Another Contractor Tale

And will someone PLEASE tell me why I thought this construction episode would be any different than the 10,000 others I have had????  Did I hit my head and have a mild stroke?  Does God just like to give me ammo for my blog?

Last night, when Bubba and Mikey left at 4 PM, Bubba said to me, "How early will you be available in the morning?" 

I said, "8:00."

Bubba said, "Okay, we will be here at 8:00 in the morning."

Simple enough, doncha think?  I got out of bed at 7 am, washed my face, brushed my teeth, put on some jeans and a tee shirt and ran a comb through my hair.  I went in the kitchen to have my first cup of VERY weak coffee -- Jerry made it -- and to have my DESM breakfast of one piece of toast.  I sat up my Ipad and looked for my morning mail from Phylly.  Yep, it was there.  I emailed her back.  I poured another cup of coffee and sat to wait for 8:00. 

During that time, Jerry came into the kitchen to complain about the countertop on the island and the other countertop as well.  I told him to QUIT COMPLAINING TO ME and to call Michael.  He would when he got "a Round Tuit".  Seems like everyone is looking for one of those! 

8 came and went.  8:15 came and went.  8:45 came and went.  Nobody called to say they were going to be late or to inquire if I might have a life!  I called Michael and got Julie, the receptionist.  I told her Bubba said he would be here at 8 and that I had stayed home another day from work to be here for him, and he had not called and had not showed up.  She said she was sorry and would make calls.  She called me back in a few minutes and told me Bubba was on his way.  I told her to have Michael call Jerry about the countertops.  He did.  He is coming this morning also.

At 9:10 AM, Bubba and Mikey drove up in their truck.  I walked out into the driveway to meet them as they exited, cigarettes in their mouths.  I informed Bubba that I did not appreciate him being so inconsiderate of me and my time.  I informed him that I have a life, and it doesn't include sitting at the bar waiting for someone to NOT SHOW UP!  Yes, I was mad.  I told him I had waited MONTHS for completion of a job that was supposed to take two weeks, and I was really tired of all the excuses.

He stumbled around to find words for my onslaught, and finally was able to start walking toward me while telling me he had a really bad morning and his son .............

I stopped him.  I told him I did not care WHAT his morning was like, he should have called me so I could make other plans for my own morning!

Bubba was staring at me like a giant tornado had just come into his path.

He mumbled something about him not having my phone number, and his Dad should have called me.

Huh?????

Then, since I had his attention, I decided to inform him that I did not appreciate him hanging the cabinets up in my kitchen without wiping out the cobwebs and bugs that were in them.  GUESS what his response was to that?

"Well, Darlin', your garage has a LOT of mud dobbers in it."

Huh??????????????????

My garage also has an occasional mother raccoon and her baby in it.  Would they have hung the cabinets up with them in it??????????????

Poor Bubba.  I was in tears, and he was about to have a literal nervous breakdown.  He suggested that I go to work and let him and Mikey just come in my house by themselves.  I gave him 10 fast reasons why that was NOT going to happen, and I walked back in the house leaving he and Mikey standing by their truck looking very dazed.

In a bit, Bubba knocked on the open door, and came in calling my name.  I walked out of my bedroom to find out what he wanted.  What he wanted was to inform me that he just could not work because he was too upset.  I told him that was INSANE.

I said, "You are HERE -- you need to just get this job done.  Don't you think I have waited long enough???"

"Oh, no Maam.  I just can't work now.  I will see if someone else can come."

"You have GOT to be kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!", says me.

At this point Bubba has walked out of the house into the garage, and I have followed him.  About that time, Jerry walks into the picture.  He decides to explain to Bubba that he has to go into patients' homes all the time, and when he can't get there on time, he always has to call and tell them. 

Bubba doesn't CARE about that.  He is too upset. 

I pick up the phone which is hanging on the garage wall just an arm length from me, and I call Michael.  I get Julie again.  I tell her Bubba is leaving, and I need Michael to call me NOW.  She says she will have him call.

Bubba walks toward his truck, and I walk back in the house.  The phone rings.  Julie wants to know if I want to wait ANOTHER day.  I tell her "NO!"  She says she will call me back.

I go upstairs.  I look out the window down into the driveway, and I notice that Bubba is standing next to his truck talking on the phone.  Poor Mikey is standing on the other side of the truck wondering if he has walked into the Twilight Zone, and I imagine, thinking of changing his career to Mortician.  (Dead people can't yell at you!)

As soon as I enter my sewing room upstairs, my phone rings.  It is Julie.  Julie tells me that poor Bubba is about to have a nervous breakdown.  I DO have that effect on people sometimes.  She says he wants to quit.  Then she explains:

Bubba starts work at 7 AM.  He showed up at another work site this morning at 7 AM.  Evidently, his Dad, Don, is the construction foreman.  Bubba started to leave the site at 7:30 so he could get to my house by 8:00.  His Dad noticed him leaving, and stopped him.  He jumped all over Bubba and yelled at him and told him he would do what he was told, and he wasn't leaving.  Bubba did not know my phone number.

