Things not said (kind of long)

I got home Wednesday night after having spent the last two months in Arkansas looking out for my step-father's best interests while he recovered from a car accident (he's still not fully recovered but it was decided I needed to come home). While I was gone I had some things done to my house, like some construction work and then I had someone come and clean my house because I wanted to be able to come home and relax in a clean house - and that wasn't happening without an intervention. ;)

Anyway, there were some things that I thought went without saying, but apparently I was wrong. So, I want to take this time to say those things now. . .

To both the construction crew and cleaning crew (because I don't know who was at fault in these things):

First of all, I can't imagine that either of you would be okay if someone came into your house and tampered with your air conditioning thermostat. Well, I'm not particularly okay with one of you tampering with mine. But, if you were going to be so uncooth and do such a thing, the least you could have done was put it back where you found it before you left. At least that way I would've never known what you'd done.

Oh, and it's not enough that all the pieces of the items you broke were together. Couldn't you have just given me a heads' up and said, "hey, I'm really sorry but (insert item) got broken. It was an accident and think it can be glued back together - I'll leave all the pieces together for you." Yeah, that definitely would've been better than coming home and finding things broken throughout the house.

Okay, you both pulled my washing machine out to do work. One of you did something horribly wrong because now it floods the laundry room and hallway every time I do a load of laundry. Totally not cool and I think one of you should have to pay to have it fixed - you can work out the "who" amongst yourselves.

To the contractor I want to say:

I'm a single woman with a normal car. You knew that when I hired you to do the work. If your fees don't include hauling off crap, it would be nice to know that because I thought that was included in your fees. It was a bit of a shock to come home and find that I'm going to have to figure out how to get the paneling you removed hauled off. For future reference, I think this should be something discussed with your clients. I, for one, would've happily paid additional costs to have it hauled off.

Okay, there apparently was some miscommunication about the repairs to the walls. I don't recall the word "except" being used when I pointed to specific spots I wanted repaired. When I said "all" places on the walls, it also included the big honking hole in the bathroom wall but I guess I wasn't clear about that.

As for the baseboards, well, I have a couple of questions. Is there a reason you only did three of the four walls in my bedroom closet? And is there a reason you didn't put the same stuff you put under the kitchen cabinets under the bathroom cabinets? I'm just a little curious.

Oh, and the phone line. I know the baseboards you installed were thicker than the ones that had been removed but couldn't you have hidden the line and re-attached the outlet when you put in the new baseboard? Seriously, did you think I wouldn't notice the difference?

And for the cleaning person I have a lot to say to her:

I'm a dog person. You knew this before you came out because we discussed it. So telling me that I shouldn't let my dogs in the house ever again was out of line. Telling me once could have been considered constructive criticism, but telling me over and over and over (and over again) because you didn't think I was understanding what you were saying was totally uncalled for. As was taking everything dog related out of my house and throwing it into the garage, because you didn't think they should be in the house. The fact that I had to clean all that stuff when I brought it back into the house means you didn't do your job!

Oh, and it's in very poor form to quote a price for a job and then, once you're done, tell the person that they owe you an additional $20 for cleaning supplies. Seriously, that should've been captured in your quote. If you forgot to mention that supplies were extra, you really should have to eat the cost. Leaving the receipt and all the bottles of supplies on my kitchen counter wasn't cool. For one, it meant that I had to clear my kitchen counter and then wipe it back down when I got home. Something else I paid you to do. For another thing, it let me know that over half the items you made me pay for weren't even used. In short, you made me pay for things you didn't use and I don't need. Not a good way to get a recommendation.

When we talked about the job, I stressed to you that I really wanted you to focus on my bathrooms. The guest bathroom was disgusting and the master bath needed some special attention as well. I said those would be your money makers when you gave me the quote - remember that? Anyway, given that the topic that I went on and on about were my bathrooms, you can imagine my surprise to come home and find that both toilets still need scrubbing as did the master bathtub. I don't know how I could have been more clear about wanting you to focus on those areas. If you don't do bathrooms, you should have told me when we first talked.

