Day #1,047 - Frustrated

Do you remember in school when you were assigned a Group Project? Your final grade depended upon the efforts of others and often it was so frustrating when they did things different than what you wanted. That’s how it felt today on that Picket Fence bathtub. I had a sketched design, but the implementation was done by someone else. What would have been an A grade project is now a B project. Frustrated.

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This morning I arrived at Home Depot to get those ceiling fans for the electrician to install in the Grand Room before the scaffolding is removed. I carried the heavy boxes to my truck, then out to the jobsite. He emailed and said he did not want to install the fans for quite a while, so this afternoon I hauled the fans to a storage facility. Frustrated.

The roofing crew began work very early today. When they left last Friday, they said they would not return until Wednesday. (Solar is expected to put down their tracks on Wednesday). It seems that high winds are expected in our area tomorrow, so the roofing crew switched plans and worked at our site today. Two of the vent caps are too short for the tile roof and need additional extensions. Frustrating little details.

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At 7:45 I walked the job with a gutter installer and obtained a bid from him. It was good to get the bid, but not good that I was not watching over the tile installation.

By the time I went back in the house, the tile guys had laid the first row of picket planks. I did not like the spacing on the picket frame piece and told them so. I asked if the planks could be moved. I was told “No”. When the tile guys left at 11:20 I salvaged the remains of the wet mortar which they had thrown in the trash. I hurried to Home Depot, bought a notched trowel, tile spacers, a chisel, mud trough, and other needed supplies. Rushed back to the job by noon, taped off the tub, and tried removing the most recently placed tiles. Not good. I pried only two off. There was no way I was going to remove all the tiles without breaking some of them. I was so tempted to pull all of the tiles off the wall, scrub them down and tell the installer to hang them properly - my way, not His! After a few cuts on my hands and a few tears, I gave up and cleaned up the area. So frustrating to have my ‘dream idea’ compromised and less than ‘A’ grade. Now I am disappointed with it and Frustrated. A shower curtain could hide it.

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There was one notable ARK. Tony, one of the stucco crew, was dropped off at the jobsite today with the task of cleaning up the stucco debris. When he was finished, he sat there for quite a while just waiting for his ride. He asked if there was anything he might do to help me this morning. Took me about a millisecond to say “Sure! You grab your wheelbarrow, shovel and metal rake; I’ll grab my gloves. Let’s head to the South side and clean as much as we can before your ride arrives.” We spent maybe an hour hauling debris to the dumpster. That would have taken Doc and I a whole day (providing I could even motivate Doc to do that job). What a nice ARK.

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On the way home I realized there were no found coins yet today. So I pulled into a gas station. Found a very run over, worn dime. That depicted how I felt. Tired and run over. I knew Doc would give me grief over not having a penny today, so I went into the convenience store. Found a nickel. That was enough for me. Let Doc give me grief. (Coins #1&2).

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Doc came home early tonight (9 p.m.) He managed to drag himself through the day. This morning he went to the grocery store. One penny there (Doc #1). Then breakfast, 3 pennies and one dime at Subway sandwich. (Doc #2-5). He found one penny in a planter on his way into the office this afternoon. (Doc #6). Then after lecturing he noticed a penny stuck to the floor in the classroom. (Doc #7)

Total: 9 Coins P (5), N (1), D (3), Q (0) = $0.40