Friday, October 13 (Sometimes you have to call in the pros)

I haven't dealt much with our a/c installer Juan Carlos (let's call him JC). He's someone J's used before, so he arranged for the a/c installation in the very beginning of the project. JC had told us to cut a 30"x54" opening for the attic ladder. Jesse took care of that, cutting the hole and bracing the sides with 2"x4" boards. I was finally able to obtain assistance with picking up the ladder (thanks, Jeff!) and went to Home Depot on Tuesday. They didn't carry 30"x54" ladders, so I took a chance that a 30"x60" would work. We brought it back and discovered there wasn't enough space to expand the hole without having to move electricals pulled for the smoke alarm. Before we went through the trouble, J called JC, and JC assured him that 30"x54" ladders were available and that he uses them all the time -- that's why he told us to cut the opening that size. He said he would pick one up from the specialty shop he buys them from and drop it off at the house. That was Wednesday morning.

Thursday morning rolls around, and the new ladder has still not been delivered. The painters have started the interior, so we need to take care of it ASAP so that it can be painted along with the rest of the trim work. I call JC, and he says his employee Carlos is at the store picking up the ladder, and it would be delivered within the hour. I relay the message to Jesse, and he goes to the house to install the ladder. It's not there.

So it's Friday morning, and I call JC again, and he gives me this idiotic lame story about how Carlos delivered the door to the wrong site, but when they went back to get it this morning, the person at the supposed site said the ladder wasn't there. They were off buying a new ladder as we spoke. I told him that Jesse was going to be at the site at 3:00, so the ladder needed to be delivered no later than that. "Sure, sure! It will be there sooner!"

I meet Jesse at 3, and still no ladder. I call JC, and he says Carlos is 5 minutes away. At 3:15 Jesse says he'll come back the next day if the ladder gets delivered. At 3:20, I call JC and ask if Carlos is lost. He's very apologetic and says he will call Carlos again.

Carlos finally arrives at 3:40, and he brings in... a 30"x60" ladder. From Home Depot. Exactly like the one I purchased sitting in the garage awaiting return because it's not the right size. Carlos tells me there is no such thing as a 30"x54" ladder that supports 350lbs (required by code). We have a completely fruitless discussion about it, and I tell him to take the ladder back. I call J and light into him. Poor guy, it wasn't his fault, but I was seething and needed to let it out before I called JC. JC is a #$*(@ idiot. If there's no such thing as a 30"x54" ladder, he should have told us three @#(*)(# days ago so Jesse could have enlarged the hole to begin with, and we would have been done by now. Now we we've lost time, Jesse's made unnecessary visits, and the painter's already been through with the trim paint. What a *\*(@#&$# waste of time. I want to kick someone! I'm standing in the driveway while ranting, so I'm sure the painters and the neighbors think I'm a lunatic. Anyhoo, apparently I didn't calm down enough because J said he would call JC.

Ten minutes later, as I'm still stewing, J calls. JC's crew is coming back, enlarging the hole for us, and will take care of moving the electricals. We check Saturday morning, and they've done just that.

Ahhh, it's so nice to have J to help me. I don't feel bad that I needed his help. I've learned from the experience, and from my project management days, I know that at the end of the day, my job is to find the right resources to get things done :)