Day #1,161 - Site Investigation

I met the painters promptly at 8 a.m. to get started on Step #3 of the garage floor coating. The ‘real’ coat of epoxy was applied and then the decorative sprinkles. Doc and I did not like any of the standard chip mixes so we created our own combination. It looks good.

Doc had a leisurely morning running errands and having coffee before he arrived “at work” at 11 a.m. We spent an hour on cleaning house and miscellaneous tasks. We were out front by the dumpster when three very official looking persons walked up. One was in uniform. Their business cards read:

a) Investigator, Department of Consumer Affairs, Contractors State License Board, Investigative Fraud Team

b) Senior District Attorney Investigator, Bureau of Investigation

c) Joint Enforcement Agent, Underground Economy Operations

Wow! We were wondering what brought the agents to our site. Turns out they were inspecting construction jobs in the area. They were checking for safety violations, insurance coverage of workers, State Licenses of subs working on the job, etc. Doc and I were giving each other that look of “What happens next? What are we supposed to do here?” The Agents asked if Doc was the Boss here? He said, “No - she is” as he pointed to me. They then asked if we were the owners? I hoped “Yes” was not going to trigger anything undesirable. They smiled and said, “OK. Then we are done here. There is no need for us to look further.” I said we have been planning and saving for this house for 30 years. They said “Congratulations, it looks beautiful!” Handshakes and business cards given, then they were on their way. Whew!

***************

By Noon the painters were leaving. We needed to shut the garage door so that tonight’s expected winds would not blow dirt onto the wet floor. Hmmm … how to shut the garage door without going inside? Solution: I gave it the “Extended Finger!”

The garage door controller is mounted behind the pedestrian door when it is open. The guys could not get their big hands in the narrow door crack (by the hinges). I was able to get my fingers in there, but they were about ¾” from the button. Plus the button needed considerable pressure perpendicular to the pad - not a switch which could be flipped on/off. Doc asked if I had a popsicle stick. No, but I had a stick for rubbing on my silly decals. J He taped the stick to my finger and I added a rigid plastic push pin to create the push force needed. It worked beautifully! A MacGyver Moment.

***************

After that, Doc and I continued our work on the tile stream. I was kicking myself for ever having started such an unreasonable project. At least we have reached the half-way point.

Around 3 p.m. son Stephen appeared with a Starbucks coffee in hand for Doc. Doc was lured away for nearly 45 minutes while I was on my knees waiting for him to shave some of the tiles for me. I was not happy about that. Coffee Addict!

At one point Doc got impatient with how long it was taking me to place the tile pieces. At least he put it nicely, but I knew what he meant. Doc: “Honey, how about if I help you place some of those?” Tina: “Sure! I’d be glad to stretch my back”. He laid 8-9 pieces, then said, “How about if I go load the lumber while YOU continue working on these?” Guess he realized it wasn’t so simple after all!

Doc had a 6:30 meeting at Starbucks for a coffee with one of his former students, so we locked up the Penny Palace at 5:30.

This evening I collected 3 pennies at the grocery store.

Total: 3 Pennies