That was *so* easy to fix
Critter’s stairs, that is. The bottom stair has been "soft" ever since she’s lived there, and while it bothered me, she didn’t seem to mind and none of the kids, not even K surprisingly, had ever been tumbled by it so I ignored it.
About a month ago the second step up (going to her front porch) splintered and the leading edge broke off unevenly. I said something to her about it, offering to at least try to fix it, and she said she’d have her aunt (who owns the place) take care of it. It’s been long enough that I offered again, and she said she could fix it herself, she was just waiting on OtherGuy to "be a man" and fix it himself. The same for the grass, which was nearing waist high: she wanted OtherGuy to chip in to help her buy a mower and then cut it down, "like a man".
Well, her dad finally drove over from the town where I work with his weed eater and trimmed up her front yard for her this afternoon. There’s a large sloped area between the driveway and the road he didn’t get to but the driveway and the area where the kids normally play is cleaned up. I drove over shortly after lunch with a hammer, some nails, a tape measure, a hand saw, and a ten-foot piece of decking to see what I could do about the steps.
I quickly cut a rectangular brace for the bottom step and nailed it in place. That whole stringer is going to have to be replaced; the part that had collapsed is rotten, but it’s braced for now. I also notched and cut to fit two more pieces for the second step (the steps are nine inches deep and my decking is only five and a half) but I didn’t have time to pry the old one up and put the new ones in. It was surprisingly easy, especially considering I’ve never even taken a single wood shop class. So I do need to go ahead and say thank-you to Norm Abram, Ty Pennington, and of course, my grandfather, JC. It seems I was paying more attention than I thought while they were doing their carpentry thing.
I sent her a text explaining what I’d done, and why I couldn’t finish, and told her I could finish Wednesday if she wanted or if she had some three or four inch nails she could finish it up herself. She sent one back saying thanks, and asking if OtherGuy had been there. I told her he had, and it looked like he was in his PJ’s. Yep, it was his day off, Critter’s dad came over to cut the grass, I came over to fix the stairs, and he was laying around in his PJ’s. He did say thanks, so I guess that makes up for the past month of not taking care of the place he’s been living when it was in his power to do so.
Considering the scope of what I know I’m more than a little disgusted with him. I’m a little cranky with myself too. I should have just fixed the damned steps a month ago when the second one splintered and to hell with waiting on OtherGuy to man up. The steps weren’t safe and I knew I could fix them, so I should have.