John is determined come hell or high water to get the water back in "his" pool. He doesn't swim in it. He gazes at it...at night. He finds it very relaxing, and I'll give him that...it is relaxing. Right now he must be as uptight as a cat on a Cracker Barrel veranda. There is no sign of water in the pool. He wasn't satisfied with my attempts to get Lars to empty out the rest of the water, so he took matters into his own hands and worked out a deal.
On Monday night, Lars and John worked together to get the rest of the water out. John's contribution to the effort was to bring home a fancy pump from work that took care of it in a couple of hours. While John's pump was pumping, Lars started scraping. He then came back on Tuesday to prime the spots he painted. So it looked like the pool was going to get a fresh coat after all. What I didn't know, since he didn't want to tell me, was we were going to be paying for it.
Even though I had been harping on the fact that, given Lars' financial circumstances, we were going be stuck paying for the paint.....John kept insisting he wasn't. And "Um....yeah...sure"... was how we left that conversation. I found out that we were picking up the tab as we drove to the ATM machine to get the cash to give Lars. John fessed up quietly under his breath when I asked him why we needed to get money. Here's how John found out he was paying.....
Lars called the pool guy to price paint and was told 4,000 kroner. He called John at work and passed this on, but John said he had to think about it. Lars called back 10 minutes later to see if John had thought about it yet. Lars is such a funny guy!! He tells John he can't afford to buy this very expensive paint. John tells him that he doesn't want to spend that kind of money on his pool, either. A little while later, Lars' calls back. He has found cheaper paint at 1,300 kroner, and he'll order that. It has to be white though, because to get this paint in blue costs double. At this point John hasn't told Lars that we are not going to pay for the paint....mostly because in the back of his mind, John knows he will pay for the paint if it means it gets his water feature back in the yard. And John can be kind of stubborn about something when he gets it in his head. He'll find a way to make it happen.
After Lars ordered the paint, he asks John if he can come by and collect the 1,300 kroner to pay for the paint. It's at this part of the story I began to laugh and instead of "I told you so", I ran with a chorus of "I knew it"s.
Lars was supposed to be here on Thursday but the paint was a day late getting here.
When I came home from the store this morning, Lars was already here...standing in the pool, roller and paint brush in hand. He's wearing a mask with a couple of filters in it over his face, so I figure the stuff must be really smelly.
Fifteen minutes later Lars is out of the pool tapping at the front door. He doesn't feel so good. The fumes from the paint are getting to him. He has a headache, is sweating, feels dizzy, and his throat feels funny. Jeez Louise! He doesn't think he can paint anymore....gosh, ya think so?
He spends some time in the bathroom trying to shake off the effects of the paint. And it takes some time before he feels like he can drive again. When he starts to feel better, he packs up the paint and the rollers and brushes, and says he'll come back another day to take it to the recycling center. One of the cans isn't open yet but, since it was a special order, it's not returnable. He is sure he cannot use the paint anymore and I don't blame him. Forget the paint, let's just fill that sucker and be done with it!
During his recovery phase, Lars informs me that the pool guy told him he would have to use a respirator when he used this paint. He didn't rent out respirators but he could buy one for 10,000 kroner. I tried to find out if he was told this after he ordered the paint or before because if he told him after, then he damn well ought to take the paint back. John could make sure that he did because he's determined that way. But, I was unable to come to a conclusion on the timing...just that the guy told him he needed it. But.....not so lucky for Lars, some other guy, told him he might be able to get away with the kind of mask he tried to use today. You gotta love the wisdom of the amazing "some other guy".
When Lars left here, he went directly to the pool guy's store to find out if he had suffered permanent neurological damage. He called later to say he was coming back tomorrow with a long pole and his mask. Someone suggested that he might be able to do it if he put the roller on the end of a pole and stood outside the pool where the air mix was better. Okay then....
Exhausted from my ordeal and the near death of Lars in the empty pool, I fell asleep on the couch halfway through "Say Yes To The Dress". An hour later there is more tapping at the front door....I grumbled and stumbled my way to the door and there he is....he's got a long pole in his hand and he's ready to tackle the painting again....from the pool deck. Fine.
