CONTRACTORS' CREED

There must be one -- a Contractors' Creed -- or maybe I just haven't found a good Contractor yet -- you know, the kind that you hire to come work on your house -- to paint it, or fix it, or plumb it or brick it or repair the broken up driveway -- the Creed that says you must smoke like a chimney, work only 3 to 6 hours on the days you actually show up and have a cooler full of beer in your trunk.  And my personal favorite:  The two painters that showed up at 10:30 AM, came into the house to find me anxiously awaiting their arrival that was suppose to be at 9:00 AM, and they had the nerve to ask me if they could go to breakfast!!!  I kid you not.

If that wasn't enough of an insult to me and my time, the same two guys broke for lunch and then left for the day at 3:00 PM.  These two were fired after the first week.  I hear they are having a hard time finding work. I can't imagine why. 

I have so many "contractor" stories, I could write a book.  Like the time the guy remodeling my mother-in-law's house PASSED OUT in the garage.  I thought he was dead!  I did not have any training for this type of situation -- go figure -- and I didn't have a clue what to do.  I knelt down next to him, and I started knocking on him.  He was lying on his stomach with his face cheek to cement floor.  I poked his arm and his back and kept saying, "Oh, My!  What do I do????????????"  I had a bottle of water in my hand as I often do, and all of a sudden this guy reaches up his hand and GRABS my bottle of water.  He put it to his mouth and drank every drop.  Then he said, "OH, NO!  I AM AT WORK!"  Duh!  I'm glad we got that issue cleared up.





One more story, and I really have to get in the shower. 

I was temporarily "living" in my MIL's home as it was being sloooooooooooooowly remodeled.  I was there alone most of the time waiting for whatever contractor to show up.  At one point, I had to have the extremely large maple trees in the front yard trimmed and some half-dead trees in the back near the alley cut down.  I asked for a reference and was given the name of the ONLY man within a hundred miles -- very small town -- that did tree trimming.  I called and asked him to come give me an estimate.  A very shabby older man with a very large stomach showed up.  He walked around and told me he could do it IF he could find a "hand" and IF he could get in the alley with his truck.  He said he had to walk down the alley to be sure.  He did.  He said he could do it but he would have to back his truck out of the alley.  Whatever. 

A week later this guy shows up with his old, beat up truck and wagon.  I actually may have a picture of it.....



Sorry I can't make the picture bigger, but you get the idea.  This guy was a real class act.  I found the following in an email to my friend, Phylly, describing how that day went:


The old guy showed up at 9 AM as he said he would.  He is a big guy with a protruding round belly.  He coughs up stuff a lot and spits.  Yesterday, he came in to use my bathroom and I thought I was going to have to call 911.  Anyhow, he finished the trees in the front yard and the one hanging on the roof from the next door neighbor's yard.  Then he came banging on the front door and just CAME IN.  He was hollering "Joy ?, Joy ?".  I was ironing in the bedroom and came out right away.  He said gruffly, "WHERE WERE YOU!?"  Like that was any of his business.  I asked him what he wanted.  He said, "I want a check right now for $450!!!"  "I have to pay my hand."  I told him I would pay him when he got done with the job today.  I picked up a piece of paper and started writing his name on it and the amount ....  "He growled, "Is THAT a check?  That doesn't LOOK like a check!"  I told him I was just writing down the information for later.  He growled even louder that he had to get deisel in his truck and pay his hand.  I asked him how much the deisel was.  He said it was $150.  I told him I would pay him $150 now and the rest later.  He walked right up to me and snorted that he wanted $450 and where was my checkbook!?  He really was scaring me.  I told him I didn't want to pay him until he was done because he wouldn't come back.  He said he would come back.  I told him I didn't believe him.  He had me so startled I decided to pay him.  I went to go outside to the car to get Mom's checks, and he hollered, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"  I told him I was getting a check.  He asked why they were out there.
 

I finally paid him the $450.  He took the check from me and turned it over and around and acted like it wasn't real.  Then he left with his bucket truck and his antique trailer.  A little while later I heard a knock on the front door.  I looked out and saw it was him and he was in a little jeep -- no bucket truck.  He started to explain that he wasn't going to be able to come back, blah, blah, blah....  I said, "Goodbye" and closed the door in his face.  At least, the front yard got done.

Talking about my MIL's house, my husband and I have to be there today at 2:00 to meet ANOTHER contractor.  This will be the second visit from this guy with the Power Lift company.  After all the remodel was done, the house decided it wanted to go back into it's original state with cracks from ceiling to floor all over the place.  We already had this company put in a bunch of piers before we remodeled.  I don't know what good they did.

Gotta get in the shower.
  

Psalms 118:24

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will REJOICE and be glad in it!!!    [Emphasis added by me. (-: ] 

Hugs, Joy