The sprinkler system

We had some guys install a sprinkler system today. Wow, what a headache. It only took about 3 1/2 hours but there were guys everywhere all at once digging holes and pulling up part of our brick garden borders. I couldn't bear to watch. Shielding my eyes from it didn't save me though as they used a ditch witch to do most of their digging; it was obnoxiously loud and I cringed whenever I heard grinding noises. So I buried myself into The Watchmen until I was finished with the book.

I should have been watching TV instead, I suppose, since the sprinkler guys cut our cable line and I didn't realize it until about a half hour before they were to leave. Our utilities are buried, which improves the aesthetic appeal of our neighborhood, but is a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes. The guys insisted that where anything was marked - gas, electric, cable - they dug by hand and slipped the sprinkler hoses underneath the existing lines. And it's true that part of the cable line wasn't marked properly. A cut we found, where a since-removed tree had I, I presume, moved the cable line a bit and where you can clearly see a cable poking through the grass (and about which I forgot to tell them) was about two feet from the marking. But, un uh, they're not in the clear; the cable guy who temporarily put us back into cable said there was at least one more cut in the cable line.

By temporarily putting us back into cable, I mean that there's a coax cable running from where the cable comes in from the street, across our yard, across the top of our driveway, over to our house's cable hookup on the side of the house. Reminds me of a John Fogerty video. The cable company's going to have to run a new line - the guy said within 10 days.

Plus, even though I told the sprinkler guy who came to give us an estimate, and who wasn't on the job today, that we only wanted our grass watered, not the garden because we'd rather use our drip-hose system to save water, today's guys installed heads that water the garden anyway. It's not that big of a deal because the heads that water the garden are on separate areas than those that water the lawn, and it didn't cost us more than if we hadn't gotten the extra heads installed, but still...

Lessons learned:

• Don't assume that what you told the guy who gave you the estimate will pass that on to the guys who will actually do the work.


• If you know of any quirks in your utility hook ups, don't forget to tell your contractors.


• Don't be surprised if they cut your cable line even if you do tell them about the quirks.


• Don't get too stressed out about it. In my case, the problem was temporarily fixed by 2:30 in the afternoon.


• Take aspirin or something before the work starts to ward off your inevitable headache.