02/09/2025
It’s Been A While
I told a lady this afternoon that I haven’t installed carpet in many years but had so much fun today that she should charge me. She laughed. I knew it had been a while because of the rusty old blade in my top cutter which cuts from the top of the carpet. An awl or small screw driver splits the carpet rows which are a tenth gauge or 1/10 of an inch apart on quality carpet. Almost all of the rooms were over 12 feet so there was a lot of carpet to cut up for ‘fill pieces’ and my top cutter had not been used in so long that the old rusty razor blade was practically welded to the tool. I borrowed one from Max. When that top cutter got lost and buried under layers of carpet, I borrowed one from Julio.
Then I met the new guy Ulysses. I liked him. Maybe it was a loaded question but I asked him how old he thought I was as we were unloading a 20 foot roll of heavy carpet. He studied me for a moment. “I don’t know. 50?” If he was faking it, then he should get an academy award. I told him I was 68 and he looked perplexed. “Really?” I got a chuckle. We were in Columbia, Md at 830am but I love referral work. It’s like, “Come on up on the porch! Take your shoes off!” which beats, “Here’s a mask and do you mind wearing a shoe cover?” People don’t know you. They don’t trust you. You might have germs. I knock myself out either way. The job was almost 7K and I arrived with carpet and pad loaded up from the day before. The engine was running since 630am to keep carpet hot so we could get a good stretch. We informed the homeowner about stretching with heat and Max cranked the thermostat to 75.
Afterwards, I loaded up the old carpet and swept the driveway for carpet yarn. I wonder how often birds eat carpet yarn or whether birds get indigestion. I just sweep it up. In the afternoon, I dumped my hydraulic trailer with the new LFP smart battery. Amazing! I dumped 1.44 tons of old carpet & flooring at the Lorton Landfill with only a 4% drop in charge! And that climbed back up to 99% after 15 minutes! Anybody want a 9 month old lead acid deep discharge battery with 600 cold cranking amps? The new LFP 100Ah smart battery was 109 dollars delivered which typically costs about 200 to 300 depending on the source. The 200 dollar lead acid battery actually recorded zero per cent on a seriously cold day after registering about 65% before discharge. Later, the charge came back above 50%. Below 50% hydraulic seals may leak. The End.