I suppose you noticed all the baskets I have throughout my house. I use them to help keep things organized. In the master bath I have all the stuff I use in one. It makes for better organization and easier clean up. I just have to take the basket off the counter to wipe it down and put it back on the counter when the counter is dry. So, why you decided to pitch the basket under the sink and empty its items onto the counter, I don't understand. It just created more work for you - and me, since I had to put stuff back in the basket when I got home.

Ditto for the basket of movies in the living room. Why would you empty them onto assorted shelves on my entertainment center when they were all in one place in the basket? Again, you created unnecessary work for the both of us.

And while it could be considered nice that you put all the magazines into one pile, they were sorted based on what I had read and hadn't read. If you'd left the ones that were in a basket alone, it would've been okay. But, you couldn't do that, could you?

I didn't ask (or expect) you do wash my draperies. I can appreciate the gesture though. However, if you're going to take them down, it would've been nice if you had put them back up correctly. The fact that I now have to take them back down and figure out what the correct way to put them back up again annoys me to no end.

I feel similarly about you washing my walls. I didn't ask or expect you to do that. It's a nice gesture but I can tell exactly where you were when you decided you'd had enough of that and stopped. The fact that you went on and on (and on) about washing my walls and to come and see exactly where you left off doesn't lend itself to a recommendation from me.

And I'm curious - was there a reason you decided to rearrange furniture in my bedroom? Also, I'm assuming you don't watch TV or know how cable works because when you unplugged the cable box to plug in the lamp you moved to the other side of my bedroom, you rendered the TV it was attached to useless. I thought that was just common sense but apparently I was mistaken.
I'm not sure why you thought it necessary to rearrange items in my refrigerator (including the shelves). Things were arranged as they were for a reason. But that aside, if you were going to spend that much time on the refrigerator, wouldn't it have made sense for you to wipe down the the door and its handles too? After all, people see those before they see what's inside. Just saying.

As for your leaving my door unlocked - well, it worked out well and saved some time, seeing as you turned off the power to my garage door opener and I wasn't able to come in that way.

I have to hand it to you though, you though - you really cleared out the guest bathroom of "stuff". Of course, I'm not sure why everything was put in the living room. Seriously, I'd really like to understand what you were thinking by leaving that role of toilet paper on the table in the living room. I know sometimes a person can hardly wait but if they can't make it to the bathroom in time, I don't think a role of toilet paper in the living room is really going to be much of a help. Just saying.

And last of all, the phone books in the closet may have been a couple of years old but considering they were the only phone books in the entire house, I don't see where you thought it was okay to throw them out. It makes me wonder what else you threw out and so now I'm forced to go through the two huge trash bags you filled to see what else you deemed unnecessary in my life (thank goodness the dogs weren't here when you were throwing things out!).

In short, you created more work for me to do than there would have been if I'd just cleaned my house myself when I got home. So next time I need my house cleaned, I will definitely look elsewhere.

I also have a couple of things to say to others that weren't hired to do things. . .

To my friend that watched my house for me. Could you please return my calls and let me know where a month's worth of my mail is? Did you forward it after I told you I was coming home or are you still holding on to it? It doesn't matter either way but I'd like to know what's going on and your avoiding my calls and not returning my messages is aggravating as all get out.

To my neighbor who tossed his trash in my backyard. Knowing I was gone is no excuse. And telling me that you were waiting until I got home to clear it out doesn't fly. If you'd cleared it out while I was gone, I would've never known what you'd done. Waiting until I got home only caused me inconvenience because I had to lock my dogs up while you cleared out something that never should've been in my backyard to begin with. Not terribly neighborly if you ask me.

So there you go. That's what I came home to and had to deal with. They were all things I would've thought didn't need to be said but apparently they did. And now they're said. All that's left is for me to clean up behind the people I paid to clean up after themselves.

I know, long rant but well, I think it's over now. :)

Hope you're all having a great weekend.

