You'd think ~

You'd think with all the crap about the floors that we've had lately that we'd get a break.
But nope.  Seems that my car didn't pass inspection cuz of a light bulb in the third OPTIONAL break light in the rear window.  So ok... hubby says we got time, and we did.
We had problems with the electric windows Monday into Tuesday.  They wouldn't roll up.  Oh and did I mention the constant RAIN we've had on Monday and Tuesday.  Three out of four windows were open Monday and Tuesday, and the electrical wouldn't work to get them back up.  So we had to purchase a car cover for the car so that the inside wouldn't be soaked to the bone.  We don't have a garage and my brother in laws garage is not functional for storing a car. 
So now we have to pick up the Hubby's car from the mechanic  (oh forgot to mention that too huh.. see, he put his car in the shop cuz it's 12 years old and has over 195,000 miles on it.
Switch the Hubby's car at the mechanics with my car so that they can fix the electric windows, and tweak the light in the back so the car can pass inspection.
They do, we pick up around 1pm today.  Hubby goes to the state inspection and turns out, he's got to go through the entire inspection process again.  They won't let him just verify that the light was fixed and pass him like they used too.  He's got to go through the whole riggamarrow.  He calls me very VERY unhappy.
He then calls me afterward absolutely livid.  Now we failed for emissions and if we don't get the car reinspected by tomorrow the 31st, the car registration gets revoked and we'll have to apply and pay another 60 bucks for a new one.  Hubby is late for work, so he runs like a mad man and we'll figure it out later.
I call Midas, they can fit me in tomorrow morning first thing, but they don't do state inspections.  I tell hubby, he says try STS, I call STS, they do do.  AND they open at 7am.  That's freaking early!!
Hubby says he'll be there when they have the key in the door at 7am.  They usually have cars that are waiting in the lot to be worked on.  You know how people will drop a car off and drop their keys in the drop box so it can be worked on the next morning.  Well he wants to be there so that they might be able to work on my car at a decent time.  All so he can be sure to leave for work without running around at 2pm.
This is the plan for now. 
So with the car business, both his and mine, some bills are gonna have to wait to be paid this month, and maybe next.
Fun Fun Fun.

Floors

Floors of course have been done since last Thursday when the pro got here to do them.  The way I figure it, he would have been done with the entire project, including the hallway if they had him do it to begin with, in 1 day. meaning laying down the floorboards.  Then 1 extra day to sand, seal, stain, varnish.
But instead, let's count the days. Monday to take out old and lay down new plywood. Tuesday from the maintenance guys to get about 3 feet done. Wednesday for the maintenance guys to get the rest of the hallway done and into the dining area (that of course only happened cuz they didn't take tons of breaks like they did in Tuesday, but actually worked). Thursday the pro was called and he was here earlier than expected and would have finished around noon if it wasn't for the fact that he had to wait about an hour and a half for the manager to bring him the last of the wood he needed to finish the floor.   He would have been done and gone by 12:30pm if the manager was more on top of things.  But instead he finished his day around 2:30pm.
The pro stopped over on Friday morning to sand the floors, while we hid in the bedroom with a blanket under the door so we weren't covered in wood dust.
He wanted to do the sealing and varnish, but we weren't ready for that.. meaning we had not prepared for that and had not packed any bags for the kids or ourselves.  The varnish would need 24 hours to dry and the smell would not be healthy for the kids. so we planned for Monday morning for the sealing and varnish to be done.
We stayed over my brother in laws Monday night into Tuesday morning.  Even though they have major home renovations going on.  At the moment they have the sheet rock up on the walls and the guy doing the spackling.  So there was no major major work being done at that moment. That enabled us to use their finished basement for the night. 
We came home on Tuesday morning and it was dry and not tooo smelly. We didn't move the furniture to give it another day to dry just in case and we needed the molding replaced around the walls at the floor.
Building manager said they would be over this morning (Wednesday) at 9am to do the floor molding. Ok, I said.
10am and they didn't show. Hubby calls the manager to find out the deal.  Turns out they don't have any molding and need it special ordered cuz of the cut of the molding.  We looked at the remaining molding and cursed the manager cuz its not so special.  He's just a lazy bastard, that was extremely unprepared and sucks at his job.
So now they are promised to be here tomorrow morning to do the molding.  Hmmm.. we'll see.

