Undercover Rose
Chapter 44

Copyright© 2013 by carniegirl

I decided that since Carlos wanted to end our relationship, I couldn't stop him. I expected that I would just have to move on. Hiring a knowledgeable handyman wouldn't be impossible, just difficult. Since I was still searching for a project house, I had a little time to think about it. I knew I probably should have someone in mind when the time came, since I might need to begin demolition quickly.

I had a problem even more pressing at that moment. I had run almost completely out of clean clothes. I was beginning to think about becoming more self sufficient and less dependent on other people. The convenience of a washer woman was great, but it had its drawbacks as well. I had to live on someone else's schedule. Women are funny. We like some items of clothing much more than others. So I often had to do without a favorite blouse because I had worn it a couple of days before.

I loved the short sleeve thermal Tee shirts I had found at the end of last summer. I tended to wear one of them every day, at least as long as there was a clean one. I wore them under other clothes. So why not buy more you ask? Well for one thing, there are none to buy in the dead of winter. For another, If I bought ten, when ten had been worn, it would be the same as when five had been worn. I would still not have anything to wear under my sweatshirt.

In other words, when it was time to do the laundry, I wanted to do the fucking laundry myself. The large shower room could easily hold the washer and dryer. If I decided that it was too damp, then in the main bathroom would do fine.

The first thing to do was the plumbing, then buy and install the appliance. Since I was working on the drawing lessons online, as well as looking for buildings to demolish, I had time to wait at home to deal with the workers.

I went back to the craftsman board at Helen's Crossroads Diner. First I had to suffer the abuse from Helen, "What brings you in stranger?" she asked.

"Thought I would try your heart attack burger on a bun for lunch," I replied.

"I thought you didn't eat lunch?" she observed.

"I don't ordinarily but you have the largest list of casual labor in the area," I said honestly.

"It's good to know that bulletin board isn't a total waste of space," she said. "So enjoy the burger."

I wrote a dozen names down. I would have had Home Depot install the washer, but there was more to it than plugging it into the wall.

I managed to get Wendell Everett on the phone by 6 PM. He agreed to come first thing the next morning to estimate the job for me. His idea of first thing was a lot different than mine. But I assumed he had a job he needed to show up at first.

I did some research on washers and dryers I really liked the cute little stackable units, but it seemed that if one of them died, the other one became a tiny floor model. Since floor space wasn't a problem, I decided to go for the full sized model.

I went to their web site and ordered a set of small ones. They were on sale at a decent price. The set was far from cheap, but I figured they were reasonable like me. "Not cheap, but reasonable," I always said. I opted for a gas dryer since I could get that done easier than an Electric one. The bill for them was going to hit $700 at least. I could live with that I suppose. It would take a lot of weeks of washing but eventually it would pay for itself, I hoped.

After the trike race the next morning, I hung around the house looking for demolition projects on line, or making calls still trying to track one down. It wasn't like I wanted any old building. I didn't want anything with drywall or plaster to be disposed of. I guess I wanted old barns and the like. They were getting hard to find I soon found out.

In order to secure a constant supply of lumber I might have to rethink the demolition part of my cabin building experience. It seemed that doing legal shit wasn't all that easy, or profitable. Like someone else had said if crime really didn't pay, there wouldn't be so many criminals.

I only had a fair night's sleep because Joan and Jose kept coming to visit. Unlike Liam they wanted to touch me. Even with half my usual sleep I did my morning routine. Then I rode with Jeremy and Alice to breakfast. As usual I made it into the Hardee's with my heart pumping, and almost gasping for breath. Jeremy seemed to be fairing better lately.

"How come you are older and you don't seem to be in as much physical distress as me?" I asked.

"I live a healthier life style," he said.

"You and I both know that is bullshit. You do nothing all day long but scheme and have sex," I said.

"So, isn't that what I said?" he asked.

Alice just had a knowing smile on her face. "You should try it. It does help with the breathing," she admitted.

"That's just too much sex for me," I said. I smiled just to let them know that I might be joking, or not.

"So what are you planning today?" Jeremy asked.

"I have a man coming to plumb the house for a washer," I said.

Are you ever going to get back to work on our project?" he asked.

"Yes I'm about to give up on using all recycled materials. I would rather have them, but it seems as though I would have to take apart meth labs, and that is impossible," I admitted. "Beside I look fat in a hazmat suit. Others are just too much work to obtain far too many modern building materials. I need old barns but they are in use until the owners die while plowing a field."

