While having a new roof installed on my house, I got four extremely long roofer nails in four different tires while coming into my driveway. This is the type of day where the expression, “getting hammered” has many meanings.
 |
| Where the heart is… |
We have lived in our wonderful home since August 1989. Ra El and I have raised two spectacular daughters and several magical Persian cats. In those 21 years we have had to do our fair share of household repairs from replacing water heater, air conditioner and carpet. But getting a new roof is a completely different animal.
Shingled out
Fortunately, I planned well. Ra El was away visiting Sarah (and Nani) in Hawaii so the house was empty except for Lt. Mango, Shambie and me. The workman came early Monday morning and began the arduous task of removing 21 year old cedar shakes and ripping out old gutters. I met the supervisor, a very helpful man named Louis, who explained the process to me. I told him that my only request was that I need to have the driveway cleared and free so I could drive into my driveway around 5pm so I could get into the house as I was going to be on a phone call. He told me it would not be a problem and he would have things cleared for me.
 |
| Shingles on the deck |
 |
| Roof nails belong in the shingles not my tire |
 |
| What a mess |
 |
| A lawn full of shingles |
I pulled in to my driveway at five sharp and drove into the garage while on the phone. Unfortunately, I didn’t see some nails and small bits of debris in front of the garage. My stomach cringed. Upon inspection, I had four tires that each had several nails in them. My instinct was to try and take a deep breathe because this test was going to require more patience than normal. And I thought having air in my lungs would be a good thing since I was losing air in my tires.
I almost couldn’t breathe and the bad hardware pun ran through my head- four flat tires- I’m screwed!
 |
| Tire meets shingle and nail |
Louis came over and saw what happened and was so apologetic. He was trying to get my attention from the roof but I just didn’t see him. I had no way of knowing that I couldn’t drive into my garage since the workers didn’t block off access to the driveway.
Fortunately for me, the company I chose to do the work is a first rate business. When I spoke to their operations manager, he could not have been more professional. He felt terrible over what happened and told me to go replace all four of my tires. No hassle. No argument. No fighting.
So should you live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and need any roof, windows or doors replaced, please call The Aluminum Company of North Carolina. This is a classy operation and one that has really earned my respect in a world where customer service is a lost art form.
Life Lessons
What did I learn from this experience?
 |
| The temperature outside was 108 degrees! |
First, the men who did the work on my roof were working in unbelievably difficult work conditions. It was at least 100 degrees in Raleigh those days and it must have been 20 degrees hotter on the roof. Can you imagine? My respect for their work and what they endure to put bread on their own tables has grown in leaps and bounds. I became so aware of how dependent we all are on each other and felt real gratitude for their labor. I don’t think I could do the work these men did in 100 degree weather while standing on my roof.
 |
| Flat out |
Second, I learned a really important lesson about the universe. This had been a really difficult week with trying to help Fanny resolve many issues in LA after her phone, credit cards, licenses, wallet and keys were stolen. So as I stood in my garage asking, how can I handle one more thing…I realize that I should be so grateful for the life I get to live and all of the good fortune I have had. Four flat tires can be fixed or replaced. But fortunately for me, my own vehicle (my body) is healthy. I got some good news with my physician on my cholesterol coming down with the use of some beta sterols (a plant-based supplement). So my vehicle (car) had a problem but my vehicle (body) is well. Talk about your Zen moments.
 |
| Jack |
Finally, the relative ease by which I got the tires replaced was another gift from above. Of course I was inconvenience and had to rearrange several business meetings, but fortunately it all worked out in the end. And as I was getting the tires fixed, the manager at the tire shop asked me if I had a jack with me.
I told him I always have and I always will.
 |
| Jack, Bea and Jeff |
at least you got some good puns out of some bad experiences! i’m glad that the roofing company was so helpful. the last thing you needed was to deal with another person on the phone who tells you the wrong information. “the jack” is my favorite part of the story 🙂
Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your website is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you’ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles.
Air Conditioner
Hello, Jeffrey! It’s great that you found reliable men to work on your roof. I admire you for looking at the brighter side in spite of the damage to your tires. I hope you have chosen rust-resistant roofing nails. Nails often rust and break off, causing the roof covering to become loose long before the material itself wears out. Kermit Lukacs
I just want to mention I’m new to weblog and certainly enjoyed you’re blog site. Probably I’m going to bookmark your blog post . You definitely come with excellent well written articles. Thanks for revealing your website page.
Thanks for your kind words. My posts come from daily observations and experiences. Like Seth Godin, I like to notice things.