica dust will get in everything and then at another stage the cabinets will be painted it would be best to get it all out.  We are also clearing out anything that is not furniture in the living room and dining room.  That is a big task considering how much decorations and knick knacks 'K' has all around.  Most everything has gone into the garage.  Some in all the rest of the house.  We are setting up my man cave as a place to have our coffee and air fryer in case we need to eat without going out.  We will eat most of our meals out I am sure.  At least while the work crews are messing around in the kitchen.  

the contractor is really good about working with us to get what we want.  He even said he would deal with the flooring vendor.  He will talk to them and see if they want to work as a subcontractor or a separate entity.  We could have our main contractor do the floors but the vendor gives a lifetime warranty on installation if they do it.  He advised that the vendor would do a much better job than his sub.  He was supposed to talk to them today.  Maybe he will have news on that front tomorrow when they show up to work.  Other than the tile, they will also remove the rest of the wood flooring and start patching the walls that were cut to let them dry out.  He says it's not a BIG job but this will take weeks to finish.  One possible hang up is the availability of the flooring and how soon the vendor can work.

We did finally order a dishwasher.  They say they have the color 'K' wants when no one else has them.  They didn't have them either earlier 2 months ago.  I'm still not convinced they have it.  It should be here Friday morning.  We shall see.

I gotta get back at it.

Happy Trails

Laying Low Today

I want to just lay low today.  I have nothing I WANT to do.  That is different than from what I need to do.  So am planning to do nothing, except read.  I have about a dozen books, digital and hard copy that have not even been glanced at yet.  I have 2-3 that I started and are in various stages of completion but are truly just waiting.  I haven't been reading much the last few months.  

'K' has a niece in town from Anchorage, Alaska.  She made a quick stop on her way to Abilene.  She came without her kids and husband, they are in Abilene and she will join them later this week.  I think 'K' has made plans for us to meet her for lunch today.  I am not real sure.  This violates my commitment to do nothing today.  

It is extremely humid here today.  The heat index should be between 105-110.  That's another reason I don't plan to do anything. 

Tuesday is a day we have been looking toward for months.  We will meet with the project manager of our renovation/restoration to hammer out the details of the project.  We are not on the same page about the cabinets.  The estimate we have shows replacement of cabinets from what I can tell.  On the phone he said we were only getting them restored to original condition.  The details on the estimate sure seem to say otherwise.  I know he was talking to me while driving and wasn't seeing what I was and he may not remember exactly what our project entailed.  He has a lot on his plate.  Either way, it's just a minor hiccup.  We are hoping he will also give us a start date.  He had told us they might start this week.  That will get us in high gear to remove things we don't want to be moved by their crews.  If the cabinets are to be replaced then we have to unload them along with the all the others since they will get repainted.  The demo, replacing sheetrock and painting will all be done first, prior to any flooring and is pretty straight forward.  We have concerns how the flooring will work out due to availability and who will actually install it.  The vendor of the flooring offers a lifetime installation warranty as opposed to 3 years by the restoration company.  That is a detail for the PM and the vendor to work out.  Their are contract time issues/constraints that come into play with the availability of the flooring materials and agreeing on a contract to have the vendor do the flooring.  We are also trying to figure out how to keep some of the dust down.  They will start demo on the tile the first day and that is a concern as it can get so very dusty with the silica that will be flying everywhere.  

Happy Trails

The Estimate is Approved

We got the news late Thursday that the estimate for our repairs was approved.  We signed the contract and paid our deductible early Friday morning.  My son, who is and adjuster reviewed the estimate and said it looked good to him so we have that reassurance.  Tuesday we meet with the project Manager to hammer out the details and the additional work we want to do.  The PM told us he has a contractor bugging him for more work so it is possible work could begin as early as next week.  We are praying everything will go smoothly.  

We are headed over to New Braunfels to a meat market.  We will pick up some gourd chuck that is much cheaper there by as much as a dollar a pound from our usual grocery.  They also have some of the best smoked/dried sausage and I will pick up a few links for snacking.  It's better than all the carbs in other snacks that blow out my blood sugar.

