“He will.He has pictures of every job he’s ever done.”Jamie wiped his brow.“Damn, it’s already hot.”
Jamie watched Salzy pull out of the rear parking lot in the old truck, a small cloud of dust from the gravel wafting after him, as he came down the steps.
“Have a seat,” Joesph said, patting the space on the bench next to him.“Let’s go over this schedule.”
“I was going to ask you that,” Jamie smiled.“Great minds and all that.”
Joesph smiled.“The heat and air guy will be here at one.”Joesph pointed to a list with today’s date on it.“One of the painters will be here at two.Your meeting with Payton and Adrian is at three.Another painter is coming at four.”He looked at the time on his computer.“It’s almost noon now, so our day is full.”
“I bought a barbecue that Sal is going to pick up.I thought tonight we’d just have hamburgers and hot dogs.Hope you’re okay with that?”
“I’m more than happy with that, as long as we’re not going to eat that for the rest of the week.”
Jamie laughed.“No.There’s quite a bit of food in the walk-in.I just need to cook up in the apartment.I have no idea when the last time that stove was used.”Jamie shook his head, his face solemn.“I can only remember my grandmother using it a few times the entire time I lived here.”
Joesph took his hand.“It’s okay.Sometimes it’s good to remember.”
Mike came out the back door, and the screen door closed softly behind him.“I’m just in the way in there,” he huffed.“Everything is going pretty smoothly.They’ll have a finish coat done on all the drywall by the end of the day.”
“Wow,” Jamie said.“That was...very fast.”
“They’re using that quick-dry plaster.It dries in thirty minutes.”
“Okay, then...”Joesph looked at his computer.“That means that the painters can get in here...”
“What about the floors?”Jamie asked before Joesph could finish.
Joesph gave him a look, a Joesph look.“If I may finish.”He cleared his throat.“The flooring company will start first thing in the morning.They are sending two crews.One to do the dining room flooring, and the other will first pull up all the old tile.”He glanced at Mike and then Jamie.“They said that they could have all that tile up in one day and the floor ready for the new tile.”
“I can see where that’s doable,” Mike said, nodding his head.“Especially with two teams.”
“It’s my hope that the tile can be put down on Saturday in the dining room and have that completed since it is only an underlay and then vinyl tiles over that.”Joesph took a deep breath.“The kitchen is another matter.They may or may not be able to get the tile laid on Saturday.At any rate, after it is down, it needs time to cure before they can grout it.I’m hoping that it will be completely done by Tuesday at the latest.Then the painters can do the entirety of the interior.”
Jamie sat there looking at the schedule, shaking his head.“It seems fast and slow at the same time.”
Joesph chuckled.“Welcome to my world.”
“I have to admit, I’m in awe, Joesph,” Mike said softly.“I wish the Army had a project manager as good as you are.”
“Why,thankyou, handsome.”
