Teaching and training, short weekend, new windows

Having endured three days of training – two as a participant and one as an instructor – I was relieved to be back in the office for a day or two. All of the days in training were good days which provided a lot of interaction with my coworkers as well as a chance to present a course that I actually enjoy teaching. Even though I got some scathing reviews of the course I presented, each person who had something bad to say made it clear that their ire was directed toward the presentation, not the presenter. Not what I or the company I work for want to hear, but none of the complaints are invalid. To end the work week, we retook a class in instructional design which had been totally reformatted. That is the kind of rework we need for the two other courses we are currently offering. I can see us going through a revamp of the material as well as giving serious consideration to renaming the courses to better reflect the content.

The weekend seemed short because there was little I actually got done. The workers showed up to install our new windows about 9:30 and we ran into one problem after another. The first problem came up when the first window had been removed. They had forgotten a necessary part for the installation of the double window in the living room. With the office over an hour away, the lead worker had to go back to the office to retrieve the part while the other two worker continued removing the old windows. I had to run to Lowe’s to buy some mortar in order to reattach the brick window sill that had fallen out when the double window had been removed. That rework took me over an hour but there was plenty of time to get it done and allow it to cure as we waited for parts to be retrieved from the office. Meanwhile, one of the two workers took over the majority of the demolition of the old windows to help ensure we did not lose too many more of the brick window ledges. In all, I had to repair three of the window ledges; which took an entire 80# bag of mortar by the time I was done. I was pleased with my work and for now, the ledges are in better shape than the several loose brick ledges they managed to work around. By the time the lead had returned, there were only three windows that needed to be demoed – including the picture window in the dining room.

The installers ran into another hiccup when they brought the windows into the living room and discovered they had picked up the wrong windows for the opening. They made it work but they will have to return at a future date to put the right windows in place. I was surprised at how quickly the new windows got installed once the demo was done and the metal trim packages – which had to be bent to form from flat aluminum stock - were installed. Still, it took the crew until almost 10 pm to complete the work. The windows are sealed with caulk on both the inside and the outside. They should be a tremendous upgrade to the single-paned, builder-grade windows that were removed. And as a bonus, we got the house thoroughly aired out in the process.

Mama is very excited to have windows she is able to clean. Windows that will easily open and close. I am relieved that I do not have to take the time to line every window with plastic this winter. It was good decision to put in the new windows; expensive, but well worth the cost of the upgrade.