When ten days equals six months ...

That math applies when (a) it's your property, (b) the City of Maryland Heights is managing the project and (c) MSD is the overseeing authority.

Way back, sometime in 2010, I signed a deal with all of the above agencies (hereinafter referred to as "they" or "them") to fix a drainage issue that had a part of my backyard involved, along with three other yards along the street on which I live.  I was told the job would be completed in about a week and a half.

I waited and waited for the project to begin. And then there was Winter. Too cold. Not cold enough. Too much snow and ice, not enough. True to their word, after they dropped our fence they set up a temporary fence to allow Tasha's regular yard run.  But the fence was too short vertically and wouldn't have kept Tasha from leaping over. There were also breaches along the fence's run. Good try, though.

So, in the snow and ice, we had to halter Tasha and walk her, and on ice, my weirded-out legs just did not work.  Mrs. A took the brunt of that detail. Without ice, it's my gig.

And then there was Spring. At first, too much rain and mud.  But then it dried up a bit and they began. Bobcats a-go-go, digging and scraping, moving tons of earth and freeing millions of little insect beasties, critters like I've never seen in my life, not even in Southeast Asia, from ten feet down and which I've been fighting with gallons of insecticide.

Grading's finally done, underground drainage is installed across the yards involved, including the storm drain cap in my yard, all of which has reduced my useable yard by about a third (explaining that to the realtor when we sell will be a treat) and the new fence is almost completely installed.

But there's just this big damned hill.  Looks like a meteor hit here.

This morning while I was sleeping an unknown gang of busybees laid about $60k worth of sod in the areas from the back property line to the front sidewalk.  Nobody said this project would be cheap to complete. Thank God Maryland Heights has a Casino within the town limits to pay our bills.  And you don't, so HAHA!

The final step until completion and acceptance by MSD is the rooting and growth of the laid sod across my yard and all the rest of the yards involved.  That almost sounds biblical, huh?

And, no, don't use water from my house.  There's a fireplug...right...over...there.

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