2 and a half hours

This guy started at 8:30 and it's not 11am. In 2 and a half hours he's gotten done the same amount if not more, than the 2 maintenance guys got done in 2 days.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF!!! I told the manager this would have only taken a day to do.
And this could have done it. But noooooo, manager had to be a cheap bugger and try to have his guys do it.
What the maintenance guys did wasn't horrible, but they didn't have the knowledge or the proper equipment to do the job.
The pro that is here today.. DOES!!
Now he's at a stop cuz he needs special spacer boards for an area that is angled due to the contruction of the building. The building manager was just here and said looks good and left before he could hear me say 'DUH!'.
He's supposed to have someone get the spacers the pro needs to put in. You see he is getting the pro to install and he'll pay for the labor, but the manager was supposed to have all the wood, paper and nails that he'd need. Guess what.. the manager didn't have all the material needed.
BIG SHOCK THERE!

Hour into the work:






2 and a half hours worth of work.

Finally a Professional ~

Finally the landlord has brought in a professional floor person.
It's a one man crew, but I'm sure he'll be going faster than the other two cuz he's brought his tools (all the right ones for laying floorboards) and the proper saw for cutting and making adjustments.
He was here at 8:15am and I had already showered and dressed and answered the door with a frothy mouth and the handle of my toothbrush sticking out. I motioned for him to wait one minute and woke up the Hubby. He was still lounging in bed. I had already woken the kids at 7:30am and had Connor dressed and changed. Glen needs a bit longer to wake up so I got him dressed about 20 after 8. Hubby was shocked and probably annoyed the guy was here so soon. But to hell with that!
The pro checked out the floor and then stepped outside. I went to check on him and he was doing stretches in the parking lot outside. I thought it was funny at first and then realized, hey, this is back and knee breaking stuff, what the hell am I laughing at.
Moments later the building manager arrived to talk to the guy and get the supplies needed out of the adjacent garage that the apartment manager uses for storage of older friggs, cement bags, salt bags, basic supplies for the complex.
It's 8:30am and the pro is already banging away on the boards. He's a little louder, but he's using the right tools so it's gonna be.
Supposedly he's going to get done today with laying the boards. There was talk about the stain, varnish, and sealant being done either tomorrow or Saturday. Either way.. I just need some notice so we can leave overnight for the stuff to harden enough to walk on. They are going to forgo the sanding part of it cuz the apartment is occupied with people and furniture. The building manager is not concerned, and neither are we, cuz the sanding might help the varnish and sealant adhearing better, but when someone vacats an apartment here, they resand the floors and restain them and everything anyways. So when we move, this is something they intend to do anyways.
So the pro is just going to varnish and seal the floors. We have yet to find out when and how long we need to be out for it to be dried.
Should be another interesting day.
Thank God I was dressed when this guy got here, wouldn't that be something.
Half Nekked Fat Broad answering the door looking like the walking dead....
"bring out your dead, bring out your dead.... "

Floors

Tuesday after 4 hours and 55 minutes.




Wednesday after another one of their full days of 5 hours.

Pathetic ~

I would have to blame the building manager for the events of today.
The guys came in and started working in the kids room first.  Which ok, thanks for that cuz they need their room back sooner than later. Even though we have to wait to move things back until they seal the floors, it was a start. So they went from the boys room to the hallway. In the hallway they got about three feet done the entire day and that was it.  THREE FEET.  Now I'm not someone that can claim they've ever laid any boards down before, but I have seen some of it done on the home shows and if they can get it done within two days I would have thought these guys could too, but then the truth of the matter is.  These guys aren't professionals. They don't have the correct tools or the right amount of experience to do this smoothly and timely.
GOD how I wish I had my own  home to do these things for myself.  Then if it did take a week to do as is turning out the case here, then I would only have myself to blame.  But this is a rental with a building manager for fuck sakes.
We complained to the manager, when he came to survey the progress.
Face to face, the hubby and I with the manager.
He says how the floors should be done by Thursday.
I said loudly and a strong voice, THURSDAY, why Thursday, this is Tuesday and it shouldn't take that long to do the amount of work that they have to do.  I've seen this get done within two days time, three the most.
manager says, well these guys aren't that experienced with doing the floors.
I said (strong voice used), then why didn't you have the guys that tore up the floor yesterday lay the boards.
manager says, they are only carpenters really, they don't usually do this part.  But I do have the guys that usually do the sanding and such for the floors that I can call and have them come and help the guys tomorrow.
I said, yes do that, cuz this is a safety hazard, we have the kids and we're tripping over this stuff. (meaning the good floor that is about an inch and a half raised about the plywood floor.)
manager says, I'll come by and see how much these guys get done and we'll make sure they have help tomorrow.
I said, yes please.  Thank you.
manager leaves.
Two maintenance guys get about three feet of work done in the hallway and leave at 3:45pm.  So much for an 8 hour work day!
In fact, adding up all their breaks and lunch (which we wrote down each time they came and went), they actually worked a total of 4 hours and 55 minutes.  If you want to add an hour to the time they spent going to the lumber store (5 minutes away) to pick up a piece of plywood and paper for the floors, then you can make it 5 hours and 55 minutes.

