What a day!

Today started with a trip to the immunization clinic for grad school. Ouch! I have to get a series of immunizations before I start in the fall. Already, this put my schedule out of whack. I rely heavily on my schedule to keep things on track, so this was not good. When I got home, I started working on the dreaded business license form. I had been in contact with my electrician about his missing license and had to go to the business license office to try to straighten things out. It turns out I can just pay a small fee and call it even. I am not happy about the fee, but there is really no choice. The electrician said he would fill out any forms but wouldn't pay any fees. This was just the easiest way to go. I got the form done and faxed it in right away because they need a 3-day turnaround to complete it. They were able to turn it around in just about an hour (I lucked out on the timing because the guy who reviews the forms is out on vacation starting tomorrow until Monday). I paid the fee and the task was done! I was so happy! This was something that had caused me tremendous stress - I was really worried that I was going to miss something or get audited and not be able to pass (see yesterday's entry - my friend really got snagged up on this!). What a relief to have it done.

I scheduled my second try at passing final inspection for Monday. I couldn't even call to schedule it until the business license form was done (I tried and the automated scheduler blocks you), and as soon as it was done I called. Monday was the earliest I could get - which sucks because they are supposed to offer next day inspections as standard. I am on pins and needles about this - if we pass, we can close the permit and move on! It would be so great to be done - it would be a huge load off my mind and we can move on with the outside work and the inside work as well. It could also go really bad - pretty much the whole house is up for grabs and they can find anything that doesn't meet code even if it wasn't part of your permit. I don't know how I'll sleep between now and then!

Amidst all this, I had not one, but two flat tires. Yesterday I had an afternoon appointment and while I was driving back during rush hour, I drove over some debris in the road containing nails. I had no option - there was heavy traffic on my left and right and bumper to bumper in front and in back. When I saw the debris, I made a split second decision to drive over it rather than slam on my breaks and risk getting rear-ended. A whole line of cars drove over the debris, so I'll bet there are a lot of people with flats today. This made today slightly more stressful because I had to walk to the building office first and then fax my form later rather than handle it in person. It wasn't a huge deal, and I ended up being able to take care of the form in the end, but I was really short on time and it would have been great to have my car. I was rushing in the afternoon because I had to walk to a local fax place to fax the form in and the contractor's electrician was due between 4 and 5 p.m. It turns out he was running late at another job and didn't make it, but I didn't know that until 5:30 p.m. after I had rushed around.