Game not on. **CRABBY ALERT**

Here it is six weeks later and almost NOTHING to show for the time. Meanwhile, ash trees are turning bright yellow, maple and sumac are starting to flash red (yes, an agitating color) and the night-time low temperatures are dropping like ______ (name anything heavy and un-helpful).

So what’s the holdup? “A failure to communicate” between the county permitting staff and the contractor — County gave verbal approval (see previous post) but then sat on the actual OfficialAndFullyExecutedPERMIT a few weeks, until we started inquiring, whereupon we learn that they were waiting for assurance that the capacity of the septic system would match the size of the house.

Duh, the contractor said.

Duh, I said when she phoned me. I re-sent the septic design doc to the contractor who forwarded it to the County and we thought that would loosen the jam.

But no. Next was “we need to see the excavator’s permit before we send the foundation permit” whereupon the contractor (who has the right temperament for a project manager) said “What do you mean? I’m not giving him the go-ahead to pull his permit until I know we have ours.”

County staff person (who I believe is new, nonetheless ought to be adequately versed in the requirements for issuing building permits. Since that’s her JOB.) said, “oh, okay,” and by the time everyone got back from Labor Day weekend, the actual official paper permit (suitable for posting on-site) had arrived in the contractor’s hands.

Labor Day — which, you’ll notice, is almost 2 weeks ago. The contractor did warn me that even after the permit comes in, it may get kind of quiet, because what they’re doing is working on fitting multiple schedules together: between the excavator, the house movers, the concrete guys and (“but not least”) the weather forecast.

Finally day before yesterday, I contacted the house mover asking if they’d gotten a schedule yet. He said, “well the contractor wants the house there tomorrow, but I can’t work on that short a notice. Soonest I can bring it is end of this month.”

Two weeks— I’d be okay with that. But then I emailed the contractor to ask if that lines up with her view of what’s happening, and she was disturbingly noncommittal, even raising the possibility that their bid for the foundation did not include the special winter mix of concrete and the blankets or whatever else is needed to build a foundation in cold weather. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaa today it’s 70 degrees and sunny, and Tuesday could hit 80. How backed up are they?