Keeping Up with Elliott

August 17, 2014 – Keeping up with Elliott

Elliott has a new method of transport:  the Husky.  This wheeled vehicle (get one at Home Depot!) allows him to zoom around the lower level of the house, wreaking havoc and destruction.  Of course, it’s havoc and destruction with a purpose.  As part of our downstairs renovation, Elliott is tearing up the existing flooring.  I was a bit surprised when I came home a few days ago and found him with mat knife in hand, cutting through the blah-beige carpet to reveal a pattern of ancient linoleum tiles.  

A crowbar comes in handy, too.

He was obviously very pleased with his work so I tried not to show my disapproval at his newest activity.  However, I was quite confused because he had assured me that he was going to hire workmen to install the new floor.  When I mentioned casually that the workmen would remove the old flooring as part of the job, Elliott responded by repeating one of his cardinal rules:  Don’t pay someone else to do something you can do yourself. In this case, cutting the old carpeting and padding into strips, rolling them up, tying them neatly and placing them in clear plastic bags falls into the do-it-yourself category.  Of course, a job that would take a couple of workmen 2-3 hours at most will probably take Elliott at least 2-3 weeks.  But that’s the point, isn’t it?  All I can do now is pray that there will be no accidents involving the mat knife.