Finally! The sidewalk is DONE!

Holy Smokes what an ordeal!

It's finally completed!

And we have been given our final approval from the City!

How happy am I you may be asking? Well, the neighbor, Kevin & his wife Lois, along with Wilma and I are going out to the "Fire House" for dinner and a few "adult refreshments" to celebrate the end of this nightmare.

After dinner, we will settle up on the concrete bill. Total amount of concrete was 9 yards. I had 8 flags of sidewalk replaced, which measured 5ft. X 5ft. X 4in. thick. Now for all those who know how to do the math, you will know how much I actually used, and Kevin used the rest of the load.

One last standing ordeal I have to do yet. That is to return to Court to face the Judge and show that the sidewalk in question has been replaced.

I missed the last scheduled date of appearance which was for May 7th. The City attorney requested a 60 day extension, as they, the city, failed to remove the tree roots that is blocking the replacement of the sidewalk. This was awarded to us by the Judge and we were re-scheduled for July 7th.

I just got off the phone with the District Court and have been rescheduled to appear on June 11th. I really want to get this final episode closed once and for all.

Now I really hope the Judge will go easy on me and not fine me Court costs like the last time!

So....another adventure completed. Until next time be safe & God Bless.

Form inspection GOOD, Pour tomorrow morning.

My contractor told a white lie yesterday. Said he was ready for the forms to be inspected Monday morning. Well, he wasn’t ready at all Monday, and the inspector drove past the house and my neighbors home without stopping.

So now when he called this morning for the form inspection, the inspector made him wait. Dale was ready for the inspection by 10am. The inspector didn’t show until around 1pm. Too late in the day to order a load of concrete. Needless to say, Dale was a little upset. Oh well, you know the saying, “don’t upset the inspector”.

Received a phone call from Dale around 3:30pm informing me that the cement will be ordered first thing in the morning. I cautioned him that there are storms that are scheduled for our area around 4pm. He said that he is going to order the mix on the dry side so that it will hold up to any rain.

I guess we will see. Because I told him I have to have a “Final” inspection, and it can’t have marks in the cement from rain. He assured me it would be ok. So I guess I’ll just have to take his word for it.

Another adventure, and I’ll be happy when this one is done!

So until next time, be safe and God Bless.

Getting an un-easy feeling.

Wednesday evening Dale, the concrete man, phoned and said that Steven had turned the sidewalk replacement over to him. That he was going to be at my home at 9am Thursday morning to remove the sidewalk that needs to be replaced and put up the forms. That I should call Thursday morning for the inspector to come out first thing Friday morning so he (Dale) could start to pour the concrete.

Well, this morning came and passed. I told Wilma to call me at work when Dale arrives. No call from her until she was frantic.

The "blight officer" from the city came out to take pictures. (The same shots that are on the last blog posting). Wilma asked what was going on and he informed her that I was to be in court today! Wow! What! No Way!!!! I haven't been sent any notice from the courts to appear, I have purchased my permit, and work is in progress.
He didn't seem to care much, telling Wilma that if I cannot appear maybe she should appear. She informed him we haven't been sent any notice to appear in court. His answer...well I have been and I advise you to be there.

By this time Wilma was furious! She demanded what he expects us to do as the work is in progress! His answer....well I guess I can ask the judge to give you leniency and ask for a 30 day extension.

So, after she phoned me almost in tears from talking with this damn fool, I now fret of having the police at my door with a warrant for my arrest! Am I in contempt of court?

Darn it anyway,...I considered myself to be an honest, law abiding citizen. How can this be happening to me!

Needless to say I was pretty hot by the time I arrived home from work and still NO Dale and nothing more done on the sidewalk. Now I'm looking like a fool in my neighbors eyes because yesterday after talking to Dale and hearing his schedule, I phoned my neighbor and informed him.

I just had to call Dale. Asked him what's going on. "My truck broke down today, but it's fixed now". I guess I should of called and let you know.

Well yea that would of been nice. And also I'm glad I didn't do as you ordered me to do about calling the inspector! Would of made me look like a damn fool if he arrived first thing tomorrow morning and your not ready! One thing I have learned in my 59 years is you don't screw around with the inspectors! How pissed do you think he would of been?

I told him I expect him first thing in the morning, as I will be here waiting!

There is no doubt that he understands how pissed off I am about this. And if he isn't hear by 9am tomorrow morning he is done! I'll find someone else to do the job.

Darn it all anyway....this sidewalk thing is getting on my last nerve! And will I ever be glad and rest easier when it's all over and done with!

Maybe tomorrow I'll have more pictures to post and another update.....that is if I'm not arrested! Think I'll be able to sleep tonight????? NO WAY!

Hope your day went better than mine, and until next time, be safe and God Bless.

Sidewalk Replacement begins.

