Had a new roof installed. They tore off three layers of shingles and old wood. Also a working gutter on the back of the house was removed and bent beyond usability. I've refused to sign a completion satisfaction form and they can't get the rest of their money so early next week the crew leader will be down to replace the gutter and down spout and put a cable line back where it belongs. It appears they moved it or knocked it down and jury rigged the line much lower on the house. They got here early one morning and I overslept. Don't know whether they attempted to find me but they opened the back gate by pulling the pipe out of the ground and they moved the ladder that I had attached to a pear tree. What they did with the lock I had attached to the wire rope I don't know, I just know I don't find it still on the wire rope and they didn't put the ladder back. I can't say they did this, but when I let Majestic out she stopped by the maple tree and started to scarf something down. Upon investigation I found several dried up and moldy bread slices laying together. They could not have been tossed there from either yard next to mine. At the end of the job when they left there was a dried up piece of cake in my bushes in the front yard. Rather weird I think.
It really is difficult having someone work on your roof that can't hardly speak English. Kind of like trying to read something written by someone whose grammar is not so good. Trying to watch a baseball game and write this don't help either.
Anyway the first day two guys showed up. They parked across the neighbor's driveway, laid some beat-up plastic tarp, set up a ladder in the front of the house, and were up on the roof. Not sure if they did anything up there but a little while later I saw one of them talking on a cell-phone. A short while later they came down and said the materials haven't arrive, so they were going home, and would return tomorrow morning. About three hours later a load of plywood was delivered and maybe a couple of hours later the shingles were delivered. Too bad, because it was a fairly comfortable day.
The next day three guys showed up and it was a very hot and humid day. They started tear off of the three existing sets of shingles. The first thing I noticed was the ruble wasn't all going to the back of the house. Some of it was going into the neighbor's yard and in between the two houses. I could hear it hitting the neighbor's air conditioner and I think the house as well. I called the crew manager and complained. Shortly the guys went down and cleaned up between the houses and as far as I can tell no more refuse went between the houses. But, later I went upstairs and noticed a light under the closet door. Thinking I left the light on in the closet I entered. The light was off. At the back of the closet there was sunlight pouring in. Looking up you could see the roof skeleton and on the floor was a ceiling panel with some pieces of wood and dust. On the clothes rack the jackets, pants, and shirts all were covered with dust from the panel. No one informed me of the situation. I took pictures with my phone camera. Later I checked the hole and the roof was covered. I called the crew chief again. He came down and looked at my pictures and saw the open area of the tile, etc., and said it appeared that from all the vibration of the hammering it most likely jarred the panel loose. He would pay to have the clothes cleaned. I explained that can be done in my regular wash; no big deal; I was upset because no one told me about it. I requested the hole be fixed. He agreed to fix the panel and he removed some of the debris. The gutter was removed from the roof and twisted and laid on the lawn. When I called about that the project manager told me that it was bent and was no good. Besides, the way the gutters were hung they couldn't be put back as the wood was rotted and one of the joist beams was missing on the outside of the house.
The next day:
The three guys start the front part house. At some point I came out of the house, all three doing something, and more than a half dozen kids were playing around the workers. One kid was going up and down the ramp to the Big Box(very large trash bin), One lad had an eight foot board that appeared to be from the roof prior to the beginning of them working, and other than running around the rest of the kids didn't seem to be doing anything. I stepped on the porch and yelled to the kids this is a construction area and they all needed to leave. With some looks that told me they didn't understand my problem they did leave. Later, I talked to an older kid sitting in his car across from my house. I asked him to chase them off if he finds the kids back again after I leave the house. He agreed but also told me the kids have been there awhile helping the workers, taking things up and down the ladder. They completed shingling the roof, cleaned up the front and back yard, put all the excess materials and the tools in the truck. The one worker that spoke English the best brought me a sign off sheet. I refused to sign as it said by signing that I was stating that I found the work was in satisfactory condition. Eventually the project manager called me and said I needed to sign off . I explained that the salesman told me that the gutters would be put back upon completion. He said viewing the pictures the workers sent the gutters were just not able to be put back up. I told him I was not satisfied with the job and until I am I was not going to sign off. The conversation ended and I hung up.
Next morning the project manager again called and tried to get me to sign off. Eventually he said he could put the gutters back up if I would sign off. I told him if I signed off there is no guarantee that he would put the gutters up once I signed that the job was satisfactorily completed. He said it would cost about $400 to replace the gutters, but, if I sign off he would do the work for $200. I asked why not do the work for the $200 and then I could sign. He said it has to be done as a service after I sign off. If they do it before the sign off then they would have to charge the full $400. "If you rather pay the full amount we can fix this." At this point I felt insulted because this was a second time in our conversations he insinuated that I would be foolish to not sign off. I told him I am not going to play this game and hung up.
A day or two later the crew chief called me and asked he came out early next week and put up new gutters would I sign off. I told him yes. He came over Tuesday and had another crew put up a new seamless gutter and down spout. I signed.
