THE SUMMER OF MY DISCONTENT...(or) FRICK AND FRACK CONSTRUCTION, INC.

Okay, that is an exaggeration.  The summer has had some definite high spots, namely THE wedding in June and a visit from Erin, Steve and the grandkids last month. And seeing Robin and kids and Charles and Carol. Oh yes, and my new appliances. I am grateful for all of my blessings!  The discontent is mainly with the construction crew we have hired for several projects this summer. They have the WORST  work ethics ever.  They arrive when it suits them, usually around 1130a.  One day they arrived at 430p and stayed til dark, filling the air with buzzing saws and f-bombs.  They started on the back deck around June 20th give or take a few days. They finished the construction part of it yesterday, August 8th. It still needs to be painted.  They poured cement a month ago and it set up too quickly, leaving a rough surface that works well to keep the bottoms of my feet nice and smooth. The sidewalk had to be patched in several places and it looked awful, so now they are going to apply a product called "Restore" to the mess. Now here is the "piece de resistance" .  When we came home from breakfast a few days ago, Pat went into the bathroom off our bedroom and found one of the guys helping himself to....yes, you guessed it! Hydrocodone! We evidently have become a free Walgreens for the pharmaceutically-challenged in this area.  Pat sent him packing. He was more upset about this felony than the last since we have gotten to know these guys over the summer. They came in and out for water and to answer nature's calls. He claimed he had a "bad headache".  He could have had a giant arse ache. Lucky for him Pat didn't call the cops. He still wonders if he should have. The dude had one pill in his hand rather than a bottle so Pat told his boss he could never come back here again.  So our crew grows smaller, the days grow shorter, and we are wondering if they will complete the next part of the project - a covered breezeway between the house and garage - before the first snowfall in November. Thats just three months away, and for Frick and Frack Construction - that just might not be enough time!