'Y compris les retards'

We are officially 3 and a half weeks late. The Client wonders why I haven't announced this before, 'The last time I asked, you said we were on time. What's happened since?' Carefully stepping back in anticipation of a possible blow to the head I reply 'Three and a half weeks have happened'.


The Builder is quick. He has the reputation of having built a three storey house in 3 months. In the absence of the right building materials however, his lightening speed and efficiency are useless. The blocks that caused so much existential angst to The Engineer in an earlier phase of the project are now the source of client angst.
They weren't ordered on time. The delivery period was 8 days. That soon stretched into two then three weeks. They were supposed to have arrived this morning. Now apparently they're coming on Thursday. As they are manufactured in the east maybe the delivery is by camel?


In the mean time a garden wall has been built once, demolished once and been built again. We've had a spring clean and most of the 'dark matter' has been removed from the back garden. So all is not lost.

Next time I see The Client I'll casually mention the merits of life in a camper van.