Diary of a Gladiator - Feb 25, 2009

Hello everyone!

Rehab projects are chaotic, a penny facing heads up brings good luck, and I Just got back from the hospital. Let me get back to that later.....

It was a beautiful morning here in Indianapolis. I rolled out of the rack, grabbed my coffee, and left to meet the codeRed crew at 7:30 A.M. to get them started and perform the Gladiator pre-project ceremony.

These guys are awesome, they were already hard at work when I arrived!

Mick, Aaron, and Brian were jumping all over the massive rotting wood fortress of a play set like kids in a candy store. They were ripping this thing to shreds and throwing the wood in a huge pile that will be used as a bonfire later in the afternoon.

The fact that they are already working is great, but I was now in a bit of a panic. The pre-project ceremony had not yet been performed. Was this project now going to be cursed, or am I just an idiot with some kind of foolish habit?

Before any hammer starts swinging, I bury a penny "heads up" somewhere on the property for good luck. It is something that I started a while ago, and just gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling I need to get things off on the right foot. I did not want to interrupt the team from their current task. They were having too much fun anyway!

I simply grabbed my little shovel out of my truck, dug the hole, and buried my penny. It was a comfortable feeling smiling at Honest Abe as the dirt filled back into the earth.

Dumpster has arrived!!!!!  Where is my interior demolition guy?

The HVAC tech, David, stopped by to serviced and certify our furnace, we are good to go!

All utilities are on except for the water! They were supposed to be out to turn it on in the morning. No water, no plumbing inspections.......Damn!

Interior Demolition guy showed up, late, and he had one Budweisers too many this morning. He was sent back home to sleep it off..........It seemed like the right thing to do, as he is going to need his rest to find a new job!

Guys inspected the attic and crawl space and things looked very good! No issues to report.

Siding is being installed on the house, garage, and shed today. The garage door will haft to wait, as it was not delivered!

I had a 10:00 closing, and wanted to look at another house that just came on the market. So I left the guys to do there thing. The house is in good hands.

Stopped by what could be a future project, but the day took a turn for the worse. I was walking around the side of the house and slipped in some mud. As I was falling, my head caught the corner of a window AC unit. My cranium was now sliced deep and blood was pouring down the side of my head.

Feeling a little dizzy, I had to make a serious decision:

   1. Go to the hospital and get stitched up
   2. Close property at 10:00 A.M.

Feeling a little nauseous, looking like the 1776 drummer boy, and the world spinning around........I went to the closing.

I stopped by a gas station to clean myself off, and hit the local drug store and picked up some bandages to wrap up the gaping hole in my head. Found my trusty hat in the back of the truck, put it on, and moved forward with the days agenda.

Sitting at the closing table, the title rep asked me if I was feeling OK. I was a bit woozy, but I assured her I was fine. Lets sign and buy a house!!!!!

After the closing, I grabbed the keys and drove myself straight to the hospital! A couple of stitches and I am good as new!!!!!


So what the hell just happened? I should have got that darn penny buried quicker!!!!!

I missed the bonfire..........hope the house did not burn down! Naaahhh, the guys would have called me, right?

It was probably best to call it a day and get some rest, so I headed home. The wife gave me a little grief over my days choices, but hey,  it is all in the days work of a serial rehabber!!!!

See you tomorrow!

Harrison Painter

www.GoGladiator.com