Of course something had to come along to fuck everything up. On Monday an inspector from the Fire Department came and demanded to check out the boiler. Now we weren't there and our employee is instructed to play dumb and not give up the key or any information. Now this infuriated the Russian asshole who started yelling at her and threating a $5000 fine. So she was shitting green. But she did the right thing and got him to leave. I called up later to make an appointment for Friday afternoon which was as far as I could extend it.
Now the reason he couldn't go downstairs is that the cellar is a fucking mess. When Omar and his merry band of Bengali cab drivers were redoing the back store they just threw everything down the cellar. And they were fucking pigs. They left coffee cups and soda bottles and wrappers all over the place. Plus I had a bunch of stuff piled up there.
So he sent over one of his workers Yusef who is a Muslim from deepest darkest Africa. Nice guy. He doesn't have to worry that his parents are going to claim that he is not black. He's not worried about that. I think he is just worried that they don't out him as a cannibal as he had shaved down teeth.
The goal was to take everything off the two oil tanks that had shit piled all over them. They had the coffee cups and sandwich shit and other stuff on them and other shit piled on top. It was a lot of work.
The problem for me is that I am not a lazy asshole. I shouldn't have been down the cellar with all the dust and the toxins. I have a heart condition. But I had to direct the guy on where to put everything and supervise while he cleaned. He stirred up a lot of dust and dirt and my Michael Jackson mask might not have been enough protection.
You see Lisa figured out I was not around for an hour and went to front of the stairs and yelled for me. When she saw all the dust she started yelling at me for being down there. She is still yelling at me. She enlisted everyone in the family to yell at me.
But I got it done. No fine on my watch. Another problem solved. There will be another one tomorrow.
15 comments:
I ran up against the inspectors this summer. The town was easy to work with. The county...not so much. Got it straightened out in the end. The final inspector was the cousin of a couple of guys I used to work for, so we started talking about that, and I knew it was in the bag. GOB (good ol' boy) network is great when it goes your way.
Holy cow.
Sign up Yusef to clear out the garden area and you can both get some fresh air.
The mess o' pipes and valves is impressive, as is the result of the clean up project.
Good idea but we might be moving so I am not going to pay to have it cleaned up. I don't know what I am going to do yet.
Moving? Across town or across the country?
...so I am not going to pay to have it cleaned up
Then make it about paying to enjoy the good feeling of walking outdoors into a semi-ordered place that feels and functions like a small sanctuary.
Given the pace you two keep up, every little bit helps. And if you are thinking about moving on top of two big projects to increase revenue, double up on the plans for self care.
My mom said moving was like having a baby. Having done both twice, I'd say she was right.
Good job, Trooper. Once the inspectors find something in your place, they'll be back again, soon.
When I was a home builder, I was a fanatic about code compliance. I'd inspect everything before the inspector went through. My jobs NEVER failed an inspection, except for one guy. He'd spend hours, if necessary, crawling through the roof trusses with engineering drawings looking for the smallest defect. I finally asked him what the hell he was doing and he told me that he as a reputation, and he has to find something wrong with every job, no matter what.
We agreed that thereafter I'd make sure the lateral bracing wasn't installed on the third truss in from the garage side of the house. He could do a quick inspection, find the defect and move on, reputation intact. Worked like a charm for years.
Haz ... your "technique" of always leaving a simple defect to satisfy aggressive inspectors is similar to always leaving a small detail untended to for Sales & Use Tax Auditors. We always left the publications bought, or acquired otherwise, out of state un-reported for use tax purposes...and they always found it, cited it, and moved on. We then paid that use tax and avoided more debates on issues about what items are exempt and what are not, from both sides of all transactions. Those crews had a goal of at least $4500 in errors to discover and the publication use tax covered that without causing us to pay more than we would normally have paid anyway. We had 90 days to appeal or resolve, so it was easy.
On the subject of Shopkeepers, New Shops, and Inspectors:
The Infamous PI know as Spin received mention today on the new blog, Pansies for Plato started by the "Turdley" commenter, poet and ray of sunshine known as Squeeky, who also set up the Oop (in the 26 million comments thread) in a smooth move that prompted the other "I" (now commenting as I.Annie) to unwittingly provide the lead-in for the intro to the blog. The whole thing was and is well-done, in the style and tone of jesting chirbit style. Slightly similar, in fact, to the approach of one who engaged in Garden Commentary, before his own went to weeds.
Pansies for Plato also uses the art of John Collier, of Lady Godiva Fame which includes nubile babes, giant leaps, tits and leopard skins, again bringing to mind the art used by TY in his prehistoric, pre-millennial mode, testifying to something good tickling fancies and rubbing off, if not enduring through time, famine, drudgery and pestilence.
Mama - Reading your comment above led me to the 26 million comments topic at Turley's blog, which them led me to Sqeeky's nascent blog. I left a small comment there, though I doubt that I'll return either to Turley's or Squeeky's blogs. I also cast a glance at the blog where Inga Annie Oop Allie posts topics. I left twenty seconds after I arrived.
Squeeky's is cryptic and reads like it is meant to be and "inside inside baseball" blog for a very few people who get the reference in her blog's existence. The other blog is an agglomeration of malcontents.
Congratulations to Turley for having 26 million comments on his blog. The ten percent that are interesting reading are valuable; the remaining ninety percent are just cliques throwing their lunch trays at each other, every day.
Squeeky's is cryptic and reads like it is meant to be and "inside inside baseball" blog for a very few people who get the reference in her blog's existence.
Squeeky's blog appears to be intended as deliberate parody. When it comes to blogs being an "inside inside baseball" kind of place, this one also skirts that edge.
Drawing in 2.6 million comments of interesting reading is no small feat.
This is too inside baseball for me. I am trying to divorce myself from this type of thing. Even though Leisure Suit Larry seems obsessed with me. He will pull out an obscure comment from weeks ago and beat it like he beats his meat while watching the Puppy Bowl.
It really makes me laugh.
It really makes me laugh. Plus you found the energy to get creative and put up some new posts. That's a good thing. As for Meade, he compromises his integrity every time he slithers over to Lem's and opens his beak.
I looked at Squeeky's blog. The style reminded me of a blogger character named "candle."
I not sure I get the chirbit resemblance, MamaM. As far as I know, I'm the sole user of chirbit in the near blogosphere with the very recent exception of the Althouse commenter Quaestor.
Yes chickelit, you are the only chirbiter I know, but not the only jester. What I see squeeky doing is using jest to make her point. (I mistakenly thought she was also fun-lovingly making sport with Nick's name, but the "Spin" she refers to there is someone else.) It's still well done on her part, with creative effort put into it. She's changed format however, so the Collier piece with all the babes and leopards is gone.
I too get tired of the cliques and lunch tray throwing and it's fun to see someone doing something besides walking away or giving up in disgust. Maybe a better word than fun, would be heartening.
The recent format change at Turleys also seemed to help dialogue, with more space showing up between comments.
Post a Comment