Progress, and not progress

More siding up, windows finished (external side, at least) all along the west side, and the front porch has most of a roof, and part of its siding.

In the minus column, Salvage Guy's "siding specialist" had a serious case of recto-cranial inversion yesterday afternoon. Most of what he installed after lunch wasn't locked together at all, the rest was only hooked together here and there. And of course, we didn't figure this out until after we'd paid them and they left. By took the defection installation apart and left the siding in a pile. The "siding specialist" will get to do it over until it's right. If they ever get here. And Salvage Guy is going to get an earful about the quality of work.

Aside from the siding, his crew has also buggered the strips that seal the siding around the windows. Its not difficult, they're just not taking the time to measure and cut accurately. Which is not to say that they're working too fast, because they're not. Just sloppy.

And By and I talked a bit this morning, about the fact that Salvage Guy was paid yesterday, and hasn't shown up yet today. Last time we paid him, he didn't show up for weeks. If he doesn't show today, he's off the project. This is getting stupid.

It gets better

Salvage Guy showed up 45 minutes late, accompanied only by his "siding specialist". Who threw a big snit when he found his work on the ground, because it was our fault it had come loose. (No, I didn't know where that came from, but he yelled it more than once.) He quit right there, because he wasn't going to work under that much criticism, and made Salvage Guy take him home.

So, Salvage Guy will be back later today, to fix the problems his crew left. Between this issue and some others, he probably won't have any of the past crew out here again. (One of our biggest offenses is that they can't smoke within 100 ft of the house, I am so unreasonable.) He'll finish it by himself, most likely. And that's fine by me, because I'm tired of watching his people to make sure they actually work.

And more snafus

Salvage Guy won't be back today. He couldn't find a helper, plus he's got a kid home from school sick, and is stuck at home for that. He swears he'll be out tomorrow, Friday, and Monday.

Non-construction news....

NPR is currently interviewing Stan Lee, who is giving good interview, and that makes it a Happy Radio Day.

Have 2 batches of bread going. One is a ciabatta, that's a no-knead recipe which will take 2 days. The other is my basic pan ordinaire, with about 1 1/2 c of leftover oatmeal (cooked old-fashioned oatmeal) stirred in. It's rising like a dream, and I have high hopes (pun intended) for the finished texture and flavor.

Am painting doll parts today. The Miss *really* wants to help. The dye took unevenly on the parts for one doll, so I'm painting the whole thing, not just the head/lower arms/lower legs. On a lark, I painted her torso up as a lavender merry widow. I'll draw the details on with a gel pen once the paint dries.

And all that above means I should have 4 dolls' worth of parts ready for their faces and assembly by the weekend. That puts me past halfway to my goal for the dolls for Yule gifts, and I need to start cranking on their dresses.

(no subject)

The bread plus oatmeal is a rousing success--The Miss is dancing in front of me demanding another piece. And well she should-it came out with a lovely crust, fine texture, tender crumb, and slight nuttiness from the oatmeal. Definitely doing this again.