Swindled? Emphasis on Question Mark

As Paul Harvey said, "Now, the rest of the story...." As much as I want to just put the construction/remodeling debacle/adventure behind me so I can heal, it's not over. We've been having some trouble with our Loewen windows and doors.

Water stain on one of the Garden Level Sliding Glass Door - taking on wind and water

Loft Level door, taking in air at the top.

Taking on water at the bottom.

First, I had a loft door that operated. Last Winter/Spring while Eric and Jake (Christopher Arden Homes, Perrysburg, Ohio) were working on the cabin, they opened the door and closed it. When I looked at the door, I saw that the visquene covering over the insulation on the walls had wrapped around the jamb. I went to open the door to remove the offending visquene and the door wouldn't open. I told Eric that the door was stuck. He wanted to know if I had the keys. I did not  know where they were at the moment. I still don't know why he needed the key when I would have had to open the door to put the key in it and the door wouldn't open. They ended up removing the door via the hinges. So things got marred up a little but the door was open. Well, then I found the keys and stuck them in the door. And there they still hang a year later stuck in the door. I can open the door but I dare not operate the locking mechanisms (lift the handle and throw the thumb latch to lock.) Last Summer, I kept reminding Eric that the door needed fixing. On Eric's last trip here to COMPLETE the cabin, he asked for more money and he wanted it up front. The Husband and I were a little confused by the request for money up front. We had always paid him without his prompting and he had been paid everything as originally agreed but some of the work apparently was more than originally planned. Our only question for Eric was, does this money FINISH the cabin. He told me yes. We were waiting for our equity loan to be deposited so we couldn't pay him BEFORE he was here as he requested. He did drive up without being paid first. When he got here, he reminded us that he wanted payment and could Mike (who was down in Ohio at the time) drop a check off to his wife (remember they are from Ohio). Mike did. That Friday, at the end of the day, Eric declared the cabin finished. I was shocked and completely thrown off balance. Eric had always treated us decent. Or so we thought. The cabin was not finished. The door was not fixed. The trim was hanging from the ceiling. The doorway and windows jambs in the mechanical room were not built out and trimmed. They were supposed to build a door for that doorway. I have a punch list with a bunch of little things. Even though I was distracted by nausea in the pit of my stomach, I managed to get out, "What about the ceiling? The trim in the living room is not as we discussed?" I was really shocked and confused. Eric said, "We'll be back." I mentioned, "You can fix the loft door then? You're going to talk to Scott about getting whatever parts you need?" I got a "yes." Then I went back to Ohio to see my family and spend my birthday and our anniversary with The Husband. The Husband dashed up to see the cabin while I took care of the animals in Ohio. He was flabbergasted. The Husband never saw the mess everyone made as I had usually cleaned up after everyone before I went back to Ohio to take care of the animals while Mike dashed to the cabin to see how it was coming along. This time, I left the morning after Eric and Jake left and did not stay and clean. Eric and Jake had came up later than they said they would originally and I had already missed the opportunity to meet up with some friends from high school because of it. I wasn't going to spend my birthday alone too. So The Husband was flabbergasted and on the other end of the phone I got to hear, "How is this finished? What the hell is the deal with the ceiling?! First, Dudenas' crew left drywall hanging from ceiling and now these guys leave the wood trim hanging?! They couldn't help you pick up some of this mess when it was their last trip. You're going to have to call Roger and see if he can come out and help you with this heavy stuff. I don't want you to hurt your back. That's all we need." (Quick side note: When I say The Husband dashed up to see the cabin, I do mean dash. For us, all the time spent apart was really rough for us because we do actually like each other. Yeah, kind of strange for a married couple. Anyway, the dash included driving, seeing the cabin, and dashing back so we could have a little time to together. That dash took the entirety of one of his weekends off work which was one of our weekends together when we already had been apart so much. He wasn't aware of the mess and therefore did not make plans to stay at the cabin to pick up a big mess. Hence, the need for us to hire someone to help me when I got back to the cabin after my birthday and our anniversary rather than him doing the picking up. He truly did not have the time.)

I put in a call to Eric asking him if he would come back in October rather than November. I tried to entice him with "Bow Season." I don't remember if he was on a roof when I called but it was something like that and he said he'd call me back.

