Ever been a pinata at your own party?
I have... today.
Since I laughed at Cowboy's passing the gods have not been kind. I acknowledge that and have made amends. Cowboy still is working overtime to make certain that I learn this lesson, and hard.
After a minor flooding rain last night, I awoke to no Internet service. It wasn't restored until almost 6pm. That was mostly OK since I had other troubles to attend to.
We are scheduled to close on our mortgage REFI on Wednesday, and it struck me as odd that I have heard nothing from anyone about when, where, how much, etc. So I called the numb skull loan officer. The conversation went something like this. Oh yeah, I've been meaning to call you. We can't close the loan because....
So we walk through all his becauses. Finally, oh I see the supporting documentation is here on my desk, and I misplaced it. I'll walk the paperwork through underwriting. We probably can't close until next week though. Then I reminded him that we had the same conversation a week ago. Didn't ring a bell.
Next was the driveway. Humans don't live this way, but sometimes we do. Since the drive washed away Mrs. T and I have been playing a little game. We have had her car towed to the other side of the break, and we drive my car to her car, switch, then reverse the process when we arrive at home. Dumb, but effective.
Who do you call to fix something like this? I haven't a clue, so I started with road people. No, not them. Excavators? Excavators are really cool guys, but it turns out they are doers not thinkers. Give them a set of plans they'll do it, but figure it out themselves, no way.
I have... today.
Since I laughed at Cowboy's passing the gods have not been kind. I acknowledge that and have made amends. Cowboy still is working overtime to make certain that I learn this lesson, and hard.
After a minor flooding rain last night, I awoke to no Internet service. It wasn't restored until almost 6pm. That was mostly OK since I had other troubles to attend to.
We are scheduled to close on our mortgage REFI on Wednesday, and it struck me as odd that I have heard nothing from anyone about when, where, how much, etc. So I called the numb skull loan officer. The conversation went something like this. Oh yeah, I've been meaning to call you. We can't close the loan because....
So we walk through all his becauses. Finally, oh I see the supporting documentation is here on my desk, and I misplaced it. I'll walk the paperwork through underwriting. We probably can't close until next week though. Then I reminded him that we had the same conversation a week ago. Didn't ring a bell.
Next was the driveway. Humans don't live this way, but sometimes we do. Since the drive washed away Mrs. T and I have been playing a little game. We have had her car towed to the other side of the break, and we drive my car to her car, switch, then reverse the process when we arrive at home. Dumb, but effective.
Who do you call to fix something like this? I haven't a clue, so I started with road people. No, not them. Excavators? Excavators are really cool guys, but it turns out they are doers not thinkers. Give them a set of plans they'll do it, but figure it out themselves, no way.
Mrs. T's BF has a sister who is a civil engineer. She spent some time over the weekend with us attempting to formulate a solution. It's perfect if I want the Taj Mahal of driveways. So now she has a friend coming over. He'll know exactly what to do. It's gonna take permits, and time, and ....
Finally, we had dinner with our dutch uncle. He asked our view of the world, and shared his. By the end of dinner I felt like I was back in school on my way to visit the dean of discipline. My world view is uncharacteristically pessimistic, and frankly I am unhappy with myself for feeling this way. "What the hell are you so optimistic about", were his final words.
I'm just gonna crawl into bed. Tomorrow is another day.
Toad
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9 comments:
Yikes-- may be time for a drawbridge over that moat.
I recently had to rebuild the overflow drainage system for our pond, so I faced a similar problem -- compounded by the fact that a charming pair of river otters had built a large den in the earthen dam that supports one side of the pond.
I found that while there are a lot of people who claim to be able to fix such things (think "good-old-boys-with-large-machines"), what you really want is someone whose business is described like this: "Utility Work, Road Building, Grading, Excavating, Class A Contractor."
(And you'll want a fixed price contract.)
Your driveway. How terrible. Of course, some people would be tickled at the beginnings of a moat.
Oy. Sorry Toad. To quote Gilda Radner upon hearing the news of her ovarian cancer...."It's always something!".
If I lived closer, I'd come over and repair the drive.LFG and I would enjoy the dough.
So the engineers come, and bring a contractor. Being a spillway, if you're not careful it quickly becomes an EPA issue, or Army Corps of Engineers. The Ancient was absolutly correct, and perhaps we can leave it at an union issue. Apparantly money can solve my problem.
Driveway should become passable by the end of the week, and work beginning early July.
Focus on the good Toad, focus on the good...wisdom from another, and probably more notable, ancient.
As soon as this full moon thing passes I think your situations will change ;)
I had this once and I just laid some new pipe and filled in with sand - but that was CT and 25 years ago. I couldn't do this now.
Good luck sir.
Thank you for all the good wishes. I'd forgotten the full moon.
I like your car solution--we are currently in exile from the Square due to a bridge out between the end of our street and the next. Luckily our office is on our side, but the high school is not. Josh has to go to summer school, and I have seriously considered parking a car at his best friend's house on the other street and walking through the woods to use it when I need to go that way. After just three days of this driving around Potter's Pea Patch in rush hour traffic, it's looking like a better idea all the time.
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