Big Stuff

 Well, it's been a mishmash of days here. We've been jumping between projects and it is a bit dizzying. Today, we got most of the rough wiring done. We have the kitchen left and then we are done with that. Then it will be time to do the plumbing things. Once that is done, we have the inspector come out and do his thing and then it will be time to do the finish work. That's the fun part. 

Yesterday morning, Tim gathered up $9980 worth of bills. We wrote a nice cover letter: 

To Whom this May Concern:

These bills were incurred as a result of a demolition done on property owned by the XXXXXs on XXXXX St, This property was located next door to our property located at XXX XXXXX St.

We had no prior notice of the demolition, however during a meeting between the city, the xXxX  and their lawyer along with XXXXX and XXXXX (city manager and an employee names redacted for privacy) the following was discovered:

Part of the demolition was obtaining the proper permits from the city. This required capping the lines from the house to be torn down. XXXXX did this work, and stated that he ran a camera through the line and that it was a 'dry line'. He stated that he ran a camera through the lines on the other side of the house between our property and the property owned by XXXXXXXXXX. He found that line to be 'wet' and “assumed” (his word) that this was the drainage for our house. He stated that he capped two lines. 

When we were notified by our tenant that her drains were no longer working, we called Warren Webster. The company sent two workers out and they attempted to snake out the line. He could not get through. He also marked those lines to showing that our drainage ran on the opposite side of the house that xxxxxx “assumed'.

While we understand that mistakes can be made, this particular expense has cost us over $10,000. In the interest of getting our tenant back into her home as quickly as possible, we paid for this work out of pocket, and we expect the city to take responsibility for this error and reimburse us. 

(End of letter)

The city manager is an aggressive man who likes to get in people's faces to make his point. Tim is a quiet person. Before he left with his little packet, I said, "Tim, you have got to stand up to him. If he gets in your face, you need to tell him clearly, 'Back up. Get out of my face. You do not raise your voice to me."

He came downstairs to meet Tim and Tim handed him the papers. He said, "What? You expect me to pay for these bills?" 

Tim answered "Yes." He waited quietly while the man read the letter on the front and flipped through the bills. Tim said that at one point his head jutted forward aggressively. Tim took a deep breath and prepared to stand up to him. Instead, the man said, "We are not paying for all of this. We will be in touch." He turned around and walked out. 

Today, we got another bill for $1400. We will deliver that on Monday with an additional cover letter. 

I am not sure what will happen, but we have irons in the fire that I do not want to speak about until it happens. I spent a large part of this evening typing up a timeline of events and key players and scanning documents to forward to a person who may be able to help. Tomorrow morning, I will take a bunch of pictures with the good camera and forward those as well. 

We had to take a run up to our construction supply place, the big Mennonite operation in New York state. It was cold and rainy and one of those days for inside work. I don't know if you remember Mona. I've thought of her often, but since meeting her in September, we were so busy buttoning up the new build for winter, and preparing for Tim's surgery and subsequent two month work stoppage that I never got back up there. I rode up with Tim and said, "While you are placing your order, I'm running across the road to talk to Mona. I know that she'll be happy to hear how you fared." 

I scooted across the road in the cold rain and went up her driveway. When I rang her door bell, she popped her head out the door quizically. "I'm not sure you remember me..." and she said, "If you tell me your name..." and I did and she said immediately, "You bought my door!" I told her that I wanted to let her know that TIm had had his surgery in October and that they'd gotten all the of the cancer. She was genuinely glad to hear that. Just like before, she told me to come in. Her little grandson was there, and he was a delightful little monkey. She showed me her new kitchen floor, which I liked very much. We chatted like we knew each other a hundred years. 

It was too soon and Tim was there. I said, "I have to go, but I just wanted to tell you about Tim." 

She said, "Always stop in when you are this way!" 

I said, "I will. I think of you often. You made a mark on my heart that day." 

And then I was on my way to the car. What a lovely little moment, with a wonderful little woman! 

Another story about a wonderful woman. An acquaintance and her husband have been, both of them, sinking into dementia. They have lived on their own probably a bit longer than they actually should have been. She really shouldn't be driving, and I was glad to hear that her family had gotten her license taken away. 

Anyways, long story short, her husband was ill and taken to a big city hospital. One of her kids stopped in and she was gone too. She got herself a ride to the big city to the hospital. She has no idea who with but fortunately she got there and back but she was missing for 5 hours. Her kids were frantic. 

The decision has been made that they are no longer capable of living alone. They are such independent people, fiercely independent. They don't recognize their longtime friends and neighbors. Such a sad thing. I hope that my body does not outlive my brain. 

My daughter's birthday was in mid January. The Friday before her birthday, I sent out her birthday card. It never showed up. I sent Thelma a birthday card on the same day. Neither of them showed up. I was especially dismayed about my daughter's card because there was a gift card inside. I had reluctantly come to the conclusion that since both of them were missing, they were probably taken from my mailbox. Long story short, my daughter's card arrived back to me today. It was returned to sender and marked that the address was vacant. The contents were intact. The envelope undamaged. But here is the weirdest thing: The card was torn on the fold. Inside the undamaged envelope. With the gift card still inside! 

Probably the most amazing news of the day was this, though. My youngest granddaughter is a year and a half old. She woke up from her afternoon nap, indicated that she had to poop and led her mother to the toilet. Her mother was a little surprised. They haven't even begun potty training at this point, but she decided to simply go with it (no pun intended). She helped her sit on the potty AND SHE WENT! Her mother could not believe it, but after doing the post potty routine, they rushed into daddy's office down the hall to tell him this momentous news. 

We are all a bit dumbfounded.