It is Sunday, December 20 and there are only 5 more days until Christmas!  By now you should have the presents wrapped and hidden away so that you forget where some of them are and don’t find them until Easter.  Today we remember the birthdays of Giovanni Battista Gagliano, John Geary and Alan Parsons.  On this day in 69 General Vespasianus occupied Rome, in 1803 the Louisiana Purchase formally transferred the territory from France to the US for $27 million and in 1984 33 unknown Bach keyboard works were found in the Yale library.  In Taiwan it is Bank Holiday and this past Friday was Underdog Day worldwide.

Underdog Day does not refer to the cartoon figure.  Originally, an underdog was a shipbuilder who stood in a dark pit and helped to saw planks of wood from beneath while the overdog, a supervisor of sorts, sawed the planks from above.  The underdog got all dirty and covered in sawdust, yet the overdog got all of the credit for the hard work carried out.  The first recorded uses of the term occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century; its first meaning was “the beaten dog in a fight”.  An “underdog bet” was a bet on the underdog for which the odds were always considerably higher.  Established by Peter Moeller in 1976, Underdog Day is the time to honor all of life’s unrecognized hard-workers.  So, I hope all you underdogs had a great day.  This day is normally recognized on the third Friday in December.  Just so you don’t miss it again, next year the date is December 16.  Mark your calendars.

It is finally over!  The final hurdle has been jumped and we are no longer under the shadow of our old house.  The town has completed the inspections and has issued the CO.  Believe me when I say it has not been easy.  This all started back a number of months ago.  We were gearing up to close on the new house and I thought we should get the CO inspection done on our old house just to get it out of the way.  I contacted the town and they scheduled an inspection.  I foolishly expected everything to go well.

The inspector showed up, walked around the outside, came in and walked around the inside and then told me I could get the official report in a couple days.  A few days later I went to town hall and got the report.  We had failed for a variety of reasons.  One reason was that I had to have CFI outlets installed in the kitchen, bathroom and basement laundry area.  No problem.  I also had to replace a section of dryer vent hose, again no problem.  The problems were on the outside of the house.  Apparently, he walked around the house, noting anything that appeared to be a DIY project.  When he went back to the office he looked to see if there were permits for those projects.  If not, he used that as a reason to fail us.

Some 30 years ago, I built a deck in our yard.  At the time I did not bother with a permit, never thinking that it might be a problem later.  They gave me a sheet listing the current specs for a deck, showing that the requirements had been updated only four years ago.  I asked why I was expected to meet these specs.  He explained that it was because I did not have a permit.  I asked if they were going to all the houses with decks built a number of years ago and making them upgrade and he just looked at me as if I had started speaking a foreign language.  He pointed out, for example, that I had two 2X8 header boards and I should have three.  I said, “So if I go and add a third 2X8 board that will be okay?”  I got that look again.

I decided not to push that anymore and went on to the next problem.  There was an issue with the electrical work for the hot tub.  I told him that I had a permit for the electrical work and he said that it was for service to the house but not the hot tub.  I said, “So I have a problem because your office didn’t complete the paperwork properly?”  I got that look, again.  They also questioned the deck for the hot tub.  The guy told me that they needed to be sure that it could hold the weight of the tub.  I pointed out that it had been there for eight years.  “Don’t you think I would have had a problem by now, if it wasn’t strong enough?”  You guessed it – the look.

Another issue was the railing on the front steps of the house.  I asked what the problem was and he explained that a six inch sphere could fit through there.  I looked at him for a minute and then said, “Yeah, so?”  He pointed out that a child could stick their head in there.  I pointed out that if he could stick his head in there he could take it back out.  Again the look.  It has become apparent to me that the people in that office do not use or understand logic.  Back to the deck, after some frustrating discussion regarding the deck I stated that it sounded like he was telling me to tear it down.  He was quick to point out that that was not what he was saying.  I said, “Then I can just leave it alone and it will be okay?”  He said he wasn’t saying that either.  I asked what he was saying.  He gave me the look for a couple seconds and then said, “Are there any other questions?”

I realize that I had promised a major tirade on this whole thing, but frankly, I am just glad to have it done.  I am sure you get the gist of the frustrations involved in dealing with these people.  If not, start a project at your house and have the town inspectors get involved.  In talking with other people about this, it seems that they are the same everywhere.  The end result was that I had to have both decks removed.  The contractor explained that it would cost five times more to fix them than it would to tear them down.
When I decided to have them taken down I asked the town if I needed a permit and if I didn’t get one would they make me rebuild it.  They really have no sense of humor.  Of course, once the deck was down I had to have a stairway built because of the door that was there.  What made it worse was that the landing had to be wide enough for the whole sliding door, even though only half the door opened.  I am just glad that the whole thing is done.

This week our fact tells us that the average adult male grows one pound of facial hair in ten years.  I am way ahead of that with facial hair, I think.  If you add in nose hair and ear hair, I probably do a pound every six months.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, this is a season of joy, happiness, love, family and friends.  Take a moment to appreciate what you have and let your family and friends know that you love and appreciate them.  Have a very happy holiday.