Today they showed up, strolling along casually smoking cigs, as I was walking out with Glen to take him to his class in Day Care.  8:55am.
Hubby sees them and asks, where's your extra help?
men say what help?
hubby says, manager promised you'd have  help today to get the floors done.
men look at my husband and scoff, we haven't spoken to the manager in two days.
hubby pics up the phone and makes a phone call to the manager asking for an explanation and where the extra crew is.
manager makes the excuses up, called some people and they are too busy to send anyone over today, he'll try for tomorrow. 
Hubby used his loud and strong voice which he doesn't like to use; he says that's my job; and told the manager that our 3 year old tripped on the floorboards they left sticking out last night and now the kid has a bruise and a small cut cuz of it. and that the guys only got up to the bathroom done yesterday, that he needed to find someone to finish the job. 
manager said he'd be by around lunchtime to view the status of the job.

Manager shows up around 1 to let us know that his "pro" would be by tomorrow to finish the job first thing in the morning and that he'd have it done in the morning.  the maintenance guys here now would be able to finish the hallway and then all that would be left is the dining area.
I  gave him the hate glare and hubby looked at me and all we could say was fine and walked away.

I looked up the rental laws in the state of nj and from what I read, as long as he's working on it and not blowing us off, he's within his legal boundaries.  He's verbally stated that he would compensate for the A/C for the days his guys work.  Which is good since we had it turned off for their work and coming in and out of the house.  But they whine to the manager and the manager called and asked us to turn it on for them.
Seems to me if they wanted a job where A/C was involved they should have gotten one other than maintenance.  But, we turned on the A/C and the manager WILL GET a copy of the bill with my itemized figures for the days the guys worked here and needed the A/C on.
he's already getting a printout of the times the guys took extended breaks throughout the day.  along with the total of hours spent doing this and that.
Hubby mentioned something about the guys going on break so long and the manager mentioned that they are allow breaks by law or something to that affect.  I told my hubby afterward that was true, but the fact that they take an hour lunch constitutes their two 15 minute breaks.
you see by law, you are supposed to have a half hour lunch and two 15's.  But if you are given an hour lunch you are using that all up in one shot.  Any breaks beyond that point is up to the discretion of the boss.
And that's ok, but when the employee abuses that privilege, then it SHOULD be an issue.
Besides, I used to smoke and I took those same breaks and I timed myself one day, each break, taking my time smoking a regular Marlboro and it took my 8 minutes for each cig.  Not 20 minutes like these guys do.
So as it stands at the moment, they maintenance guys are working and finishing up the hallway.  A 2-3 day project will be a 4 -5 day project.  Not to mention the fact they need to put down the sealant after they are done with installation.  Which means a night or two at the local hotel cuz of the smell of the stuff.
Which better be reimbursed or I'll just remove it from the rent and they'll have to take me to court to get it back.
OK, I think I'm done ranting at the moment.  Will post pics later when they are done at 3:45pm.

Day two ~

they have started again on the floors.
The contractor guys had gotten all the plywood down yesterday.
Or so I thought, they are using the saw now to cut up the old plywood from the tiny area they did in the boys bedroom.  Which kinda annoys me.  If I had known I would have moved more things and covered them up.  Now their entire room will be filled with the old plywood dust. Which means mega cleaning.
But then again, these aren't the contractors here today.  These are the regular maintenance crew that works here in the apartments. You see.... management is too fucking cheap to let the guys finish their job from yesterday, he's got to use his guys, which means a project that might have taken 3 days will now probably take about 5.
Of course I've seen large spaces get covered with hardwood floors for less than 3 days on the home shows, but then what do I know.  I'm just one of the people that live here and have to put up with this shit and then clean up after them.  Not to mention.. hellooo.. small children in the house, safety hazards!!
Hate this stuff.  Some people in my extended family have no idea how lucky they are that they have their own home or can dictate a little more authority over how the work gets done, but some days they are actually selfish and unmindful of their own hurtful comments or actions.  Not to mention they take a lot of the everyday stuff for granted.
BUT, that's a different blog post all together.