Yard Sale is Over-ERCOT Jackwagons

The yard/garage sale went OK.  We had more people stop than I anticipated.  We didn't make a lot of money but the idea was to get rid of things that we just didn't use any more.  Of course when you post a time on the www that the garage sale will start you must always expect early birds.  We had planned to start at 9 AM in order to set up with plenty of time.  Good thing we got up earlier than 'K' had planned.  'K' having been a retail store manager for years, caused us to need more time to set up.  She wanted everything to look pretty so it would sell.  I don't think it made any difference.  We got up at 6 AM and just before 7 we had our first shopper.  I thought about running him off since we had barely even started setting up.  But I went ahead and dealt with him.  I managed to sell him most all the fishing gear.  Along with a few other items.  I probably could have sold for more as we had several come by specifically for the fishing gear.  But at least it's gone.  

We had a fairly steady stream of one or two customers per hour or so.  Putting everything away was the hardest thing we had to do.  We were bushed and it was hot.  So we just pushed it in there in a hurry.  Most of that went to Goodwill Monday.  We also took a box of DVD's to 1/2 price books since none sold at the yard sale.  We got 30$ for those and we were just going to give them away so that was a bonus.

I see ERCOT is jacking around with out power gain.  Power plants offline and not able to meet the demand due to the heat and humidity and the extra folks that have moved here.  It appears our legislature has no teeth in dealing with these yahoo's.  One of these days they have to deal with this issue and soon.  Maybe they should be disbanded altogether.  They took control of my Nest thermostat for 3 hours and plan to again today.  I can over ride them if it gets too uncomfortable but I try to help out when I can.

Happy Trails

Yard Sale

I have been trying to get 'K' to get rid of things around the house for some time.  With the house in complete disarray due to our insurance claim from the leaking dishwasher I thought it might encourage her to move more in that direction.  And it has.  She sprung a garage sale on me coming up this Saturday.  Ugh.  I didn't expect a garage sale.  I thought she would use some online forums on the book of faces to advertise things and sell them that way.  I don't relish the thought of haggling with a bunch of strangers trying to get away with more than a bargain.  But here we are.

I have some really old camera equipment and fishing rods and reels, DVD's I will try to get rid of along with all the other junk we have.  We have decided that if it doesn't sell, Goodwill will get a windfall.  It ain't coming back in the house.  Some of the stuff belonged to my grandparents and has taken up space in various cabinets and closets.  That was a little harder to part with.  At one time some of that stuff was worth a bit.  But the collectibles market has died and they are virtually worthless now.  But we have never used any of it so out it goes.  Need some fancy glassware?

'K' still has a ton of stuff from her business.  When you make and sell jewelry there is just so much you have to have.  Now that she no longer does that, it sits.  Still wrestling with her emotions on that.  I just make gentle suggestions now and then.  Maybe one day.  

Happy Trails

Soggy

In this part of Texas, which is on the edge of the Chihuahua Desert, we have regular periods of drought.  Some longer than others.  We just came out of a drought that started last Summer.  We got very little significant rainfall since now.  Being in a drought doesn't mean you never see any rain, while it can, you can also see rain here and there.  Just not enough to do any good to replenish the habitat.  That is what we get a lot of here.  Over the last couple decades, drought has become more of an issue.  Most all of our water comes from an underground aquifer.  So we have to have rain to replenish it.  With the explosion of growth in this area, that water supply is very taxed.  There are constant water use restrictions now.  They never go away and get more or less restrictive based on the level of water in the aquifer.  They really don't know how much water is in the aquifer, so how they determine what level to start adding restrictions is suspect to me.  

The past few weeks has seen the current drought come to a screeching halt.  I don't have any numbers of how much rain has fallen, my gauge got broken and I haven't replaced it.  The local weather guys have that info but it is always different than what I get.  So I won't cite it.  The last week has seen rain every day, some very heavy.  A mix along with some very humid weather.  Some of our plants look like they have root rot.  They were in pots along the drip line of the roof, so they were getting even more rain.  I moved them out and they look better now.  With the thought that we have so many droughts here, I am rarely ever complaining about wet weather.  That's just how it is here.  Periods of drought then being washed away by epic storms and floods.  But we could sure use a little sunshine now.  Key word little.  

Been having trouble reaching my adjuster for our claim.  No return phone calls seem to be the norm.  I did discover that I was assigned a new adjuster.  She prefers to use digital communication via their claim message center.  She says they expect to have some information sometime next week.  At least I can tell 'K' something now.  It also appears that the dishwasher that she wants and has been 'unavailable' may now be available June 13.  This is via the website, it seems to change daily.  We will wait until then and go look at them rather than rely on the website photos.  Yea for small victories.

My grass needs mowing....again, not even a week.  SMH

Happy Trails