One week later, I discovered black marks on back wall of house. It appears that when dumping the old tar paper and shingles the materials hit the house and marked up five slats and the bottom ridge below.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Religion
7/22/14
When it comes to religion I have a lot of conflicts. Growing up I was led to believe that God created the heavens and earth and put man and woman on earth in six days resting on the seventh. By who's word? What was a day during this creation? What is this "in his image?" I mean look at all the different colors, sizes, and physical designs(pygmies, giants, and in-between). How about the people/tribes that no longer exist? Where do these giant animals we call dinosaurs come from. No mention of them in the bible as far as I recall.
Moving forward, why did I have macaroni or fish on Fridays all of my childhood and now it matters not what foods I eat on any particular day. Some people won't eat pork and would get greatly bent out of shape if some foods were served on a plate with other foods.
Some Catholic priest can marry; most can't. Lutheran were Catholic but not any more.
What distinguishes a Southern Baptist from a Northern Baptist. I used to believe that Southern Baptist believed there was no Hell but the Northern brethren believed "the hell there ain't." That might have been from the wicked sense of humor of a man called Brother Dave.
We're the only people in existence. Maybe it is only beyond the ken of man. With all the galaxies we can see and those we can't it's not possible there aren't other "people" out there, different from us, and possibly more advance? While I don't particularly believe that we have been visited by aliens, there still exist the possibility. There are a lot of unexplained things found that could mean just about anything you want them to be.
to be continued
8/5/15
Pope Francis is really shaking up the Catholics. He questions the way the church looks at it's ideology. I've seen some changes over the past forty or fifty years. The Catholics didn't used to end the Lord's Prayer with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever: Amen." I seem to recall that only the Protestants used this ending. We didn't shake hands and say peace be with you when I attended church. Much of the priest's prayers were in Latin and now it is mostly in English. Now Pope Francis is talking about being less negative about the roles of women in the church. It appears that women may eventually get to be in the role of priesthood. Also he has mentioned remarriage may need to be re-looked at. I recall hearing Catholics say that the only way a Catholic can re-marry and still be Catholic was through annulment. And pretty much the rich had an easier time getting an annulment than the poor. I wonder how many of the statues in the Catholic church actually look like the person they represent. I thought I read somewhere that Jesus said that these were frowned upon as well as ornate clothing of the church leaders. Some how I think the stained glass windows would be a bit much for him as well. I really like this guy.
When it comes to religion I have a lot of conflicts. Growing up I was led to believe that God created the heavens and earth and put man and woman on earth in six days resting on the seventh. By who's word? What was a day during this creation? What is this "in his image?" I mean look at all the different colors, sizes, and physical designs(pygmies, giants, and in-between). How about the people/tribes that no longer exist? Where do these giant animals we call dinosaurs come from. No mention of them in the bible as far as I recall.
Moving forward, why did I have macaroni or fish on Fridays all of my childhood and now it matters not what foods I eat on any particular day. Some people won't eat pork and would get greatly bent out of shape if some foods were served on a plate with other foods.
Some Catholic priest can marry; most can't. Lutheran were Catholic but not any more.
What distinguishes a Southern Baptist from a Northern Baptist. I used to believe that Southern Baptist believed there was no Hell but the Northern brethren believed "the hell there ain't." That might have been from the wicked sense of humor of a man called Brother Dave.
We're the only people in existence. Maybe it is only beyond the ken of man. With all the galaxies we can see and those we can't it's not possible there aren't other "people" out there, different from us, and possibly more advance? While I don't particularly believe that we have been visited by aliens, there still exist the possibility. There are a lot of unexplained things found that could mean just about anything you want them to be.
to be continued
8/5/15
Pope Francis is really shaking up the Catholics. He questions the way the church looks at it's ideology. I've seen some changes over the past forty or fifty years. The Catholics didn't used to end the Lord's Prayer with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever: Amen." I seem to recall that only the Protestants used this ending. We didn't shake hands and say peace be with you when I attended church. Much of the priest's prayers were in Latin and now it is mostly in English. Now Pope Francis is talking about being less negative about the roles of women in the church. It appears that women may eventually get to be in the role of priesthood. Also he has mentioned remarriage may need to be re-looked at. I recall hearing Catholics say that the only way a Catholic can re-marry and still be Catholic was through annulment. And pretty much the rich had an easier time getting an annulment than the poor. I wonder how many of the statues in the Catholic church actually look like the person they represent. I thought I read somewhere that Jesus said that these were frowned upon as well as ornate clothing of the church leaders. Some how I think the stained glass windows would be a bit much for him as well. I really like this guy.
Monday, July 21, 2014
AD
7/21/14
When I think back on my life I have come to the realization I cannot account for my survival in a working environment. I have always had a problem with attention and memory. As a teen mixing cement I would easily lose track of how many buckets of sand, cement, or water I have put in the barrel. Painting ceilings in a flop house - the manager tells me I seem to take an unusual amount of time doing the job. Working in a motel as a night auditor. when I left management showed me several reports that had errors. Towards the end of my job with Millar Elevator my boss told me in an interview that he has caught me more than once staring and not producing. Working in a mental health clinic near the end of my employment internal auditing found a plethora of errors in my billings.