"I can see your problem. Then a lot of the building up for demolition are masonry, and we have no use for old brick," Jeremy admitted.

"So, I guess I am going to have to go to modern lumber. I hate it but I don't know of any alternatives. I could call down to that demolition company in Metro City. They probably have some used windows and things. It looks like the framing will all be new though," I said.

"Have you looked into buying those old houses built in the twenties in some of the small towns," Alice asked.

"I made some calls, it looks as though when a family stops living in them, they rent them out till they fall down," I said.

"New or re-purposed makes no difference. We need to move on the project," Jeremy said,

"I know you are getting antsy, so I promise I will make a decision just as soon as the man puts the washer connection in," I said.

I went back to the house and waited for my plumber/handyman. I did more research and got pretty interested in a building technique that seemed to have some possibilities. A method I would never even consider except for the shortage of vintage building materials. Actually I did consider it earlier and decided it was too labor intensive at that time, but things change.

Wendell showed up at 10 AM more or less. I knew I couldn't work with him on a daily basis, since he didn't even explain why he was late.

"Well" he said. "You do have a problem here. You don't want your drain pipe to run across the floor to that drain, I'm sure. All your openings out here are on the back wall, so it would be hard to put the washer here. It's an awful bad idea to have them plugged in where there is a lot of water. I just don't know what to tell you Ma'am."

"Well here is the thing Wendell. I use what is called a gray water return system. Everything that doesn't require treatment is returned to the ground. So I was thinking we could cut a hole in the outside wall and run a drain down the back outside wall. Then we just run a little pipe long the ground like that black shit that they use to move water from the gutters on houses," I suggested.

"Yeah that would work in that big bath. Most people don't think that way, but it might even come out near enough to the deck to drain it under there," he said.

"So when can you do it and what's it gonna cost?" I asked.

"Parts about fifty bucks and I can do the work for a hundred," he said.

"Tell you what that is too much, but I'll do a hundred and twenty five and you supply everything. Don't let the boobs fool you Wendell, I can chisel a hole in that wall," I said. I had no idea if I could or not, but I was willing to give it a try.

"Okay a hundred and twenty five bucks and I'll supply every thing. You do know you are going to need an electrician to wire that dryer. You got an outlet that will be good for the washer but the dryers are 220. I guess you could go LP Gas for that." He said it looking at the crazy hot water heater. "I could run a fitting over there to tape the line at that hot water heater."

"How much more are we talking about if you do that?" I asked.

"Make it one fifty for everything and I'll feel like we compromised," he said with a big grin.

"Done, so when?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning before lunch but not real early," he said.

"Okay, I'll be looking for you.

I did research on a new idea I had. I would probably be sorry, but I could do it. Being able to do it, and wanting to do it, was not anywhere close to the same thing. Still it was worth considering.

"I went to sleep after all the research without once going to a chat room. Why should I? Horny Joan was coming my way most every night. It was strange, but I had at least calmed down some. The orgasms weren't as intense as before, so they weren't as frightening either.

The next morning over breakfast with the Bobbsey twins, I broached the idea with Jeremy. "Jeremy how much land do you have in that parcel?" I asked.

"About three hundred acres why," he asked.

"I'm wondering how many log cabins we can build by harvesting the timber. Just enough to build the cabins and not enough to change the land," I suggested.

"Now that is a plan," he said. "But how would it work?"

"We would need to get ourselves a portable sawmill. Use the trees we have to remove and get them into the site to build the house or for firewood. Try to have as little impact on the site as possible. We might have to go to another part of the land for additional logs, but I expect it would be a minimal amount of trips. I haven't crunched the numbers but it might not cost too much more than my cabins on the church site."

"Okay, after your plumber is finished, why don't you and I take a walk over the property," Jeremy suggested. "Then we can crunch the numbers."

When the three of us reached my driveway entrance Jeremy shouted, "Hold up a second. I have been thinking. I know a guy who is a retired logger who worked around here. I think we should wait till the three of us can walk the property together."

"Suits me, if you can get him before tomorrow call me, if not we can talk about it over breakfast," I suggest. He nodded so I pulled into the drive. I tried to figure out where the hole for the gray water would come through the wall, but I really couldn't decide.

 
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