Thursday, July 29, 2010

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE WIDOW?

**Caution**Whining Widow**

My shower had needed to be re-caulked for three years. I just look at it every time I take a shower and it adds a bit of stress to my life. Could I have fixed it? Sure. I am certain I could have read some instructions and figured it out somehow.... but I didn't. I hate that kind of thing. I really do. I don't even WANT to learn how to do it. Could I hire someone to do it? Probably. But, it seems the handy-men in this area have more work to do than they need. Most often people don't want to be bothered with piddly little projects like I have.

For instance... come here and I will ask you to fix the knob on my daughter's shower, three closet doors that are broken, the caulk in the shower, and the front screen door... and that is just for starters. Just lots of little broken things around here.

The other problem with hiring someone to help... is that in the past when I have, they don't do a very good job, sometimes don't finish it, and I don't have the energy in life to spend fighting with them to get the job done right. I have too many other places to spend my energy.

Let me give you an example. A year and a half ago I got a new screen door. Hired help installed it. It is great! I love it. Except that a few months after it was installed, it started to fall off the hinges. No one bothers to come back and fix it. They seem to fall off the face of the earth. I just kept re-screwing the screws in every other day (literally). I had a friend's husbands try to fix it... no luck. I had another friend add some washers to it and that seemed to help.... for a few months at least. Then it started again. Every time I would walk in the door, I would feel this weight of exhaustion... because what am I supposed to do with it? I don't know how to fix it.

I got tired of it all last week. The caulk. The doors. A friend's husband offered to send a guy over to do my caulk. $50. Fine. He came over, needed money for supplies. I gave him $20. He went to Home Depot, I was in and out while he was here working. I had written him a check for $50. I came home after one of my runs out and he was gone. Caulk was done. $50 check was gone. No change left from the $20, despite the reality that the caulk costs probably less than $5. Fine.... $70, as long as the caulk is fixed. About 30 hours later my son hopped in my shower. It had not been used yet, and I would prefer not to disclose my reaction when I heard him in my shower... as I had not checked the caulk... but it HAD been 30 hours... it should have been plenty of time. Nope. Caulk everywhere. The guy has YET to return to fix it. Now I have a bigger mess.

All is not lost, I may have found the man of my dreams. Referred by a friend I called this man for help. He walked around... made a list of my many ailments... and decided to fix two on the spot. The door... the new screen door that has been giving me an ulcer for a year and a half... appears it was on upside down and backwards. Yup. But, it is fixed now... as well as one of my closet doors.

Oh, and I took my car to get it fixed. It is an hour drive to where I have to go to get it fixed... They called and told me the parts were in. I had a road trip planned so I took their first appointment. It was anything but convenient, but I made it happen. They asked if I wanted an alignment, I assured them I did, as it was recommended after the type of service they were doing. I returned to pick up my vehicle... They didn't have all the parts they needed. They did half the job, I will have to return for the other half, BUT they did the alignment, which I didn't need since they didn't finish the job. $70 wasted... and I have to find time to go BACK!

Seriously... I just don't have the energy to fight. I have too much else to do. Sometimes I have even found myself willing to write them a check to get them to leave!

3 comments:

  1. gggrrrrrhhhh! You should make them do the alignemtn for free next time!!!

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  2. How frustrating. Caulking is fairly simple, just annoying to do. Probably similar to the other ailments. You should make a list some time, I'm sure we could round up enough people and knock that stuff out. -steve c.

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  3. Steve - the list is ready. Come up and take care of it... and I will take you and your family out for breakfast next time I am getting my car fixed... since I happen to have it fixed in YOUR town (you don't happen to know anyone at the Subaru dealership do you?? (Someone you could make feel badly for wasting my time!!)

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