Have you ever been so on-schedule with a project that you have taken a moment and said to yourself, “Wow, I can’t believe I’ve done so much already – I’m so ahead.” I guess I tempted fate, my MARtians, because just when I thought I was sailing ahead on clear waters, well, like the Titanic, I hit an iceberg. My iceberg came by the way of town workers who – unexpectedly, unscheduled and unannounced – began to repair a sewer line on our street this past Thursday. (They suspected that similar damage they’d repaired on the street parallel to mine would show up on my street, too, so sent a camera through and sure enough…) This repair site also just happened to be right in front of my home, Rosebrook Gardens, and nowhere else on the street.
When I asked, I was told it would take less than a full day of work and that the road would be repaired and sealed by end of the day. “Good grief,” I said, as with my own workers scheduled to arrive that day, not to mention 23 days until the WHS Christmas Tour, it could not be worse. Or so I thought. After hours of digging and hitting water, further inspection would prove their digging was a little off. The section of the sewer line that needed repairing was not where they hoped, but right under my driveway’s Belgian Block apron, which they wanted to avoid digging up.
As of today, the road has been excavated, the Belgian Blocks have been removed and piled in my driveway (eyesore), and I’m told that next Tuesday they will come back, repair the sewer line, and fill in the soil, leaving 18 inches for the stones to be re-laid. But that soil and the cement base will need to settle before the mason can return, so I will have large metal plates covering the hole for about a week. Talk about a bad timing. Should I be worried? It should still leave me with a few weeks before the house tour, but of course, I want it to have some time to completely set in place.
Well, if Mother Nature cooperates with the weather all should be good. But needless to say, I’m a little bit concerned. The good news is that Bryan, the Engineer from the Department of Public Works here in Westport, has promised me it will be done in time. I must say he has truly been fantastic in communicating to me his timeline and has promised (yes promised) me that it will be done to my satisfaction.
I’ll post photos on my social media accounts, so you, too, can watch the progress unfold.
Wish me luck.