After hanging out with The Husband and our animal family for three weeks, I went back to the cabin and got to work. I was completely exhausted and felt like an idiot. All I saw was all the stuff not done that we paid for. I started cleaning up all the mess I could. For the heavy stuff, Roger came in and helped me. Roger's brother, John, also came in and helped me. Disclaimer: Don't do this at home. OSHA, look over there. Okay, everyone else can take a quick peek and and then act natural.

Yikes! And no, John was hitting his brother with the broom while he hammered the trim in. John held the trim flush against the ceiling for Roger while Roger wielded the finish nailer like Sylvester Stallone wields a machine gun. 

LR Contracting was building the Garden Shed. Thankfully, they were handling 99 percent of the job. I had ordered the materials and only had to call 41 Lumber to let them know when were ready for more materials. My tractor skills pitched in to lift a pallet of shingles off the supply truck up to the roof of the Garden Shed. Other than that I was left to my cleaning. While I was cleaning the mechanical room walls, I couldn't get the dirt to come off some sections of the wall surface. Upon closer inspection, Eric had installed 3 sheets backwards. Dammit, dammit, dammit. We had waited to install the water tank so this stuff could be put up without the water tank in the way. Now, I had the wall wrong side facing me behind the water tank, another piece I get to look at when I'm at the sink, and another piece I get to see when I walk out of the room. I was finding all kinds of little things. I've got drywall screws exposed, etc. etc. I called Eric and left a message regarding the backwards installation and that we needed to have a difficult discussion.

I was up against our deadline for The Husband's year in advance scheduled vacation, our move the animals date. I slowly realized that I was NOT going to be able to get the cabin completely done before we moved the animals in. I really did not and still do not want construction going on in the house with the animals and our furniture and belongings moved in. It's dusty, disruptive, and terrifying for the animals. In my attempt to get things wrapped up as much as possible, I called Scott regarding the broken loft door. Scott was our  Loewen window and door salesperson at Toledo Overhead Door, Toledo, Ohio. When I told my version of what was wrong with the door and how it happened, I was told that was not what Eric told Scott. It was because I didn't have the key to the door. I keep forgetting how everything is my fault. Again, the door was stuck shut and the key would have had to been used from the outside. This door leads to a balcony and there was no ladder around tall enough to access the balcony. It was such a cock-n-bull, weasel-y excuse, I couldn't believe my ears. It sounded like we were all trapped inside the cabin because we locked the doors and couldn't figure out how to get out. Kind of like locking yourself INSIDE your car. Even though Eric is an installer for Toledo Overhead Door, he was on our time clock when he broke the door so Toledo Overhead isn't responsible for the repair. Fine, assholes that have our $50,000, I need a Loewen tech out here to fix this $1700 door.

Then we got busy moving the animals in. We really weren't ready for Winter like we would have liked to have been but we were in. We were in the cabin along with a lot of outside air. As you already know, I've got the wind blowing in through the loft knee wall storage. I've also had wind coming in through our very expensive Loewen windows and doors. You can also see in the pictures where I've got water coming in and sitting in the sills and eventually will rot out said expensive doors. The kitchen window whistles. Both The Husband and I are very disappointed in our Loewen windows and doors.

