Busy Little Bees...

Let me apologize for not posting since last Friday… we are just so darn busy! Busy, busy little bees we are…
We made the trip home this past weekend to celebrate my Mom’s 60th birthday. The cookout we had for her was fun and we had a great time seeing family and friends. We drove back Sunday morning and enjoyed a lazy day hanging around the house. When I finally finished preparations for the work week, I jumped into the shower only to discover that we had no hot water! Hubby finally went to the water heater and discovered a leak… along with several inches of water in the crawlspace… So off to work we go on Monday with no showers. Hubby managed to line up the same guy that installed our HVAC system, but their schedule had them only committed to replace the water heater by Wednesday morning… and with Hubby going out of town this morning, leaving me here alone with NO hot water was NOT going to work! I was really bummed out about the whole situation when I came home last night, but Hubby turned those sad thoughts around when I got home and discovered him replacing the unit himself! God Bless my having such a Handy-man Hubby! He said that we were saving loads of money by replacing the unit ourselves but, he has no idea how much I appreciate having the hot water so soon! The most frustrating part of this whole deal is that we just had to pay several hundred dollars a couple of weeks ago to have one of the sink drain pipes unclogged. It just seems that one thing after another keeps having to be replaced or repaired week after week… very frustrating!
Anyhoo, today I attended a pre-bid conference for an upcoming project that our company is going to bid next month. It was almost a day of déjà-vu for me because the project is in Villa Rica and just so happens to be across the railroad tracks from the manufacturing plant that I built with my previous employer back in 2002. The trip out to Villa Rica from our home was the same drive I drove everyday for an entire year…. Very odd to drive it over 6 years later and see all the changes along the way. After going to the conference and seeing all those other 18 contractors there… (Yes, 18!) It just reminded me again how times are tough right now and any project less than $40 million brings out every contractor under the sun! I really do not think our price will be competitive at all but, we are still going to bid it… at least we trying I suppose.
My little project in Texas is about to get off the ground running the last week of this month so I will be traveling again next week back to Albuquerque. I am actually a little excited about the trip since Albuquerque is such a nice city and the weather there is wonderful this time of the year. We shall see…

Winds Of Change

The winds have changed for me at my job… I have been assigned a new project… in El Paso, Texas…. Hhhhmmmmm… interesting… El Paso, the armpit of America as some folks like to refer to it. I was given the green light last Friday afternoon (while I was hanging the geriatrics crowd back home) and when I showed up to the office on Monday the flood gates were wide open. I have been in full throttle since Monday and have not stopped yet. I have 4 huge tasks that have to be completed by this coming Monday and let’s not forget that this IS a holiday weekend! It’s a good darn thing we did not have any plans for the 4th because I would be up the creek… I am the Project Manager and have no budget for a assistant… wouldn’t ya know? But, hey, this new project assignment gives me something to do at work… and that is the best news of all.