So close and yet so far.

In the never ending sage of the back of the house renovations, the plot continues.

After having no workers for over a week, we've had a few partial days with partial progress. Since saber-rattling over the disappearance of tools and other items from our home, the items in question have returned. "They were here on the shelf in the closet the whole time." our landlady was told. Yes, the closet that we went though over and over again. The tools that now have different bits on the end that we have never owned. Those tools, they were just sitting there in plain sight, by no one.

Our trouble is, we are motivated people who want things done to a certain level. The level that we would hold ourselves to. The landlady does not share that commitment and tends to hire whoever is cheapest.

The tools were "discovered" over the weekend when we weren't home. On Monday Lyle and I went over the bathroom, bedroom and closet with a fine tooth comb looking for every detail that needed to be completed. The brand new tile already has paint dripped on it. The closet floor has paint dripped on it. The bathroom wall has not been sanded down before painting... details, details, details.

We made an extensive list for all three portions of this project and Lyle emailed them to the landlady. She called and said that the workers would be there Tuesday morning before Lyle went to work to go over everything with him. Then she called back to say it would just be one worker. Then she called back to say it would Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

This is when Lyle told her to just FIRE THEM and we would finish it ourselves. If we needed help, we would hire people we were comfortable with and we would supervise them and they would answer to us. Lyle wrote to her, "They take no pride in their work. They are messy. They don't show up. Oh, and they STOLE FROM US."

Somehow the landlady convinced Lyle to give them two more days of working on the list he made for them. After that, whatever wasn't done she would let us do.

Lyle came home today to find the landlady painting out the trim around the doors. Without a drop cloth. Dripping paint on the new hardwood floors. She told him she was just trying to help.

I think you can see where all these problems start from.