Friday, October 17, 2014

Catching a Bug and Catching Up

I’m angrily getting over a miserable cold.  I’m angry because I think I know where I picked up the nasty, germy bug.  
It most assuredly happened the last time I was there.
As I was bending down to tie my shoe, I  heard it.  It was a wretched sound.   My head shot up.  I had to know where that awful noise was coming from.  And there she was, sitting all alone, down in the pit of the very lanes that I would be bowling on, practically right in front of me.
It was not a polite, “I’ve got a little tickle in my throat” cough, cough.  It wasn’t a watery eyes, sneezy, “The goldenrod is terrible this year, isn’t it?” allergy, cough, cough.
In fact, I can’t even classify it as a cough.  The woman was hacking.  She was deep down gurgling, whole body shaking,  hacking.
And I? I was terrified.
I pointed her out to my team mate.  “Do you hear her?” I asked.  “What is she doing here?” I wanted to know.
Okay, so there is this ritual at bowling.  I don’t know if it is a standard world wide practice.  But in our league, whenever a bowler makes a spare or a strike, she gives a hand tap, high five to members of her team and also to the bowlers on the opposing team. Apparently, it’s a way to graciously pass on good luck to the other bowlers.
I told my teammate Diane that I most certainly would not be touching anyone’s hand that day.
And I didn’t.  Well, except for that one time.  I got caught up in my own excitement.  The excitement of making a turkey.  Three strikes in a row.   It does’t happen very often for me.
So, as I walked back through the roaring, cheering crowd,  after my third strike in a row, my turkey strike, how could I deny the others a hand tap, high five?
I couldn’t.  I didn’t.
Two days later, there I was.  A coughing, sneezing, sniffling, sore throat, achey NyQuil ad.
So, again I ask the question.  Why was that woman out in public?  Why was she not home in bed?

Floor update.
We’ve decided to replace the whole floor.  Not just the kitchen, but all of the hardwood floor throughout  the house. We also decided to go with a lighter wood.  The dark Brazilian cherry is beautiful, but it’s tough to keep clean.  Especially, with a Rico dog,
To go along with this news, there is a cautionary tale to tell.
When Lou (the guy who came out to give us an estimate) told us what the square footage measurements were, we immediately realized that they did not match up with the measurements from the last time we had the floor installed.
In a phone conversation, Ross brought this to the attention of Dominic, the owner of the flooring business who would be doing the job.  Dominic off handily chalked it up the necessity of having to add in a 10% waste factor.
Ross, who taught Math for 30+ years, knew that a 10% waste factor could not possibly add up to needing an extra 200 more square feet.  He had a strong suspicion that Lou made an arithmetic calculation error.
I think that Ross is probably the best arbitrator and negotiator in the world.  No, really he is.
He simply told Dominic that he wanted to give him our business.  “Especially,” he said,  “since you did such a fine job for us last time.”
He asked Dominic if he would personally come out to do another measurement.
“It would put my mind at ease,” he said.
How could Dom say no?  He couldn’t.  He didn’t.
What is it that they say?  Measure twice.  Cut once.
As it turned out, after Dom did the second measurement, the square footage was 200 square feet less than what Lou came up with.  That translated into $1800.
We went into the store the next day.  Lou was there.  He apologized.  He showed us where he made the mistake.  When he measured the hallway leading into the bedroom he forgot a decimal point.  Instead of 24.5 square feet, he wrote down 245 square feet.
Buyer be “A ware”.

PS,
I exaggerated a little about the reaction to my Turkey.   hehehe





12 comments:

  1. I wonder the same thing about many children at school...they are too sick to be there, and what are their parents thinking?

    Thirty years of math? Wow.

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    1. The parents probably cannot take off from work for one reason or another. And so the kids get sent to school.

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  2. Wise to always double check someone's work; at least Dominic saw where he went wrong with his calculations. Sorry to hear you got a nasty cold; was just writing on someone else's blog who also had a cold caught by someone at a restaurant who was serving her, that hubby endures the same things, being around students who are sick (he teaches guitar in a small studio). Hoping you feel better fast!

    betty

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    1. I’ll tell you, if the measurements were left up to me, sadly, I would have just accepted what I was told the measurements were. Math was not my strong suit.
      I am feeling a lot better. Makes me want to be doubly cautious about contact with the outside world though.

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  3. People are in denial sometimes about being sick. Or they don't want to miss something. Ah well.

    Glad you caught the miscalculation. If you hadn't had the floors done before, you probably wouldn't have known.

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    1. There was no way this woman could have been in denial. I do think it was the not wanting to miss something aspect for her. Or perhaps she feels a loyalty to her team. In my opinion, misguided, though.
      I know, I thought the same thing. If we didn’t have the experience of having had the floors done before, we most likely would gone along with what we were told. But I do wonder what would have happened when we were left with five or six extra boxes of wood.

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  4. Sorry you got sick, but congratulations on your turkey!! I haven't ever had one. I'm in my second year of league bowling. I'd probably run up and down the whole alley high-fivin' if I got a turkey!

    Good catch by Ross on the flooring. That's a huge savings! I like the approach he took with the owner. Good luck with the new floors going in. That can be a messy job.

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    1. Thanks for the congrats on my turkey. Believe me it is a rare occasion for me.
      When we had the floor installed the first time, the installers were excellent. They were in and out in two days.

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  5. I am an RN and the common cold is out there not matter where you are. You can get it walking down the aisles of the grocery store. You could pick up a pack of toilet paper that was touched by a kid with a cold. The best defense of all time is washing, washing, washing your hands. I would take hand santitizer with you in the future and use it all the time. Many people cannot stay home when they get a cold. Working in the hospital, they never allowed us to call in for 'just a cold'. Unless we had a fever we were expected on the job.

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    1. Yes, I agree that sometimes it is just not possible for those who work in critical or essential professions to take time off for “just a cold”. My work experience was in the corporate world. We were also made to feel that staying home with a little cold was not acceptable. It would inevitably backfire, though as we passed it on, one to the other.
      I always keep sanitizer with me. Washing, washing, washing hands is a good reminder.

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  6. I don't like germs this time of the year. Actually any time of the year. Funny post though. Had me smiling.

    Good for you, on the new hardwood floor measurements. That is quite a discrepancy and good to keep in mind for the future.

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    1. I have to admit I am a little phobic about germs. Hard to avoid them, though, especially this time of the year.

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