Monday in Frisco

After breakfast at the hotel, I drove to the Frisco post office. They
open later than the Beaumont post office, but they do have a window
open at 7:30 for things like package and mail pickup that do not
involve cash charges. I stood in line and then it took more than 20
minutes for them to come back with my mail. I had quite a bit. The
mail order catalogs have already found me, and there were several
letters acknowledging my address change. They will continue the
construction hold on my mail until I tell them to begin delivery.

Next stop was my house. I thought the front door was locked. I called
my construction superintendent and he was there in just a few minutes.
The door was unlocked. I just was too dumb to realize that. Gary is
making everybody that enters the house remove their shoes, me
included. I was happy to do that I want to keep the carpet clean. I
then started going over every inch of the house with my notebook and
pen in hand. I made a lengthy list of little flaws. There was nothing
major, but things I would like to have touched up. I felt like I was
nitpicking but --.

By the time I completed the list the rain was pouring down. I saw some
people in a house across from mine. I went over and introduced myself.
They are closing Tuesday of next week. They are from San Antonio but
have sold their house and are living in an extended stay hotel. They
will be moving in at the same time I am.

The rain was turning into a nice soaking rain that Frisco needs so
badly. A man from the sprinkler company came by. He was adjusting the
watering program to compensate for the rain. Too much water on new
landscaping can be just as bad as too little.

I then went to the Sears store and told the sales person about the
website showing the refrigerator that I have purchased as being out of
stock. She took me to the phone and called the 1-800 number to check
on scheduled deliveries. After a lengthy hold, the person confirmed
that the washer, dryer, dryer kit and refrigerator were all shown for
delivery on September 9. I asked if she could confirm that the
refrigerator was in stock. She said only the warehouse has that
information. She said she had no way of contacting the warehouse. I
hung up and asked the sales person if she could call the warehouse.
She said she had no way to do that. I am in limbo until the delivery
approaches. I want that particular refrigerator so I will just have to
get by.

After lunch, I went back out to the house. I had checked out the
shutter sample color against the window sills and it looked fine. I
had called the shutter company but had to leave a voice mail message.
Donovan called while I was driving to the house. He said he had my
message, and we made arrangements to meet on Thursday so he could get
a key to the house so they can get in and install the shutters.

I then had my walk through with Meagan. I was rather embarrassed to
tell her about my list. I was afraid she would think she was dealing
with some kind of obsessive fanatic. She really is a nice young woman
and very dedicated to her work. We walked through the house. Some of
the things I had on my list had already been taken care of. She showed
me the features of the house. I did not know that the house was wired
for Ethernet. They really have incorporated the latest technology into
the house. I had studied the telephone and cable jack locations when I
was in the house earlier and decided it will work for me. They have
been very generous with electrical outlets. I won't have to do any
crawling to find a place to plug in the vacuum cleaner. Meagan and I
are going to get back together at 9 AM to check out the touch up on
Thursday. Closing is at 11 AM. I forgot to check and see if the grab
bar was installed in the stall shower. I woke up at 1:30 AM and sent
Meagan an email. She is really going to think I am strange.

Meagan said AT&T has installed fiber all the way to the houses in
Frisco Lakes and are now the preferred TV, Internet and phone
provider. I decided it was time to give up on Time Warner. I called
AT&T when I got back to the hotel. I explained that I had already
signed up for basic phone service and had a new number which I had
already started giving out and would really like to be able to keep
the new phone number. Anyway I signed up for their package that
includes 120 channels & local channels from the Dish Network, a
recording DVR, DSL and phone service with unlimited long distance
throughout the United States. It will cost about the same as I am now
paying Time Warner and AT&T for phone without long distance. The
really nice thing is I do not have to install the DSL and I do not
have to buy the DSL modem. When I had called earlier they said I would
have to install the DSL myself and buy a modem.