Chapter 3

Mark was at the fitness center at seven-thirty Monday morning. He had two reasons for arriving at this time. One was that this was a popular time for people to be there working out before work and he would introduce himself to some of them. The second was that he liked to observe the women who were good looking and were working out. He somewhat enjoyed looking at them in the tight outfits they wore which went without saying showed their figures.

Three people whom the doctors had referred for physical therapy came to him this morning. After they filled out some forms he administered the therapy and scheduled them for their follow-up visits. Once these treatments were completed he again made the effort to speak with some of the people who were working out.

He had looked at the inside of his house as to the work he wanted to do inside and knew he needed a contractor. He asked around in meeting these people and a few of them recommend Paul Beckman. Mark phoned Paul and made arrangements with him to meet at the house later in the day.

The meeting with Paul went well. Mark pointed out that he wanted a kitchen wall removed but he didn’t know if it was load-bearing. After the removal he wanted the kitchen counter extended to where it made a breakfast bar with matching kitchen cabinets for storage underneath. Mark wanted the kitchen counter replaced with a granite countertop and an outlet for a light installed over the new breakfast bar for him to hang a light fixture. He also wanted the large fluorescent light on the kitchen ceiling removed and replaced with four recessed lights.

The last thing Mark wanted to be done was to widen the mantle on top of the fireplace which would enable him to put a large flat-screen television there as opposed to mounting the television to the wall. Paul said Mark would be better off by contacting Alex Justin who does woodworking as a hobby to have him do that and gave him the contact information.

Paul gave him an estimate of two prices for the work. The price depended on if the wall he was removing was load-bearing or not. He said they could start doing this work next week and asked Mark to go to the Home Depot and pick out the granite he wanted for the kitchen counter and breakfast bar.

“Let me ask you,” said Paul, “What do you plan on doing to this house after the work I do is done?”

“First of all, I am going to paint all of the rooms and ceilings. Then I’ll put a ceramic tile backsplash in the kitchen. I am going to replace the vanities in the two bathrooms with granite countertops and pedestal sinks with new faucets. The last major project is going to be removing the rugs in the living-dining room and replacing that with some wood type of flooring which I have yet to decide. The rugs in the bedrooms will be steam cleaned and the ceramic tiled floors will stay. There are some other minor things like light fixtures, but there is no rush to do those things.”

Paul said, “Putting in the floor is not difficult but one person doing it can be a pain in the ass because of the constant getting up and down and the moving of the furniture. If you want I can give you the names of two college boys that can give you a hand in doing that just before Christmas when they are in between semesters. They could use some spending money.”

Mark took the names and thanked Paul for the suggestion.

At the fitness center, he found that there were two additional patients referred to him for treatment. He also found on his desk two shirts that identified him as being part of the staff at the fitness center.

When he was done treating the patients and doing the inputting he checked with Nancy but she didn’t need him for anything. That being the case he took a drive to the Home Depot located not far from the university. He was going to purchase the paint and supplies he would need to do the inside painting along with selecting the granite he wanted for the kitchen counter, the sink, and the high rise faucet. While he was there he would also check out what the flooring options were.

Having done all that he was back at his home and he unloaded the SUV. Mark thought other than phoning Alex Justin for the fireplace mantel’s widening he would just sit on his ass and watch television this evening.

Alex came over the following afternoon and Mark showed what he wanted to be done to the top of the mantle to widen it and some wood trim for the sides to hide the wiring going up the sides. Alex said it was no problem to do that but it would be up to Mark to stain it to match, polyurethane it, and install it.

Two days later Alex was over with the finished wood. He would only accept the cost of the wood and nothing for the labor. Mark thanked him but he insisted Alex take a bottle of Crown Royal for his efforts. Mark would do the installation of this wood on the mantel after he painted the walls and ceilings.

The total number of patients Mark was treating remained low. He thought he was getting a full day’s pay for a half-day of work. That was fine with him and could only hope it would continue.

For a change of pace and to take a break from the painting on Saturday he decided to go to Ken’s West to see what was going on there.

Mark was sitting at the bar having a drink checking out the women that didn’t seem to be paired up when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning he saw it was a lady who was a little younger than him who said. “Remember me?”

The look she saw on his face told her he didn’t but then he said, “Of course I do, you are Donna Hamilton.”

“For a minute I thought you forgot. Where is Marty?”

That was a frequent question Mark received after the women had seen Marty dancing.

“Back in San Francisco, I assume. I moved up here and work at the fitness center.”

“I was thinking of becoming a member there. Would you care to join us at a table?”

Mark did go with her to the table and could see Audrey was sitting there. She welcomed him but her next words were to ask him where was Marty.

After answering her question the ladies both turned their attention to Mark asking him where he was living and what he was doing. He did answer their questions about where he was living and what he was doing. Both of the ladies said they were considering joining the finesses center when school was out for the summer. Right now in teaching, they said they get enough exercising.

They had Mark up on the dance floor just about for every song. While he was no Marty as to his dancing ability, apparently he was good enough for the ladies who wanted to dance. Overall he thought he had a good time and it was a nice change to get away from fixing up his house.

Time was flying by thought Mark. Paul had completed the remodeling Mark had asked him to do and Mark had completed the painting of the interior of the house. The two college young men worked with Mark for three days before Christmas and the rug was removed from the living-dining room area and the new floor and trim was installed. Some new light fixtures had been purchased and installed. The bathroom appearance improved with the new granite countertops and sinks. The fireplace mantel extension was installed and on top of it was a new sixty-five inch flat screen television. While there were some minor things still to be done, all of the major renovations for the inside had been completed.

Mark paid the young men for helping him and included a Christmas bonus in that check. He did ask them if they had plans during spring break week. When they told him there was nothing special planned he offered them the job of washing down the outside of his house and garage and putting on a coat of paint which they accepted.

At work, the number of patients Mark treated remained the same with some new ones added but other ones leaving with their treatment completed. Generally, Mark was done treating patients before noon.

Mark was told for Christmas that his parents were going to fly down and spending that time helping out his sister who lived in Houston, Texas. She had just given birth to her second child. Mark was invited to join them there and celebrate the holiday with them. Mark turned down the invitation and said he would do a zoom call with them on that day.