Another busy day

The day started at 8 00 am when the contractor who is to start the excavating on Monday arrived to give us an estimate about the extra costs of excavating on our land to replace the storm sewer. My heart sank when he mentioned that since the storm sewer is located below the sanitary sewers so these would have to be replaced too. His estimate, of just over $3000 including replacing the pipes, was a very pleasant surprise. Later in the day he emailed the contract to us. He estimates the total job will take two days only.

Most of the rest of the morning was spent in readying the Studio for Sunday's teaching class and for Adrian's 40th birthday party on Saturday.

At tea-break time, Anne pointed out an article in the local weekly newspaper that said the Ottawa City Council had approved increasing the plumbing grant to $7500 so that sump pumps could be installed where needed in areas with a high flood risk. We are in such an area. We had received a letter approving the installation of such a pump, but we had balked at it because the expense was not covered. Now we needed to revise our thoughts.

As it happened, the Dennis, the plumber from Plumbing Now was scheduled to come at 1 00 pm to finalise his bill for work done on the back-up valves and to receive payment. I contacted the engineer who had recommended that the sump pump be installed and discussed where it should be located. We already had approval for the cost estimate from Plunbing Now.

When Dennis arrived I was able to discuss the locating of the pump with some understanding. Dennis will contact the excavation company and be here at 8 00 am on Monday morning. In that way the external excavation needed for the sump pump and its ancillary pipes will be done when all the other excavation takes place. Dennis even thinks his crew could finish the installation inside on Tuesday. (Given his timelines in the past, we will be pleasnatly surprised if this happens.)

After Dennis left, Anne said, "You will be very happy about this email." I had an order for four baskets from a past customer of mine in Brooklyn, New York. After lunch I packed these baskets, took them to the mail, and returned to give the customer her 20% discount for sales made during my pre-Christmas sale. (That sale ends on November 30th.) This was a nice way to end the day.