All Sorts of Tidbits

1. Yesterday my roofers met me at my house after I complained about a leak in my new roof they have fixed *5* times. I said perhaps they should send a small guy up in the attic to see where the problem really is. They met me, and stuck their head in the attic, insisting they didn't want to go in. After looking at the actual roof and seeing no obvious leak, I pointed them in the general direction, and they sent the smallest guy up. All that and it isn't a roof leak. The AC duct has a crack (no idea why) and the 50 degree AC air reacts with the 120 degree attic air and produces condensation. In short, it's raining INSIDE my roof over the hallway ceiling. Tomorrow, Xelor is coming to try and fix it. I hope.

2. My left shoulder muscle popped out again last night, so hurt when I woke up. I thought it would get better as it sometimes does. It didn't and got worse, so I called Dr. Yoham at 4pm and asked if he could see me. He said he was leaving but if I came over fast he'd work on it. I made it there at 4:35pm and he spent some time on it, but it still hurts. Damn it to hell. It really hurts to move it.

3. In my unending quest to find out the mysterious source of my rash, I went to an allergist today. At first he was a bit cool until we inadvertantly found out we had a mutual friend. He became much more friendly after that. Today, I got a two battery of tests. First, I got pricked with 30 blue plastic needles to see if I had any obvious allergies. (They mark your skin with a pen and then nick over each mark in order to see which ones swell.). I am allergic to horses, parakeets, and dust mites. They did the second test where an actual needle is used (like a shot) and I received 24 injections in the left arm and 30 injections in the right arm for a total of 54 injections -- imagine getting 54 shots in 10 minutes. Each battery you have to sit for 15 minutes for a reaction. I am not allergic to most moulds (odd) and barely allergic to cats. I am violently allergic to dust mites. On a scale of 1 to 4, I rated a 4++++. All that would be fascinating except based on the rash, these aren't the causes. Next week I go back on Tuesday to get the patch test installed (which I must wear for 48 hours) and then Thursday to have it removed and read. Then Friday I go in for another battery of tests (more injections, Yay), and a consultation with the doctor.

4. Did I mention how much my shoulder hurts? I want to cry.

5. Happy Birthday, Adrian.

Roof News and Cat News with an Acid Reflux Kicker

Weird combination, I know.

In the good news department, my roof today passed its final inspection. Blown away around 29 October 2005 by that bitch Hurricane Wilma whilst I was in China. Installed by BET Roofing over a gruelling 16 months, and finished and passed final inspection 13 February 2007. Now, I have to pay them. Unpleasant, that.

In the bad news department, my cat is sick. I took her to the vet yesterday after nearly a week of her not eating her food, drinking water from the toilet bowl and not her bowl (this is new and odd behaviour for her). I replaced the water bowl, her food bowl, changed her food, and nothing interested her. I thought maybe it was the return of the urinary tract infection from hell, but a blood test (they make them so you can do it at home) came up negative. Despite this, I took Scooter to the vet Monday evening for a $440 emergency check-up. All results came back negative, but she's still not eating or drinking. She is throwing up repeatedly what little she does eat. She did have a tooth infection which we are treating -- that would explain the not eating but not the drinking and puking. She's also on a vitamin supplement. Tuesday she goes for tooth surgery on the tooth. They're not sure what they'll do about it yet but that depends on what happens between now and next Tuesday.

I go to the Gastrointestinologist tomorrow to see why my Acid Reflux has spun wildly out of control and medication won't fix it. My guess is it'll be a quick appointment with tests to follow.

And an apology to those of you I've offended by being very distracted these past few days. So there you have it.

Oh, and work's a bitch and I am hopelessly overloaded.

I have roof tiles!

In an amazing acheivement, there were approximately 10 pallets of roof tiles in my driveway when I got home. This may not seem exciting to most people who wonder where one would park with such an obstacle. Allow me to assure you this is the best thing that could happen. I am now closer to having a roof on my home. I have been without a roof since that bitch Wilma took it off in late October 2005.

Rats in the Attic

I have rats in my attic. That really, really, really, really, sucks. Why do I have rats in the attic? Because I went so long without an actual roof, that some rats decided to move in. The exterminator was here, and he's set some traps which he hopes will work. However my attic is so hot, he wouldn't go in (130 degrees) -- this is caused by the fact that (a) it's really fucking hot here and (b) there are no tiles to protect and insulate my roof. He'll come back at night if the traps he set at arm's length from the attic door don't work.

On the plus side he also flooded it with ant poison and it's seemed to have killed quite a few of those damned white-footed ants that have been invading my home for the past eight weeks. Not having a roof causes quite a few problems you don't normally anticipate.

They're working on the inside of my house. My garage has a ceiling again. You have no idea how exciting that is. And my stairwell has a wall and a ceiling. My office no longer has ugly brown stains on the roof, and the same for my kitchen walls. Neither do my bathrooms. My computer area and hallway are still, shall we say, incomplete.







Tag: Rats and Roof and Repairs

The latest on my roof

Yes, there has been progress of a sort. I have the world's slowest roofer*, you know. I'm sure you've been reading the saga here with keen interest**. I've not been posting the ongoing details for fear of running off my remaining blog visitors. However, after many missed promises and delays, the base roof is done. All we need now is tiles. Aye, there's the rub. They ordered my tiles in December, though the contract was signed in November. Even so that's only a month. I am now being told another four months even though other neighbours of mine actually have tiles roof-loaded and ready to install.



* BET Construction & Roofing (or some permutation thereof)
** As if.

I have roofers!!!!!!!

Yes, indeed, today the roofers finally started. So, after six months of waiting I now have less of a roof than I did after the hurricane. I am certain this is a good thing. They are removing what's left of the old roof (except the underlying particle board) and hauling it away. They are going to put proper plywood over the particle board. Then tar paper, nails with tin caps (to Dade County Standards), then hot mop it. Then it will set for a long, long time until the inspector shows up. Which is, in theory fine, because god knows when the fucking tiles (concrete rectangles to be exact) will ever show up.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!