The roofers are finishing off the store roof repairs. The next-to-last owner had put on a good metal roof but really cheaped out when it came to the Dutch Gutters. The flashing that was installed was no where near the correct kind and ten years of rot had taken their toll. All of the fascia boards needed to be replaced.
I thought that I had purchased more than enough but I was about 60' short. I will be in town tomorrow camped out on Builders Alliance's front door waiting for them to open at 8:00AM. I was already in town this evening looking at Home Depot and Lowes but neither of them had 2X10 #1 Cedar Fascia board. The had something that they claimed was #1 Cedar but it was crap. Abject junk.
There is another thirty years left on the metal part of the roof. The membrane the roofers are putting on will have at least a 30 year life, I need to have the fascia boards have a 30 year life as well...
The joke is that the B.A. #1 Cedar is about $4/lin. foot and the Lowes and Home Depot crap was about $3.50/lin. foot for wood so knotty and punky I could stick my pocket knife into parts.
I then run back to the store so the painters can prime and paint the new wood while the roofers are working on the existing new fascia and installing downspouts.
One of our employees has a child care problem so she needs to be gone by 11:00AM (the shift generally ends at 2:00PM) and our evening person has a relative staying with them undergoing radiation therapy and she needs to be at the hospital for her treatment -- I will need to spend about four hours running the till.
I do well with people on a day to day basis but not so well in a production environment. I love music but never was comfortable performing. I get the classic "deer in the headlights" look and make mistakes.
Finally, Jen, who was supposed to be out backpacking until next Sunday, gave me a call this evening from Winthrop, WA. She had gotten turned around and when she discovered her error, decided to pack out and go home. She could have continued but with her delays, she would have extracted two days after the scheduled day. I will give one day leeway but if she was not back by the evening of the 28th, I would have called out Search and Rescue. Her best time would have put her at the extraction point at the afternoon of the 29th.
I will be driving out there and picking her up (not that I am complaining, Winthrop is a gorgeous little town) and bringing her back that same evening as I have some maintenance people showing up at the house Tuesday morning to finish the installation of our new cooktop.
And this is supposed to be a bucolic life of idyll leisure?
What with all the boards and committees I am on (Jen is a lot smarter in that regard) and the day-to-day operation of the store, the building, our own 30 acres of farm with critters plus whatever I sneak in edgewise for photography, blacksmithing and music... I am busier now than when I was living in Seattle and working full-time at Microsoft.
I am loving it a lot more though. A lot... LOT! more...
I am actually doing hands-on stuff that has a direct impact on people's lives. Being on the Chamber board helps to promote the other business in this area and through this, we help each other out. Rising tide lifts all boats. Being on the Water Co-op board helps to guarantee a safe supply of drinking water for our local community. Being on the broadband committee and the Foundation will help bring broadband and a low power FM station to all of the community.
This is Community Organization; not arranging bank loans and tax "advice" for pimps who want to set up brothels staffed with teenagers from El Salvador...
