Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
- Pueblo Blessing
Friday, Sept. 29, 2006 - 12:39 a.m.
WARNING!!!! if you know me personally, you may read my diary, but if you do, you take the chance of hearing things you don't want to know, misunderstanding what I've written and being hurt by it. If you are unsure if it is ok to read, save yourself and me the grief and heartache, and ask first!!! Please note that this is a DIARY, ie my subjective feelings, hearsay, suppositions, and outpourings of ranting of the moment. It does not represent objective news, the whole of what I think of a topic or someone, or even a thought-out representation of any of the above. Keep that in mind. Thanks. * Here is a Diary Etiquette Read Me.
Roofing and Plumbing and Shingles Oh My
AGH!
I have run out of image memory space at Diaryland. Poop and scoop.
Anyways,
what a day... what a week...
Yesterday it cost me over $1000 for a plumber... actually two plumbers. And the sink they installed isn't solid (they didn't screw it into the wall in the fixation points, just hung it on the wallmount metal plate) and also leaks at the U trap. I had said there was water there yesterday when they were there, and the younger plumber said "condensation". Well, there needs to be little tiny beads of condensation all over the pipe before it actually drips. No, it is dripping out of one of the two attach points. So every time I run water, the U trap fills up, and as it sits there it leaks out and drips on the floor. ack.
So yeah, over $1000.
I just know they won't be able to come back tomorrow (friday), and as a result I will not be able to install the countertop next to the sink, and calk it. grrrr. I wanted that finished. Now.
I wish I could put in the fixation screws myself. I actually tried... but the holes are recessed into the porcelain underneath, and it is impossible to get my drill in there... either to drill holes into the wall and underlying wood, nor to screw in screws directly. And by hand I cannot push a screw through wallboard and wood. ack. It would be so easy to drill the hole (and then put the screw in by hand) if I could take the sink off... but it is all connected now to the drain pipe and inlet pipes. ack. It would have taken them about half a minute to have marked and drilled those two holes when they did the same for the metal wallplate holes the sink mounts on. ack.
If they want to charge me another house call and more hours of work, I will make a complaint. grrr.
Anyways, I never thought it would cost me anything near that yesterday. This building just keep costing more and more, as everything is done assbackwards and is old.
A few of the challenges yesterday:
-the sink drain was hooked up to a T, where the unused opening was covered with TAPE... the plumber said it must have hooked up to a footed bath (which probably was removed about twenty years ago)
-the sink drain was made of LEAD... the guy said he is 55, and it was installed before he was born
-the sink drain was NOT HOOKED UP to anything... it was broken off in the basement. So for the past seven years here I have been basically letting anything in the bathroom sink drain directly onto the earth under the building. Sheesh. Thank god it was mostly armpit sweat and toothpaste!
-the sink drain was narrower than current standards, so the guy had to chop through the four thicknesses of bathroom floor to be able to get a new pvc pipe in.
-the joint where he would have removed the leaking valve that supplies water to the third floor was completely rusted through
-the pipe the joint and leaking valve were on was corroded galvanized steel and had to be replaced
-the sump pump didn't work after he hooked it up to the new sink drain hookup (the sump pump used to pump directly outside under the porch... brilliant. How well do you think that would work if there was water in the basement when it was minus 20? sheesh.
-no, I didn't end up having to take the sump pump back, after all sorts of fiddling around, we discovered a piece of cardboard had gotten knocked into the sump, and sucked through the pump and stuck in the out valve. Sheesh. And I am paying two guys $95 an hour to discover this shit. ack.
Anyways, it was a long expensive morning.
And now I have to get them to come back if I don't want the sink to twist around on the wall and leak on the floor. grrrr.
There is also a broken window now in the basement just behind where they replaced the hose valve. Did they do that, or was it already broken? If so, how, since no one goes there but the dog, and her head is NOT that heavy or sharp.
Today, it was another fun day...
I spent about four hours this morning on my roof, pasting gooey tar shit on the bare tar patches with a brush... like painting with really thick, fibrous molasses, and putting peagravel back onto the spots missing it. I can proudly say I have touched every square inch of my roof with my hands, evening out the gravel. It looks great.
It is wonderful how motivated one can be to do upkeep on a roof, when one has a written estimate of $10,000 to redo it. ack again.
And speaking of the roof, an estimate so far of $2000 to replace the shingles on the three foot high, twenty two foot wide little "roofette" on the front of the brick facade. ack yet again. Another guy was supposed to come by today to check it and give me another estimate.
This is what it looks like:
And that is high up:
And not only is it high, one side is above the curving outside stairs to the second floor, the middle is above the third floor balcony, and the other side is three stories up in the air. Not so good for doing side to side repairs, like shingling.
What I really need is a machine like this:
But I don't know how to drive one, and apparently it costs like $900 a day to rent one. I dunno, I'll have to call. The guy who gave the estimate so far said it costs that much, and only $150 for materials to replace those dead and falling like leaves shingles. glll
What was I doing up that high??
Painting these rusty window edges:
I had hoped to put a picture of the "after" painting, but that is when diaryland told me I have exceeded my limit. ack. gll. dang.
On another front, Buff, (what a name, does it mean naked??), leave a URL or an email or I will start deleting your comments, even if they are nice. And thankyou for the apology about the hair. May fortune give you thin baby hair like mine that the hairdressers cannot curl, layer, stagger, perm etc, and then you see what they do with YOUR hair, eh. sheesh. Bad haircut. thanks. It is not really my choice. I can do boy cut or I can shave parts of it. Growing it out is out of the question, as it goes into little limp wisps with split ends... and then the hairdresser cuts off the two inches of limp wisps with split ends... and guess what?? It is yet again a boy cut.
ok, nite nite.
it is really once again too late for me to get enough sleep.
If i am going to keep getting up between 7:30 and 8:15 in the morning, I am going to have to start getting to bed before 1:30 am.
Esp if I keep spending my time working on the building. It is exhausting.
cheers
me
wenchie
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previous meanderings - future past
Goodbye Michael. May your next life be kinder to you. - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Taking Care of Your Cows - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Saint Joseph robs the cradle and eats spaghetti - Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009
sticky notes and broken irises - Friday, Jun. 12, 2009
The FOODCOMMANDER - Monday, Jun. 08, 2009
