Still Mine Page #3

Come on, she got lucky, again.

Have you seen that place

they're putting up on 17?

At first I thought it was a hotel,

but I hear it's just for one family.

Well, how many kids do they have?

Oh hell, if that damn place

were an orphanage,

they still wouldn't know

what to do with all that room.

Who's for another hand, hmm?

- Yeah.

- Last one.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

I suppose it's too much to hope

you're here on a social visit.

I don't tend to do much socializing

in St. Martins.

Now, why doesn't that surprise me?

I suspect you saw that Stop Work order

I left here yesterday.

Oh yeah.

I thought that was your handiwork.

Did you understand it?

Yeah, seemed pretty

straightforward to me.

Then why are you still building

without a set of approved plans?

Uh... well, that's the thing.

See, the plans aren't quite ready yet.

And, well, the weather

is just about perfect.

Jeffrey - that's my grandson -

he's been kind of buried over

at the refinery.

One of the distilleries went down.

Otherwise, he'd have had them done by now.

But you weren't supposed to start

in the first place.

I thought that was very clear.

Well, you said you needed plans.

You didn't say anything

about not starting to build

before you had them.

Well, if that were the case,

what would be the point of them?

Now you're talking.

Those are my sentiments exactly.

Mr. Morrison, no matter what you may

think, no matter what you may believe,

a building permit is not optional.

And just so you and I are perfectly clear,

that Stop Work order,

- that's a legally binding document.

- Yeah, yeah.

Ignore it at your peril.

"This notice shall not be removed."

Well?

Well, you want me to tell you

what you want to hear

or what I think you should do?

When did we become a country

of bureaucrats?

Look, save yourself the trouble.

It's not worth it.

Just don't build

until Jeff finishes the plans.

- The whole thing will blow over.

- You know they're asking me

to pay another $300

just to get the damn things approved.

I imagine you won't go bankrupt.

Open up your wallet,

welcome the moths to the 21st century.

Well, okay.

If you're telling me

that's the way the world works, I'll do it.

But I still feel I'm being asked to pay

for other people's mistakes.

You better put this back up.

Craig!

Irene? What's wrong?

Where were you?

I called you, but you didn't answer.

I didn't know where you'd gone.

Easy, easy.

I told you I was in the shop.

- How could I have forgotten that?

- I'm sorry.

I wasn't gone that long.

Don't do that again.

Okay. Okay.

Well,

you better be careful up there.

You know, it's my feeling

that a man over 70

should never be up on a ladder

in the first place.

It's tempting fate.

Chester, don't you have someplace else

you're supposed to be?

Aw, looks like you got company.

Oh, Jesus, what now?

Just stay out of it.

Mr. Daigle.

I thought you and I were square.

We were...

until I did the framing inspection.

It says here that the wood I'm using

to frame my house is not stamped?

As noted in my report, there are a number

of building code violations.

Most of them can be fixed, but I'm not sure

how you're going to remedy the fact

that none of your wood was stamped

by a certified inspector.

And your joists and trusses

were not engineer-approved.

I realize you're probably

a very busy man, Mr. Daigle.

Would you mind humouring

me for a moment?

In order to qualify for your job,

did you have to have

any kind of expertise in lumber?

Or at least a working knowledge

of the subject?

- Yes, of course.

- Well then, in that case,

huh... forgive me for stating the obvious

to a man of your training,

but I'd hate to think

there was any kind of misunderstanding.

All of the wood in this house

is old-growth spruce...

that's been air-dried

for at least two years.

I'd also like to point out

that there's not a single stud

or sill plate that's warped or twisted.

Go ahead, see for yourself.

I believe you,

I looked at them myself...

- Okay, okay, so then we have

no argument there, then?

Now as for the floor joists

and the roof trusses...

I built them the way

my father taught me to build them.

Do you have any idea

what he did for a living?

- No, I don't.

- He was a shipwright.

St. Martins was the third largest

shipbuilding centre

on the Eastern Seaboard at that time.

Over 500 sailing vessels

came out of those yards.

So, like most of the men

who worked around here,

he knew a thing or two about joinery.

I'm sure he did.

But that's not the point, sir.

Well, then, what exactly

is the point, sir?

To maintain safety standards,

we need to have wood that is stamped.

And I'm sorry,

but you are not an exception.

Have you not listened

to a word I said?!

Look around!

Take all the time you need

to evaluate my work,

and then you tell me whether or not

I'm building a sound house!

I paid $400 for your permit,

I went to the trouble

of having plans drawn up,

and now you're telling me

that my material is sub-standard?! Ha!

I may not be the most sophisticated man

in the world, Mr. Daigle,

but there is one thing I do know,

and that's lumber.

Look, I don't have the time or patience

to argue with you,

because there is zero leeway on this!

Deal with the violations

or I will pull the permit

and bulldoze this place.

Is that a threat?

No. It's the law.

Not a word.

Irene.

Irene...

Irene...

Craig...

Don't move. Don't move.

I fell down the stairs.

Yeah, you did.

How are you feeling?

Not so bad.

Did I break anything?

No.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

Are you going to tell me?

I'm just worried that our luck's

beginning to run out.

No, I don't think so.

Oh really?

How do you figure that?

By all rights,

I should have broken my hip.

It's got to count for something,

doesn't it?

What are you doing?

Oh... Just in case you forget,

I put these gates up.

Oh... I won't forget.

Of course you won't.

But... just in case.

I don't think it's a good idea

for you to be on the stairs right now.

Oh, and the bathroom is outside,

just for now.

Where's the bathroom?

On the porch.

I love you.

My handsome man...

Where are you going?

In town, for some groceries.

I'm going to make us dinner tonight.

Did I bump my head or lose my mind?

You're cooking?

Well, if you can read, you can cook.

That's what my father

always used to say.

Well, it's certainly taken you

long enough to test his theory out.

Hey, Dad.

- Hi, Ruthie.

- Where's Mom?

She's taking a nap.

Is that the, uh...

porta-potty from Linda's wedding?

Yeah.

It sets the porch off nicely.

It, uh... goes well with the freezers.

Well, that's one of the advantages

of growing old.

You don't care so much

about keeping up appearances.

Dad, I know what happened.

My friend Jeannie's a

nurse at the hospital.

You should have called.

You know, I never did like Jeannie.

As I remember, she was always sticking

her nose in other people's business.

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