The foundation is in! (originally posted on LiveModern on May 24, 2005)

Despite the threat of an impending Nor'easter blowing in from the cape, the foundation set, according to the crew, was as good as it gets.

After not hearing from Ron the builder during the week, I called him Saturday to confirm that all systems were "go" for the 2-day set starting on May 23. At first he seemed surprised by my phone call, especially since he wasn't expecting the set to occur until later in the week. I asked him precisely when "later" in the week the set would occur.

"I'm not sure... I suspect it will be Wednesday," he replied. I was incredulous, especially considering the scope and magnitude of the foundation set. Walls have to be made. Walls have to be transported. Set crewmen have to be transported. The excavation had to be complete. The crane had to be there.

"How can you NOT be sure about something like this?" I asked. "And if you knew the set date was delayed by a couple of days, why didn't you let me know? I have a schedule to work around too."

"I'm afraid you misunderstood... and now I am less confident about the exact date" replied Ron meekly. And it's at this point that I nearly lost it. Not only did he forget about the set date, he intoned that I misunderstood him when I basically took him at his word, verbatim. I was deeply offended and annoyed at the oversight.

Needless to say, harsh words were exchanged, some panicky phone calls were placed to the various players, and we were left with an uncertain future. According to Ron, the only certainty was that the set would not begin on Monday since he had not received any telephone calls from Superior Walls, and usually they are pretty good about confirming things.

Indeed, as it turned out, he was dead wrong! A representative from Superior Walls came down to check out the excavation on Monday. However, the actual set would occur on Tuesday (today). Fortunately for Ron the builder, the excavator did an EXCEPTIONAL job with the site with just the right amount of overdig. And most importantly, he finished his work just in time for the Superior Walls (any later and I would have been charged a $500 postponement fee). In the end, the job site conditions were so ideal that the crew was able to complete the foundation set in less than a day, thereby saving me a full day's crane rental!

The following are some pics I took of the set this morning. I would have loved to have been there to capture the very first panel being installed... but the traffic on the Montauk Highway east of the Canal was biblical!

Yep, that's an 85-ton crane! Total overkill; it was sort of like using a blow torch to light candles. It pretty much destroyed the street, so I can tell that the town will be VERY happy with me.