Now, Spring is in the air and as I don't need to spend so much time doing my Winter chores, I'm ramping up to work on the cabin. Again. Still. I called Scott. I told him that I didn't know what the warranty was on the windows and doors but they are leaking. He said he'd check into it. I reiterated twice, if not three times, that I did not know what the warranty was and still all I got was that he'd check into it. I should have directly asked what's the warranty. I got a call yesterday from one of the guys, Ron, at Toledo Overhead Door. Ron was the Loewen Rep for 16 years. He did NOT ask me what problems I was having. He cut this customer that spent $50,000 at his store off and TOLD me what to look for on the windows and doors to see what the problem is. He asked if I could get him some pictures. You want to see what the problem is, fine, I can understand that. I emailed him the pictures. Then, I called The Husband. He was on his way home from work. I updated him on the status of the continuing "spend $50,000 on windows and doors and get no service saga." He remembered he had seen that there was a Loewen dealer in Marquette in his previous efforts to get help with the loft door. He said he'd try to swing in there when he got to Marquette. He met with Tim Lammi of The Window Store and Home Improvement Center, Marquette, Michigan. We very much appreciate the time Tim took to explain Loewen's and its dealers' warranties and how the warranties claim process is supposed to work. You may want to get out a barf bag. Imagine if you will that you buy a car. You get home and the next day the car doesn't run. You take a bus to go talk to the people where you bought your car. When you get there, they are gone. No sign that any business was ever there. The wind blows a candy bar wrapper by as you feel your stomach wrench and you reach for a barf bag. You spent your money on a car, the cars got problems and you've got no recourse. You've been swindled. This is how The Husband and I are feeling after Tim explained that 1) You should have a copy of your warranty with a warranty number and order number. We, of course, never received any warranty paperwork. We have to call yet because as Tim further explained that sometimes the dealer does this for you but you should still have a copy; 2) Loewen warranties the parts; and 3) the dealer has their own guarantees for the labor and they vary. WHAT?! We were NEVER told this. SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! Because of logistics, we had Dudenas' crew install the windows. Had this warranty information been explained to us we definitely would have made different decisions. Which is probably why it wasn't AND STILL HASN'T been explained to us by Scott of Toledo Overhead Door. We feel Scott was not forthright with us by not disclosing this warranty information at any time during our sales meetings. Because, in subsequent discussions with Scott, there has been no mention of warranty claim procedures, other than he'll check into it, and, in light of this new information and what it means, Mike and I have that gut wrenching feeling in the pit of our stomachs that we've been swindled. Both Scott, Toledo Overhead Door and Eric, Christopher Arden Homes, have our money and we're waiting for calls for them to correct their respective situations. The question remains, have we been swindled? The ball will remain in their courts for awhile longer. Then I will pick up the ball and start writing letters to the BBB. I'll be calling Loewen at the corp level. Links will be activated on this blog so the search engines can find the bad press. I'm TRYING not to get my knickers in a bunch. I have seen that any company that rips us off, will rip off others. A company can only do that for so long before they reap what the sow and they end up going under. I try to remind myself of the companies that ripped us off and that are now no longer in business. It works itself out. Meanwhile, we're trying to give our fellow human beings a chance to make good and emphasize the question mark.

Now what is she doing?

I'm cleaning the living room. With the break in the heat wave and having finished lining up materials, time to work on taking The Secret Cabin from construction zone to home. I feel like I got at least one layer of dust conquered. I know, I still owe pictures. Forthcoming sans heavy layer of dust.

I also met with Lonny of LR Construction, Hancock, Michigan. He's going to be cutting the concrete in the Lower Level floor to correct the location of the bathtub lines. He seems like a super nice guy. It's a little project and I think it sounds 100 percent NOT fun. If all goes well, I've got other, more fun, projects. I love Eric and Jake and they are truly AMAZING but they will be finishing the cabin soon and I'd like to have a local crew for the other work that needs to be done. Stuff like a patio, garden/green house/pergola, and the machine barn needs a concrete floor in the worse way. A bit of advice: Do NOT put sand in your machine shed AND if your contractor doesn't know what crushed and packed screenings are, fire his butt immediately - chase him off your property with a stick if you have to. I also would like to have another pole barn - a small one just for my horse and his little donkey friend. Oh, and the front porch. Here's HOPING I've got another good contractor! Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

View from the "nest"

This is what I look at when I lay down in bed. I'm thinking of calling the loft, which is our bedroom, The Nest. It's cozy which is the polite term for small. The bed is basically the only thing in the area. The paneling makes the bed feel wrapped in wood like the sticks used in a birds nest. I'm thinking the view is similar for a bird in its nest. Kinda cool.

More Shock and Awe

Ooooo.

Sink and counter in

I owe you a picture and it'll be worth the wait. The sink and counter were successfully installed yesterday. There is just so much going on right now I'm feeling overwhelmed. It's a good overwhelm though. Everything is getting all trimmed out and looking so amazing that I'm in a bit of a state of disbelief. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around it all. I find myself just standing there staring at the counter, faucet, sink, cabinet, and window. Or the rake head windows and the wood paneling on the south wall. Or the ceiling. Or a door. My plumber buddy, Roger, is coming out tonight so we should all be able to stare at the toilet after tonight. I also promise to post my "Little Black Book of Fabulous Contractors" in the next week too. Here's to everything we've ever worked for and all the sacrifice paying off and our dreams becoming reality. Yep. Wow.

Abracadabra!

The amazing Eric and Jake got those big, heavy rake head windows installed in the south end gable. And, they trimmed them all out. AND they got all that paneling up on that wall too! Today! They did all that in one day! They also cleaned up so that when I walked in tonight I could really see their handiwork. I'm seriously feeling spoiled.

