We have tile!!! Also some broken toes, most likely. No, not from the tile. Sales and shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Yes, we have tile. As of . . . sometime after 4 PM. None of this was a sure thing; the tankers started lining up outside out gate at 6 AM, and after well over a decade of nothing by way of highway improvements, and work that commenced last Monday (the 17th) halted by the end of the next day, the Highway Department picked today of all days to screw up the stretch of road on either side of (and obviously in front of) us. All tar this morning; now all gravel.

Add to that the fact that our delivery driver stopped to refuel at Buffalo Thunder (after apparently having trouble finding a station with working diesel pumps), and only AFTER filling his tank did they decide not to take his corporate credit card . . . . It apparently took them an hour and a half to contact whomever needing contacting and get whatever approvals needed approving, and they wouldn't let him leave until it was all done. And the kicker? He's probably coming back tomorrow, with the wood flooring. He's coming up here, at any rate; we assume it's ours, since the computer shows that it was to be delivered today, but obviously wasn't.

In the meantime, Home Depot Corporate sent me an e-mail tonight informing me that delivery of the tile was now scheduled for Friday, so ::throws up hands:: whatever. The store will be hearing from me tomorrow anyway, because we have at least several broken tiles. Yes, slate is fragile-ish, which is why you do not stack them on the dock with a full-sized, full-weight pallet of tile on top of a smaller one of open-topped boxes of slate. Yes, that's what they did; we know this from our kindly driver, who asked them about the broken ones and was informed that "she" (meaning me) would have to call and report it. So he made sure I knew about the visible broken ones. Guy was great; if we had to wait, at least we got a hell of a nice (and skilled) delivery guy out of it.

That up there is one of four pallets of slate tile (2 full, 1 about 2/3, 1 half that and half the other stuff). It'll need some serious sealing, but it's beautiful. It'll be the whole of the downstairs floor except the bath. That will be this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That will also be the shower walls and curb (the shower base will be an off-white pebble tile that matches it). ::Sigh:: I would have loved to have had this throughout the whole downstairs, but it's too expensive for that kind of square footage (for us, at least), even though we did get it at a really good price. That said, we did buy a couple of extra cases, because we had to buy one anyway (the square footage was just a fraction over for the bathroom), and we added one case so that all the overage can become my kitchen countertops. MUCH cheaper than even the "cheap" granite or quartz countertops, much less the Silestone and stuff like that, and all it will need is Hardeebacker, a layer of plywood, and some good grout and sealant.

Tony and Reynaldo are done for the week; they've gotten all the upstairs door frames built, stained, and sealed. Next week, they'll likely be able to hang them and maybe even begin the flooring. If all goes as Floyd thought it would, they'll be able to start our tile next week. How we're going to pay for all of this I have no idea: In addition to the suckery, literal and otherwise, that is this damn septic system (and all the other expenses), we are taking care of truck repairs for the mother of the kid who's working for us helping with the heavy labor. They're fighting to stay above water, and when she was bringing him here to work this morning, they lost a tire (and wheel, and brake drum). It took a while to get the whole picture, but we had her get it towed to a mechanic in that part of town where it blew apart (luckily not harming either of them, thank all that's holy), and we'll pay for it. We need her son's help; he's a fabulous worker, and he can do all sorts of heavy stuff that's beyond me now (especially since, like tonight, I have gotten so clumsy that I drop fifty pounds' worth of something on my toes and now have my left foot taped). And they simply need the help; they need the truck for work and basic getting by, and school starts in two weeks, and she needs to be able to get him there. To be clear, Wings and I agree that this needs to be done; there's no question about that for either of us. It's just one more thing that is going to take funds away from the house.

So as I said last night, we need sales, and badly. So we need shares of his site, and we also need shares of our wishlist, because we'll need giftcards for Home Depot and Lowe's, or we will not be able to finish off the interior and move in this year. It's literally that simple; we don't have the cash flow to buy all the materials and fixtures and thousand and one things that need buying to make it habitable. So please, please share the links:

• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.

I am no less exhausted than I have been the last two days, but I feel less cranky tonight, possibly because at least one thing can be checked off the list now, even if a whole bunch of other things just got added to it. I have soaked my foot three times already, and my most-likely-fractured toes are taped. Once I'm done here, I'm going to put my foot up, and hope that I can walk  — okay, okay; hobble — at least a little bit tomorrow. We have a hell of a lot to get done, and there is reportedly a massive flooding storm system on the way for tomorrow and Friday (which means I may lose my Internet access, so be warned).

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.