My construction chief, Mike, did a bit of upselling during the project as part of what he does is renovate dated businesses, such as a nearby hotel. Buildings become run down quickly in the searing temps and ferocious sand storms, so upkeep often includes renovation. Mike suggested that I change out all of the door hardware as I literally had a set of keys to fit the 4 different locks on the doors without adding the new one. It was expensive, but I upgraded to Schlag high security locks and all of the doors/screens now have the same key. Mike is also urging me to let his man paint the kitchen cabinets, but I really cannot afford that project right now as I still have to buy paint to repaint areas in both my bedroom and the adjoining bath once the plaster fixes are finished. I also have all of the purchases for the project on a special project card and it, too, needs to be paid. And, I have to finish painting the guest room as I've only finished 3 walls.
Mike knows how to do most of the jobs himself, but he hires local workers and trains them to do the work as part of his crew. Thus, Christian built the redwood deck (and it is perfect), while Ephrain does all the painting projects and Pablo works wonders with wallboard and plaster, but all of them also cross train so they work on all projects as a crew. They were a well-oiled machine as they removed windows, prepped the space, set the new windows in, leveled them, caulked them, and moved to the next opening. Amazing job.
Mike found a hummingbird in my living room the first day, but we cannot figure how it got into the house. The only nearby entrance was the open garage door, but it would have had to take an erratic flight path to make it to that spot. Mike looked like a little boy as he captured the bird so gently and then carried it back to the front yard. Mia found her way outside several times, but we realized quickly when she was gone and went whistling for her. The good news is that she comes better now when I whistle for her than she ever did in the past.
I also called the police on a man who came to the door to ask me about my alarm service. What he wanted to know was if it was active or shut off, claiming that he worked for my alarm company and they were doing a survey and a test in the neighborhood. I told him that if he represented MY alarm company, he already knew the answer to that question and also told him that his claim that the company was going to do a "test" in the area was bogus. I called my alarm company, who said he was not an employee and that they never do any sort of "test" because they work one/one with the customer. I then called the police and explained to them that he never said he was selling systems, my alarm company told me he is not employed by them, and that he could just as easily be casing the neighborhood for future crimes. Believe it or not, 3 cars responded!!He'll probably be back one night to tell me how much he appreciated my calling him on his lies, so let's hope the Schlag locks live up to their name.
Pablo will be back later today to do the outside stucco repairs, while I finish grading the final papers for the comp class and watch some football. I've baked fresh cookies each day for the crews doing the work, but held some back for Pablo's coffee break today. All in all, this has been a great project (once it finally began) and I'm glad that I set the wheels in motion. I don't have the money to do the shower, so don't know when/if that will be done, but it's next on the list.
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