There's a huge demand for trade people right now and they can make a shit ton of money at it. I would not be mad if my son bailed on college and went to trade school. I know my wallet would like that.I wanted to replace the oven/stove and countertop/backsplash of my Revere condo that I'm renting out and have had the property management company look into it but both people they had in said I'd have to replace all the cabinets too. Pfft. Not on a rental unit, thanks.
Also been trying to get an electrician and someone to do some window sash repair in our condo and can't get anyone to return a phone call. I'm encouraging The Nephew to think about going into the trades because there must just be a shit ton of demand out there if our smallish jobs aren't even worth a call back.
You want to know the funniest thing about us demoing our downstairs bathroom? We opened up the vanity and the previous owner had use car parts for all the tubing underneath the sink.Oof, I forgot electrical. We definitely have some ancient shit hanging around. Old knob and tube wiring that appears to be mostly capped off or whatever. House electrical is updated but I think there is still some wonkiness. Garage is still on knob and tube, and I shocked myself last weekend on an exposed wire.
I'll fuck around with some stuff but in general electrical and plumbing make me pretty squeamish. Neighbor across the street, back around Halloween, was supposedly soldering some pipes at like 1030 at night and nearly burned the house down. It has been empty since then, with guys showing up once a month or so to clear out debris, clean the yard. Seems like a knockdown is inevitable at this point as the house was already not in great shape. I'm not saying it was attempted insurance fraud but....
I'm lucky that my father in law does contractor work on the side so I don't have to pay him and he does high quality work.I'm with you Nap - I work hard and am incredibly lucky to be rather well rewarded for it, so I'd rather pay an expert to do quality work than half ass it myself.
I’ve owned a home for 10 years, and believe me, I know you’re not crazy. There are so many maintenance costs that make it a zero sum game. It’s like the system is set up to keep the middle class broke and the poor poorer or something like that.And people think I'm crazy for not buying a house.
It's why it's called the "JOYs" of homeownership...Of course, the week our AC finally gets fixed, the gaskets for the two zones of the baseboard heating start leaking.
Home ownership—nothing like it.
Congrats, you’ve earned the break!Last day of work (school) today...skated a double last night and then closed down the sketchy Chinese joint in town and then had a beer in the parking lot after.
I know teachers complain too much about everything (it's embarrassing to be associated with sometimes) but this has been a staggeringly difficult 15 months. I'm an exhausted but extremely happy camper right about now.
You're on the cape right? Which sketchy Chinese place?Last day of work (school) today...skated a double last night and then closed down the sketchy Chinese joint in town and then had a beer in the parking lot after.
I know teachers complain too much about everything (it's embarrassing to be associated with sometimes) but this has been a staggeringly difficult 15 months. I'm an exhausted but extremely happy camper right about now.
We bought a vanity for our son's room from Buy Buy Baby and they ship their furniture via a local carrier service. They were supposed to deliver it on a certain day and they never arrived so we called. The carrier service said they were short staffed. Scheduled it again and the same thing. A 3rd time they didn't come due to the truck driver forgetting to do it. At this point, we're pulling our hair out because we need this in order to move in. They finally bring it to us and the box is totally fucked up. They tried to get out of there quickly by trying to get my wife to sign the paperwork without looking at the box. She looks in the box and there's 2 holes in the front of the vanity where a forklift would go. They never brought the item because they knew they damaged it and didn't want to be liable for it. Such complete BS, so we returned it and went to another store.We're a week into our kitchen project. Cabinets are in and completed. No issues on that front. Looks fantastic, it's a real relief to see progress. Counter gets templated this week and then installed next week along with the new floor. It's all coming together.
