My Amends, and more
I owe the contractors I hate an amends, and they'll get one. Soon. I promise.
In the meantime, I went to the police department this morning. I needed to try to get out of a $175 ticket I received for parking my smaller car on the street so the contractors would have room to do their work. Which they aren't even close to finishing, yet.
See, I've been keeping my smaller, expired-tags car in the driveway. That's legal. It drives wonderfully well, but leaks when I buy gas, so I'm thinking on getting that small problem fixed. But, the contractors needed my driveway for their sawhorses and power tools and lumber and stuff. Plus, they needed to be able to go through the backyard with the bathtub and toilet and sink, which won't all fit through the front door. And haul sheetrock in, and all that other contractor-stuff, and with the car in the way, they couldn't get in.
So, I got a ticket. On Friday. NOT a happy day for me.
Because, although we have a toilet again (dandy one, too, only 1.6 gallons-per-flush-- a regular little power-toilet), it was installed 1 1/2 weeks after they promised to have it in. It was promised for the Wednesday before St. Patrick's Day. (We're not missing the port-a-potty, by the way.)
The washer/dryer combo was due to be delivered on St. Patrick's day itself, and it was, but the contractors didn't have the utility room (which was torn apart along with the bathroom) finished, so the delivery person couldn't install them. The contractors promised the room would be finished for the W/D combo. Instead, he had to leave them stacked in the backyard next to the house, in the rain.
The contractors didn't come on St. Paddy's. They didn't come the next day, either, even though they said they would be here, except to tell us they'd be here Monday. With all of us jammed into the teensy hallway, looking at the bathroom and utility room, my black dog was feeling left out and decided to join us, which meant she knocked over a gallon of white paint. No problem, until I picked it up without realizing it was upside-down. Problem. White paint all over the hardwood floor. And the left side of my dog. She really looked like a Border Collie, then. White paint on our shoes, white paint on the things being held in the hallway, and my landlady laughing her head off. Gotta love that woman! Besides, she's paying for all of this, including the new W/D, and she's not raising my rent. Bless her.
On Monday, they got the toilet installed. They brought in the tub and sink. The drain for the tub is 1" too far back for the drain hole in the floor. (Did I tell you they forgot to put in the drain hole? Well, they did. And when they put it in, they had to drill through the newly-set tile, and the new subfloor, and a joist. Then a new joist had to be scabbed in next to the one with a chunk taken out of it for the drain.) So, now they have to make a new hole. But, they won't be doing that until the tub is refinished, by the tub refinishers, and no one knows when the refinisher-people are supposed to be here. And the sink hangs over the corner of the bathtub almost a full 12". So, we have to order a different sink.
Last Wednesday, the contractors installed the W/D, turned it on, and it leaked from underneath, all over the new floor. Thursday, they tried to re-install the combo, plugged it in, turned the washer on, and blew the power out on the east half of the house. Whoops. We still have water in the machine because it won't drain out. Friday afternoon they came over for a few minutes to take away their tools and sawhorses and important work stuff , and replace the fuse that they'd blown out the day before. I was truly wondering if they weren't going to finish all the work. I wasn't home to ask them.
Today, the (large department chain-store that just merged with another large discount store) appliance repairman came out this morning (he looks like Burl Ives, or the Kentucky Colonel) and said it's not the washer. Well, shoot, WE could have said that! Except that every power tool in the world works in the outlet, but not the washing machine. He left. Of course. (Oh, yeah-- the dryer works perfectly.)
Gotta give those contractors some credit, though-- you should see my backyard! I had no idea it was that big. The grass is cut, the vines are cut, the palmetto palm is trimmed back, all the junk that's accumulated since we've moved in is gone, and even the dog sh** is gone. (I pick it up every day and put it in an empty dogfood bag, and when it's full, I toss it. John deserves a medal for that alone. He's a brave man, considering it isn't even from his own dogs. Trust me-- that makes a difference.)
An electrician is coming tomorrow morning at 8. So are they. I think they're worried about me being here with him by myself. Okay, not ME, so much as my potty mouth and not-real-thrilled opinions. But I'd never trash them! Never.
