*handing Sal the keys* That's a great idea!

Later that same day...

I'm back at the hotel after making the 42.5-mile round trip yet again. It turns out that they underestimated (a laughable understatement!) the seriousness of the problem and had to use mega-turbo doses of chemicals rendering it unsafe until today. Thus, no progress over Friday & the weekend.

So, Gomer Pyle tells me they need at least another day and here I am.

Sandy, it's inaccessible to me, they have their gear, tools and stuff strewn everywhere, so I wasn't able to go in.

I got an inordinately and uncharacteristically contrite email from the regional manager who has been such a pain in the ask. I figured she'd been reamed pretty neatly, she CCd her boss who I emailed on Friday.

Wow, if these people are an example of the general mental prowess of the locals, I'm gettin' outta here ASAP.

I'm going to take a nap and hope I wake up back in my own life!