Fence is mostly what I see from my workstation window. Jane sees a lot too. Jane’s eyes are really sensitive to brightness, and I think she has a strong point—if that fence is too light, we’ll be sorry.
So—that’s the story. It’s not the cheapest fence out there — what we have that’s falling down with time and the elements is that. But it’ll be far, far, far more soundproof, the gates will work without us having to jack them with a mattock blade to swing the big one. We are keeping the big gate because we do use it for access to the old drive, which adjoins the patio—former Shejicon attendees will recall it as the site where we hung dastardly Pegleg Pete….and occasionally to protect one of our cars while we work in the garage on some project, we bring it in. It’s a convenience we don’t want to lose.
And we’re making progress on the round tu its…
Got the whole yard preened now; going to take some stuff to the local teen rehab charity: they run a thrift store. WE sit within 10 blocks of 3 of them, and a recycler is within 20. So we are on a clear it out mission.
Have they set a date when they’re going to start the installation, or have they already done so?
I started on a few things in the yard on Tuesday, since it was in the 60s and I could get them done. Got the old roses pruned way back and got most of the dead canes taken off, pruned some branches on the trees that keep poking me in the forehead or the back of the head when I’m mowing the lawn, or just walking across the yard.
Yesterday was all snow and temperatures dropping. Sometime just after midnight, power went off and on a couple of times, I hope it was not due to ice on the lines. Today is supposed to be sunny and still cold, so the snow we got yesterday (about 2 inches) will still be here. Tomorrow’s temperatures are supposed to be in the low 50s, so the snow “might” be gone. I’m not going out to run the snow blower on sidewalks and drives today, since the layer is so thin on most drives. The majority of the snow that stuck is on grasses, bushes, and of course, the cover for my hot tub.
While siccing The Goat on our overgrown yard, I discovered that the recent rains first made a plague of gnats, which then became a plague of spiders. Normally I don’t mind spiders, having a rather live and let live policy towards them (unlike DH, whose first reaction to them is “Kill it with fire!!!1!”), but they were everywhere: draping every overhanging branch in our yard, the carport, the potted plants, the trash cans, the outside chairs and table, things waiting to go to recycling… you get the idea. Having to dodge crab spiderwebs every couple of feet while mowing, or make a preemptive swipe with a broom, takes some of the fun out of gardening. I only hope that the proliferation of spiders makes a dent in the gnat and now mosquito population.
WE haven’t even gotten the cost estimate from HD yet. Sigh.
THe cost estimate came in a third higher than we thought. Aaagh.
But…it’s what needs to be done, or we face doing it again in a few years.
I wonder why it was such a drastic difference…..I’d ask HD what the hell? Did you send out your worst estimator for this job because it was two women who have the project? I’d be just a bit disturbed, and I’d be asking for a better breakdown of materials, labor, etc., from them in this case.
I don’t recall what the usual deviation from the estimate is, but I recall years ago in Ohio, my professor (who was working on his law degree) said that Ohio law stated that if the actual costs were more than 40% over the estimated costs, then there was something fishy and you MIGHT be able to force the contractor to reduce their costs….Not being a lawyer, I would not really know.
Uhmmm…. Why only one estimate? Are there no fencing companies other than HD? Private fencing concerns are often more prompt, more efficient and more economical than hardware concerns.
There’s only one supplier of the fence in our region.
It’s not the install that’s the cost over-run. It’s the supplies. The nit-picking little fasteners, as opposed to panels and posts.
and those nit-picking little fasteners should have been included in the estimate…..you know, so many fasteners per foot of fence @ such-and-such a cost……methinks the estimator was not using his brain…..I’d lodge a complaint with HD, or whoever is contracting this job, and let them know you do NOT appreciate the “omission”. If they left off the fasteners, what else have they left off?
If they’re going to send someone out to do an estimate on a job, and that person does what your estimator apparently did, they’re going to have some dissatisfied customers. Yes, the job has to get done, but if they treated you and Jane that way, I think they deserve to catch a bit of flak back.
Of course, it’s probably not going to work in your favor if they resist, since you said there was only one supplier of the fence in your region, and that’s a killer, since they can charge whatever the market will bear. It just kind of irritates me that they pulled a stunt like that……kind of like, “Oh, we’re sorry we forgot to put the timing belt back on your engine. That’ll be another $750 for a belt, the labor, and any parts we might have to replace because our mechanic was incompetent.”
After sticker shock like that, I might give serious consideration to telling HD that their upping of the estimate made it necessary for us to save up a few months longer before we could consider putting in the new fence. Then hit a few other contractors and see if you couldn’t find something equally as nice for less. How attached are you to this style of fence (bearing in mind that yes, the current fence is likely to fall over in the next good wind)?
Well, basically the installer gives us the installation estimate, and that has to be added to the supplies estimate. That was the shocker.
We can still do it. We HAVE to do it. The fence won’t go another year. And this one has a 20 year guarantee, which would mean we never have to do it again when we’re worse off for money. Just—ow. Really ow. We’re just going to do it, and, the good news for you guys, I’m going to write some more short stories until we can pay the difference. At least I can do that, which is a happy thing.
Stories are welcome, short or long.
I am (finally!) on the mend toward resuming my former reading habits, at least for fiction. I’ve read an hour or two several nights for the past two weeks. This is still not quite up to picking up a novel and reading it in sessions until done, or, in the case of some, knowing I have to havve continguous time, because I’ll read that way without much coming up for air, until I’ve finished the book. Aside from necessary things like eating and perhaps sleeping when no longer able to hold my eyes open to read. Heh. — Like my first-ever reads of several CJC books. Sleep? Who needs sleep? What happens next?! 🙂
But I’ve always liked short story anthologies too, and separately or together, short stories are wonderful. (I should reread Visible Light.)
The Foreigner shorts were very good, and any other series (or new idea) you might have lying around waiting to be written would be most welcome. Like that series. Or that one. Or that new thing over yonder…. Ici, là, là-bas, plus loin….
On that note, I’d read that Patty Briggs has a short story collection in the works, but I don’t know what stage it’s in toward completion, editing, and publication. It sounded very good, though.
Jane is probably quite occupied with her current novel, or I’d say shorts from her are also quite welcome. They are anyway, but I notice she tends to over-commit with great enthusiasm and get bogged down with too many irons in the fire. Not that I’d be familiar with that problem….
Writing by Lynn, also welcome.
I still recall the fun Catfantastic anthologies back in the 80’s, cats and SF&F. Or there are stories historical…. Aw, heck, I’m easy. 😀
I could also say I really enjoyed Seeking North, and wonder what else is going on there, how it will turn out for Deke and the rest.
Thanks! It went in so many different directions, and life intervened—it’s kind of like access to a writer’s scrapbook. Bits and bobs.