The fence guys are totally brutal - I can't bear to watch anymore. Within five minutes of arriving they left huge gouges in the front lawn, stepped firmly on one of my new rose bushes and dropped an 8-foot section of fence squarely on top of my young and fragile lemon tree. The chances it will survive are slim. All this while I was putting my shoes on so I could alert them to what to be careful of. (Sigh). Instead of using the bare naked dirt path I created for them to haul materials, they just created their own over the top of completed landscaping. Needless to say I'm relatively pissed off. I'm just glad that I'm getting the fence done before planting anything else because otherwise the damage would have been unimaginable. As it is, it will take months to recover.

Now they've dropped a stack of lumber against the side of the house with such force that it rattled windows on the opposite side of the house and knocked two oil paintings off the wall inside - both of which miraculously came out unscathed. We're talking major big bucks as these are gallery works and not from the discount art shows. I think I can repair the scratch on the piano when a painting fell on it. What could possibly happen next? I'm afraid to even make conjectures... Suppose I should be greatful that I have some inkling of what to expect in the next earthquake. I definitely need better picture hangers.

I also have to say that despite the traumatic events earlier today, these guys actually built a great fence that even my neighbor (the bee-eye-tee-cee-aitch) had to commend as first class. That in itself was a shocker after the events of the last few days.