So I am helping my dad out this AM by meeting with the carpet guy. Dad is in meetings all day and just couldn't get away to meet with this guy. Carpet man was hired to do a quick and simple job and was to be at the house for under an hour. No offense to carpet guy but he appears older than this house (Dad's house is about 150 years old) and moves like a turtle. I knew from the moment I opened the door that this was going to be more than me letting him in and writing a check a half hour later. Anyway, so I do let him in. And then I go upstairs to read blogs. Because watching an old man deal with carpet just doesn't sound exciting at 8AM (or any hour really). I smelled something though. I have a crazy hyper sensitive nose that can smell things I dislike a mile away. I think I was a hound dog in another life or something. It was definitely cigarette smoke. The guy smelled of cigs when he walked in though so I figured his scent was just, unfortunately, making its way upstairs. But I also hear the front door open. This home is in a downtown area so it is obvious to my also hyper sensitive ears if the front door is open. Suddenly it goes from being quiet to hearing buses and people and cars and everything else that happens on a work day downtown. I go down to investigate and as I am walking down the stairs, he closes the door. I go down anyway to see how it's all going. I was hoping that perhaps he was already packing up his stuff to leave. Oh, Old Man Carpet had barely started. And the entire first floor smelled of cigarettes. But being the naive one that I am, I again figured it was simply his hair and clothing and went back upstairs. Until I hear the door open again. And stay open. And smell lots of smoke again. Baffled, I go back downstairs (no need for a StairMaster when you can run up and down the stairs a zillion times chasing damn cigarette smoke scent like a dog) and the door is still open but he sort of zips into the room he should be finished working in by now. I pop in to ask how its all going and the smell is just permeating the house. I don't see him with a cig but then I go to close the open door (it's plenty comfortable in the house- we have AC- and there is no need for the door to be open like that) and see right on the front step that a barely finished cig is still smoldering. He had been smoking in my house! Or half inside/half standing in the doorway. It's not like this is a project site or anything. No, it's an antique furnished, beautifully restored, historical home. With carpet. That he was, hello, supposed to be touching up or whatever. Fibers absorb smoke super fast. I know I am just hyper sensitive because I am allergic but don't you think that is incredibly rude and unprofessional. Oh, it also took him close to 2.5 hours to finish the job. I felt like I was baby sitting and kept finding reasons to go downstairs to prevent him from continuing to smoke inside. A job this small shouldn't really require smoke breaks if you ask me (which you did because you are reading my blog). Ugh...I'm just annoyed. Grandpa Carpet is gone but his scent will probably linger for years just to torture me. I lit a candle- hopefully that absorbs a little of that nonsense.