Back in order, reparations, first night in the big house, dust devil
Yesterday we worked on getting the house close to 100% back in order. Repeatedly throughout the day Cindy and I stopped and commented on how different and how awesome the new flooring is. It’s like the interior of the house just got a facelift, every space feels better.
Yesterday I talked to the regional VP of the company that handles installations for Home Depot, USIG. It was in regards to the negative feedback I left about the tile installation issues. Wayne said they take negative feedback very seriously. I explained the details of the problems. He said the woman’s stand off stance regarding our issues with the grout was not acceptable. He said he would be talking to the installers but also was quick to offer up some remediation based on the work Cindy put in after the installers left. He said they would be sending me a $250 check to compensate which sounded great to me. Between that and the materials we returned we will recoup about half of the unexpected tile membrane cost. I also made sure to let him know that the carpet installation was done exceptionally well which he was glad to hear. All things considered, even with the bumps in the road, I would recommend using Home Depot for a project like this. Their lifetime installation warranty offers some peace of mind after the fact as well.
The other thing we worked on yesterday was getting the coop ready for the chickens to move in. This meant we needed to clean up a lot of building materials and tools as well as make some final tweaks. Part of those tweaks was installing a center perch support which was a 4 x 4 secured to a roof support. We cut a branch off one of the pine trees and used it to create four staggered perches on the pole, each one within jumping/flapping distance of the other. It should be a fun thing for the chickens to hang on once they figure it out.
During this process I was on the lanai to grab something inside. All of a sudden I heard a lot of wind noise but it was strange, it seemed very isolated. The garden was being whipped around violently but little else. All of a sudden my Green Machine Timing canopy which was anchored to the ground by some thin wire attached to the table saw, became airborne and started tumbling. Instantly I ran out in the back yard to catch it, the forces being applied to the frame as it tumbled made me think it was going to break at any second. By the time I got to the shelter it had blown about 75 feet from where it started. The frame appeared to be intact but there was a small rip in the canopy cover on one side. Since I have lived there I have had a few occurrences of these mini-tornadoes. They go as quickly as they come but they can be very powerful. Over 10 years ago there was one that set off the house alarm and sucked the pond shell that was full of water out of the ground. I guess the good news is the cyclone yesterday did nothing to the chicken coop/run other than blow the front door open.
We tried to get the chickens used to the idea of being inside their new coop during the afternoon. We got Lola and Lucy inside thanks to a corn bribe. We then closed the shed door so they had to go back out via the chicken door which both chicks did successfully. Later we closed them up in the run so when dusk came they would hopefully go up into their new home. We knew it was going to be a tough first night, chickens are very much creatures of habit. They were not going to like not being able to go to the chicken tractor which has been their bedroom. As the sun was going down we looked out and saw both chickens pacing by the door of the run, wanting to go back to their normal home base.
When Cindy and I went out we saw that even if they wanted to go into their new coop they couldn’t. The automatic chicken door had already closed, obviously I needed to adjust the timer. So we opened the chicken door and called the chicks in. They both cautiously came up the ramp and in the door. The low light conditions were making them disoriented, especially Lola. Cindy picked her up and put her in a storage bin she had filled with wood shavings on the floor. Lucy walked over and jumped in with her as they always like to sleep close together. It will take some time for them to adjust to the new arrangements but once they understand the entire space is for them I think they will be quite happy.
I got my web cam up and running in the coop, unfortunately I will need to come up with some sort of alternative mounting position. The camera can rotate left and right as well as up and down but it’s downward angle is not enough to see the floor. I am sure I will come up with something that works.