~L

The cleanup continues

Well, I'm waiting for the adjuster to show up to assess the damage. I finally called a tree guy last week about the "limb" on my roof (and embedded in the ground). They couldn't give me any kind of estimate as to when someone could be out - to give me a quote. Said they'd tape the quote to the door if I wasn't home. Thing is, I'm not going to haggle. I need the limb down and this is a company I've used in the past - they're fair and reasonable on their charges. Just send someone out please.

The fence isn't holding up as well as it was, which is a concern for me. The poor dogs haven't been let out unsupervised since we returned from Arkansas and nobody is happy about that. I do, however, leave the back door open when I'm home - if it's not too hot and if they're even remotely interested in being outside (although, have to say, all I have to do to get them interested in going outside is to CLOSE the door!).

I have no idea who to call about my chimney. None whatsoever. My concern is that it could potentially be a leak threat and we're expecting rain (for the first time since the hurricane) today and tomorrow. Although, I suppose if it was going to leak with any consequence, it would have done so during the hurricane.

As for those who gave input on the gift card - thank you. I did end up getting them a gift card. I had lunch with Mrs. SCG the Tuesday after they came out (SCG got pulled onto another job - related to damages caused at another facility - for three to six months so I may not see him much, if at all, for a while). She acted like it burned her when she touched it and said they couldn't accept it. I told her they had to because it had their name engraved on it (it didn't but she didn't look - and it worked because she took it then). She said SCG would be pissed though and he did send me a text that evening letting me know he wasn't happy. I spoke with him the next day and I told him that I just wanted to do something nice for them and thought they could use it for a nice dinner out and after that, he seemed okay with it. By the way, Mrs. SCG insisted on paying for my lunch that Tuesday - in fact, she had arranged it with the waitress before I arrived, yet they were reluctant to accept something from me (lunch was $30, by the way - 1/3 of the gift card, right off the bat!).

Oh, and in other Ike crap . . . I have a rental property out in Hempstead, Texas. It's a little shack really. My mother crew up in it and the tenant that lives there now has lived in it for more than 30 years. She pays all of $80 a month (and I've often wondered if I'm overcharging her - seriously!). Well, the house lost a good portion of the roof apparently. I asked her if she could find someone to come out and take a look at it and she said she would. Of course there were no roofers that could come out immediately so she called a jack of all trades guy who gave us a quote of "somewhere between $12,000 and $18,000. Yeah, so not happening! I asked the tenant to call the blue roof program so we'd have more time to consider our options. Have to say, the house isn't worth $12,000 so there's no way I can afford/justify paying that on the roof. Not to mention, at $80 a month, I won't be re-cooping that expense any time soon. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. (The house is not insured - I tried a few years back to get insurance but it's not up to code so is uninsurable at this time so the cost would be 100% on me.)

Anyway, hope to have all the Ike stuff cleared up soon and have life back to normal. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the good thoughts and vibes.

What's going on in y'alls worlds?

After the Storm

Well, SCG and his family got here Friday around 10:00 a.m. and worked until about 4:00 p.m. - and we didn't finish the clean up! I remembered that I hadn't used up all my exposures on the disposable camera I got in San Francisco so I snapped a few shots and took them to be developed (if nothing else, Ike got me to get pictures from Nationals developed).

Here is a shot of the pile of limbs in my front yard waiting to be picked up. And just let me say, this picture doesn't do the pile justice - it looks more massive in person, seriously.


Below are some shots of the backyard, as it looks now:

It may not look like it but I could stand upright when inside that dog house. And what's not green is covered in limbs that need to be raked and bagged up to be hauled out to the front. The dogs walk gingerly over it.

SCG kept saying he thought I should contract someone to cut down this tree and haul it off. I love this tree and couldn't understand why he would say that but looking at this picture, it does look kind of sad, doesn't it?By the way, the limb resting on the ground is attached to the one coming down from the tree AND the one shooting off to the right. The branch shooting off to the right is resting on my house and the way it's all laying, we couldn't get it down. It's likely it will cause damage to the roof and/or windows when it is brought down.

