Amazing things... (this is a long one)

We are at the zero hour, people.  Friday, January 27th is just around the corner as I begin typing this blog and that means Claire will be is scheduled to be coming home.  She will be coming home, but only if her medical equipment comes on time and they deem her release from the hospital safe (she needs the medical equipment at home to make it a safe transition).  

Thumbs up from Claire!



Now, the  the truck carrying medical equipment DID stop at our house- but it had all the wrong stuff.  Did we need a Hoyer Lift?  Yes.  Was an hydraulic lift on the truck?  Yes.  Was it the right kind of hydraulic lift?  Not so much.  Did we need a hospital bed?  Yes.  Was there a hospital bed on the truck?  Yesireeee.  Was it the right kind of bed?  Ummm. No. 

SO....

They say they will "work on it" and get the right stuff to us tomorrow so Claire can come home.  We'll see.  I'll keep you all posted on THAT little development as I know more. 

*So exactly what is amazing about this part of the story?  Well, we've got a LOT of work still left to do on the home.  If the medical equipment isn't here, then Claire can't yet come home.  Which gives us that much more time to prepare the home for her and make it right.  It's a hiccup, and could end up making her wait a little longer (not to her liking), but in the end it really helps on the home front to make her return home easier and much more memorable.

Beyond all of this, the day started out just as anticipated.  Woke up early and got Jacob off to school for his half day due to teacher in-service.  Karlee was able to get a sitter at the hospital -basically a girlfriend to hang out with Claire while Karlee was away- and was able to come home to see the progress and get shoppin' for some paint.  By the time Karlee got home we already had the tile guys here at the house prepping the shower for the tile installation (set to begin tomorrow - 01/27).  While Karlee was out at Home Depot getting paint, she had a question to ask one of the associates, just about quality of brushes, and in their conversation ended up asking for a manager to discuss some assistance they had been looking into for us (I had previously been introduced to the manager by one of the associates and was told that Home Depot would look into seeing if any of their vendors would be able to donate materials to us - that was still pending at the time Karlee went shopping). The "associate" told her he actually was the manager and she proceeded to tell him about Claire and that he was in email contact with me about the process.  By the end of the conversation Karlee had her answers and thanked him for his time.  The manager then asked if there were any other items she needed for today, then proceeded to walk Karlee straight past the checkout and help her out to the car with supplies needed for the day.  When she asked about paying for the supplies he simply said, "It's taken care of - if you need anything else, please let me know." 

*Amazing?  Yeah, pretty self explanatory that one!

The beginning of tile work started off poorly.  The lead who came with the installers took one look at our floor (a concrete slab) and said that it "wouldn't work" because it was just a drain pipe in a flat slab.  I explained to him that it was determined that even though the slab was flat, a thin layer of mortar or some type of concrete mix should be able to be floated to create the proper slant to allow for draining to the drain pipe.  The tile lead proceeded to explain the importance of proper drainage and said that they would be chipping away the concrete in order to create the proper slope.  A change that would take most of the day and set the project back a day.  Well, he's the professional with this, so I told him to proceed.  The chipping lasted almost the whole day. 

*What is amazing about this?  It solidifies that we have the RIGHT people doing the job.  This isn't just some guy coming in and installing something per the order requested.  Everybody involved knows the story about Claire and every single person wants to make sure that all of the work is done properly.  In this day and age, this level of customer service really is amazing.

While the tile prep work was going on I proceeded to work outside to move some of our landscaping rock around to get ready for the group of people who were going to come out and help remove our paver driveway and get it ready for a concrete pour (set for this upcoming Saturday).  I got some of the rocks moved and around 3:30, three fellas showed up to begin helping clear out the materials.  Then another came along and started helping us.  Then another.  Then another.  And yet another. These are all people who came at the urging of our good friend Becky, who put out the all hands on deck request to the good people at her church.  The next thing I know, I have AT LEAST two dozen people in my front yard helping remove this driveway.  The whole set of pavers was gone and stacked neatly on wooden pallets within an hour and a half.  Then, when that was all said and done, we all got to work on running the lines to make sure the dirt was at a low enough level to do a proper pour.  That work is currently ongoing and will be picked up tomorrow to finalize for Saturday.

*If you've ever had a big task ahead of you and were the only one there to do it, you know that sometimes it can seem like an insurmountable task.  That was this driveway project for me.  When 24+ people showed up though, it was over in a blink.  And the beauty of it all, very few of these people were anyone I knew prior to this day.  They simply showed up because they wanted to help make it better for Claire.  Amazing.

Now while all of this was going on, Karlee had come home and had to return to the hospital to be with Claire.  So, she gets back into our car, turns the key, and -click click click click- the car won't start.  We figure that it's just a dead battery, we'll jump it with the van and get it running.  She would then take the van to the hospital and I would take the car to get a new battery.  Dead batteries happen all the time here in Arizona and this seemed no different.  After 15 minutes of charging with the van & jumper cables, I tried to start the car.  click click click click  SHEESH!!!  So I called our mechanic and explained the situation.  He said it sounded like possibly the starter was out and to have it brought down to him to check it out.  I called roadside assistance and they had someone out there lickety-split and away went my vehicle to get worked on.  "Well that's just great..  Another unexpected expense," I thought.  After about an hour my mechanic called and explained it was just a dead battery and the jump start didn't work because the battery itself had a dead cell in it.  The battery would need to be replaced.

*What's amazing about this - well, I didn't tell you the end of the story there because that's what's amazing;  The battery, they said, had been replaced at their shop about 1 1/2 years ago and was still under warranty.  THEREFORE - it was replaced without cost and the car was ready to be picked up.



Just call Tony & Shane - they'll help you with your vehicle.



****Special note:  To anyone who resides in Phoenix's West Valley, my wife and I have been using Midas for the past 5 years and will go nowhere else.  Tony & Shane at Midas know customer service and they don't take advantage of you like some auto repair facilities.  I highly recommend them.

All of this though, pales in comparison to the MOST AMAZING thing of all from today.  The newest update on Claire.  While Karlee was home she told me about a new development which occurred the day before.  They had both just woken up for the day and Claire let out a big yawn and stretched her arms up above her head.  While stretching out her arms (according to Karlee's eyewitness account) Claire also stiffened and straightened her legs into a full flex and stretch before they went back to their relaxed and immobile stance again. 

Amazing!