Up on the Roof and other Broadway Melodies....

[captainsblog]

I expected the world to come at me with a vengeance once hitting the office, but it hasn't. So here's the other part of what happened earlier yesterday, then a few words about what happened 31 years ago today.

"Up on the Roof" finally hit Broadway, after its Brill Building beginning, in the biomusical about Carole King called Beautiful. We didn't play any of our versions of it (hers, James Taylor's solo and with her, the Nylons, or the original Drifters), but that's where our focus was as the sudden thawing warmth of this week allowed things to be done up there.

Last month, in the midst of many disasters, the venting fan in the bathroom turned into a waterfall for a day or so. Not wanting to add another nail to my coffin of woe from the computer issue of that week, Eleanor took care of it pretty much on her own. She called into the homeowners insurer to begin a claim, got some names of contractors from them (useless) and other sources (better), and then two appointments were confirmed. One was with a roofer she found, chosen from a few who came to the house the week before the blizzard, who gave us a quote to do patching around that vent, the one over the cooktop which also sprung a leak a few days later, and some other cleanup.

Amica had already sent someone to take pictures, from which they quickly estimated just under seven fitty for the repair less our $500 deductible. A check would be forthcoming, they said. A package of claim information did arrive a few days later. But they also told her we needed to have a proactive inspection of the entire roof, to determine whether there was anything that would be considered a "pre-existing condition" in the event of any future claims. One of the contractors for the actual current work, told of this, reported to Eleanor that this is a common Thing among homeowners insurers now- to essentially give them cause to deny future claims or, at worst, cancel your coverage unless you spring for an entire new roof.

That's not exactly in the budget or in expectations. Five years ago, we had solar panels put up over much of the roof that was replaced circa 2000, and it seemed in decent shape then. Going on two years ago, insulation contractors worked on the inside of the roof and didn't see anything troublesome. Fortunately, this is an insurance company with a very good reputation; their customers are basically invitation-only, and they've been very responsive with prior accident claims on the cars and on the one major bathroom damage claim from several years back.

Yet two things were slow this time, one of them understandable.  The consultant doing the going-forward inspection called several times to reschedule, since, you know, blizzard here (and 9F temperatures in Atlanta where they were arranging it from).  It was finally put off until tomorrow. Brian, the selected contractor for the immediate repairs, also begged out given the conditions up there; he'd done some quick temporary tar repairs when he first went up, and those held up fine, from the inside anyway, during all the wind, snow and melt of the last ten days of December.  Both planned to be here this week; Atlanta rescheduled for yesterday since it was predicted to be the last of the rain-free days.

I was at work when they came. Eleanor reported it went quickly and that they didn't tell her anything about what they found. Then, after arriving home, Brian came and did his thing. He reported that every temporary repair previously done- by him, by a friend who helped with an earlier bathroom leak, maybe by the panel guys- was marked in chalk with Greek-letter symbols and arrows.  Would these be grounds to deny or cancel? We have no idea yet. 

Meanwhile, he quickly finished his work and was kind when we told him we hadn't received payment yet. He'd just invoice us.  Eleanor started to worry that they'd changed their mind about covering it at all.  That's when the brain finally kicked in, though. Remember that earlier mention of a big packet of information they sent us about the claim?

At the bottom of the last page of it was the check. 

So now we wait and see what lies in the future up there.

----

First, though, to the slightly more distant past than that roof going up.

I mentioned last week that I'd ordered Bonnie Raitt's most recent album after hearing an encore of an interview she did on NPR on my last Rochester drive of 2022. A lot of it was about her experiences during the pandemic (I was going to say "during and after" but I'm thinking it ain't necessarily over yet), how she approaches singing and songwriting, and the experience of the loss of her brother to cancer in 2009.

None touched me as much, though, as the interviewer talking about her father.

John Raitt was a musical theater legend, starring and singing in such classics as  Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game, Carnival in Flanders, Three Wishes for Jamie, A Joyful Noise and Annie Get Your Gun. His only film adaptation of those came with Doris Day in Pajama Game in 1957. Bonnie spoke of being backstage on Broadway with her dad for many of these performances, taken in by the dancers stretching and singers warming up. The World Cafe host then played a clip from the song "Soliloquy" from another of his most famous shows, Carousel. Before this clip, he sings about the child he has found to be on the way. He imagines a son named Bill, just like him, and all the things he'll do with and teach him. But then we heard Bonnie's father sing:

Hey, why am I talkin' on like this?
My kid ain't even been born, yet!
I can see him when he's seventeen or so,
And startin' to go with a girl
I can give him lots of pointers, very sound
On the way to get 'round any girl
I can tell him
Wait a minute!
Could it be?
What the hell!
What if he is a girl?
What would I do with her?
What could I do for her?
A bum with no money!
You can have fun with a son
But you gotta be a father to a girl
She mightn't be so bad at that
A kid with ribbons in her hair!
A kind o' sweet and petite
Little tin-type of her mother!
What a pair!

My little girl
Pink and white
As peaches and cream is she
My little girl
Is half again as bright
As girls are meant to be!
Dozens of boys pursue her
Many a likely lad does what he can to woo her
From her faithful dad
She has a few
Pink and white young fellers of two or three
But my little girl
Gets hungry every night and she comes home to me!

I got to get ready before she comes!
I got to make certain that she
Won't be dragged up in slums
With a lot o' bums like me
She's got to be sheltered
In a fair hand dressed
In the best that money can buy!
I never knew how to get money,
But, I'll try, I'll try! I'll try!
I'll go out and make it or steal it
Or take it or die!

They then give the spoiler and trigger alert that Billy gets into trouble and takes his own life before the final curtain, but that's not the reason for my connection to this tale. It was in the uncertainty and mystery of a daughter entering our lives when I'd never had a younger sister, or many girlfriends, to guide me on the path of fatherhood.

We knew months earlier that we'd be getting ready for a girl; though our color scheme included many things other than pink, and even some light blue, that was what we were introducing to the world. Emily was never much for ribbons in her hair, and while she shares much of her mother, I wouldn't call her a tin-type of Mom if I even knew quite what that meant;)

We gave her a home for almost 18 years and helped with an education to follow. Her growth and directions since then, and even during then, have been largely her own, and we couldn't be more proud.

As she knows, a thing we share is on its way to her to mark this 31st year-



I don't know if Marcel can get all the way Up on the Roof, but I'm not going to rule anything out with him. Or with our daughter:)

ETA: Eleanor just got a call from the insurer. We're all good. Only concern was about the vents not having been completely sealed, which they now have been.  Keep improving, 2023:)

Comments

Speaking of tunes...

[absynthe]

Tom Leherer has decided to make all of his work freely available to everyone, and his catalogue is available on his website: https://tomlehrersongs.com/

I thought this might be of interest, as a fellow enjoyer of novelty songs.

Also, thanks for sticking with the posting, reading your missives is a high point in my day.

Re: Speaking of tunes...

[captainsblog]

Thank you as always for the kind words. I've been a fan of Tomfoolery since 8th grade when our junior high math teacher taught us subtraction in Base Eight using Tom's "New Math" song- and possibly one or two other tracks off the album. I'd heard a while back that he'd released his life's work to the public domain, which I just hope goes better than when the holders of the original insulin patent tried to do it.

This piece from Cory Doctorow is about the works just released into the PD wild as of January 1st, and the trolls who are going to be very very sad about it, including the heirs of one dude named Doyle:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/