Sunday, July 4th
Building permit: check! Meeting with logger dude and picking Lou's brain: check, check! Meeting with Pickle: no check...
Let me preface this by saying that if you are a contractor and you are difficult to contact or meet in the planning stages, then you lose credibility and respect quickly. Just like Fishy, Pickle was so easy to contact when we first met him. Heck, he even called at least once a week for a while 'just to check in.' Three weeks ago I called Pickle to set up a meeting to walk through a few of his contracted houses. He was in Texas for a couple of weeks training. Okay, we understand. We wait. After he returns, we get back in touch with him and set up a day to meet. I call him the day of the meeting in the morning (9:30am), left a message, only to be called back that afternoon (2:06pm) while I am in a meeting with Fishy (more on that in a minute) and cannot answer, so I call Pickle back 15 minutes later (2:21pm) and leave a message. Note -- we were suppose to meet him sometime after 4:30pm but no idea where. Do you know when he returned my call? ...8:15pm...seriously?! Saying that his phone didn't show any missed calls (that's fine, I understand, cellphones suck at times) but realized that he had voicemail messages. Why, if you knew you were meeting someone at 4:30pm, you would wait until 8:15pm to check your messages is beyond me. I have emailed him four dates that Noel and I are available over the next two weeks, so we'll try again at some later date. Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.
On a much better note, I met with Fishy on Thursday to give him our plans for a bid. (Noel was at work and couldn't make it.) Fishy's communication skills greatly improved that day. (Sounds like something from How the Grinch Stole Christmas...'and his heart grew three sizes that day.' Rest in peace Dr. Suess.) He promptly returned my call to set up a meeting time and place, and he was early to our meeting. Watch out! He went through the plans, and we discussed materials. I wish I could upload the plans to this blog, but I am either severely blog-challenged or it's just not possible. The main focal point in the house is a big fireplace in the living room. Noel and I had discussed using real vs. faux stone, so I asked Fishy about the cost difference. Real stone is about triple the price of faux. Jaw drop! Faux it is, then! We, however, are going to get a second opinion from a mason we know. Fishy said it'll probably take a couple of weeks for him to finish a bid.
Noel met with the logger dude from Jolley Brothers Logging in Shelbyville (with an A+ BBB rating, AWESOME!) on Tuesday, who showed some interest in a few trees on our hill. He said he might not be able to get to them by September, when we'd like to start building, but we'll just play it by ear. The Jolley logger dude told Noel that we could cut down the trees, borrow his trailer, and haul them to the lumber yard ourselves. That way we would not have to take a 50/50 profit split with him. (Hysterical laughter...) Thanks but no thanks!
We are getting a jump start on appliances. A very large bundle of joy arrived for us today from Home Depot, our deep freezer!! We knew we'd need a place for Jelly and Bean, the two Black Angus steers currently fattening up in my parents' field. It's an upright, 13.2 cubic ft, auto-defrosting, Energy star, GE freezer. I almost squealed when the Home Depot boys delivered it! That's how you know you're getting old, when a deep freezer excites you. Can you pass the A-1, please?
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