I had a lousy night's sleep. Scott came up and told me that he had finished his work acoustically insulating Yvette's ceiling. He thought about my idea of doing some work in the living area; he could do that differently, more cheaply. Scott would scrap the popcorn off the ceiling, open the existing sheetrock in select places, secure the joists (He now knew where they were without having to rip the whole ceiling down.), and spray insulation in through the openings. He then said . . . the sprayed insulation would be better than the insulation he had put in because there was still air space between the subflooring and the insulation. His comments bothered me at the moment, but the full impact didn't hit till the middle of the night.
Why exactly didn't he fill the first space with insulation? I was prepared to put out thousands of dollars more with that expensive insulation system; what happened here? I was ready to call in both Scott and Yvette to deal with it after driveway yoga.
I invited them both to come in. Yvette had to leave. To boot, Yvette was in a very vulnerable state. Her mother died on October 8, her birthday was on the 10th and her mother's birthday was on the 12th. Yvette has lost others on birthdays. Death and birthdays and holidays are linked together in this girl's life. I would have considered waiting, but we had to make an immediate decision if we would fix this problem.
Scott came in, and I asked him why he didn't fill that space with insulation while it was still open. He said it cost a lot. I was clearly distraught. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said, take down the finished ceiling and start from scratch. God bless him, He groaned instead of telling me I was out of my mind. He. at no point, challenged my point of view.
It only came out later that he had decided to put one layer of batting in because it would be cheaper for me. While I deeply appreciate that he didn't challenge me when I brought the topic up, I don't feel terrific about making a decision of that nature without consulting me.
He said that he would blow insulation above the batting fairly easily while working on the ceiling in the living area. This will make it better, but not as good as it would have been if he put in multiple layers of insulation in the first place.
I have worked so hard to do the best job on this ceiling possible. I'm still heartsick that it didn't happen. It will never be as good as it might have been if Scott had filled the space with batting. Why? Because the blown-in insulation can't be compressed. Multiple layers of batting could have been pushed in, compressing the insulating. You want some air pockets when you're insulating for temperature; when you're insulating for sound, you want density.
Yvette came in when she came home. Scott had filled her in. I then learned that he had decided how much batting to put in to 'save me money.' You can guess how I feel about someone feeling they can make such a decision for me.
I have been missing Mike. The final session of The Good Place has triggered grief. Mike's presence was always light, just there, almost nothing. We loved sitting together, solving our life problems, small and large, supporting each other, and discussing ideas. It was what I saw in the relationship between Eleanor and Chidi. What made their life good was that they were happy in each other's presence. That's it. Nothing more. So nothing. So everything I had and loved.
I was having an over-the-top reaction to the ceiling situation. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was dealing with my grief over Mike, the political situation, and finally, the ceiling. I called Yvette to let her know that I knew my reaction was intense. She listened lovingly as I wept about all the above.
I have some construction plans. I want to get them done before the market crashes and I'm broke. The solar attic fan and gable louver have already arrived and are waiting to be installed. I have other items on my wish list. One is a skylight in my guest bathroom. I picked one out but couldn't order it on the Home Depot website. I would have to go there.
I packed two more boxes of books, loaded them in the car, and left. I stopped at Home Depot first.
I found the skylight I wanted but could not order it for either home delivery or store delivery. There was an associate at the Doors and Windows desk. He said the item I wanted wasn't in the store either. It wasn't delivered to Hawaii. Things that are available in the lower 48 are often not available in Alaska and Hawaii. He had to order it to be delivered to a California store, and they would send it on. It will arrive in California on October 8 and then be put on a boat for Hawaii. It will come sometime in November.
I went to the post office next. I got help from two men who helped me bring in my heavier boxes. I carried the third and then went back out for the fourth. I got the same clerk, who used to be so disdainful and is now so friendly.
Next, I went to Kaiser to get my flu shot. When I spoke to Dorothy on my morning walk, she told me she was suffering because she had gotten her flu shot yesterday. The poor girl has been suffering from one physical complaint or another for several days. She had terrible belly pain, and now the flu shot. Us old people have to get the high dose shot, increasing our chances of having a reaction.
I arrived at Kaiser with a sweatshirt at hand. They keep the indoor temperature suitable for a meat locker. When I got to the check-in area, they told me that flu shots were being administered in a tent around the corner. I sure didn't need that sweatshirt. There was still a short wait. Afterward, my arm itched, but that seemed to be the worst effect.
I watched Criminal UK on Jean, my hanai sister's advice. I found it too gloomy. I found Red Oaks tonight, a coming-of-age drama-comedy taking place in the last century, the late 80s. It's pretty good. While there are bad turns of events, it's mostly light. Just what the doctor ordered.
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Musings:
Morality and God. I had thought that people who went to church were moral because they heard lectures on morality with every sermon. I learned a different viewpoint. Religions teach God hears all their thoughts no less sees all their actions.
Researchers have looked at the effect of being observed on people's behavior. They found that people pay for the coffee at the office more frequently when a picture of a face is posted above the coffee pot. Being observed makes a difference.
I was raised that the most significant challenge was being able to live with yourself and see yourself as a good person. I was raised to watch myself, to evaluate my every action and most of my thoughts.
When I was in my twenties, I shared a house with two other women who taught in the same school district. Florence was a devout Catholic. She said to me, "I was always taught that people who didn't have a religion were immoral. Betty, you are the most moral person I have ever met."
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