I got a phone call yesterday from the company providing the cover for my patio cover. They said it was ready to iunstall, and I was next on the list, so they wanted to do the installation today—weather permitting, and if it didn’t, maybe on Thursday. The word “weather” there is doing a lot of work there: A tropical low pressure system was going to create stormy weather all over the top of the North Island: Strong winds, heavy rain, surface flooding, all the fun stuff. I admit I kind of laughed when they suggested that, and I thought that even Thursday was questionable. Worse, he said if the team was coming, they’d be here by 9:30am. I don’t do anything at 9:30am.
My sleep on Tuesday night wasn’t particularly restful. I went to bed early, and I set an alarm on my phone to make sure I was up by 8. I kept waking up every hour or so wondering what time it was, and that continued all night. I got a phone call at around 7:30—when I was actually asleep—but no one was there. I thought maybe it was the team letting me know they wouldn’t be here today. I woke up a bot more and was up by around 20 to eight.
I spent some time cathing up on what I missed overnight, just like when I get up at a more civilised hour. Eventually, well after my coffee was gone, it was 9”29, and I stood up and said to Leo, “Well, I guess we can ust get on with our day.” Only a few seconds later, movement on our street caught me eye: It was a ute (“pick-up truck” in Americanese) emblazoned with the company’s logo, and pulling a trailer. They slowed at my house, and continued on dow the street to turn around.
They came back up my street, then backed into my next-door neighbour’s driveway and onto my front lawn. It was pretty awesome, to be honest. By this time I was outside, and the passenger, a young guy who’d been helping the driver back up, said hello, introduced himself and shook my hand. The driver, and older man, came up and did the same. I only realised in that moment tjat handshakes seldom happens anymore.
This team of two was an “older” guy who seemed to be in charge (and, in this case, “older” still means younger than me, by up to 15 years 😳) and a younger guy (probably young enough to be the age of a theoretical grandson 😳) who seemed to be still training. Both were really nice and friendly.
Because I didn’t think they’d actually come today, I didn’t go out in the rain yesterday or this morning to move stuff off of the patio (and out of their way). The guy on the phone call yesterday said the team could help me with that—and they did. Working together, it went quickly.
The guy who seemed to be in charge asked if I had a mower to cut-back the overgrown weeds at the edge of the concrete patio. I knew from experience that my mower wouldn’t cope, so I got my line trimmer instead, and the guy made short work of clearing the weeds from the edges of the concrete patio. The guy did a much better and faster job than I’ve ever done.
Actually, I should say he “cleared the weeds again”, because I’ve done it several times over the past six months, but kikuyu grows so fast you can watch it grow several inches in an hour (not an actual fact). Even so, a small part of me was somewhat embarrassed at the state of it, but it was a very small part: This summer has been days on end of rain or else hot, sunny weather, neither of which are ideal for heavy, physical outside work. It was one of those “it is what it is” moments: After all, I couldn’t teleport into the past to properly deal with the weeds.
They set up their portable scaffolding plank to reach the roof, and the older guy made sure there were no weeds in the guttering (the new roof will cover much of it). I cleared them only a few weeks ago, so there wasn’t much (whew!), and he said they go to some places that are shockingly overgrown. I can imagine. I’m generally pretty good about the gutters because I only need a small step ladder (a couple steps) to be able to reach into the guttering. So, no embarrassment was necessary for that.
Well, mostly done, maybe. While I was on the phone with one of my sisters-in-law, I was looking at the newly finished roof and noticed there seemed to be a protective film still on the final rood panel. The older guy was packing their things away, and the younger guy was rinsing the patio (there was mud and dirt tracked onto it during construction). When he finished I pointed to the film, we both laughed, and he lept up and hung off the frame to try and remove the film. He decided to get a ladder. He came back with the older guy, we all had another laugh about it, and the younger guy lept up again, held and lifted by the older guy, and he eventually got it all off. I stifled the temptation to tell him to enjoy those abilities while he has them, because they won’t last. I didn’t want to be that kind of old man (yes, I’m kidding—mostly).
After the team left, I moved things off the lawn and back under cover, and I realised that some of the outdoor furniture may not be salvageable, possibly having deteriorated too much after some six years in the elements with no maintenance. I’ll definitely see if I can clean them up, of course, but I’m not upset about the prospect of repalcing it all, either.
The table and chairs are specific problems. I think the tabletop is slightly warped, but whether it’s too much to use or not is something I didn’t take the time to work out (it was raining, and I wanted to get the moving of stuff finished). The table frame is fine, and I could easily make a new top, if necessary, but I have no idea how to get rid of the warped one (I always thought that the ability to change the top was a positive benefit). But, what about the chairs? Dunno. I think I can clean them up enough for now, but I don’t know that the chairs can be easily or economically refitted. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, I still have to finish clearing the weeds, but that’ll be easier with the cover in place: It will provide some shelter from the sun and rain. Similarly, repairing the house wall where the old air conditioner was will be much easier with the roof in place—no more waiting for “ideal” weather!
When this particular project entered my timeline, I said it would probably be completed by my birthday. In the end, it was—just—but it’s fine because I wasn’t planning anything for today/tonight, anyway (I’m getting together with some of the family on the much more convenient Friday). So, a project I started months ago was completed today, on my birthday, so I choose to call it a birthday present to myself. If it had been completed earlier, that wouldn’t be true. So, yay for the chips falling in a favourable way! And for the weather (mostly) cooperating.
More important, maybe, I definitely think I made the right choice in the patio cover. And that’s a pretty great gift to myself by itself.
 |
| Before the installation. |
No comments:
Post a Comment