Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Various Thoughts

1.  I emailed the company that repaired my heat pump, complaining about the qualifications of the regular repairman they sent (who was only saved when the Repair Manager came by to actually do the work).  After the Repair Manager left, the regular repairman used my hose to fill a bucket to divert the old coolant into and though I saw him turn the spigot off, he didn't do it completely.  Three mornings later, I saw water spraying out of a broken hose connection.  He hadn't turned it off completely!  The pressure stayed on for 3 days and I have NO idea how much water sprayed out as waste (that I will pay for).  They haven't replied yet.

2.  I have a company coming to remove/redo the entire tub area of a bathroom.  They keep calling to change the arrival time.  I don't consider that a good sign.  Darn good thing I am retired and my time is flexible.  Yesterday, they were coming today; then Monday; now Friday.

3.  I'm cleaning house before the bathroom demolition crew arrives.  Is that stupid or what?  Like they care?  Well, it needed cleaning and I needed the encouragement.  If I had more vistors, I would clean more often.

4.  I came across some odd stories lately.   The first one where some parent had to explain to the grandparents that the son couldn't read their letters because he couldn't read "cursive".  Oh damn, I feel ancient!  Like I've been writing in hieroglyphs...

Then there was the couple who visited Yellowstone Park and decided a baby bison was "too cold".  They "rescued" it into their SUV.  When they turned it in to the Park because they couldn't really feed it, the Mother and herd rejected it.  It had to euthanized.

Which reminds me of the idiot hunter (and I respect most hunters as knowledgeable having being one myself) who reported he had "captured" a deer.  It was a goat...

Which reminds me of the farmer who had had a cow shot by a hunter.  So he spray painted "COW" on all his remaining herd in bright red.  Yeah, some idiot shot one of them too, thinking it was a deer.

5.  I set up several 10-20' circles in the newly leveled parts of the back yard.  In one, I spread several pounds of "wildflower" seeds to create a natural area for pollinator bees and butterfly caterpillars to thrive.  So far, I have one orange flower and the same weeds that are growing in other places around the yards.  I may have to grow plants from seeds indoors and transplant them outside.

6.  I'm making a list of things for a general contractor to do.  There are things I can do myself and things I can't.  And some of the things I can't, I used to be able to do and just won't now.  I did electrical work in the basement when I was 35 and (one and only one time) I made a mistake and if I hadn't been sitting on a wood ladder, I would have electrocuted myself.

I felt "the buzz"...  And that's not the first time.  I once pulled of the spark plug wire on a running car and had the same "shock".  I'm lucky to be alive.

I know wood.  Wood can't normally kill you.  I'll stick to that.  For the other stuff, I'm hiring people!

1 comment:

Megan said...

1. Heat pump repair chap: he sounds like a liability. Twill be interesting to see what response you get. Perhaps he's related to the business owners and that's how come he gets to remain employed.

2. Well, at least they're letting you know about their changing plans. I would put it down primarily to the job only being a small one, so they're trying to shoehorn it in around larger jobs. If they explained their ways of working to customers, some of us (me!) would be willing to pay extra on small jobs for the satisfaction of having them schedule it once and doing it when they say they will. Unfortunately, most tradespeople are guilty of the same practices and of making assumptions about what customers value.

3. I hear ya on the house cleaning. I'm even worse.

5. Wildflowers: how do you account for that - poor quality seed? poor quality situation in the yard? shoots being nibbled off at the ground by animals?

6. Yaaay - good to hear that you're gonna outsource some stuff. LOL

Megan
Sydney, Australia

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