What a day yesterday was!
I ended the day drinking heavily and therefore did not finish my posting.
Yesterday started with the expectation that the garage overhead doors would be installed. When 9:00 am rolled around and it was obvious the overhead door people were not going to be starting early, as expected, I called them. What a surprise!!! We were not only NOT on their schedule for today, but the person I talked with was not sure our doors had even arrived. The lady asked if she could call us back after she did some checking. I was not subtle. I told her that if the doors were not going to be installed today, as scheduled, she needed to have the general manager of the company (Joe) return our call and explain. A few minutes later, Thomas (assistant manager or at least assistant to the manager) called and asked what he could do to make us happy. I was not subtle. Enough said. Bottom line was that Thomas promised the installers would be here this afternoon. I had pretty much given up on them when they showed up around 3:00 pm. They said they would finish before leaving and that might be 9:00 pm tonight. Before I turned in for the night, I left them a bucket of iced beer. This morning, I found the bucket full of empty bottles. They did a nice job.
I really like the direct drive openers as opposed to the openers that hang out in the middle of the garage.
With the doors on, now the electrician can begin the wiring in the garage. Mike said he expected him this afternoon, but he never showed up.
Yesterday morning Eric (solar) came by, as scheduled, to meet us and look at the inverter rack.
He agreed the installation was not acceptable, which alleviated the necessity of my reminding him of the humiliating performance of his company on this project. We agreed that there were two options. First option would be to move the two boxes so that they are centered between the vertical posts. This is what I had assumed they would do. The second option, suggested by Eric, was to leave the boxes where they are and move the right vertical post to the left. I thought that was a great idea and, while either option would be acceptable to us, I preferred moving the post. However, it would have to be accomplished before we poured the slab around the rack since the post has a concrete footing. Don't know when slab will be poured, but hopefully, it will not be long from now. Eric said he would talk with the project manager (Rick) and determine which option would be used. I got a note from Eric today saying he talked with Rick and "we seem to all agree now" and the work is tentatively scheduled for July 8 (three weeks from now). I wrote back saying that, while it is great that we are all in agreement, I still don't know which option they have selected. If they are going to move the post, I will pass on to Mike the projected schedule to see the slab is expected to be poured prior to that date. If they are going to move the boxes, they can do that anytime they wish to be paid the final payment. Eric responded they intended to move the post. I re-emphasized the need to have this done before we pour the slab and we are not willing to delay pouring the slab. I will send Mike a note with the July 8 proposal and see if he thinks the slab will be ready to pour before then.
We also had Mike and Nate show up. They did not do anything, but were there to meet with Bob (cabinetry) and Bob (landscaping). Bob (landscaping) never showed up. Bob (cabinetry) had shown up early and we visited with him before Mike arrived. Bob and T reviewed and discussed the sunroom staining done by Jerry. They agreed it was OK. One of the questions Bob had asked me in a note was whether his company or Mike would do the actual installation work. When Mike arrived, Mike seemed very interested in letting Bob's craftsmen do the installation. Bob said he would go back and look at their schedule. Bob also told us that, on his way to our place, he dropped off the template to the stained glass shop for the bar cabinet doors.
Yesterday, I opened all the new wall sconces we brought home on Monday and assembled all of them to ensure they were not defective. The four new ones look good. I also opened the two replacements we exchanged for defective ones. These had supposedly been checked at the store before they were given to us. Guess what? One was defective. I called and told them I was bringing it back and that I would want to open the next replacement and inspect it before bringing it home. This is what we did and now we finally have all nine exterior wall sconces.
This afternoon, we got a note from Kim (stained glass) saying they had the glass cut and were ready to start putting it together. Before they started however, they wanted us to see it and give them permission to proceed. I showed the photo to T and she liked it. I responded to Kim to proceed with leading it together.
Kim asked if we would be willing, once everything is finished, to permit them to take some promotional photos showing their contributions to our project. We told them we would be proud to allow that.
Some time ago, we told Bob (landscaping) that we may want to put a light post somewhere around the chess board patio. Monday, we got a note from Bob (landscaping) saying that we still needed to decide where to put this post so the electrician could run power to the area. T and I got the landscaping drawing and decided there were two potential locations. I drew these spots on the drawings, sent it out with a note to Bob and discussed with Mike about having the electrician run power to both locations. Mike said he sent my drawings on to Chris (electrician). We never got a response from Bob.