I go to the kitchen to make some tea and when I come out, there's Lars, roller attached to the end of his long pole, standing and painting....in the pool!! Seriously....what part of "this is bad for you" don't you understand?
I gave up. I sat with my tea to watch "What Not To Wear" taking an occasional peek over my shoulder to see if he was still standing up. I think Lars spent about 20 minutes in the pool then he quit for the day. His new plan of attack is to paint really fast, and get out after 20 minutes. He thinks he can finish the job spending 20 more minutes in there tomorrow. He also said that the paint has to dry for a week, then we can start filling it....a fact that conflicts with John's version of events in which Lars told him you could fill it within a day.
Yes, we have one more week of empty pool. Lars told me he asked the pool guy what he would charge to paint it and he told him 40,000 kroner. WOW! Lars thought it was more money than he could pay but reasonable considering it was a dangerous job and the respirator cost 10,000 kroner. I dunno...the pool guy should have one already. I tried to ask Lars if there weren't any rent-all places here for things like this but he just kept shaking his head, "No". I'm not convinced there isn't. They have internet after all, and cable TV. Why not rent-it places.
I'm getting really bored with the pool saga now. I want it to be over. John has reassured me that he only loaned Lars the money for the paint and that Lars is paying him back. I wonder if that will be before or after his trip to Thailand in July. Say what??? Thailand??? You have no money.
But he does have his girl back...in a couple of weeks Lars, his girl, and his brother are jetting off to Thailand for the "Dane's three week holiday abroad"....bestowed upon all Danish people by divine right....etc. etc. etc. Try boarding a dog in the summer here!
I'm still scratching my head. I sort of suggested that he might now want his mail redirected back to where he lays his head at night. But, no, he was fine with having it come here. He could pick it up every Friday (except he rarely shows up on Fridays anymore). So....does he not want his "girl" to see what's coming in the mail? I think we need to discuss the mail thing one more time or else I can have John set up a dialogue about it. We could probably make it happen if we agreed to pay the Post Office redirect fee.
***After we moved out of the house, John's company had to go chasing Lars for the return of the 3 month's rent damage deposit they had put up when we moved in. He took a while to track down and when they did catch up with him he said.......he didn't think he should have to return it because we had caused damage to his pool by repainting it and used the wrong paint. They nerve of some people!***
On Monday night, Lars and John worked together to get the rest of the water out. John's contribution to the effort was to bring home a fancy pump from work that took care of it in a couple of hours. While John's pump was pumping, Lars started scraping. He then came back on Tuesday to prime the spots he painted. So it looked like the pool was going to get a fresh coat after all. What I didn't know, since he didn't want to tell me, was we were going to be paying for it.
Even though I had been harping on the fact that, given Lars' financial circumstances, we were going be stuck paying for the paint.....John kept insisting he wasn't. And "Um....yeah...sure"... was how we left that conversation. I found out that we were picking up the tab as we drove to the ATM machine to get the cash to give Lars. John fessed up quietly under his breath when I asked him why we needed to get money. Here's how John found out he was paying.....
Lars called the pool guy to price paint and was told 4,000 kroner. He called John at work and passed this on, but John said he had to think about it. Lars called back 10 minutes later to see if John had thought about it yet. Lars is such a funny guy!! He tells John he can't afford to buy this very expensive paint. John tells him that he doesn't want to spend that kind of money on his pool, either. A little while later, Lars' calls back. He has found cheaper paint at 1,300 kroner, and he'll order that. It has to be white though, because to get this paint in blue costs double. At this point John hasn't told Lars that we are not going to pay for the paint....mostly because in the back of his mind, John knows he will pay for the paint if it means it gets his water feature back in the yard. And John can be kind of stubborn about something when he gets it in his head. He'll find a way to make it happen.
After Lars ordered the paint, he asks John if he can come by and collect the 1,300 kroner to pay for the paint. It's at this part of the story I began to laugh and instead of "I told you so", I ran with a chorus of "I knew it"s.
Lars was supposed to be here on Thursday but the paint was a day late getting here.
When I came home from the store this morning, Lars was already here...standing in the pool, roller and paint brush in hand. He's wearing a mask with a couple of filters in it over his face, so I figure the stuff must be really smelly.