Hardwood Floors

They are a beautiful thing.  BUT, not when they buckle from a leaky pipe that doesn't get fixed for two weeks.
And then they need to be replaced. 
That's whats happening now in our dining room, down the hallway going into the boys bedroom and going into the living room area.  I'm in the master bedroom with Connor hiding out till they are done.  Or at least for a little while.  Connor's finally napping.. thank goodness. He was getting anxious for sleep and wearing me down.
He's actually sleeping through the pounding and the saw being used.  It's Loud too!
They had gone through and picked the boards out with nice speed, but saw that the plywood was still wet underneath and had to figure how much they would need.  they picked it up and came back.  next thing I know I get this instant message from my hubby.
Christine  says:
what's doin out there?
Hubby says:
uummmm well don't use the bathroom
Hubby says:
not sure how much water was just shut off
Hubby says:
but we sprung a leak
Christine  says:
did they cut into something or was it still leaking from before and that's why the floor was still wet?
Hubby says:
not sure
Christine  says:
oy
Hubby says:
I just heard to spurting and panicked voices
sooooo this may tun into a longer project
Hubby says:
sigh
Christine  says:
damn. can't even hide at Gary's for a while either.
Hubby says:
well we'll see how it goes
((Gary is my brother in law and they are doing major home renovations at the moment too.  I mean gutted house and all.))

Hope they can get enough done before we have to pick up Glen from day care at 3pm.  Or we might be heading over to Chuck e  cheese or something. 
Will post pics a little later.  They are still working on the floor and there's 2 hours to go till we get rug rat number 1.   Hope they can finish most of it by then.

Spongebob!

Glen is wearing his Spongebob underwear today.
Reminded me of the time when he had them on and didn't have his shorts
on late one night around the apartment. Glen was leaning towards me
with his hands on my lap as I was sitting down and I watched as Connor
approached Glen from behind with his hands outstretched, smile of
fascination on his face. I watched and gave no warning to Glen as
Connor proceeded to try to grab the Spongebob image from the backside of
Glen's underwear. Glen gave a yelp and a HEYYYY, as he jumped and
quickly turned around to find his little brother trying to look around
Glen to find the Spongebob image that called to him just a moment ago.
I giggled. Glen blushed. Connor found something else to play with.
Just another day.

DUH!

"Mommy, I want some juuuuice."
"What kind, the fruit punch or the apple juice?"
"I want the apple juice, Duuhhh!"
"What did you say?"
"I... Want... Apple... Juice. Duuhh." his head slightly tilted to his right, with a mini eye roll.
Trying to stifle a laugh and losing the battle, giggling while I say, "Don't tell me duuhh. Just say you want apple juice."
"I want apple juice."
"What do you sayyyy??"
"Pleeeeese"
"ok, I'll get you some apple juice."
Someone at day care on Friday was giving out a lot of Duh's for the daily lessons apparently.

Duh, Mommy!!!
Mini eyeroll.

Always so busy ~

If it's not one thing it's another.
We're always so busy with just the daily task of things that I forget to
post to the blog.
Our floorboards were coming up in the apartment and we thought it was
some swelling due to the NJ humidity, cuz let me tell ya, when it wants
to suffocate ya, it'll try it's damnedest.
But when it was more than just a little wood swelling, we called
maintenance and turns out there was a pipe that was leaking under our
floorboards. They fixed the leak, but the swelling hasn't gone down and
we don't think it's going to. In fact, it looks like it's getting
worse. More than likely they will have to replace the floor in certain
areas. Which puts us up a creek, cuz where will we go while they do the
work?
We could probably hang out in the bedrooms and keep out of the way while
they are cutting and replacing if they do it in daily patches of spots
here and there. But when it comes time for them to put the sealant on
the floor it's gonna stink to high heaven and it can't be healthy for
the kids. So then what?
My brother in law is working on his house so that his entire first floor
is gutted and I mean gutted. No walls, barely any floors, no kitchen, i
mean everything is gutted. they are redoing their house, and using
their finished basement as a living room/kitchen until the first floor
is complete.
Nice huh, they are putting in brand new and spending all kinds of money
and we are so much in debt that it's a miracle we are even still living
in Jersey and not moved in with my in-laws in AZ mooching off of them.
Not to mention the fact that we won't have any money to spend to stay at
a hotel for a couple of days while the floors dry. have to figure that
one out yet.

Connor had a little cold.. still has it really. The runny nose and
light coughing from the mucus. Poor kid. All he did was go into the
daycare with me to get Glen and just being in the air with the other
kids, he's got a cold. Glen is fine, but Connor is sick and passing it
onto daddy and me.

Hubby's hours have changed. So now I'm with both boys a Lot of hours
and together they make me crazy. I have to get cd player fixed so I can
use the headphones and drown them out. This way I can watch them but
won't have to hear them playing VERY LOUDLY!! as young boys do.

Oh and I ate farrrr too much Chinese food already today.. I'm so gonna
regret it even more so later.
But Lord help me it's sooooo gooooood!!!