We arrived at approximately 8:00 a.m. to let Jason into the house to work on the floors. We again dedicated ourselves to working outside, and at first the day was tolerable. Rick worked on caulking the vents in the eaves, and I continued to wash down the drip edge on the roof. I discovered that the person who put the first course of shingles on the Florida room did not know how to measure or to use a chalk line. On the south side of the room, the shingles overlapped the drip edge by the requisite 1.5 inches, but by the time the shingle line reached the north side, the shingles were actually shy of the drip edge by .25 of an inch! Either the room is terribly crooked, the chalk line was way off, or the person who put on that first row was an amateur who drank his lunch.
The sun soon caught up with Rick, so he had to leave the south side of the house before he fell off the ladder. We took a break at about 10:30 by driving to McDonalds. I desperately needed a restroom, and we both needed to get out of the 90+ heat by that time. For $2.14 we each had a small yogurt/fruit parfait and a free glass of water. We cooled off enough to continue our day without serious threat of heat stroke... at least for a while.
A funny side note: yesterday when we were in Home Depot a sales person came up to me and said, "M'am, may I ask you a question? How much do you like your current kitchen cupboards?"
I just laughed and said, "Hey, Rick, how much do we like our kitchen cupboards?"
"We don't have any kitchen cupboards, " Rick said. I thought the salesman was going to fall over.
"None?" he asked. Rick told him that we had just gutted the kitchen so we had no kitchen cupboards.
"Then you are in the market for some new ones, " the young man said.
"Not for another two or three years," Rick said. Again, we got the "these two don't have both oars in
the water" look. We explained that we were only here for a few more weeks and that the steel shelves, a make-shift sink supported by 2x4s, and a microwave on a small counter top will serve us quite well.
The poor sales person just said, "O-Kaaay," and walked onward, trying to get away from the two crazies from Wisconsin who where definitely short a few teacups in their mental cupboards.
After our yogurt break, we returned to the house and started to focus on the overgrown landscape of the back yard. That is where the bruised (ran into and was hit by branches) and bitten (the bugs of Florida have feasted on me since I arrived) took place. We worked until noon and barely made a noticeable difference in how the backyard looked. We decided to go to Publix, a local grocery store, to get one of their delicious sandwiches for lunch. As we walked into the market, we ran into Mike Paliquin, a man that Rick worked with during his days in the printing industry. We knew that Mike lived in Dunedin, but we did not expect to see him so soon. Turns out that we live only about .5 to .75 miles from where he lives, and his children all attended school in our neighborhood. Rick and Mike would have talked forever if I had not finally mentioned that I was dying of starvation.
Mike said that he teaches international marketing part time at three different colleges in the area, and he urged me to apply at St. Petersburg College. He also said that online opportunities were available at one of the colleges, so that may be something that I have to investigate further if I feel the need to do so later.
We worked until about 2:00 p.m. on the yard, and at the end of that time, we had cleared just a little area in one corner of the back yard. We actually have about four trees we should take down. I hate to think of doing so not only because of the expense but also because of the shade we will sacrifice. However, the tree closest to the house is dangerous (brittle and leaning toward the house) and the others are called pepper trees which are nuisance trees. The trees will be spared for at least one more year. They can thank the lack of money for their reprieve.
One unsettling discovery was one rotting small tree that seemed to be crawling with termites. It is far from the house, but we will have to use care in disposing of it so that we do not get the little critters anywhere near our currently termite-free house.
Other discoveries included a large brown bottle with some sort of syrupy brown liquid inside. Rick would have smelled it, but I was not that curious. I also found one squashed soda can, one half-buried cement bowl that might be an inverted small birdbath, one perfectly good paving block, and one really funky green plant that is bordered in deep purple. I really need to get a book on Florida plants and animals. I have no idea if anything (other than the Mother-in-law's tongue) are poisonous or will give me a terminal rash. If any of the plants are illegal or could be sold for profit in a seedy part of town, I also do not have a clue about that. I just know that the garden has been neglected but the overgrown state is a blessing in disguise. The neighbor behind us had grass that is at least knee high in the back, so I am glad that I have vegetation to block our view of his own personal little yard of horrors.
Rick and I return to the hotel each evening so beat that we barely have time to check e-mail before we crawl into bed. As I type this, I can hear the TV which almost -- but not quite -- drowns out the sound of Rick snoring.
Gladys has undergone a tremendous change in the last three weeks, although from the outside not much seems to be changed. We are bruised, bitten, and battered, but Gladys slowly but surely is beginning to respond to the pampering.
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