I Worked Yesterday

 I did! I really did! 

Steve--you might remember him--is closing on his new house. It is a lovely place and will be much lovelier once he adds furniture and other basics. 

Yesterday, Steve had his builder walk-through. It was supposed to be about two hours. However, no battleplan ever outlasts the enemy. And yesterday was no exception. 

Generally a new-build walk-through consists of a builder rep going through the empty home while the buyer (and his agent) look for dings in the paint, cracks in the windows and other minor issues that might need attention before closing. For this particular honor, the buyer (and his agent) use blue painter's tape to mark these imperfections so that the builder and his representatives can fix the transgressions prior to closing. The blue tape is also useful for such activities as taking a wide swath, sticking it across the master bathroom wall and writing, "Install Mirror!!!", which Steve's home was unfortunately missing.  

In yesterday's case, I brought my own roll of blue painter's tape--a trick of the trade, after doing this for so many years. It was almost gone by the time we were done. It isn't that Steve's home has zillions of imperfections, it is because Steve brought his parents along for this ride. 

I should say, I think Steve's parents are wonderful people. I like them even better after seeing what kind of man they raised in Steve. They are kind and loving to their son. They want the best for him. And even though they are on the far side of 80, it is obvious they still have a strong attachment to making sure things are perfect for their son. Therefore, more blue painter's tape than I would have thought humanly possible was used for all sorts of things like smudges on the windows. There was a (possible) dent in the brand-new stove. The door hinges were dirty. The outside stucco was uneven. The watering system watered for too long or too short the amount of time for the plants outside. Of course, Steve doesn't own the house or the plants yet, but his parents seemed to gloss over that tid-bit. And though this seems petty, I don't blame Steve's folks one bit. I'm glad they were there giving us another set of eyes, because they did find several significant issues (significant as in cosmetic--which is what we were looking for).  

Anyway, these delightful people just have their son's best interests at heart. The construction supervisor seemed to understand that. Steven and I did too. Plus, lucky for Steve, he had a good four hours to kill doing this walk-through. As for me, I enjoyed talking to them. It was a nice distraction from the lack of socialization I've had lately. I would have even been ok with another four hours of Steve and his folks. But next time I really would like to sit down at some point.