I've come to the realization that on many of my jobs I would finish on time but had to work under pressure to do so. Had I not been daydreaming I could have gotten my work done on time without having last minute pressures.
When I think back on my life I have come to the realization I cannot account for my survival in a working environment. I have always had a problem with attention and memory. As a teen mixing cement I would easily lose track of how many buckets of sand, cement, or water I have put in the barrel. Painting ceilings in a flop house - the manager tells me I seem to take an unusual amount of time doing the job. Working in a motel as a night auditor. when I left management showed me several reports that had errors. Towards the end of my job with Millar Elevator my boss told me in an interview that he has caught me more than once staring and not producing. Working in a mental health clinic near the end of my employment internal auditing found a plethora of errors in my billings.
I've come to the realization that on many of my jobs I would finish on time but had to work under pressure to do so. Had I not been daydreaming I could have gotten my work done on time without having last minute pressures.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
I was born
7/17/14
In short time I am sure that anyone reading this blog will realize I have no idea as to what I am doing. I just want a place where I can somewhat chronicle my life but not necessarily in chronological order.
First, let it be known I have always been unable to concentrate on a task. I forget easily(more so now than ever) and have been known to ask someone several times over a span (large or small - I don't know) of time the same question which they have already answered.
I have no idea who my father was. The man who's last name I carry married my mother because she was pregnant. I was born February 24, 1943. Understand 1942-43 was a very different time from now regarding having a baby out of wedlock. Don't know, but, do not believe her family knew she was pregnant until I was born and they were able to do the math. She got married on the day that Grandpa and Grandma had a family picture taken with all of my mother's siblings. She didn't show up at the photographers. Later her picture was taken, and the photographer inserted her into the picture. The photo contained two rows: Top row left to right, Uncle Tom (died of cirrhosis of the liver). Next, Uncle Lawrence(shot down over the water between France and England during the big war and buried in France). Followed by Uncle Harry( the tallest brother and a comic- also died from cancer). Next shown, Grandfather(died of old age) and lastly my Mother, Maribelle (passed away from brain cancer). Bottom row - Aunt Irene( Have to check - she may have died of old age.). Aunt Dorothy(Aunt Dot) (Died from Cancer).Followed by Grandma(died of old age). The last two, Aunt Frances(cancer) and Aunt Ruth(emphysema.)
My Father died when I was three of TB. While I don't remember him I do remember we were living in a hotel and one night looked under the bed, and I saw leg braces. He had polio. I saw a letter he wrote my mother about his being in a foxhole(hospital bed) and that he was going to win the war(beat TB) and they would go and drink at their favorite pub. It was 50 plus years before I realize what was missing from the letter. No mention was made of me. Don't know if this triggered her being an alcoholic or if she already was one. I believe that, during the rest of my life living under her roof, she took care of me as it was her duty, but I never remember anything from the past that indicated she loved me.
In short time I am sure that anyone reading this blog will realize I have no idea as to what I am doing. I just want a place where I can somewhat chronicle my life but not necessarily in chronological order.
First, let it be known I have always been unable to concentrate on a task. I forget easily(more so now than ever) and have been known to ask someone several times over a span (large or small - I don't know) of time the same question which they have already answered.
I have no idea who my father was. The man who's last name I carry married my mother because she was pregnant. I was born February 24, 1943. Understand 1942-43 was a very different time from now regarding having a baby out of wedlock. Don't know, but, do not believe her family knew she was pregnant until I was born and they were able to do the math. She got married on the day that Grandpa and Grandma had a family picture taken with all of my mother's siblings. She didn't show up at the photographers. Later her picture was taken, and the photographer inserted her into the picture. The photo contained two rows: Top row left to right, Uncle Tom (died of cirrhosis of the liver). Next, Uncle Lawrence(shot down over the water between France and England during the big war and buried in France). Followed by Uncle Harry( the tallest brother and a comic- also died from cancer). Next shown, Grandfather(died of old age) and lastly my Mother, Maribelle (passed away from brain cancer). Bottom row - Aunt Irene( Have to check - she may have died of old age.). Aunt Dorothy(Aunt Dot) (Died from Cancer).Followed by Grandma(died of old age). The last two, Aunt Frances(cancer) and Aunt Ruth(emphysema.)
My Father died when I was three of TB. While I don't remember him I do remember we were living in a hotel and one night looked under the bed, and I saw leg braces. He had polio. I saw a letter he wrote my mother about his being in a foxhole(hospital bed) and that he was going to win the war(beat TB) and they would go and drink at their favorite pub. It was 50 plus years before I realize what was missing from the letter. No mention was made of me. Don't know if this triggered her being an alcoholic or if she already was one. I believe that, during the rest of my life living under her roof, she took care of me as it was her duty, but I never remember anything from the past that indicated she loved me.
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