Little Miss Pissy Pants

Okay, so the ex-contractor called again so my bad attitude and "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is all locked and loaded. He would "appreciate" a call back. Well, you know what buddy, my husband and I would have appreciated you getting off your lazy butt and getting our job done and not making it personal. Remember this guy would call my husband and complain about me. He wasn't doing his job and I'd start getting on his case and he'd call The Man and ask him how he could stand me. You know, I'm really pissed so here you go: Don't hire Dudenas (emphasis on the ass) Contracting for anything. This first picture is what I got when Dudenas put the drywall up on the ceiling. That is a piece of drywall just hanging there. It was not only like this for four weeks before Dudenas offered to fix it as I was having them load up their stuff and snow was falling but it was hanging like that over the appraiser's head when she was out for our appraisal. Gee, I wonder why our appraisal was so low. Gee, I wonder why the bank wouldn't do anything other than extend the construction loan for six months at a cost of $750 plus interest. Gee, I wonder why the bank said, "You are having someone else come in and complete the cabin, right?" So, Duden-ass, you know what you can go do. Now, the second picture is where Eric and Jake make it all better for me. I had a choice of paying to have Duden-ass' work torn down to rehang the drywall so you couldn't park a semi between the sheets or pay for something to cover it up. I thought it'd be quicker to just cover it up. It is nice to be stunned for the better. I am loving my ceiling. You see what I got from Duden-ass when I told them that the appraiser was coming. I told Eric and Jake the appraiser is coming and he's on it. "Okay, they like to see this, this, and this" and that's what he's doing. Here is a bit of advice and I canNOT stress this enough, ask for home owner references and call them. It is not enough to ask your building department if there have been any problems with the contractor you are considering. You need someone in your shoes, the home owner, to tell you about their experience. When you're taking bids and asking when they can get to your job is a good time to find out if they are getting more work as a result of the work they are doing. This is the key. Eric and Jake go into people's home's to install windows, doors, and kitchens for some retailers and get asked back by the home owner. Those are the guys you want. Run from contractors that tell you time and material. Do not let the work proceed if there's no proposal for the next phase of the project. Kick them off your property if they don't get you a proposal and want to go to time and material. A professional that knows what he's doing can tell you what it's going to cost you. Look for a company where the boss/owner is a hammer swinger. Otherwise, you get someone lazy and full of hot air making empty promises. Find out how these guys treated other owner's property. Were there cigarette butts all over? Did they chew tobacco and spit in out all over the place or in a cup and leave the cup around? Did they leave food wrappers and their own trash wherever they were standing? They should be cleaning up at least weekly or more often if the mess is a tripping hazard. Find out their break policy. Duden-ass' guys took at least two breaks a day - 15 minutes each times 3 guys times their hourly rate. Over the course of our job it added up to $5000. That's a lot of money to have dismissed as "as you claim." Hence, the Little Miss Pissy Pants and my not caring what Duden-ass would appreciate.

Let's review, shall we

Stairs going from Lower Level to Main Level. Before and Now. Oooo.

Peachy keen

Just been hanging out at the cabin with a paint brush.

Well, isn't that just Smurfy?

Ut, oh. I'm close to hitting the panic button here. I am holding out hope that everything else that goes into the bathroom will tone down the blue a bit. We'll have to wait and see....

Prepare to be dazzled

They came, they worked on the cabin, they used up all the materials, and they went back home. Now, it's time for me to paint and get the rest of the materials here so they can come back and finish. Here's a peak-see. Ooooo.

Progress Report Six

So, when you walk from the front porch into the cabin you're in the kitchen. To your left is the bathroom. Here's the bathroom so far. Now, the search for a shower that fits into a tiny bathroom and is just the right size to accommodate soap, shampoo, water, and the scrubbing, flailing arms and elbows of the 6' tall Husband without said 6' tall Husband having to shower with his nose pressed into one side of the shower and his buttocks pressed into the other side while getting tangled up in a shower curtain was a bit of a challenge. This shower is 35-1/4" x 42". Once we found the shower, then the distributer, we still needed a dealer to get it for us. Roger, our fabulous boiler professional from Bob's Sheet Metal, Hancock, Michigan was able to get this shower for us. The little empty space pictured to the left of the shower will have built in shelving.

Progress Report Five

Top photo is the living room as you're facing the East wall showing the stairs leading up to the Loft. Bottom photo is facing West wall and masonry heater. You can see part of where the kitchen is going to the right of the heater. The spot of bright light to the left of the heater is a door that right now leads to a two-story drop to the ground and is a perfect exit for anyone that gives me any guff. In the future it will have a terrace and extend the dining area on the other side of the heater.

