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Dorothy received a number of invitations during the week she attended the Galway races. Some were to house parties and expeditions, while others involved nights out and dinner parties. One that stood out amongst the more modest offerings was from a couple of extremely glamorous barristers who invited her to join them on their yacht in the Med.
Determined to keep her options open, she deliberately refrained from making any firm promises or commitments. She was looking forward to getting back to Otter and relaxing. By the final day of the races, she was glad to leave because, quite frankly, she had had too much of a good thing. She could not help but wonder if Gerald and Bel’s swanky colleagues and pals would have given her the time of day a mere seven months earlier.
She was well aware her thoughts on the subject were cynical in the extreme. She had only just met the people, hence it was unfair to make judgements or leap to conclusions without evidence to the contrary. Nonetheless, for weeks afterwards the niggling doubts remained.
Upon her return to Dublin, she spent a full day with the Newmans in Dublin 13. For some time, she had been the proud possessor of her own special site hat. On the occasion of her first visit, they had bullied her into wearing a nasty yellow affair, and she had been compelled to complain bitterly. When she next arrived at the site, she discovered they had procured a lovely little pink hard hat for her with the word Boss printed neatly on the front in permanent marker.
She raised no objection to the new headgear. On the contrary, she liked the way it matched the pink wellies she had stumbled across in Rome, and always made a habit of wearing whenever she went to view the building project.
From: Dottie8888@chatulike.ie
To: SRedmond@chatchat.com; ANorris@talkalot.com
Date: August 3rd, 2011
SUBJECT: CHANDELIERS AND BUILDERS BUMS
Hi Girls,
I hope all is well with you. I am loving the pics you are sending of the Lot Valley barn, and the house on Boomerang Beach. I am attaching just one pic of the building site that is the palace. As you know, Bel is the one we usually rely on for the photos, but she rarely comes out to the site because of the mud. It can be a nightmare out there sometimes, especially as we are having the worst summer for years. I have no choice but to go because I need to meet with Saul, otherwise decisions won’t be made.
We are slowly starting to shift our focus to the interior of the house, which means flooring has become a big talking point for us, as well as things like taps and light fittings. The burning questions this week are - should the kitchen be ultra-contemporary or more traditional? How do we feel about super-sized, uber-modern chandeliers? What are our thoughts on flock wallpaper, which apparently is making a comeback? Oh btw, Ryanna has agreed to source a piano for me, which is very cool.
There are so many men working on the build, Jake and Saul have had to colour code the hats. The team who are dealing with the leisure complex all wear blue hats now. A Swedish engineer called Lars heads them up, although there are also a few Americans, one Canadian, and four Germans. I couldn’t help noticing the other workers tend to avoid the Blue Hats, and I was worried it might be due to some sort of nationalistic tension.
Saul thought this was hilarious when I asked him about it. He says they avoid the Blue Hats all right, but not because most of them are foreigners. It’s because they’re all engineers, and have their own language nobody else can understand. They keep making engineering type jokes they find hilarious, but which drives everybody else nuts. Also, the Blue Hats feel they deserve special kudos because the pool is the most difficult part of the whole build, and they sort of swagger around the site like the football team in a movie about high school life. You live and learn!
There will be a much-reduced workforce during the first two weeks of August, but Saul says this is a good thing in many ways because they can take the opportunity to widen the laneway and of course have some drying time. The Blue Hats will be staggering their time off so work on the pool can continue. They are on a mission. I promised a bonus upon completion, providing the finish is top class. I told Saul I don’t want to see even one tile or floorboard that isn’t perfect. “Understood, Boss”, he said.
Ever since I told him about my pool dream, he insists on calling me boss. Sometimes he even uses an American accent, which is rather disconcerting. All of the men and women on site have started copying him and are calling me boss as well. They must think I prefer it! Embarrassing or what? I asked them not to do it a few times, but they persevered, so after a while I stopped worrying about it. The house will be finished soon enough, then nobody will ever call me boss again. It’s only a bit of fun after all. Love Dot xxx