This afternoon the beginning of the sidewalk replacement began. Steve, the son of one of my close friends, was originally hired to replace 3 flags of sidewalk for me. He called Friday and said he would start the removal Sunday. Today was that day! He also brought along a friend of his that has been in the cement business for over 25 years to help him.

I introduced them to my neighbor who also needs some sidewalk replacement. As it turns out my neighbor needs about 15 flags replaced. Talking to Steve, he said we should be just a little shy of a full load, and if we ordered a full load the price per yard would be less.

So... as you can see from the picture below it looks like I have another 5 flags that can be added to make a full load between the two of us.

We have agreed on a labor price per flag, and we will each pay for our amount of concrete. He has around 15 flags and I now have 8 flags.

Tomorrow morning I will be calling our Cities "forestry" dept. to have the tree roots ground out from where the new concrete will be laid. After the roots are ground out, I will call Steve to have the forms put in place. Meanwhile my neighbor will be getting his permit from the city to have his sections replaced. Steve said when he comes out to put in our forms, he would then remove the rest of the sections of sidewalk that need to be removed from my sidewalk and my neighbors.

After the forms are in place I call the inspector requesting a "form inspection". After approval then the cement is poured. After it sets up, the forms are removed and I call for the final inspection. If all goes well, and the final inspection passes, both the neighbor and myself will be refunded the $100.00 bond that each of us had to put up along with the $35.00 permit fee.

I'll tell ya, I sure will be glad when this is all over and done with. If you are a regular reader, you may remember that this all started last Summer.

Click on this picture for a look at the "before" pictures.

Another adventure, until next time, be safe and God Bless.

My Day In Court

You all probably don't know what led up to this so here goes my story.

Last summer, a feud developed between 2 neighbors at the other end of my block about sidewalks. It seems that the trouble maker neighbor called the city and demanded that the sidewalks be repaired, knowing that this would cost the other neighbor.

So the city worker walked down one side of the block and out of 8 homes he picked 4 of us that he determined should have some of their sidewalk replaced, to appease the trouble maker (TB neighbor).

This is the worst of mine. Not quite double the size of the nickle to the right of the Pepsi can.

I being hurt at work and un-employed at the time called the City inspector and invited him out to look at my sidewalk in question. He arrived within 30 minutes and took pictures. I alluded to him that I was un-employed at the time and would not be returning to work for at least 6 weeks. His answer was that he would let the City Manager look at the pictures and if I didn't hear from him it was ok not to do anything. Well a month goes by and he drives up and tells Wilma we have to replace the sidewalk.

I then proceeded to call him again, reminding him of my un-employment and that the sidewalk was not broken, just raised a half inch on one side by tree roots. And to prevent anyone from tripping, I applied concrete patch to the raised sides completely eliminating any tripping hazard.

The wet cement "ramp" I applied eliminating the tripping hazard.

Within a month I received a notice to appear in District Court! Great! I guess the city is almost bankrupt if they start going after citizens with shifted sidewalks for funds!

So this afternoon, Wilma and I appeared in court. At first check in the officer of the court could not find my paper work. I was told to wait in the hall. After a half hour I was called into a meeting room with a dozen other people all pleading their cases separately. Complete chaos! There was the inspector with his "city appointed attorney", a young guy looking like he just got out of high school.

The inspector explained to the attorney that he would wave the charges for 120 days, as it is winter and cement cannot be poured, but I would have to plead guilty.

I felt I was being set up as I wasn't given any choices other than a guilty plea. After signing the "agreement to guilty" paper we were led back into the court room, where the officer of the court THEN gave me "my rights" with explanations of the different pleas I could give.

See...I should of been given that paper first with the explanations of different pleas, then the agreement paper!

So I know now that it's true! All those Cop shows, detective shows on TV are true how they trap and bend the laws for their benefit.

After hearing what sentence the Judge gave me, (paying a fine of $150.00) I knew that pleading guilty gave her, the Judge, the right to fine me! Even after I was given the chance to explain to the Judge how I was planning on replacing the sidewalk, but I couldn't do it in the time frame the city wanted because of financial responsibilities. No mercy was given me by either the city or the Judge.

Nice system, don't you think? What a damn rip off. Like I told Wilma, walking out of the courtroom, that this whole fiasco was nothing but an organized robbery by the city, backed by our law enforcement. They win, I loose.

So the moral of the story.....don't fight city hall! YOU WILL LOOSE! No matter how silly or incidental it might be. I guess I learned my lesson, but it's a hard pill to swallow.

Oh yes I forgot to mention; the maximum sentence for "my offense"......$500.00 fine and 90 days in jail! What a hoot! Can you just see me sitting in jail for not replacing a perfectly good sidewalk!!! I'm sure the newspapers would love to get a story like that.

Another adventure in our lives shared with you. Until next time, be safe and God Bless. And remember.....Don't fight City Hall ! ! ! !