30 November 2007

The Trench

Remember Willi? He'd promised me that he would dig the trenches for the electricity and plumbing out to the studio. Willi turned out to be the kind of guy who would say, "I'm on my way", at 7:30 in the morning and at 11:30 would say, after several phone calls assuring me that he was still on his way, "You know, it looks like it's going to rain. We'll have to make it another day." I cannot tell you how many mornings I spent waiting for him, always kicking myself that I'd fallen for his game again. I should have just walked around with a sign on my butt saying, "Kick Me." Anyway, he finally showed up in a brand-new back hoe with an enclosed cab, air conditioning and a CD player. He told me how much it cost but I can't remember now except that it was a lot.

So he dug the trench for the electric, the remnants of which is what you can see running to the front of the studio. Then he dug the trench for the plumbing which ran along the west side of the studio and around back.

I was too busy with whatever I was helping him with and doing on my own to take pictures or stand over him to watch what was happening but suddenly, with a few tasks still unfinished, I saw him pulling out the driveway. I walked over and asked him what was up. "Are you leaving?" He said, "It's 1:30. I've got to go." And he was gone with his new back hoe in a flash.

Later that evening, I was doing the dishes, looking out the window and thought, wait a minute... Do you remember Highlights for Children? My favorite part of that magazine was the puzzle in which you had to look at two similar picture drawings and figure out what from the first drawing was missing in the second. Take a look at the bottom edge of the roof line. Does something look funny? Yes, half of the gutter is missing.

Here's what happened. Willi was probably not used to his new piece of equipment and I'm not exactly sure how, but he took a chunk out of the front corner of the roof and completely tore apart the front end of the gutter. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it. Naturally, rain was on the way. So I went next door for Aubrey who helped me stuff and cover it with plastic. This I should really have taken a picture of but you'll have to use your imagination.

As it turns out, the damage was mostly to the fascia and soffit which were both pretty easily replaced along with one or two roof tiles. Needless to say, I never heard from Willi again. The coward.

1 comment:

Lisa B. said...

Oh, I cringe for you now, but soon, you'll be in a really cool studio, and I'll still be in my basement!

I'm drooling over your new studio! (There's a tarp over it, right?)