The recap, part deux
If you want to follow the events of the last 7 or 8 days in chronological order, scroll down and read the entry below first, then come back here.
Dad had said on Monday that he just wanted to chill out and rest on Tuesday after the traumatic Key West experience. I was fine with that. As far as I was concerned, we could not work on the sprinklers at all the rest of the week and be fine with it. We had three circuits under pressure which was further than I expected to get. On the way back from dropping off the kids at the airport we stopped at Mel’s Diner and had breakfast. Dad and I had good conversation, something we don’t get to do on a frequent basis. During it, he brought up a statement I made a day or two ago where I referred to the fact that I was the only Duffey child that did not finish college, hell I hardly even attended. Anyway, Dad took that comment as me indicating some sort of bitterness or resentment that I didn’t finish college. He told me that he didn’t want me to feel shorted in that regard and if I wanted, he would gladly pay for me to go back to school. He said I didn’t have to answer now, just think about it. Well I wasted no time in clearing the air. I told Dad I didn’t intend for my comment to come off sounding that way. In reality I had no desire to return to school and in fact was somewhat proud that I found my way into a relatively successful adult without it. Well he reiterated how he would be willing to help me and thought it could be a good thing. I thanked him but again was firm in communicating that it held zero appeal for me. It was very nice of him to offer though.
After Mel’s we stopped at Home Depot once again to buy more pipe, another 700 feet of it. This put the total pipe length over the 2000 foot mark, wow. The pipe fit nicely into the back of the van, with the rear seat down.
So we got home and Dad chilled out, for a little. However the nice cool and non-humid conditions inspired Dad and he declared he was ready to go back out and lay pipe. I was pouring through Digital Fortress and was almost done so in a way, I wished Dad wanted to relax some more. Oh well, I marked my page, changed into my grubby work clothes and headed out. By this time Dad and I had laid enough pipe together that we had a good system going. We ripped through the project and by the end of the day had circuit number four completely laid out as well as having the two remaining circuits extended well around the far side of the house, almost to the front yard.
During the afternoon I had the van pulled over to the side of the house so it would make it easier to unload the pipe. Nicki was home with us and as always, wanted to be out near us, where the action was. I had her tied out near us for awhile but she kept tangling herself up. Eventually I thought I would try something different. I opened up the back doors of the van and told her to jump up. It was a high jump for her. Five or six times she approached the back of the van like she was ready to jump and then would suddenly stop, unsure of herself. Eventually she made the leap and hopped into the back of the van and plopped herself on the still flat back seat. I opened the side windows as well to let the breeze blow through. There she sat for a long time just hanging out and watching us, she had fun.
During that same afternoon, within the span of 15 minutes, I had two vehicles pull off onto our property. The first guy was an old tiny Italian guy. He assumed we were lawn sprinkler installers and asked if we wanted to do his property. I told him that this was my house and this was my dad. I was just doing the work myself to save some money. Well the guy didn’t care either way and said he wondered if I just wanted to make some money on the side. I thanked him but told him no thanks, I wasn’t looking to get into a side business of lawn sprinkler installs. He wished us luck and took off.
Then a few minutes later, another vehicle pulls up. This time it is a woman. She lives down the street around the corner. She saw the nice trenches and flags all laid out and assumed this was being done by professionals. Again, she was looking to have their yard done. I told her how I basically just got a book, did some research and did it myself. She asked about my costs and stuff and again seemed very interested in hiring me to do the work for her on the side. Again I declined but offered her answers to any questions she had based on the experience I had. My Dad thought it was funny how two people basically offered us business one after the other. He said if three or more showed up he may have to take an extended trip to Florida and make some money. It just wouldn’t be worth it to me. Plus there are all sorts of gray areas involved with doing something like that on the side, none of which I want to deal with.
Tuesday night after dinner, I asked Dad if he wanted to watch Inconvenient Truth with me. He said earlier he had wanted to check it out but never got around to it. After it was done I was fishing to see if it served as any sort of wake up call to him. His only real comments were regarding the small amount of political jabs at Bush in the film. Dad isn’t the sort that would admit that his opinion was greatly swayed by something like this. I can only hope it made a small dent and at least got him thinking about some stuff.
On Wednesday it was back to work time for me. Dad once again worked on pipe in the morning and by lunch had all the pipe I had left in the ground. I was still short pipe. After work I picked up another seven pieces. When I got home, Dad wasn’t back yet. He took his motorcycle back to Fort Myers beach and spent the afternoon there. He is on a mission to get a deep tan for some reason. When I got home I went out and put the sprinkler heads on circuit number 5. Pushing the funny pipe fittings on as the sun is going down was very tough. The sunlight helps keep it pliable, without it, you have to twist and push like a son of a bitch. Dad got back just as I was putting the last couple heads on. I finished up and then went over and turned the water on, After a long delay, the water finally made it around the property to the heads and popped them up perfectly. We walked the length of the circuit to look for leaks, everything looked great. By the end of today, all the pipe will be connected and all that will be left to do is permanently stick a bunch of the heads in the ground, adjust their spray pattern where necessary and then back fill the trenches. I had no plans to more or less finish the project during my Dad’s visit, it’s awesome that we got so much done.
Last night while Ali was at ballet, I asked Dad if he wanted to watch the Departed with me, since it was another movie Ali had no interest in seeing. He agreed and I pulled it up. I didn’t realize it was nearly a two and a half hour movie and there was a brief break while I fielded a call from Keener’s brother, Terry, protesting his entry in this year’s LRLI tournament. (a funny tournament I run for Troy’s fantasy football league that corresponds with March Madness) Anyway I thought the movie was really good. The cast was fantastic I thought the acting by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson was outstanding. The ending took me by complete surprise. It gets an outstanding A.
So that’s it, you are caught up. I work today and then am off again Friday. Dad is planning to pull out on Saturday as of now. The prospect of us going out on the big M boat to gamble appears to be washed away from our horrible Key West ride. I was still stewing from the Key West experience yesterday and fired off a nasty email to them about it. You can read my rant here. I have a number of pictures from the last week that I will be working to get online, stay tuned.