• Home
  • Nick’s Blog
  • Miss Terry’s Kitchen
  • Free Drawings
  • Contact Us

Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper

"Our Adventures On And Off The Road"
  • Home
  • Nick’s Blog
  • Miss Terry’s Kitchen
  • Free Drawings
  • Contact Us
Nick's Blog » I Don’t Think So
  Bloom Where You Are Planted   Dealing With Professionals

I Don’t Think So

 Posted by Nick Russell at 12:39 am  Nick's Blog
Oct 012021
 

I’m not sure what happened, but somehow when I posted yesterday’s blog, titled Back To Work, instead of going into the main heading, it went into a subheading for a page that contains some of Miss Terry’s recipes. Some people were able to access the blog with no problem and others could not, so here is a link to it in case you missed it.

We want to get a carport built on the large concrete apron in front of our house, next to the garage. Even though our 1100 square foot garage is huge, the door is so low that we cannot get the pontoon boat in except on a special scissor trailer. Then we have to crank the trailer down until the pontoons are sitting on four flat dollies, pull the trailer out, and push the boat into the corner. This is a real hassle every time we want to take it in and out, so I want to get a carport erected that we can keep it in instead.

Here in Volusia County, Florida, they have all kinds of rules and regulations for everything, and trying to wade through the maze of paperwork to get a building permit was beyond my ability or patience. So I asked on a local Facebook page for recommendations for a licensed contractor to do the job. I don’t want some handyman, because they can’t get a permit anyhow. I want the job done right to start with.

I got several recommendations, including one from a woman who contacted me and said she and her husband owned a construction company that specialized in carports. We had an appointment for him to come by yesterday and give us an estimate, and when he showed up, he was driving an SUV with his wife and baby in the car, which was no problem. He was a young guy, mid-20s at most, and when I started explaining to him what I needed to be done, he began pacing off the area and then asked if I had a tape measure because he had forgotten his. Who goes to give a construction estimate and doesn’t bring a tape measure along? He also needed paper and a pen to take notes.

I asked him what the turnaround time would be on a project like that, and he said he could do it over the weekend. There’s no way that’s going to happen, because I do know that the County said it could take two months or more just to get all the permit work done. I pointed that out to him, and he said not to worry about it, that was his job. He left and a few hours later sent me a text saying that he was preparing an estimate for the job but wanted to know if he could use my pickup to haul the materials. Otherwise, he would have to rent a truck and build that into the price. I don’t think so. I told him I was no longer interested in his services and wished him a good day.

The good news is that I got some recommendations for several other companies, one of which has done work right here in our neighborhood, and the owner lives right down the street. They are supposed to be here this afternoon to give us an estimate, and they understand all of the permitting process and such. Hopefully, we won’t run into any snags and can get the job approved and done, but as I said, Volusia County has an endless number of hoops they want you to jump through, so only time will tell.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Undone, the first book in my friend Jason Deas’ Burt Bigsley mystery series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – I have found that if you tuck one pant leg into your sock, people expect less of you.

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr

Related

Nick Russell

World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
 Add comments  Tagged with: audiobook of Undone, author Jason Deas, building a carport, building permit, Burt Bigsley mystery series, handyman, licensed contractor, local Facebook page, pontoon boat, scissor trailer, Tape measure, Volusia County Florida

  4 Responses to “I Don’t Think So”

  1. blucrab says:
    October 1, 2021 at 7:31 am

    Having been a contractor(landscaping), I was warned many years ago about other contractors. There is such ill-trust in the word- con- trac- tor?

    MAYBE WE SHOULD SHORTEN THE WORD – con or con’s !

  2. Jim Naysmith says:
    October 1, 2021 at 7:52 am

    I had a contractor who was supposed to take my kitchen back splash down and re-drywall. I knew I was in trouble when he asked if I had a hammer he could borrow. It just went down hill from there. Have a great weekend.
    Cheers

  3. Patty Richardson says:
    October 1, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Hey Nick you should run a class on “running a proper scam for the newbie!!” 🤣🤣 Patty

  4. Mister Ed says:
    October 1, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    Have you talk to your parks Manager the requirement / HOA for placement how far you have to set back from the road and you’re property lot line
    Here in my park I have to be 10ft .1 in, from the road and 5 feet 1in, from my perimeter lot line
    There’s a carport barns and shed company that sells those on the west side of US one in Mims. You can actually see their models live
    If you’re just putting in a carport we had one put in at our park 28 x 35 x 14 and they do it real fast it took 3 guys less than six hours we all sat out in the lawn chairs and watch them . Couldn’t believe how fast they did it
    Always remember no license contractor no recourse No license if it’s not up to code guess who pays

 Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

  Bloom Where You Are Planted   Dealing With Professionals

Follow Me

Facebook Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Ray Grassman on Free Drawings
  • Gail Reitz on Free Drawings
  • Betty Graffis on Free Drawings
  • Bridget Wiemken on Free Drawings
  • Wanda Tounsley on Free Drawings

Tags

Bad Nick Bad Nick Blog Big Lake mystery novel Big Lake mystery novels Big Lake mystery series Bus Conversion campground Civil War dry camping e-book publishing Elkhart Campground Escapees RV Club Florida RV parks Florida RV snowbirds Ford Explorer fulltime RVers Fulltime RVing Fulltime RV Lifestyle Fulltime RV Travel Geeks on Tour Gypsy Journal Gypsy Journal Rally Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper John Lee Quarrels mystery series MCI Bus Conversion motorhome RV RV Blog RV camping journal RV dump station RVers RV Lifestyle RV Park RV parks RV Rallies rv rally RV Repairs RV site RV Snowbirds RV Travel self-publishing Show Low Arizona Thousand Trails campground Winnebago Winnebago motorhome

Subscribe to Nick's Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Shop Amazon

Miss Terry’s Kitchen

Big Lake

Overlooked Florida

The Frugal RVer

Pages

  • Contact Us
  • E-Book Store
  • Free Drawings
  • Gypsy Journal E-Book Store
  • Gypsy Journal RV Bookstore
  • Nick’s Blog
  • Sample Page

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Meandering Down The Highway

© 2012 Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha
 

Loading Comments...