What?

   Aha, that simple, enigmatic four letter word that project managers all of the world say more than any other word......"What"?  This was certainly the word or thought of my day today for sure.

  Starting off with my first "What?", which came from a homeowner calling me very early this morning to discuss the fine etiquette's on proper painting techniques.  Now, please understand, I have no problem with, in fact I encourage, our clients to ask me as many questions it takes for them to feel comfortable with the construction process taking place at their home.  It was that this particular client has been watching way, way, waaaaayyyyyy too much HGTV.  The owner was very passionate, to the point of alienating me, about their position and felt that I should certainly see the error of our painter's best practices.  I decided it best to schedule a meeting with all parties involved to discuss the method we were going to use to proceed and hopefully the homeowners will better understand why the guy on T.V. is just an actor who is playing the role of a contractor and might not know the difference between a paint brush and a tooth brush.
  My second, "What?" moment came from one of our sub-contractors who is completing some irrigation work on the mid-town project we are getting close to finishing up on.  It seems that our irrigation person was really upset with the concrete guy because, "He has over poured concrete next to the concrete slab where

we need to re-route an irrigation water supply line".  I did my best to get a better mental picture so I could understand what the sub-contractor was all worked up about, but after what seemed to be 10 minutes of meaningless conversation, I decided to drop what I was working on and meet them on site to review the issue and come up with a solution.  When I walked onto the site the first thing I noticed was an employee of the sub-contractor trying , very unsuccessfully, to break the "over poured concrete" away from next to the concrete (poured in place slab) of the addition with a large sledge hammer.  He was going at it hard while his boss was standing over his shoulder shaking their head in disbelief.  I walked over to them with utter amazement at the two of them trying their best to remove the structural concrete foundation of the home.  I did my best not to smile as I made them both aware that they were never going to remove the concrete and why.  We came up with a alternate solution to their irrigation water line installation and I moved on to my next "What?" situation.
  The rest of the day only had a few minor issues and I went home for the evening feeling that we had an eventful day, but also one that was very productive.  That was until later in the evening when I received a phone call from one of our
client's personal assistant.  I know, your wondering why is a client's personal assistant (P.A.) calling me.  Well, we work with a lot of clients who utilize a P.A. to assist them during to their busy day.  I know I could sure use a P.A. from time to time, who couldn't?  Anyway, the assistant called me to discuss the current production schedule for their boss' home and needed to know if I was aware that the appliances had not been installed today.  Every P.A. is different and most of time them and I get along great.  I actually enjoying working with a P.A. since most of the time they are always available to answer questions while the busy client might not be.  That's not the case with this P.A., we just don't mix well....at all.  So, after answering multiple pointless questions, that felt more like an IRS audit questionnaire, about things I already knew, I hung up the phone, looked aimlessly into the night sky out the Kitchen window and said to myself, "What?!!!!".