Towerification

Day 8 dawns…the weather is gorgeous…and today they’re going to scale the tower.

Day 8 dawns…

But first…

Remember this pic? That’s my Mom. It could have been the last I took of her.

Stubborn lady…

We had a nice custard fruit-tart, mixed strawberries and blueberries, and coffee for all set out for breakfast. Mom was supposed to come down…but she didn’t show (she lives about 4 houses down the street from the Old Vic).

I texted, “Breakfast?”

Shortly got back, “Okay.”

Weird. She knew about it beforehand…

She finally shows up and it’s obvious she’s not feeling good. Out of breath, a bit confused…hasn’t been well all night. We checked her pulse and blood sugar…no issues there…but something wasn’t right. She was wheezing…bronchitis or such?

Screw it. I can fix pretty much anything…that’s not human. Humans are all picky about the process and leaky if I work on them with power tools. I know when experts are needed. A trip to the doc or hospital was in order.

“I don’t want to go.”

Seems she doesn’t like hospitals near us…and her doctor…the one with all her records/history/such apparently simply walked off the job.

A bit more “himhawing” around…and as I thought about the symptoms I realized I’d just been through similar with my Dad…could be a heart/circulation issue.

I put my foot down (as much as ya can with my Mom…sheesh!) “Ya got three choices. 1) You’re going to the hospital. 2) You’re going to the hospital. 3) You’re going to the hospital.”

She could ride in the car (probably the fastest way), she could ride in an ambulance, or I could use ratchet-straps to tie her down in the back of Little Rivet…the little pickup.

She chose the car. Good choice.

The wife’s car…being new and having a quarter-million less miles on it than Little Rivet…would be the safer and more comfortable bet. Since I had roofage going on and the situation seemed to be stable, the wife said she’d take her.

I piled the women in the car (a process that is MORE frustrating than herding kittens in a yarn factory) and sent them on their way. Short of it is…heart/circulation issue due to medicines out of balance. Wasn’t quite critical…but would have been soon. She’s back home and feeling better.

To the tower!

The tower crew arrived as promised…the crew lead is an expert and does slate/tile roofs and other specialty roofing all over the country. Two guys from the previous crew are also there to help hork (technical term) stuff up there, clean-up, and touch-up some other issues.

In short order it’s obvious he knows exactly what he’s doing.

Look at that sky!

I don’t think we’d have EVER found a better weather window for this roof…things were working out great!

The work slowed down rapidly as he goes up…EVERY shingle on that tower has a cut…and as he got higher, several cuts, and the shingle coverage got smaller (meaning more courses and even MORE cuts).

EVERY shingle placement was measured. Meticulous work. The guy knew what he was about and wouldn’t be rushed.