Afternoon everyone ….
Lots and lots to cover today. This week was extremely busy for me. On both a business level and personal level.
Where to start….
I guess I’ll start from the beginning of the week. So Monday morning I get a call from the people I’m doing the kitchen for. The contractor they hired to take down the load bearing wall backed out of the job. He left an envelope in their door, that they found Sunday.
It was a check for the amount of the deposit they gave him. It also had a contract termination letter with it.
They are frantic with me on the phone, practically begging me for help. I made no promises, but told them I would try to find someone for them. Every contractor that I know and trust is swamped, just like I am. But I made the calls anyway. I got lucky on my third call. Why? Because the weather forecast on Thursday was non stop heavy rain. This is a 100% inside job other then taking tools and debris outside.
Score….
Obviously the homeowners were ecstatic.
Tuesday was my girls sons 12th birthday, so I had shit to get done for that still on Monday. I also had to meet the plumber at the bathroom job to go over what needed to be done.
Well…
After spending over an hour going over everything that needed to be done I left to take care of my stuff. As I pulled into the parking lot of a supply house I got a call from those homeowners.
Their plumber gave them an estimate of $4,700 for the work. That’s an insane amount for that work. The job should be between $2,800-$3,200. I told them it was very high in my opinion. He was still at their house and I heard her tell her husband it was high. After a few minutes I could hear through the phone the plumber said that’s the price.
I said it’s your plumber, it’s up to you. I left it at that.
Tuesday I had a topographical survey done on my property to get my paperwork in order for my engineer to submit for my NJDEP approval for my shop addition. I also had two tree services come to give me estimates on the five trees I need removed for the addition.
Had to be at my girls by 5, for her sons birthday dinner.
Wednesday I had an 8am meeting with my engineer to go over all the paperwork and sign all the forms. That took several hours. During the meeting my phone kept vibrating with calls and texts.
Checking my phone once I got to my truck. It was the homeowner of the bathroom job. They didn’t sign the contract with their plumber, and were looking for my help. Unfortunately both of my plumbers are working twelve hour days to keep up with their workload. Hell I’ve been waiting over a month for something from him at my own house. So I’m at a standstill till they find one.
I spent the rest of the day picking up supplies for my next job since Thursday was all rain.
Thursday was my girls moms birthday. I was requested to cook her favorite dishes. That meant her favorite soup as a starter chicken avgolemono. Which is a Greek soup, it’s a nice starter. I learned to make it authentically but my ex-wife’s aunt Penelope. For those that have never heard of it, it’s a chicken soup with lemon and Arborio rice. It’s fairly thick between the starch of the rice and the eggs that get tempered in. Her main dish choice was a chicken dish that I make. It’s chicken with sliced sun dried tomatoes, baby portobello mushrooms sliced, garlic, shallots and baby spinach in a fresh parmigiano reggiano cream sauce, served over bow tie pasta. I also made fresh garlic bread.
This is why I made the mistake of powering up my Leo early. I saw a post with the thumbnail LPUD and did mine. Oops
Everything went well that night. I thought I took pictures of both dishes but I only took one of the soup.
How does it look 
Friday I went to check on the kitchen job. They had the wall down and were finishing off the drywall when I was there. Things were finally getting done.
My girls son had a half day of school, so she took the day off from work. I wasn’t far away from her so I stopped by. Her son wanted to go to the local farm for Halloween stuff. It’s a beautiful local farm that been in business for nearly a decade, still family owned.
Here are some pics of their stand.
We did pizza for dinner and had a quiet night.
Saturday I was at the gym early just after 5am. One of the guys I used to frequently lift with asked me to come by and look at his stairs.
He has paver stone stairs and the bullnose bricks keep lifting when you step on them. It’s only two stairs, but nearly every block was loose. I ended up pulling them all off, scrapping off all the old adhesive, cleaned the base blocks. Then wire brushed it all and put down all new adhesive.
We had a few Stella’s afterwards.
Now that’s all for my #sublimesunday post.