Free Un-Connected by Noah Rea Page A

about it.  I said
this needed some real help and I wanted to do something nice.  Linda said she
couldn’t wait to see what I would quote.  I asked if she had a budget.  She
said not really just don’t let it get too pricy.”
                So
I worked with dad for a couple of days while I was thinking about it.  I told
dad what it looked like and he just shook his head.  “Why do people do things
like that?” he asked but didn’t say any more.  It was my project.  He never
gave his opinion unless I asked.”
                “One
day I asked him to please step in if he saw I was getting in trouble with
something and he said he would but he never did.  Later I asked him about it
and he said I knew what I was doing and hadn’t needed his help.  Besides some
jobs truly need a woman’s touch.” He said with a little chuckle.
                “After
about a week I knew what I wanted to do but it would require covering the
drywall on the one bad wall as well as the ceiling.  I quoted an embossed tin
ceiling with those old fashioned metal squares.  There were some really neat
ones that were brushed nickel.  If the budget was too tight for that then I
could back up to primed ones and we would paint them whatever color we wanted
and save some money.  I found some old barn siding that we could put on the
wall.  We would have to knock off some of the high places that still had
adhesive on them but we didn’t have to do much else for prep.” 
    “I got a brick mason and we went over ideas
about making the fireplace more attractive and functional.  He would rebuild
the fireplace and put a new stainless flue in the chimney.  He would rebuild
the damper and make the brick mantle more ornate than it had been and put down
a marble hearth.  I gave Linda the quote and she was ecstatic.  She said that
room would be the highlight of the house and would really help it sell.  She
said it would be great to take the worst room in the house and turn it into the
best one.  In fact she thought they could raise the price they had intended to
ask by my bid amount.”
                “Long
story short the owner loved the idea and I got the job.  Dad helped me with the
wall.  I got the metal ceiling installed and the flooring replaced.  It was
really nice when I was done and like the agent said it was the nicest room in
the house.  She was really happy with the job and became one of my best repeat
customers.  They raised their price by the amount of my bill and the house went
under contract in eight days.”
                “Linda
gave me a lot of work after that and over time I began to do renovations that
were a quarter of a million dollars.  I was doing some really nice stuff and
had a good group of subs.  I was really doing well and that lasted a few
years.” 
    “Then the housing bust came.  I had trouble
collecting my last jobs and in one case only got about seventy cents on the
dollar.  I lost big time on that job.  I had paid all my subs and had paid for
the material.  I had collected all the other jobs and had saved my money so I
was ready to do something else but didn’t know what.”
                “Not
long after I started doing my own jobs I ran into a guy named Larry I had dated
in high school.  He and I dated about nine months after that and got married. 
I was crazy about him.  I knew he loved me but in less than two years I learned
he loved women generally, not just me.  My dad heard about it before I did.  He
came by a job I was doing and didn’t say much.  But I had a big pain hit the
pit of my stomach.  I knew my dad and he wasn’t happy about something.  I about
threw up.”
                “He
took me to lunch and he told me he had heard Larry had a girl friend.  One of
his friends had seen him with someone else.  So dad had his friends go on the
lookout.  In about three weeks they found out he had a somewhat