Murphy's law

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Monday

7:45 – I take the 3 minute drive over to the condo. 

8:30 -- the two installers arrive.  Fabio, from Brazil, and another guy from Cuba who is a bit older, wiser, but does not speak much English.

8:55 -- I am back at the motorhome.

9:30 – I get a call from Fabio, he needs to show me something…

9:40 – I arrive, the carpet is up in the living room, the bedroom has much of the large furniture.  Fabio has a meter is his hand.  In many spots of the living room the meter is showing 85% moisture reading…along the outer walls it is more like 20%.  “IF” they try to put the glue down on the floor, within 3-5 months there is a likelihood that we will have vinyl tiles coming unglued…not good.

10:30 – I head back to the motorhome, call the salesman…he is having a colonoscopy and has to head over to the hospital at noon.  The installer has convinced me that the best thing is to change over to Vinyl Planks, which have a underlayment which is moisture proof.  The salesman puts in the change order as I head back to the condo.

11:00 – Fabio is on the phone with the moisture specialist.  They talk about how the readings are very high, including in the bedroom where they have cleared most of the carpet. 

11:15 – After hearing much of the conversation, we decide that the floor needed to be treated with a moisture resistant compound, and it would need to be grinned to give the compound something to stick to.

11:45 – I get the price for the moisture compound, the grinding, the underlayment…another $2.50 per sq. ft.   Thank goodness it is a small condo and we are only dealing with 40% of the total square feet.

12:00 – The installers head to Tampa (hour away) to pick up the sealer, I go back to the motorhome.

2:00 – Talk to Fabio, he is still at the distribution center but nearly ready to leave. 

2:15 – Talk to a manager who needs to confirm that I know, understand, and agree to the extra charges.

2:45 – I head back to the condo.

3:30 – Installers come back.

5:30 – I am back at the motorhome, installers have left.  They have grinned the floor and laid down the goop on the floor.  We turned the A/C down to 70 degrees.  With about 1/3 of the living room done I notice the sliding door is open, so Fabio takes off his shoes and walks through the goop in his soaks to close and lock the door.  I am sure he tosses the socks away.

    

    

Tuesday

Can’t do anything until the goop dries.  I do go by after Marcia and I enjoy a nice dinner at Rusty Bellies in Tarpon Springs…my first time there.  It was GOOD!  I had the ‘E. Sea Rider’ -- Skewers of grilled shrimp and grilled sea scallops with a grilled fillet of Salmon with a Caesar Salad and Broccoli Carrot mix.  Marcia had the ‘Rusty's Pot Belly’ -- Steamed shrimp, oysters, clams, mussels, and a snow crab cluster. Corn and potatoes are in the pot, but she did not eat them, and brought some of the seafood home.  She too had a Caesar Salad.  Earlier in the day we took Bubba to our new Vet, just a mile down the road from condo.  Skruffy has gone here since she has been a Service Dog for her shots and county license.  Bubba has a bacteria infection again around his mouth.  Dr. Jennifer was great, and she said she has been treating another Cocker who has it worse than Bubba.  7 days of antibiotics, and special medicated wipe along with a prescribed powder.  When I can get to my clippers again, I need to cut the hair lower around his mouth…Bubba can’t wait for that!  He tried to nip Dr. Jennifer a few times as she probed his mouth with her tongue stick…but she is fast, and she said his teeth are looking fine, just the flaps alongside his mouth.

Wednesday

7:30 – I head back to the Condo. 

8:00 – still no Fabio and co-worker. (I cannot pronounce the co-workers name, let alone try and spell it!) 

8:15 – Fabio calls and is leaving Tampa with the flooring. 

9:45 – Installers arrive.

9:55 – It is determined that the flooring goop is still to wet.  We turn down A/C to 65, put the ceiling fan on high, put a box fan blowing over it.  They unload all the flooring so at least I won’t have to wait for Tampa traffic next time they drive up here.

10:30 – Back at motorhome, paid for two more days.  I doubt the work will be able to done until Friday now.  With my luck, they will do it tomorrow, and we will be out of the park by nightfall, paying for a night we end up not using.