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#WideDoor

#1 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/29/2025

Around the first of last September I noticed a lump on the back of my right calf. I went to the OSF here in Morton a couple weeks later to get it looked at and to do my yearly useless meet & greet. Bupkis. No idea what the lump is. The APRN scheduled a doppler sonogram for the following week. Again. No clear diagnosis. Let us know if it gets worse. It gets worse and also another very similar lump in the same area on my left calf. A month later I’m finally referred to a vascular surgeon. The first thing he says is that it is not vascular, has no idea why I was referred to him and that it is a “soft tissue mass”. Tells me it could be cancer and refers me to get a CT scan and a needle biopsy. CT scheduled in ten days.

(Note: this guy became a practicing physician just this past summer; not much experience and it shows. At least he speaks fairly good English, but he has no clue about my #LumpyLegs.)

Parallel story. We have known for some time I need to get a wheel chair. I just can’t walk very far at all or spend much time on my feet. Trying to find a wheel chair at these facilities can be hit or miss. Tracey took on the task of dealing with what has turned out to be a daunting, frustrating and time consuming combination of tasks. Since I am physically large (obese) I need a large chair. We need a wheel chair ramp, a wider front door, and a van to haul me and the chair around in. Tracey has managed, with many delays and encounters with horrid salespeople, to order all of these shifting puzzle pieces.

I will be chronicling these quests in future and decided to start now that we have a #Wheelchair waiting in a warehouse to be delivered when we get the #Ramp and #WideDoor installed. A Dodge #ProMaster van is on order too.

MjL

#2 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/17/2025

#PowerOutage again some time before 11 p.m. and only now just returned. The Blog will suffer once again I’m afraid. We didn’t get much sleep and we have a busy day ahead. Our new front #WideDoor (to allow for #Wheelchair) is to be installed in a few hours.

MjL

#3 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/18/2025

The #WideDoor installers arrived shortly after 8 a.m. yesterday and began tearing out the old door to install the new one. The day was chosen because the weather was forecast to be warmer and that proved to be true. There was a large door sized opening in our wall for most of the day and once again our home was quite chilly while the furnace struggled. When the installers left late in the day the door was installed, but there are problems. We specifically asked for extended hinges which were not provided. They also didn’t have the new locksets to install. And worst of all, the door sticks very badly. It looks to me like the threshold is too high on the right side and forces the door up and out of alignment with the frame. It takes a lot of effort to open and close the door. This has to be fixed when they return today to finish everything up. They are supposed to return at seven o’clock this morning and I hope these issues will be resolved.

MjL

#4 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/19/2025

The installers returned yesterday to finish with our #WideDoor. It looks very nice and seals well, but I’m still not happy with the effort it takes to close it. It is better than it was Wednesday. It will be up to Tracey ultimately as she will use it far more than I. They also didn’t install the extended hinges and I would really prefer that extra clearance.

MjL

#5 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/20/2025

Tracey returned home from #Watson yesterday and was glad to get out of the car. She isn’t very happy with the way the new door fits either. She sent an email to the project manager expressing the need to adjust the fit so it opens and closes properly. The reply was it would be addressed when they return to install the extended hinges. We shall see. #WideDoor

MjL

#6 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/24/2025

#WideDoor
The same guy who screwed up the door install showed up yesterday to install the extended hinges. He also tried to shim up the door hinges to improve the way the door opens and closes. The door is still difficult to close. He also hacked up the door trim to make clearance for the hinges.

He only installed two out of three hinges explaining they didn’t send enough. I don’t think he ever intended to put the middle one in until we called him out on it.

I am not at all happy with this guy. He didn’t properly shim the door to begin with because he tried to cut the opening to exactly fit the door and that rarely ever works. I have replaced enough doors over the years to know lumber is not straight enough to get a good fit without proper shims.

There is supposed to be a guy to come check the quality of the work (probably because we keep complaining) before we pay them off. I don’t intend to sign off on this unless Tracey can close the door without slamming it.

MjL

#7 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/25/2025

#WideDoor
Tracey sent the construction company a message:

Just wanted to update you. A worker came out and put two hinges on the door (still waiting for the third hinge to come in) It still closes very tightly and I am concerned that as temperatures increase this summer, I won’t be able to close it at all. I believe that the man that came out has done all that he knows to do to correct the door. He has been kind and polite while here, but I think someone with more experience installing doors needs to come out to look at it. I believe that the opening is just too tight to allow proper function and would like another person to evaluate it.

(She is a master at “damning with faint praise”.)

MjL

#8 Click this link to see Blog page --> 01/07/2026

#WideDoor
The front door is finally finished too. Yet another “carpenter” showed up to “adjust” the hinges and otherwise warp the installation enough that Tracey can finally get the door open and closed without so much effort. I am not entirely thrilled with it, but we’ve decided to settle for it. I still think that all the effort would have been better to have removed the door frame and reinstall it with proper shims to make it square. Clearly that was never going to happen though.

MjL

#9 Click this link to see Blog page --> 01/10/2026

#WideDoor
We paid Pauli Builders for the door installation but I can’t recommend them to do work for anybody. Very shoddy work and deceptive practice. The door was supposed to be shifted a couple inches to the left. Since they didn’t do that, the switch plate at the right wouldn’t clear the trim so they sawed off part of the switch plate. Looks like shit.

They didn’t frame the door, just scabbed in the original studs they had cut out and a short chunk at the top instead of a new header. No shims whatsoever, so the door was not plumb, level, square or true.

They eventually got the door to close easier by chiseling out the top hinge pocket, but now the door doesn’t seal properly.

The invoice listed new lumber and siding as costs when none were provided. They charged us ridiculous amounts for the door hardware and hinges that were supposed to have been included in the door price. All in all a very disappointing outcome.

MjL