And Then, There Were Windows! Updated.

 The long awaited window installation happened yesterday, on what was of course the coldest day of the week. The installers were three very nice, very young men, all Hispanic, so I guess I should be grateful that ICE didn't show up and haul them away while there were gaping holes in my exterior walls. 

It got quite brisk in here. They replaced a window in each bedroom (the front bedroom is my office) and two in the kitchen, so Eddie and I spent most of the day on the couch in the living room, the only room without gaping holes in the walls, because I decided the old sliding glass doors to the balcony (in the living room and master bedroom) were still doing fine. Eddie behaved much better than I'd expected. I kept him on his leash and with me the entire day, and he was mostly calm and quiet, though he did bark at them when they broke out the noisy power tools. 

He was on duty all day and was exhausted when it was over.  Doing nothing on the couch sounds good until you are forced to do it. Then, it's kind of exhausting. Also, I never thought about how I'd eat lunch when my refrigerator was basically shrink wrapped all day.  (Narrator: She did not eat lunch that day.)

The installers were excellent and very meticulous and used miles of plastic sheeting and put down floor coverings, and even cleaned the leaves off my stairs while breaking down the scaffolding and packing up. I had very little cleanup to deal with, just a whole lot of putting stuff back in place.  But not completely back, because the county still has to come inspect. Then Friday will be the measuring for the new blinds, then the installing of (they're off the shelf so no delays for custom manufacture, it shouldn't be too long). 

I really have become one of those old people who forgets how old their stuff is. I had thought that I'd just keep the same blinds (basic Levelor white faux wood) and reuse them after the windows were done. Removing the old blinds made it clear that this was a stupid idea. They'd been pretty much fixed in place, length-wise, for a very long time. I did adjust the slats, but hadn't had a reason to raise them all the way in quite a while, and when I tried, yeah, time had taken its toll and the mechanism was in really bad shape. Imagine lifting a car with a string. They're being replaced. 

It had been quite a while since I'd had a home improvement project that required going to Lowe's. I was struck by how different it felt. It's kind of like how Target used to be more upscale than Walmart, and now it's just the other Walmart. 

Lowe's used to have actual home decor, like an aisle of lamps, not just lighting requiring installation. It had a real paint department with several brands and paint samples, and a huge wallpaper selection. Now everything is online, you have to hunt down an employee for service, and they obviously really want you to buy it online and pick it up in the store. I and another customer were shopping for blinds, there were no employees in sight. Finally the other customer flagged down someone in a store vest, she called someone else on her radio, and a few minutes later the woman who knew window treatments arrived. She was very nice and helpful, got me set up with an appointment for measurements, and that was that. If I didn't want just standard, decent but not custom blinds, I'd have had to go elsewhere. They've really cut back on what you can do in the store. 

I need a new trash can, a big one with wheels. I figured I'd buy it while I arranged for the blinds measurement. I went to the aisle with the sign that said "trash cans." There were no trash cans on the aisle. None. There were janitorial supplies. I checked the adjacent aisles as well, no trash cans of any description. I even walked to the back of the garden center, I seemed to remember they had them there in the past. I did not find any. Yet the website said they were available for pickup at that store. I would have asked an employee if I saw one, but other than a guy driving a forklift, no vest wearers were around. 

Sometimes I think about how I do so much shopping online now, and told myself I should get out and do more in person browsing. And then I'm reminded WHY we now have to buy so much online. 

Regarding the ICE bit (first commenter made me realize it needed context): I left out part of the story. Monday was trash day and when I opened the garage to drag the can out, there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. A very young man was there, he told me he was one of the installers. He'd originally parked on the street waiting for the rest of the crew and materials, and a woman had yelled at him and told him he wasn't allowed to park on the street. I told him where the (very few) guest parking spots were, they're not in plain sight. 

He said the woman sounded really mad and told him she was on the CONDO BOARD and it was against the RULES. Here's the thing: People doing work in the neighborhood park in the street when they have to, because we really doing have many options. I'm quite sure board member herself has had to deal with workmen parking on the street; it's hardly unusual.

I can guess which condo board member it was, (and can confirm that she's an officious bitch and none too bright) and I'm equally sure she wouldn't have harassed him if he wasn't a young Latino guy loitering in his own car before 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and a holiday at that, as all the young hooligans do. If she had really been concerned about on street parking, she'd have directed him to the guest parking spaces. I have no idea what else she said, but that poor kid was genuinely shaken by the encounter. He was a kid, maybe 20, and clearly a trainee as he got all the basic tasks, like diligently wrapping all my stuff to protect it and cleaning up, and I felt awful that anyone in my neighborhood gave him any shit. 

I also know he was trying to be really discreet and professional about it, and I didn't want to make him more uncomfortable so I didn't ask him any details, I just said, "Yeah, I think I know who that was, she's like that, don't worry about it," and told him where the guest parking spots were.  

Lately it really sucks to be an older white lady in Florida; everybody assumes you're an asshole because so many are.