This morning, the first roofing contractor I’d called arrived to draw up a free estimate. He tromped around on the roof for a bit, then basically attempted to explain the whole thing by saying that whoever built our roof did a shit job (immediately shooting his credibility into the toilet, unbeknownst to him). While no precise point of moisture entry was visible, he said that water was “probably” coming in around the attic vent, which the original roof builder had lined with concrete rather than the lead flashing they supposedly should have used. It was then running down the roof and rusting the screws that hold our clay tiles on, and some water was probably coming in the rusted screw holes.

Okay? Whatever; I’m not a roofer, nor do I have any clue whether to believe the Rube Goldberg explanation this guy is giving me. The only thing I really understood was that he recommended taking up 250 square feet of the roof back there to see where the problem was. Oh, okay! Let me head down to the bank right now so I can take out a loan. He said he’d get a written proposal to me in the mail today.

Well, I’m not made of money, so I walked around pulling my hair for a while before Apple was kind enough to calm me down and point me toward a course of action I otherwise probably wouldn’t have taken: Call the president of the HOA board and ask for advice. Seemed like going a bit above my station somehow, but hey, the board does work for us, so I gave it a shot.

It turned out to be an excellent idea. I was recommended to contact one person after another, and called each in turn, until I finally got somewhere: The original contractor who installed the roof of every home in this development. I scheduled an appointment for them to come out and give me an estimate next week. I figure if anybody knows this roof, it’s the people who built it, and I’m more likely to trust the recommendations they’d give me. And for the record, I don’t believe for a second that this company does a shit job, unless half the homes in this county have shitty roofs on them.

Now I’m just waiting for a callback to confirm next week’s appointment. Otherwise, that concludes the roofing excitement for the morning. This afternoon I’ve got to meet with our CPA to do a mid-year tax analysis and see if we should make any changes to our estimated tax payment schedule with the IRS. I also just got the green light on a side project that I need to start now — 6 hours worth, minimum; probably more like 10 — in addition to the two other open projects still on the docket.

I feel kind of stupid complaining about being busy, because this whole week so far has been very quiet. But I was easily frustrated by the roof issue and by the ongoing traditional lack of effective communication at my day job, which made the whole week seem like a living hell instead of the peaceful breather that it was actually closer to. Which sucks, because judging from what next week looks like, I could have used that breather. But it’s interesting, because sometimes being busier makes you feel more satisfied, in an odd sort of way.

At least it’s Friday, and the good news is that my day job’s email inbox is empty for a change. Apple has the day off, and this evening we’re going to try a new sushi bar and Teppan grill restaurant we’ve heard about. Both of us have to work this weekend, unfortunately, but I’m going to see if I can do all of my tasks on Saturday so I can have Sunday off. That’s the day my dad gets here for his impromptu Florida vacation, so maybe on Sunday night we can watch a movie on the big screen TV or something. I need to take a trip over to Blockbuster and see what’s on Blu-ray these days.