Progress Report Four

From top to bottom, MANCAVE, TV viewing area conveniently located adjacent to the MANCAVE, and the stairs leading back up to the main level.

Progress Report Three

Stairs leading from kitchen to lower level.

Progress Report Two

Continuing right along with our tour through the drywall dust, from the porch we walk into the kitchen. This picture shows the kitchen after you've walked through the kitchen and look back. The door takes you back onto the front porch. That green board is where the sink cabinet is going. An island will be under the wires you see hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. Do not let the size of this space fool you into thinking I was really limited to what could be done here. I got myself into plenty of trouble with Theresa, Kitchen and Bath Specialist, at 41 Lumber, in Houghton. Check out some of the kitchen pretties for yourself. For this kitchen, you'll have to wait until the "Big Reveal" and we "move that bus" to see the "startling conclusion".

Progress Report One

I love my new general contractor crew. Hard workers, excellent craftsmen, and very nice. They needed to go back to Ohio for a few days. Meanwhile, I've been working on my To Do List: ordering more paneling, stairs, flooring, lighting, keeping the main level heater going and catching up a little here. So, without further ado, here's a few shots of the front porch interior. We have 6" tongue and groove cedar paneling from Keweenaw Specialty Woods, Mohawk, Michigan on the ceiling (the photo with the wire hanging); 4" tongue and groove cedar paneling on the north, east, and west walls (shown with the corner of the front door), also from Keweenaw Specialty Woods, and cedar shakes (shown with the corner of the window off the front of the kitchen) from 41 Lumber, Laurium, Michigan on the south wall. The original shakes on the south wall were oak (from an oak tree back in the woods near the cabin) but when the front gable end wall needed to be reworked because of the new door, we needed more shakes so the original oak shakes from the front porch were used.

Thoughts of Spring

March, everyone, March! Wow. Spring is right around the corner. I know that we can still get lots of snow but we finish moving in 90 days. That is if we finish things. That is if I ever get over this darned cold and get my work done. Right now, I am absolutely burning up. But this is the break through I needed. Apparently, adding more whiskey did help. Between the whiskey and eucalyptus, I drifted off to sleep smelling like a drunken koala bear. I also hit the orange juice a little harder and steamed my sinuses. I was thinking that I could really use a sauna so I put a pot of boiling water in the sink, hung my face over it with a towel draped over the back of my head. It worked like a charm. It took away all that sinus pain. Sometime during the night, I felt all the congestion break up and I'm breathing easier now. I almost feel more exhausted though. I'm supposed to meet the electrician out at the cabin this afternoon. We all know my feelings regarding those guys lately. I did get more of the story from The Husband as to what happened when he was here and how plywood ended up on the wall. Seems these SOB's think they are too good to lend a hand when needed. Our ex (general contractor) did not have the wall that all the electrical is going on ready. So, it fell on Mike. Instead of the electrician giving Mike a hand, he told Mike, "It's not ready for me; I'll be back in a couple of hours." How absolutely lovely. So, Mike put the insulation up and then proceeded to carry a 4 x 8 (or are they 5 x 8; anyway) sheet of drywall down the stairs by himself and hung it by himself while he screwed the thing in by hand with a manual screwdriver by himself. The electrician came back and Mike wasn't finished yet so he helped put a few more screws in. Oh, you're all heart. I wondered why Mike was commenting on his back being sore when he got home from all this. I stopped in to the electrician's on Friday to schedule them for next week which is this week. I said that I needed a couple more wires added to the front porch for a couple more lights. Their response, "oh, yeah, we didn't do that last time because you had all kinds of stuff on the porch." No, I didn't know what I needed out there yet and our ex didn't have the joists doubled up out there yet so we couldn't add the wires yet. I just needed some wires added and yet I had to listen to a bunch of BS. Why do these pain in the butts feel the need to throw it all back in your face? Nothing is ever their fault, they can't do anything to help out, yet I have to clean up after their messy butts. I want to replace these guys but any other electrician doesn't want to touch another electricians rough in work in case there are problems because it will be the other guy's fault and I'll be the one stuck with paying for and fixing the mess. Kind of like right now with this plywood on the wall and the subpanel not mounted the way we wanted it mounted and now the system is all up and running. Needless to say, I haven't felt very motivated to write the check these guys are wanting. Which, by the way, in checking over the bill, there were mistakes. Math errors and the rate wasn't what they quoted us. We brought that to their attention. Oh yeah, they raised their prices in the fall but they'll honor their quote. Then, what we haven't talked about, they have down a certain amount of hours which, of course, is higher than the hours I have. That's right world, I kept track. I wrote it all down. Now what do we do? Not to mention you charged me for each little wire clamp thingie when they were littered all over the floor of the cabin. Several got stuck in the shop vac. Slobs. Wasteful slobs. Wow, I am feeling better. Just better enough to be cranky. Needless to say, I'm going to have to cancel these guys for today. I did not get the porch cleaned off over the weekend and if someone came out and copped an attitude about having to work under those conditions, I'd get so pissed that I think I would single handedly unravel the thread that's holding the Universe together. So, let's turn our thoughts back to Spring. Today's picture is brought to you by Lake Superior. I took it last summer when I needed a break from the construction BS and went for a walk along the shore. Just a couple miles down the road from The Secret Cabin.