I took this next photo to kind of show how the fence had to be propped up. The tree in this picture is my favorite and doesn't seem to have sustained much, if any, damage as a result of the storm.


So, my question to you all. . . I want to do something nice for SCG and his family for all their hard work. I was thinking of a gift card (say MasterCard) of $100, that way they can use it how they choose to. I know it's not much, particularly given that it was a family of four that worked for 6 hours but it's all I can afford at the moment. Do you think it will be insulting? Should I get something more personal? And if so, suggestions?

If it helps, I didn't ask SCG for help - he offered. He called me Thursday a week ago as I was loading up my car to evacuate and asked if there was anything he could do - anything I needed. Then he kept in touch with me throughout the next week, letting me know how things were here and asking that I let him know when I would be back so he could help me. He even sent a text the day I came back, asking if I was back and when I'd be back so he could come help me. And he didn't hesitate to come out and he - and his family - worked their tails off for 6 hours to get done what we did.

So, thoughts? Suggestions? Help please! :)

O. M. G.!

Well, as Gabrielle can attest, I have a crappy camera that never works when I need/want it to so I wasn't able to take photos on it (although I did take pictures with my cell phone, only I don't have the internet on my phone). But OMG, the friend who told me about the damages in no way prepared me for what I came home to. She said, "Of course there are branches on the ground." Uh, yeah. I have about a quarter of an acre here (large for a subdivision lot) and there is no ground that isn't covered. And we're not talking any pansy ass small limbs, we're talking big huge honking limbs that make walking through the backyard impossible. Not to mention, the french doors are blocked by branches.

She also failed to mention (although not a big deal) that the dog house has been up-ended. I've been wanting to get rid of it so I'm really okay with that. But the 40 feet of fence that is down? Uh, try about 100 feet of fence down! And the posts are snapped off - not uprooted, broken.

But with all that, amazingly, no windows were broken.

SCG and his family are coming out within the next hour to help clean up my yard and repair my fence. He lives in a brand new home and mine is 25 years old and in need of a facelift. I'm not really comfortable with him seeing my house but I'm so so so so so grateful for him for helping me because I couldn't do this on my own.

I do have electricity and enough water for a few days - hopefully enough to last until the "boil water order" is lifted. No cable though (which was a disappointment to SCG's daughter lol).

Anyway, so that's how things are here. I'm home and grateful for what I have - including good friends. :)

Pity Party

I really shouldn't post today because I'm a bit depressed. I evacuated my home because of Hurricane Ike and the officials are saying I can't go back yet. Now, I could be a rebel and go home anyway but I'll be traveling with three large dogs and a donut spare tire but I've been hearing about all the flat tires because of the debris on the roads because of Ike. Too much of the drive home is barren for me to want to venture out under those conditions.

Not to mention, I don't have power or water at home. Power was restored Sunday but sometime between then and now, we lost it again.

Add to that, part of my fence is down. That wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't have the three big dogs I previously mentioned. I don't know how that's even going to work. So even if I go - and get - home, I have to deal with that. Well, that and the part of the tree on my roof and the chimney that is now part of my backyard decor.

I feel bad whining because it could have been so much worse and I know people who do have it worse - like my old boss who has a tree in his dining room. Or my friend who lost part of her roof. Or the people of Galveston who don't have homes to go back to. Compared to those people, I have it good. . . real good.

At least I have friends - good friends. There's the friend that went to my house and made note of the damages. There's SCG who offered to come help me with the tree and the fence as soon as I get home. And I've heard from so many people the past few days, checking in and making sure I'm okay and safe. That's really a nice feeling.

But even with all that, I want to go home - to my home. I want to be in my house cleaning up my mess and getting things back to normal. There was a time when coming to Arkansas was a vacation to me but it's not like that anymore and it's not like that now. Not knowing when I can go home or when things will be back to normal has been very stressful for me. I wish I could just go with the flow but it's not working, try as I might.

