sleepy day
Had a really good day yesterday. Felt almost normal. Brain was clear and ticking. Energy was good. Walked over to a client's office, this would usually cause a crash. No crash. Led a 4 hour meeting, walked back to work .. productive afternoon then another marathon meeting ending after 7pm.
Got home still feeling good. I am grateful for those days.
Today I pay. Dog tired. Brain cant keep 2 thoughts straight. Body hurts. Definitely a bed bound day, just got some sleep so feeling a bit more lucid.
Taking it really easy today...
PS : Re construction .. I am sooo tired! My house is still covered in dust, with some cement thrown in for good measure, all over walls, furniture etc. Back and forth to the welders several times, the first one still has my first panel .. now going four weeks and still not giving me a completion date. The second one should be ready to install 5 panels tomorrow, he started last weekend! He gives me a hard time though because I custom designed the panels and he complains they are harder than standard panels .. of course they are, that's why I pay MORE .. funny how quickly they forget that part.
I'm a bit miffed with the mason. Firstly tiling was to start today which is not happening because the mason is still working on the walls, I figure he'll still be at it tomorrow so tiling is next week. I am more upset though because...
The mason was subbing for the contractor who walked off the job. When the contractor walked I hired the mason directly to complete the job. He in turn hired outer tradesmen to assist him. Short story he wasn't paying attention to time/cost and had too many people working for too long so when he got paid he personally had very little money for his effort. I felt bad for him because he does work hard so I gave him a small bonus to take the sting off. I also gave him additional work at a higher cost than I would normally accept.
After that conversation he's been quite happy. Anyhoo yesterday I bring up something which is required to complete the job but which I had not discussed with him before. Its a small thing, should not take more than an hour of his time. Can you believe he tried to charge me for it? I wanted to ask him if the bonus I gave him was not sufficient to cover the cost but I held my tongue.
Lesson learnt , don't be sorry for these people. Negotiate a rate and pay it, not one cent more because they are not feeling sorry for you.
Mentally I'm burnt out on construction. I want it to be over. Unfortunately looks like at least another week .. if I'm lucky.
What's been done so far looks really nice though .. the neighbors are commenting. Its nice to hear.
Got home still feeling good. I am grateful for those days.
Today I pay. Dog tired. Brain cant keep 2 thoughts straight. Body hurts. Definitely a bed bound day, just got some sleep so feeling a bit more lucid.
Taking it really easy today...
PS : Re construction .. I am sooo tired! My house is still covered in dust, with some cement thrown in for good measure, all over walls, furniture etc. Back and forth to the welders several times, the first one still has my first panel .. now going four weeks and still not giving me a completion date. The second one should be ready to install 5 panels tomorrow, he started last weekend! He gives me a hard time though because I custom designed the panels and he complains they are harder than standard panels .. of course they are, that's why I pay MORE .. funny how quickly they forget that part.
I'm a bit miffed with the mason. Firstly tiling was to start today which is not happening because the mason is still working on the walls, I figure he'll still be at it tomorrow so tiling is next week. I am more upset though because...
The mason was subbing for the contractor who walked off the job. When the contractor walked I hired the mason directly to complete the job. He in turn hired outer tradesmen to assist him. Short story he wasn't paying attention to time/cost and had too many people working for too long so when he got paid he personally had very little money for his effort. I felt bad for him because he does work hard so I gave him a small bonus to take the sting off. I also gave him additional work at a higher cost than I would normally accept.
After that conversation he's been quite happy. Anyhoo yesterday I bring up something which is required to complete the job but which I had not discussed with him before. Its a small thing, should not take more than an hour of his time. Can you believe he tried to charge me for it? I wanted to ask him if the bonus I gave him was not sufficient to cover the cost but I held my tongue.
Lesson learnt , don't be sorry for these people. Negotiate a rate and pay it, not one cent more because they are not feeling sorry for you.
Mentally I'm burnt out on construction. I want it to be over. Unfortunately looks like at least another week .. if I'm lucky.
What's been done so far looks really nice though .. the neighbors are commenting. Its nice to hear.
Replies
i hear you...........when i laid out the work for Joe he took zero notes, he didn\'t write ANYTHING down, he didn\'t record it or take note of anything. i had a list, and i gave that list to my daughter as she supervised the job. so on one particular day he is too paint the brick fireplace. but on this day he argues that it was not discussed.......and he wants an additional $500 to paint it. we are incensed. we hire someone else to do this job........which really made him steam over.........but to expect us to pay that much for something that he blew off ........he liked to try to accuse me/us of not telling him things that were on the list.........and i wonder now if in fact he might have been hiding the fact that he doesn\'t read.................i could be wrong, but i never ever saw him write anything down ever...............and he got mad at me for not making them lunch, baking for them........... that made my daughter so mad, she was like do you not understand that my mom is disabled? she can\'t be on her feet making picnics for you and your crew three times a day. its\' not that i don\'t like to do nice things for people, it\'s that i don\'t have the stamina to do it daily...........and in my work life i had to supply my own meals most of the time save special occasions............so i got touchy about his remarks. i did spring for fast food a few times and he acted like \"it\'s about time\" instead of like his crew.......who were very touched and appreciative by the gesture.
to this day i still wish i had been able to keep joe\'s crew and lose joe.......he\'s a trip........not one you really want to take! praying for you...............it will get done and it will come together.............try to do something for you and your son every few days............get away from it as you can so you don\'t explode of implode........................you had an amazing day, but those days tend to kick us in the tail ............sorry that this happened to you.............get some rest. go to a friends house and say wah hah hah, pamper me, rub my shoulders.........feed us......we\'re lovely people and we promise we won\'t outstay our welcome.................we just need to be among the non constructional element for a day or two. love you, hang in there !!!!!!!!!!
Hi Ruthie
The not reading thing is something I have noticed as well with multiple contractors and tradesmen. I used to do long written agreements and realized that they were nto being read, even after I walked them through. I think they may have basic reading skills but not enough to comprehend so much written material and are too embarrassed to admit it.
Re the food thing I told them up front bring your own food, water etc. I am ill I will not be running up and down stairs to fetch for your crew. It worked. They occasionally jibe be for not buying them at least a drink but no hard feelings. Just 2 days ago the mason ahd some work to do which included covering a pipe in the bathroom. I was home all day, then ran out briefly and when I came back the slab was poured and he had connected the pipe .. ABOVE the floor. I\'m scratching my head going \'what the\'?!?!? I\'ve never seen a bathroom with the pipe running on top of the tile... these guys are like toddlers, cant leave them unsupervised for even five mins