Not the best day

At work. I'm busy.

(Lord, I'm busy. I've been doing a lot of stuff with the Awards show after work every day, which has made it hard to stay late at the office. So today, I am determined to put in a solid day of work. I can even stay late, because I'm going to the theatre at night -- and since the theatre is located five minutes from my office, I can just work right up until I have to go to the show.)

I emailed the contractor last night asking if we were still on schedule because it didn't look like anyone had been out at the house yesterday. And the response is that they're waiting for the inspector to improve the rough plumbing, and he's supposed to come out today. Good.

I get a call around 2:30. Seems they won't send an inspector out because they don't think I own the property. Can I fax the Permit Department a copy of my deed? Well, oddly enough, I don't walk around with a copy of my Grant Deed. I can't fax it until tomorrow morning.

A thought: If I fax it tomorrow morning, will they be able to get an inspector out tomorrow? Or am I going to have to wait until Monday and lose two days over this? Because if I'm going to lose two days over this, I can drive home, pick up my deed, and walk it over to the Permit Department today (conveniently, the shithole is located just a couple blocks from City Hall). My contractor calls the Permit Department -- can they schedule the inspection for tomorrow with the understanding that they'll be getting the deed at that point? No, they can't schedule the inspection until they're convinced I own my house. I should go today.

I leave the office. I drive home. On the way home, the contractor calls me again -- they need a copy of my water heater permit. As long as I'm at the Permit Department, can I pull a copy of the permit the previous owner pulled for the water heater? I suppose I could -- fervently hoping that they did, in fact, have a permit for the water heater.

I grab the deed. I walk to the Permit Department. I check in at the desk; she asks why I'm here -- I say I need to prove I own my house so that my contractor can get a permit. She nods and, after I wait a bit, sends me over to Permit Lady at Desk 8.

Permit Lady has no freakin' clue what I'm talking about. She thinks that proving I own my house is the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. She thinks that maybe my contractor won't pay for the business license in my City and that's what I'm here to do. No, I'm here to prove I own my house. I am, in fact, certain that I am here to prove it is my house.

She still thinks it's ridiculous, but, to humor me, she agrees to look at my deed, since I brought it.

Then she looks closer at the file and sees that someone has put a hold on it. She removes the hold and types in that yes, I own my damn house. (She then says, "I heard some of the other employees talking about this sort of thing, but nobody ever told me it was required.") I ask her if there was a water heater permit and she finds that too (hooray! Thank you, prior owner) and prints me a copy.

I leave. I call the contractor's office and tell them what happened. (And she says, "No way. FOUR people in the office said this was a requirement. She even asked her supervisor.") She says she'll call and make the appointment with the inspector. And she tells me she needs the water heater permit.

So, rather than go back to work, I now drive the water heater permit over to the house. I hit traffic because, by now, other people are actually going home.

I leave the permit at the house. NOW, I drive back to work.

And when I hit the office, I get the email from my contractor saying the permit office wasn't able to give us an appointment until Monday anyway.