In any event, that's my current status - whine officially over (for now). When I'm feeling a bit peppier, remind me to tell you my list of things to be sure to pack when evacuating and about the spider the size of Nebraska.

All the comforts of home

I called a contractor out earlier this week because I wanted to discuss installation of hurricane shutters. Before he got out here it occurred to me that I might need the HOA's approval to do this, so I called them. I do need it but I couldn't reach the contractor before he arrived so he came out.

As a result we started swapping contractor stories (mine coming from the side of "can you believe what that awful contractor did?" his being "then they wanted me to do so and so..." ). During the course of this discussion, he told me about a product I'd never heard of before...walk-in bathtubs! He said he'd installed one for this elderly couple, and that it'd be his last installation of a walk-in bathtub. Anyway, I was curious so I asked some questions about it and then looked it up online. You're looking at the Cambridge Walk-in Bathtub which is described as follows:

This standard length walk in bathtub provides a very effective solution to everyday bathing problems and can simply be fitted in place of your existing tub to allow you to continue to lie down and luxuriate in a bathtub full of water.

The Cambridge walk in bathtub allows you to simply step in through its conveniently sited side entry door.

Once in, make yourself comfortable on the contoured bath seat, turn the handle to seal the door and open the taps. It's as simple as that. Once the tub is filled to your satisfaction press the button and you will be gently lowered into the water. Lie back and enjoy your bath. There is of course a choice of tap options; from traditional cross-headed faucetts, lever style or a more contemporary style. All are available in Chrome or Gold finish to complement your bathroom fittings.

When you have finished your bath, simply press the control once more lift you back to the seated position ready to get out of the bath and into a comfortable position ready for standing again.

The Cambridge walk in bathtub is available in a range of colours to complement your bathroom.

Who wouldn't want one of those? :)

Too good to be true

I had a board rot on the front of my house. It's been rotted for more than a year but my homeowner's association just noticed it last month and have threatened to sue me if I don't replace the rotted board immediately.

As such I went to Home Depot yesterday morning. I was proud of myself for getting up so early and taking charge. I took the offending board to the store and told the "info desk" clerk what I needed. She directed me to the lumber cashier for help. I waited in line to be told someone else would have to help me and she paged someone. This young guy comes up and says he's not sure what I need and grabs an older man and asks him. I say I wanted treated wood, if possible, because it's for outside. The older man says - and I quote - "I don't sell that here."

We start talking about what he does sell there and he offers to follow me home to see exactly what it is I need (apparently the board I brought in wasn't enough). He suggests he can install it too - which excites me because I want to be sure it's right.

I ask if he also installs baseboards (I still don't have any) and he says he does. I'm really excited at this point because I'm thinking I can charge his labor upfront and then pay when the bill comes in. So I ask if I can charge his labor. Turns out he doesn't even work for Home Depot! He's just a contractor who spends a lot of time up there - which, I decided was okay too. I still need these things done.

Anyway, we exchange numbers and I give him my address because he's going to do "one thing" and then come see what I need done. So I come home and promptly start throwing things in pantries and closets, etc. because I want to have the baseboards done and that means he'll probably come inside.

An hour passes. Then two hours. Three hours passed and I haven't heard from him.

Five hours later I called him. He'd forgotten about me, but he says he'll come right then - and then he does.

Come to find out, not only does he NOT do the work himself, minimum labor costs are $250, no matter how small the job.

I need one small board tacked up and he wants to charge me $250 in labor! That doesn't even include materials!

Needless to say, I didn't hire him to do the job. I went back to the store (Lowe's this time, so I didn't run into him again) and bought an untreated board (they won't cut treated wood and an uncut board would do me no good) and tacked it up myself - for less than $8!

So the fact that it seemed good (that I'd found someone and they seemed available to do the work) was an illusion.

I don't know though, I think I did a pretty good job with the board out front...maybe I could give installing the baseboards a try. LOL