We did have a major problem with our appliance delivery. The delivery crew refused to try and bring the fridge in. They said it was too big. When we made the purchase we told Lowe's we have a 30-inch front door, whatever we buy needs to fit through that opening. No problem, Lowe's said. They can take the doors of the fridge and the depth is 27.75 inches and will fit. Delivery crew wouldn't even attempt it. Claimed they couldn't risk damage to the house or the appliance. Fought me tooth and nail but they refused to try. Even gave me shit with the range that is about 29 inches deep, 30 inches wide (got it in!). After they left, realized the did damage the house (ripped the storm door screws right out of the frame). Fuckers. Tried to get Lowe's on the phone but that was a clusterfuck and waste of an hour. Had to go to the store at 8:00 on Friday to try and talk to someone. The associate and manager we talked to were very apologetic but whatever. They are coming back today to try again and I'm assured they'll take the doors off and everything, but I remain skeptical. The claims process for compensation on the damaged door frame is a joke so I have already accepted that I'l never see a dime of that money. I'm supposed to get the work done and then submit an invoice and they'll reimburse. I'm sure that'll be done in a timely manner. Fortunately the cabinet installer had to come back to finish things on Saturday and was able to patch it for us but he said the frame really needs to be replaced.
Golden SailsYou're on the cape right? Which sketchy Chinese place?
I feel your pain. I’ve been in management for a little over a year now (healthcare IT), so I have a miserable time unplugging. Even before I took over as manager it would 3-4 days before I stopped reflexively checking emails every 9 minutes.In West Dennis for the week with wife, my parents, and sister coming today with nephews. But because I’m not out of the country and have ready computer/internet access my brain won’t let me not think about work.
Employment is a disease. Chronic, and terminal.
A lot of things run less smoothly when I’m not around/available, because I take on a bunch of shit under the hood nobody else knows or cares how to do, and have more institutional knowledge than basically everyone else on or around my team.I feel your pain. I’ve been in management for a little over a year now (healthcare IT), so I have a miserable time unplugging. Even before I took over as manager it would 3-4 days before I stopped reflexively checking emails every 9 minutes.
Just got back from a week in Wellfleet/Orleans that became pretty much a workcation, save for the weekend.In West Dennis for the week with wife, my parents, and sister coming today with nephews. But because I’m not out of the country and have ready computer/internet access my brain won’t let me not think about work.
Employment is a disease. Chronic, and terminal.
2 hours since I got the 20-minute warning call from the delivery company. Crickets.Delivery attempt #2 coming up…
Trust me, I know. I'm a third generation cape codder and my entire family lives within a few miles of where you're at.down here, no
I'll never spend another penny at Lowe's. I'll go to Home Depot for the little shit and smaller local stores for any of the bigger purchases. Fucking shit show.2 hours since I got the 20-minute warning call from the delivery company. Crickets.
Did it ever show?I'll never spend another penny at Lowe's. I'll go to Home Depot for the little shit and smaller local stores for any of the bigger purchases. Fucking shit show.
I used to deliver appliances for a small appliance store on the cape when I was 20. It's really hard to determine how long a job is going to take. I walked into some fucking gnarly situations. I'll leave the disgusting things out of this, but there were times I was delivering an appliance, usually a fridge, that I needed to completely take apart to get through a door or up a staircase.I'll never spend another penny at Lowe's. I'll go to Home Depot for the little shit and smaller local stores for any of the bigger purchases. Fucking shit show.
They damaged my door frame on Friday while claiming they wouldn’t bring the refrigerator in because they didn’t want to damage it or my house. Today they called me and said we’ll be there in 15 minutes and no-showed without any communication. I got them on the phone and they told me Lowe’s canceled the order.Did it ever show?
Good luck!!Saw something I probably wasn’t supposed to yesterday. Supervisor is going on maternity leave soon and passed along a document with a bunch of tasks that will be passed on to others in her absence. On this doc was a link to our 2022 strategy planning deck, which featured a slide stating our plan to elevate yours truly to a director position. It’s not a huge surprise as it has been discussed, but still jarring to see it in print as an inevitability. Just have to not royally fuck up the next 6 months, I guess.
That is really fucking cool.Saw something I probably wasn’t supposed to yesterday. Supervisor is going on maternity leave soon and passed along a document with a bunch of tasks that will be passed on to others in her absence. On this doc was a link to our 2022 strategy planning deck, which featured a slide stating our plan to elevate yours truly to a director position. It’s not a huge surprise as it has been discussed, but still jarring to see it in print as an inevitability. Just have to not royally fuck up the next 6 months, I guess.