NOAH'S ARK

The good news for Mr and Mrs F has been the weather.  Instead of winter snow and sub-zero temperatures that can bring exterior work to a grinding halt, the sub-contractors languished in three months of sunny spring-like conditions.   However, the winter drought  has sucked the moisture out of the Far West, turning pine tree towns like Payson into giant tinder boxes.  One dumb match or cigarette butt and we all go up in smoke!  It got so bad that the local ministers started making pleas from the pulpit to fast and pray for “some really bad weather” which meant a Noah’s ark style deluge. 

Mr and Mrs F were conflicted.   On the one hand, they joined the ranks of the those praying for the mother of all storms. On the other hand, they added to their heaven-sent petitions some fine print:  “after we get our roof shingled. . .”

They almost made it.  The roofers managed to cover the sheets of OSB on the roof with long, overlapping rolls of black felt which, technically speaking, meant that the house was “dried in.”  Mr and Mrs F soon learned that “dried in” is a relative term. A long-awaited storm struck late on a Thursday night, dropping a hard, steady rain that didn’t let up until Saturday morning.  When Mr and Mrs F entered their little dream house, they were greeted by large puddles of water wherever the roof vents hadn’t been shingled and sealed which meant just about everywhere.  Mr and Mrs spent the rest of the day on hands and knees mopping and sponging up the residue.  When the local weather report predicted additional showers, Mr F the cheapskate went to the local Dollar Store and purchased  20 aluminum pans which he and the Mrs placed strategically throughout the house to catch any further leakage.  The forecasters were wrong. but leave it to Mr F to see the silver lining:  “Hey, we can use these aluminum pans for Thanksgiving.”   Mrs F rolled her eyes:  “The next twenty of them?”