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The Cedar
August 2, 2008
Builder Scott left this cedar sample on my bench the other day. Since he starts work early in the morning, and I don’t get up till noon, we often communicate by me leaving checks and other stuff for him in my mailbox, and him leaving stuff for me on the bench on my porch.
You can smell the cedar-y loveliness through the plastic. When I saw him later in the day, I asked him what it was for. He’s already put in a wine cellar, which I think is ridiculous in a rental. We now refer to it as the “wine cellar/storage area.” So, I’m never quite sure when he leaves stuff like this on the bench.
“Everyone loves cedar closets,” Scott replies.
“It’s a RENTAL!” I say. That’s pretty much what I always say. Have I mentioned that costs are spinning out of control? The last thing I give a crap about is cedar in the closets. I parlay all this to Scott.
“I already have the cedar,” he says.
“And how much did I pay for the cedar?” I say, incredulously. I write all the checks. Scott usually tells me what they are for. I’m unsure how he’s snuck a bunch of cedar planks into our recent purchases, although we have been buying a ton of wood lately.
Scott goes on to tell me that I haven’t paid for it. He tells me that about a year ago, he’s at the gas station filling up his truck. He sees a guy there with a bunch of cedar logs in his truck. So, Scott being Scott, he approaches Cedar Guy and asks him what he’s planning to do with it. Cedar Guy tells Scott that he’s cut down a bunch of trees for his mother. He’s cut some of the wood into 3-5 foot portions because he thinks they would be nice to burn in his fireplace, but most of it is uncut and he’s not quite sure how he’ll get rid of it.
Scott offers to take it off Cedar Guy’s hands. Cedar Guy agrees, but he wants Scott to pay for his gas to get it over to Scott’s house. Scott agrees, and off they go. As a bonus, Scott offers to fill up the guy’s tank afterwards, too. Cedar Guy is thrilled, and Scott has a bunch of beautiful cedar logs, some of which are going into the Recycled House with the rest going into the house Scott’s building for himself, if he ever gets around to actually building it.
1Diana | August 25, 2008
Scott is a dreamer, but you don’t get excellence without some dreaming. You’ll be able to charge premium rental fees for an outstanding property, and if you have a high quality tenant, you’ll be happy and peaceful, too.