Day 17/Friday meeting

Today was a day I've not been looking forward to for the last week or so: we needed to discuss J-M's bill/our objections to paying for the menuiserie work.

Come to that later...

I'd been for my cycle ride [curtailed when it started spotting with rain; couldn't risk catching a chill, so I came home], done my kettlebell DVD and was just finishing my third yoga set when I was startled [that's my job!] by men walking past the open door/window.

Given that it wasn't quite 7.30 am, and the builders had never arrived before 7.55 I thought I was safe in my "gym kit", which is too embarrassing even for me to mention, suffice to say I wear the least possible, and as fitted as possible because that works best for me.

I think the asana I was doing is called "pose of an eagle" - a very fetching attempt to turn myself into a human corkscrew, standing on one leg, whilst sticking out my ample (scantily clad) posterior. Which was, of course, facing the doorway!

I'm sure they saw me, including the Albanian whose sense of personal space seems so tiny that it makes me more English than ever; I only met him yesterday, but I've had a lot of personal comments/advice for the space of two (mercifully) very short conversations.

Normally I go and offer the workmen a coffee as soon as they arrive, but this morning, I felt "sprung upon", desperately snatched up my dressing gown & scuttled off to have a shower. Aside from my attire, I had "bien transpirée" - in fact I was "glowing buckets".

I was all nice & clean when the phone went: J-M saying he couldn't make the meeting which was arranged for 9 am, but he would be there at 10 am. I had guessed that it would be a 9 o'clock start, but that was only confirmed at 9.15 when we got the email announcing order of business!

So what's happened today?

• We've got a partition wall, and part of a ceiling: the rails & membrane are done in the bedroom part waiting for the plasterboard;
• There's now a lintel over the bathroom window, and the sides of the embrasure are nearly done (small matter of evening them out, obviously);
• We do have missing plumbing for upstairs - J-M & M. Torelli can slug that one out among themselves, but given the lack of care with everything else, I'm fairly sure I know whom I blame!
• Nobody (apart from me; sometimes that's a lonely place) had thought about how to keep the insulation in/rats out from under the floor upstairs/above the bedroom ceiling, so that's another bombshell I managed to fling into the mix! Not sure how happy I am at additional costs that should have been foreseen...
• AND we sorted out the bill with Jean-Marie!

It involved a lot of accusations, arm waving, telling it like it wasn't (from him), but we didn't back down - I even did some arm waving and got over-excited and voluble: it's a useful trick I'm learning - if I can sound as though I'm about to explode, coupled with behaving like a windmill that's trying to take off, I come across as a cross French person, so French people can understand I'm cross.

Another useful trick is emphatically answering in English so that David can translate - gives him chance to gather his breath, and he's only passing on my words. Also, it gives me free rein in what I want to say. I will admit to going on for far longer than seemed remotely reasonable, but I was determined to continue until J-M got our point/seemed to take us seriously.

Turns out there has been a miscommunication: they meant they wouldn't do the work in October for the joinery, but because they only said to David that they wouldn't do the work we thought they'd stopped, and were cross when we found out they are still bothering the Batys.

Long and short of it: we got 20% knocked off the bill after a LOT of haggling. This still leaves T+B with a large wodge of cash for a few emails/a telephone call. Face was saved on both sides, and we paid the bill after the 20% had been deducted. That was another saga - "why can't you pay the bill and we'll give you a credit note?" vs "why don't you get the bill right and we'll pay it?" Thankfully, the man with the chequebook prevailed. Maybe I could trust him to play poker?

If it sounds as though we've ripped them off, in fairness it seems that I've done more than the lion's share of managing the project, so I ought to get half of their fee, and the months of delays aren't helping (coupled with the bits we have to find funds for because they weren't listed in the spec), and nobody was twisting his arm!

We're still not happy with them, but at least we are still talking.

We are probably [because of the delays] not going to knock through to the house till September, and even then I might stretch that till M. Baty has fitted the windows. Although at this stage I think we've given them enough to think about, so I'll save that for later, when everyone is calmer again.

Speaking of delays: M. Torelli said the absence of plasterboard rails was delaying him installing pipework for the shower; the plaquiste says the missing shower pipes are delaying him; the missing plumbing is delaying the plaquiste, who can't do anything on the bathroom ceiling till the upstairs waste pipes are sorted. Oh, well, that's one I am leaving to J-M!

Given its size, it's absurd that the bedroom feels so small...

I'm sure when we've got furniture in there it will feel bigger [if you don't believe me, ask Sarah Beany!].

Not on my computer, so photos another time.