After such a great start, I had high hopes for having everything done by early October. Now, I'm hoping that everything's done by the middle of November. So, what's the big holdup....another construction project. You see, our church voted to undertake a major remodel project this year on the 45+ year old building. Some of it was necessary, our roof was leaking; some of it was cosmetic. And, of course, one of the members of the building committee was my brother. While he didn't head the building committee, he wound up being the one to go up to church every night to make sure the doors were locked (the construction crew was pretty forgetful), hear the concerns/complaints from congregation members, and be the all around Johnny on the Spot, so he didn't have a whole lot of time left for his big sister's little basement project.
That still left Dad to keep plugging along until he too got sucked into the church project. Along with the remodeling in the existing church, as a part of the construction project, a storage shed was to be built. To save a little bit of money, rather than have the construction company build the shed, members of the congregation were asked to volunteer. Two pretty awesome men (and, by default because he was the son of one of the volunteers, one awesome former Sunday Schooler of mine) stepped forward. When it became apparent that nobody else was going to help, my dad offered. Unfortunately, that meant my project came to a SCREECHING halt (although I understand I am in good company, as one of the other builders has a list of things he wanted to accomplish this summer at home). The build seemed to take forever because, while they weren't building the shed, the construction company was responsible for organizing when the concrete was laid, as well as when materials would arrive. On several occasions, there were interruptions because the materials weren't there at all, or if they were, there weren't enough. My personal favorite was when the Project Manager sent out a nasty email reminder because someone (not any of the volunteer builders) promised during a construction meeting that a certain portion of the shed would be finished by Monday so that the concrete could be poured. Our mighty construction crew worked through the weekend downpours to get the work done (mind you, they couldn't have started any earlier because this Project Manager didn't order the materials in time), how nobody came down with pneumonia is still beyond me. And, guess what? The concrete wasn't poured on Monday...or Tuesday....or, well, you get my drift.
This wouldn't have been bad, with the exception of a couple of things. When this project started, I approached the head of the building committee and our minister and asked them if they were going to include language in the contract that encouraged the builder to complete the project on time and on budget. Specifically, I suggested we include penalties for every day the project ran over. I was told that that was rediculous, and that I (actual words) "had absolutely NOTHING to worry about." Even after the project started and things were progressing extremely slowly, the response every time I asked if we were going to be on time was "There's nothing to worry about, (insert The worship area will be done for J&A's wedding in August; the classrooms will be ready in plenty of time for Sunday School and, my favorite, EVERYTHING will be done well before October). HA!!! As you may have guessed, I've had several times where I could have said "I told you so."
And, through it all, the two people who've interacted with the project manager have sung her praises. Let me tell you, this chick must be HOT, because that's the only reason I can see for these guys praising her up and down every chance they get. I know at least one P/P/D I work with reads my blog, and that she would CRINGE at the emails that come from the project manager to members of the building committe, as well as the volunteers for the shed. No client should be spoken to in that manner, and that's what we are, her client (perhaps someone should remind her of that). Right now, with the deadlines her folks have missed the mark on, she should be treading very lightly. When I equate it to my job, it would be like me not only missing the deadline of a project, but by first having the software up and running on September 10, when the client needs to use it to complete a tax return by September 15. Not exactly a stellar performance if you ask me.
So now, the shed is finally finished, and Dad is getting back to work on my basement. Hopefully, it will be done by the end of the month. If it isn't, perhaps I should ask a certain project manager to step in. On second thought, probably not, otherwise I'd be lucky to have the basement done by March.
