Whenever I tell people what I do the immediate first reaction is "oh that must be so much fun". It is, don't get me wrong. It is also a bit like living in a comedy skit sometimes. So I thought I would share with you all what a typical morning is like for me. Today we are delivering furniture to a vacant home in Jamaica Plain. Because of the snow, I am unable to go but my rep from the rental company is meeting the truck to supervise the delivery. I plan to finish the staging later in the week as the seller has plans for photos on Monday.
8:30am The truck drivers call me to let me know they will be arriving at 9am. I call the seller, Mark and my rep, Krystal to let them know the truck is on schedule.
9:03am The phone rings and it is Krystal. It has taken her over an hour to go the 3.8 miles from her home to the project site. Goodness! The street is buried in snow and very narrow now. She has concerns the truck won't make it up the hill to the house, or fit into the cul-de-sac where the house sits, because the center of the cul-de-sac is now a giant mountain of snow. She will call me back when the truck arrives with an update.
9:07am Panic ensues. What am I going to do if the truck cannot make it to the house? We are only going to be getting more snow, not less, so certainly this situation won't be improving anytime soon. Okay fingers are crossed. I am just going to hope this works out.
9:25am Krystal calls and the door to the house is locked and nobody is there. Awesome. The seller had someone from his team there earlier to open the door so we are not sure what happened. I call the seller. He lets us know that the there is a hole in the front door where the mailbox should be and if Krystal sticks her hand through it she can unlock the deadbolt on the door. Okey dokey. This is one of those moments where I think to myself "wow this is a conversation I never thought I would be having". But I laugh, happy there is an easy fix, and I call Krystal. I relay the info to Krystal....she will give this a try. She has to take off her coat to fit through the hole but, it works, and the door is open.
Hooray! First the drivers need to shovel themselves a path but the delivery will happen. Fantastic!
Meanwhile, while this is all unfolding in Jamaica Plain, I am trying to catch up on some admin work. I have an updated Home Evaluation to send, an invoice to get out, and a couple quotes to prepare. Not making much progress on any of this work at all because I am talking to Krystal every two minutes via text and phone.
9:56am Text from Krystal. The counter top for the kitchen is in the living room of the second floor unit where the sofa needs to go. So she is just going to leave the sofa in front of the counter top and we will place it properly later after the kitchens have been installed. We knew the kitchen was not installed so this is not a big deal. It is just funny considering the other events of the day.
11:19am Text with photos from Krystal of the third floor unit with the furniture in. Looks great I think to myself, except what the heck rug is that? I know I did not order that rug. I call Krystal. She swears it is the right rug. After some research on the rental website I discover it is a rug with the same name, totally different look. The item numbers are different and they did send the wrong one.
Oh well, it looks awesome so I am going to go with it.
11:32am Text from Krystal. They are leaving. She is going to attempt to lock the door by sticking her hand back through the mail box slot again. I wish her good luck and thank her for helping me out.
It is now snowing in JP.
11:44am Text from Krystal. The truck is stuck. A neighbor is moving their car to help but that does not do the trick and the poor drivers have two more stops to make today. Ugh.
11:58am Call from Krystal. Truck is really stuck. They are putting blankets under the tires for traction but nothing is helping. They also almost took out a tree. Yikes!
12:44pm Text from Krystal. Two neighbors helping, shoveling, and a parking ticket later the truck is free and they are on their way!
I am sure you think I picked the craziest day to write about. But the truth is, none of this is that unusual. No project is ever as simple as dropping off the furniture, styling, and leaving. There is always some crazy issue to contend with. Whether it be snowy roads, tight doorways, no running water, no toilets, no heat, people parking in the spots we have pulled permits for....the list goes on and on. Just when I think I have seen it all, something else crazy happens. The good news is that is why people hire us. We are used to the calamities and just power through. We always finish on schedule and on budget.