Laser Up!

I got a call from Mr. Honest yesterday. He's going stir-crazy in critical care, but they won't release him because his heartbeat is still wacky. The medicine they thought was working stopped being effective, so the experimentation continues.

He reiterated what Mrs. Honest had told me -- that Kip, son/apprentice, is working on the cabinets and has the wall cupboards almost done. That's making me nervous, but I shouldn't judge a cabinet by its hardware. I'm hoping Mr. Honest can at the very least supervise any changes/corrections needed.

But typical of Mr. Honest, he said that he'd be at the house Monday morning to do some floor repair (I can't even believe he remembered that little job; if I was in critical care for a week, I KNOW work would not be anywhere near the realm of my brain).

He's just so funny that way because A) he doesn't know he's going to be discharged from the hospital by then; and B) even if he is, I'm sure his doctors aren't going to allow handyman work. I'm hoping they at least allow cabinet supervision. But that's my Honest friend, always wanting to get the job done.

Speaking of work being performed, electricians Smoke and Mirrors returned to finish the electrical rough-in. As I pulled up to the house (about 15 minutes early), I saw that their truck was already in the driveway. Thinking there had been a miscommunication about their start time, I approached the truck and asked if was late.

They informed me that, no, they're early -- they always get to jobs early -- or I should say NEAR the job early because Mirrors said that they wouldn't come into the house until their start time. Apparently, they like to shoot the dung like two teenage girls in the cafeteria before school starts.

But once the eight o'clock bell tolled, they came in and worked their usual magic -- putting in the island pendant light boxes and rerouting wires that Tall Drink of Water had to push to the side. The only thing that worries me is my own lack of expertise. I had marked on the floor where I thought the pendant lights should go. I assumed they'd do more intricate measuring, but no.

When I questioned how he had decided where to put the boxes (I had been in LevelHead Jr's bathroom skim coating with joint compound, my new hobby), Smoke informed me that he had ''lasered up''. Laser up?? What in the blue blazes does THAT mean? Well, it means that they pointed a laser light directly up from my crude little marks on the floor. Oh, you mean those X's I scribbled in five minutes? Fabulous.

It's just too hard to see how they'll look with all the rafters and HVAC ducts, so I'll reserve judgement until I get the actual pendant lights installed. What's a few more drywall holes if they need to be moved? Compared to this renovation, it'll be nothing -- heck, I might even try it myself. OK, maybe that's a stretch, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow, the county comes to do what they call an electrical and wall-removal "rough-in'' inspection -- before any drywall is installed. Crossing my fingers that we don't face any delays there. Whose idea was it to get a permit anyway?

Also, Mr. Hubby is tiling LevelHead Jr's bathroom floor. Will fill you in on that adventure next ...