Fifteen minutes later Lars is out of the pool tapping at the front door. He doesn't feel so good. The fumes from the paint are getting to him. He has a headache, is sweating, feels dizzy, and his throat feels funny. Jeez Louise! He doesn't think he can paint anymore....gosh, ya think so?
He spends some time in the bathroom trying to shake off the effects of the paint. And it takes some time before he feels like he can drive again. When he starts to feel better, he packs up the paint and the rollers and brushes, and says he'll come back another day to take it to the recycling center. One of the cans isn't open yet but, since it was a special order, it's not returnable. He is sure he cannot use the paint anymore and I don't blame him. Forget the paint, let's just fill that sucker and be done with it!
During his recovery phase, Lars informs me that the pool guy told him he would have to use a respirator when he used this paint. He didn't rent out respirators but he could buy one for 10,000 kroner. I tried to find out if he was told this after he ordered the paint or before because if he told him after, then he damn well ought to take the paint back. John could make sure that he did because he's determined that way. But, I was unable to come to a conclusion on the timing...just that the guy told him he needed it. But.....not so lucky for Lars, some other guy, told him he might be able to get away with the kind of mask he tried to use today. You gotta love the wisdom of the amazing "some other guy".
When Lars left here, he went directly to the pool guy's store to find out if he had suffered permanent neurological damage. He called later to say he was coming back tomorrow with a long pole and his mask. Someone suggested that he might be able to do it if he put the roller on the end of a pole and stood outside the pool where the air mix was better. Okay then....
Exhausted from my ordeal and the near death of Lars in the empty pool, I fell asleep on the couch halfway through "Say Yes To The Dress". An hour later there is more tapping at the front door....I grumbled and stumbled my way to the door and there he is....he's got a long pole in his hand and he's ready to tackle the painting again....from the pool deck. Fine.
I go to the kitchen to make some tea and when I come out, there's Lars, roller attached to the end of his long pole, standing and painting....in the pool!! Seriously....what part of "this is bad for you" don't you understand?
I gave up. I sat with my tea to watch "What Not To Wear" taking an occasional peek over my shoulder to see if he was still standing up. I think Lars spent about 20 minutes in the pool then he quit for the day. His new plan of attack is to paint really fast, and get out after 20 minutes. He thinks he can finish the job spending 20 more minutes in there tomorrow. He also said that the paint has to dry for a week, then we can start filling it....a fact that conflicts with John's version of events in which Lars told him you could fill it within a day.
Yes, we have one more week of empty pool. Lars told me he asked the pool guy what he would charge to paint it and he told him 40,000 kroner. WOW! Lars thought it was more money than he could pay but reasonable considering it was a dangerous job and the respirator cost 10,000 kroner. I dunno...the pool guy should have one already. I tried to ask Lars if there weren't any rent-all places here for things like this but he just kept shaking his head, "No". I'm not convinced there isn't. They have internet after all, and cable TV. Why not rent-it places.
I'm getting really bored with the pool saga now. I want it to be over. John has reassured me that he only loaned Lars the money for the paint and that Lars is paying him back. I wonder if that will be before or after his trip to Thailand in July. Say what??? Thailand??? You have no money.
But he does have his girl back...in a couple of weeks Lars, his girl, and his brother are jetting off to Thailand for the "Dane's three week holiday abroad"....bestowed upon all Danish people by divine right....etc. etc. etc. Try boarding a dog in the summer here!
I'm still scratching my head. I sort of suggested that he might now want his mail redirected back to where he lays his head at night. But, no, he was fine with having it come here. He could pick it up every Friday (except he rarely shows up on Fridays anymore). So....does he not want his "girl" to see what's coming in the mail? I think we need to discuss the mail thing one more time or else I can have John set up a dialogue about it. We could probably make it happen if we agreed to pay the Post Office redirect fee.
***After we moved out of the house, John's company had to go chasing Lars for the return of the 3 month's rent damage deposit they had put up when we moved in. He took a while to track down and when they did catch up with him he said.......he didn't think he should have to return it because we had caused damage to his pool by repainting it and used the wrong paint. They nerve of some people!***
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