For a guy who doesn’t work in construction or woodworking, I seem to do a lot of it. I don’t know if it has something to do with being mechanically inclined, or if it’s bred in my DNA somehow; but, one day I was a young kid reading comic books, and the next I turned around and was building a dresser.

It seems like every weekend for the past year or so I’ve also been working on someone’s house, primarily Andy’s. Most recently, it’s been completely ripping out, and completely installing a new kitchen, with all new cabinetry, and a huge 6’x4′ pass-thru into the living room. Before that, it was a cinder block retaining wall, a rejuvenation of the backyard awning, and the first kitchen remodel. Then, there was the other wall at Chris’, and the molding, toilet, dishwasher, and flooring at Raj’s.

Why do I know how to do all of this? I don’t know.

At any rate, because of all of this work, I have a fairly good idea of how long it should take to repair a small kitchen in a small apartment; and brother, the guys working on my place are taking way too long.

My friends keep asking me for updates, and I keep having to hem and haw, not really having anything significant to tell them. “Uh… they put one coat of primer on the living room this week.” What I don’t understand is why the management company isn’t pushing on the contracters harder. For the time I’ve been out, they haven’t been collecting rent, and, as near as I can tell, they don’t intend to do so while I’m in this loaner place, either. So, in effect, I’m tying up two prime spots in the heart of Marina del Rey… for free!

I’m sorely tempted to start going in my old place at night, and doing work like some kind of magical shoe-elf… only one who specializes in drywall.