I tell ya... it's a bunch of scrap!

I took another truck load of aluminum siding to the scrap yard today. I'm thinking that I will have to make just one more trip after next weekend. We're going to make the final push this coming Saturday and Sunday to complete the installation part of the project. We received a letter today from the homeowners association concerning our lack of "approval" from the architecture committee. My wife had inquired at the front office before we even started the project as to the neccesary requirements. The very woman that sent the letter today told my wife that replacement of siding didn't need to be presented before the committee. However, she did inform my wife that we needed to have the paint colors approved, which we had intended to have done from the beginning. She basically told us to stop work until the paint colors are discussed. I wrote her an email immediately, explaining what she had expressed to my wife and that we would be continuing on with the project to finish it. I also reassured her that we would get the committee's approval before painting. As an extra, I sent her two photo's of the front of the house - before and after. I explained that the differences in looks at this point are minimal and that the changes will come after it's painted. I'm not upset with the woman - she's got a job to do. The various committee's throughout the neighborhood are, in fact, looking out for everyone's best interest. It hasn't been our first letter and it certainly won't be our last.
The same thing happened some years ago right after we moved in. We wanted to take down some pine trees that were right next to the house. As most people know, pines are dangerous. Pine are brittle and their root system is shallow. Again, the wife made the neccesary phone calls and a committee member actually came out and approved the removal of various trees we were concerned about. He marked them with ribbons. About three weeks later we had a company removing the trees when a gentleman, in his car, came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street. He jumped out and came running towards us all the while screaming "Quit cutting!" I asked the wife "Who in the Hell is that?", she responded "That's the idiot that approved the removal." She led him back out into the street and told him that he, himself had given his approval. He told her that he didn't remember. She in turn showed him the ribbons still on the logs laying on the ground. He sheepishly got back in his car and took off. You know what the problem is here? Well, I'll tell you... nothing is written down. Everything is verbal. We are slowly learning that we need to get everything in writing from the HOA.
On another subject, the wife and I saw "Borat" on Saturday night. Without hurting anyone's feelings I'd like to say that while I laughed at different scenes, I didn't think it was "all that". I don't know, I guess my expectations of laughing nonstop for an hour and a half were a little unrealistic. The wife said it best "It was just to over the top for us". I guess that means I'm an old f*ck. After the movie we ventured over to Barnes and Nobles, grabbed a cup o' joe and spent a few hours browsing. I bought the boy a book on going peepee and poopy on the potty. I asked a woman if she could direct me to the section of books on going to the bathroom, preferably with well known characters and she gave me a blank stare. Actually, she looked a little repulsed. Finally, after an awkward moment or two and more of an explanation from me, a light bulb went off in her head. She took me over to three shelves, full of books with characters guaranteed to magically make my kid go poop in the potty. I settled on Caliou as the boy really seems to like that show. I then searched for books on hiking the Appalachian Trail. I found a number of factual books but I kept coming back to a book I had seen a number of times before. It's called "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. It's a humorous look at the author's hike from Georgia to Maine. I'm about 70 pages in and I like it. I've been thinking lately about the trail because the start of it is a mere 5 miles from Amicalola Falls. It's the same park that we took the boy to a few weeks ago when we went to the pumpkin farm. From what I gather Bill started his hike in March '96. The book has been out for quite a while so, many of you may know about it already. I'm a little slow about these things, like I've said in my profile - I'm an occasional reader.
Let's see, what else? I worked on the front of the house, around the door, on Sunday. Today, I went to the scrap yard, took the boy to the doctor and then took him to the park. The doctor's visit was for the boy's lingering smoker's cough. He hasn't exhibited any signs of sickness in the last week and a half with exception of the cough. The doctor said it was just lingering effects of previous colds and it will eventually go away. He did get a flu shot that he wasn't expecting, but was happy with the bandaid that was provided to cover his wound.