Monday, August 1, 2022

STAIRWELL STORY


Stairway Story

Coming from his den upstairs, Darling Hubby fell AGAIN descending, each time it's "What on earth happened?!"  

Myriad questions ensue ... was he wearing socks, did he use the handrail, was the light on, did he miscount (it's 13 steps), what was he thinking about at the time, does he need a new glasses prescription, what was he doing at the time?  All those situation investigating questions come up.

Off to Home Depot.  What to do about slippage on the stairs?  They have coarse sticky strips, coarse sticky pads, rubber treads per step of 3 styles, plastic runners, carpet treads, and carpet stair runners.  There's also grit to add to paint or polyurethane.   Which led to "do you have business cards for handymen?"  

That's changed, now they have what they call Connect Pros with Pros, a list of local service providers.  Home Depot gives you a printout, you contact the handyman of choice.

Well, the only one that answered made an appointment to come at 11.  He, from the middle of Indianapolis 40 miles away, typed address into GPS and laughed, 

"That's on the way to Canada!"  

At 11:30 (gave him time to get lost on the other side of the river...our road is E. 216 on this side of the river and on the other side it's W. 216) I called.  He answered.

"I tried to call you to tell you that we'd be late.  When I got halfway there I realized I'd called the wrong person and had to turn around!" he chuckled at his mistake.

When he arrived I teased, "So you got lost going to Canada, huh?"

Well, we're honest people and after much discussion John, darling hubby, confessed that when he fell he was not holding onto the railing, he was wearing socks only, carrying a flashlight and trying to turn it on, and carrying a cup of coffee.  Oh, boy!

So, this skilled construction man, head of a multi-million dollar company, and a trouble shooter, brought along his sidekick.  They joked about how John needs to carry down an empty cup, or forget the coffee, or move his den downstairs!

Well, they leave, and an hour or so later, in John's email and on my phone we get a quote.  It's concise, it reasonably priced, it's complete with credentials.  Then there's the last little paragraph.

"For safe stairway descent, client may want to consider the fabrication of a coffee cup elevator."

ROFLMHO