Perhaps today it will be too foggy.

In preparing to write this I looked back to see when I posted the picture of the 2x4 that held up our house. I was shocked to discover that it was October 1st. A 2x4 has been holding up our house for a quarter of a year. I am dumfounded. To be honest I’m surprised I haven’t woken up to find the 2x4 crashed through the bay window and poking into the dining room. It’s sitting right outside the window…that’s the little tragedy that I see played out in my head when I look at it. I guess that fact that it has remained firmly in place through thunderstorms and gales is just a testament to how much weight the crutch is actually holding up, or alternatively, how much weight my roof is shrugging off its responsibility to hold.

Yesterday was to be the day that the sins of our house construction were to be once again hidden from the casual observer. A nice contractor person was supposed to show up and fix the soffits by the bay window so it would not be necessary to have a 2x4 crutch prop the roof up. We were to become a respectable household once again. Too bad that’s not how it turned out.

To be fair, yesterday it was cold, really butt cold. If the contractor had called us up and said, “Bad news. It’s butt cold out there today and I don’t think quality work will get done when my fingers are frozen.” I would have been sympathetic and agreed. But that’s not what happened. We received no calls. Dawn and I both rearranged our schedules so we could be home during the day to see that the project got started off right and the courtesy of notification was not extended to us, the home owners, who are paying the bill. Instead Dawn had to repeatedly call and try and figure out what the hell was going on, or more to the point, not going on. Eventually we were told that work was not going to start because it was too windy. Too windy? Dawn looked out the window at the still trees and informed the contractor that it was not in fact windy at the job site. No dice. It was too windy.

I don’t understand manufacturing a flimsy excuse when a much more understandable and verifiable one is present. It’s the coldest day in recent history. Nuff said.

Perhaps today they’ll start work on the house. Dawn tried to work from home again, but the ever present threat of meetings may pull her in. I’m at work and clueless as to how ghettofide our house currently is.

I know our neighbors also have a vested interest in our little project. They are getting ready to put their house on the market and would appreciate it if our house did not give the impression that their home construction may in fact required exterior braces to keep from falling to the ground. You and me both.