Homework

After my new contractors got the insulation and drywall done, they had to run back to Ohio for an important family event. Meanwhile, I have homework. Now that there's insulation and drywall, I'm lighting fires in the upstairs heater. Just small kindling burns to dry out the heater. I've got firewood coming at the beginning of the week. The electrician is coming out Monday to add some wiring for more lights on the front porch and we've got a few "stray" wires hanging around. I think they were inadvertently moved during all the construction chaos. My plumbing helper is back in town today so I'll get a hold of him and we can finish up the rough in plumbing earlier in the week. I have found a bathroom exhaust fan that I like. I emailed a picture of that to The Husband. He likes it so I need to sit down and order it. Keweenaw Specialty Woods will have all the tongue and groove cedar for the ceiling ready this week. When Eric and Jake get back, they're going to start mudding and taping the drywall and putting the cedar on the ceiling. I've got all the flooring picked out and Rowe Furniture here in town is working on getting that for me. The kitchen and some bath fixtures are sitting in 41 Lumber's warehouse. The remainder of the bath stuff is already at the cabin. I think I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullet on the bathroom ceiling material. Originally, I wanted to put Metallaire up in both the kitchen and the bathroom. It is way too expensive. It would cost darn near what the entire underside of the roof is costing for the tongue and groove cedar. The kitchen ceiling will also have tongue and groove. It will flow better which is important in a small home. However, the bathroom does have a door and it's really the only "room" in the house. Everything else is open. I was planning on going out to the cabin again today and clean but I've got a cold that is just kicking my butt. This germ fest started Wednesday. I didn't feel too bad when I got up yesterday but after messing around at the cabin yesterday (all week, for that matter) and running around town a little, it's starting to feel fatal. I haven't decided yet or not if I'm going to have a hot toddy and just curl up into a little ball and snooze the cold away or if I'm going to gut out about another half day of work again today. Really, I NEED to rest so I can be good to go again because there's lots to get done. Why is it so hard to rest when we really need to? Maybe if I pull the covers over my head the germs won't see me and they'll just go away.

Dance of the Soul

Wow. The tension of the last six months has left my back and shoulders. Big, happy sigh. Right now, in the dictionary under bliss is a picture of me and the cabin in the sunshine against a backdrop of snow, recharging our batteries (both figuratively and literally), a little fire in the heater, and washing it all down with a chai tea latte. It has been a good week for us. Eric and Jake navigated The Secret Cabin expertly waving their magic hammers around so quickly they were but a blur. After three days, the cabin is insulated and drywalled. They wrapped up some loose ends and corrected a few framing errors left over from my ex (contractor). They took care of what needed to be taken care of without me having to ask, ask, ask, scream. This is how it should be. I've always thought the difficult people and situations that are part of life and that we all experience was to challenge us to learn and grow. But learn and grow what specifically? Surely, not our ability to string together colorful metaphors. I thought the lesson, which obviously seems to have evaded me over the last 6 months of construction, was to learn to gracefully deal with these difficult others and situations. Maybe, though, the lesson is to recognize when things aren't working, cut those people and situations loose, move on, and surround myself with those that do the dance of the soul. The dance of the soul occurs when the task at hand is carried out beyond "just a job." It is elevated and performed happily and to the very best of one's abilities. That person is in the groove, in the flow, nailed it, spot on. Maybe the lesson is for each to learn his/her own dance of the soul so we can all dance together.