In the meantime, I went to the police department this morning. I needed to try to get out of a $175 ticket I received for parking my smaller car on the street so the contractors would have room to do their work. Which they aren't even close to finishing, yet.
See, I've been keeping my smaller, expired-tags car in the driveway. That's legal. It drives wonderfully well, but leaks when I buy gas, so I'm thinking on getting that small problem fixed. But, the contractors needed my driveway for their sawhorses and power tools and lumber and stuff. Plus, they needed to be able to go through the backyard with the bathtub and toilet and sink, which won't all fit through the front door. And haul sheetrock in, and all that other contractor-stuff, and with the car in the way, they couldn't get in.
So, I got a ticket. On Friday. NOT a happy day for me.
Because, although we have a toilet again (dandy one, too, only 1.6 gallons-per-flush-- a regular little power-toilet), it was installed 1 1/2 weeks after they promised to have it in. It was promised for the Wednesday before St. Patrick's Day. (We're not missing the port-a-potty, by the way.)
The washer/dryer combo was due to be delivered on St. Patrick's day itself, and it was, but the contractors didn't have the utility room (which was torn apart along with the bathroom) finished, so the delivery person couldn't install them. The contractors promised the room would be finished for the W/D combo. Instead, he had to leave them stacked in the backyard next to the house, in the rain.
The contractors didn't come on St. Paddy's. They didn't come the next day, either, even though they said they would be here, except to tell us they'd be here Monday. With all of us jammed into the teensy hallway, looking at the bathroom and utility room, my black dog was feeling left out and decided to join us, which meant she knocked over a gallon of white paint. No problem, until I picked it up without realizing it was upside-down. Problem. White paint all over the hardwood floor. And the left side of my dog. She really looked like a Border Collie, then. White paint on our shoes, white paint on the things being held in the hallway, and my landlady laughing her head off. Gotta love that woman! Besides, she's paying for all of this, including the new W/D, and she's not raising my rent. Bless her.
On Monday, they got the toilet installed. They brought in the tub and sink. The drain for the tub is 1" too far back for the drain hole in the floor. (Did I tell you they forgot to put in the drain hole? Well, they did. And when they put it in, they had to drill through the newly-set tile, and the new subfloor, and a joist. Then a new joist had to be scabbed in next to the one with a chunk taken out of it for the drain.) So, now they have to make a new hole. But, they won't be doing that until the tub is refinished, by the tub refinishers, and no one knows when the refinisher-people are supposed to be here. And the sink hangs over the corner of the bathtub almost a full 12". So, we have to order a different sink.
Last Wednesday, the contractors installed the W/D, turned it on, and it leaked from underneath, all over the new floor. Thursday, they tried to re-install the combo, plugged it in, turned the washer on, and blew the power out on the east half of the house. Whoops. We still have water in the machine because it won't drain out. Friday afternoon they came over for a few minutes to take away their tools and sawhorses and important work stuff , and replace the fuse that they'd blown out the day before. I was truly wondering if they weren't going to finish all the work. I wasn't home to ask them.
Today, the (large department chain-store that just merged with another large discount store) appliance repairman came out this morning (he looks like Burl Ives, or the Kentucky Colonel) and said it's not the washer. Well, shoot, WE could have said that! Except that every power tool in the world works in the outlet, but not the washing machine. He left. Of course. (Oh, yeah-- the dryer works perfectly.)
Gotta give those contractors some credit, though-- you should see my backyard! I had no idea it was that big. The grass is cut, the vines are cut, the palmetto palm is trimmed back, all the junk that's accumulated since we've moved in is gone, and even the dog sh** is gone. (I pick it up every day and put it in an empty dogfood bag, and when it's full, I toss it. John deserves a medal for that alone. He's a brave man, considering it isn't even from his own dogs. Trust me-- that makes a difference.)
An electrician is coming tomorrow morning at 8. So are they. I think they're worried about me being here with him by myself. Okay, not ME, so much as my potty mouth and not-real-thrilled opinions. But I'd never trash them! Never.
Lori finally stopped procrastinating at 6:29 PM
1 Comments:
I think the reason everything is going crappy is because Lorraine doesn't like the fact that we're messing with her house.
Look at me! I'm talking all Shpooky
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