Chapter 597

• Ben was sitting in his chair working out a new floor plan for extending his house out over the foundation of his basement workshop. When he'd built the large room he'd excavated the back yard to extend the building eastward an additional twenty-eight feet. The foundation had been poured and to eliminate the need for support posts he'd welded in ten cross connected I-beams spanning the width of the room like ribs to support the poured concrete ceiling. The building permit office told him he didn't need so many but Ben felt more comfortable with over engineering for maximum strength and durability. Then he'd covered the entire extension with a waterproof membrane to direct water to the weeping tile and buried it under the back yard once more.
• He was designing the extension for the ground floor that would be built out over his office. The current design had the master bedroom occupying the space at the far end with a new walk-in closet and master ensuite. He was going to have to upgrade the water heater, furnace, and air conditioning.
• He heard the thump of a car door closing and laughter outside. He looked out the window and saw the ladies collecting their bags from the trunk of a taxi. Then the laughter approached his front door. He got up and opened the front door to see three happy ladies carrying a large number of shopping bags. He ushered them inside.