That is why Bubba said his Dad should have called me.

Julie said they had told him to stay here and finish my job, and he agreed to, but would I please not upset him anymore because she was afraid he was going to fall apart. 

So then, the Mother in me surfaced, and I felt terrible sorry for poor Bubba.  I decided to go down and apologize to him so he could relax.  I walked out to his truck.

I walked right up to him, and I said, "Bubba, I want to apologize to you.  I am so sorry I upset you.  Will you please forgive me?"

I put my arms around him and hugged him.  He is so short, the top of his head comes to my chin.  I felt like I was hugging a boy.

Well, let me tell you.  Bubba CAME TO ATTENTION!  He was so happy, and he rushed all over the place trying to please me.  "Do you want this -- do you want that -- can we do this -- what do you think about this ........" 

I left and came up here to hide so Bubba and Mikey can concentrate.  Jerry is here waiting for Michael so he can show him the countertops.  IF they take my sink out again, I am LEAVING FOREVER!!!  Jerry may be having a nervous breakdown before this day is over!

Oh, Phylly.  The reason they had to come back is because the two doors that were supposed to be fixed by Nasan, never were.  The rubber strips on the bottom of the doors are broken and torn.  The doors have to be taken off in order to fix them.  One of the over-cabinet lights in the kitchen won't light up even though we put a new bulb in it.  They have to figure out what is wrong there.  All the wiring under the stove -- and there is a LOT of it -- is just hanging down in space.  They didn't put it up in the little box that holds it all out of the way.  They have to fill up all the nail holes where they nailed the cabinet trim back up with the nail gun.

Time has gone by, and it is now 7:38 PM.  By now, you probably think the rest of my day went just fine, huh?  Well, let me tell you -- it did NOT.  By the end of the day even Jerry was wondering where on earth Herndon Construction found Bubba.

Jerry started making remarks like:

"Something isn't right with that guy, Joy."
or
"I think that guy has some kind of mental problem, Joy."
or
"I think that guy is on drugs, Joy."

Yeah, he was a real piece of work!  Actually, "work" seemed to be his main problem.  He couldn't remember from one second to the next WHAT exactly his "work" was.  He started by taking the two doors down first thing.  Then the doors just stayed out in the yard for the next FIVE hours!  One of them had my WHITE jacquard fabric blinds and the valance on top and they didn't even remove it.  Seriously!  I went outside in the yard where the door was leaning up against our holly hedge with a roll of that plastic wrap that sticks to stuff, and I applied it all over the fabric and the cord.  Meanwhile, our house was wide open all of that time.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, after I had asked about it a dozen times, they decided to put the rubber strips on the bottom of the doors and put them back up.  That went pretty well except for the fact that Bubba laid his dirty long metal level up against my WHITE DRAPES!  I quickly walked over and removed it.  I tried to explain to these nit-wits that this was my HOME -- not new construction.  I told them that tools and fabric are not to touch each other.

I could tell you a hundred more dumb things they did, but I will tell you just this one.  I walked into my entryway about 4:00 and Bubba was FEELING the bottom of the door that they had just put the new rubber strip on an hour earlier.  I asked him if something was wrong.  He said, "This feels like a new strip."
DUH!!!  I reminded him that they had JUST REPLACED IT, but he kept on feeling it.  I told him again.  He kept rubbing it.  I left. 

It was like that all afternoon with this guy!

Oh, and this one.  Michael showed up to help with the countertop removal on the island.  He explained to us all that needed to be done, and he directed Bubba to get a narrow rod or a thin saw blade and start to cut off all the silicone that was holding the top on.  Michael left.  Jerry changed into work clothes -- went over to the barn and got a saw blade -- came back and worked on the countertop all by himself.  Guess what Bubba was doing?????????

Bubba was at the back of his pickup which was backed into our driveway.  Mikey was watching him.  There was a tool like a hoe with a long handle on it and a scraper blade on the end of it.  Bubba had a power tool of some kind he was whacking away at the blade with and sparks were flying all over the driveway and the yard.  He did this for over 30 minutes -- maybe an hour.  I could smell the smoke from it in the house.  I was watching Jerry -- then going out to watch him -- then coming back to help Jerry.  At one point, Jerry had all the bonds sawed except one place, and he needed the stove removed.  I went out to tell "Einstein" that the job was done, and Jerry needed him to come remove the stove.  He ignored me.  He was telling Mikey about some shop or radio station or something.  I told him again that Jerry needed him.  I was standing right in front of his face.  He ignored me again.  Finally, I waved my hand in front of him to make sure he wasn't in a trance or something.  He FINALLY noticed me.  He dropped his power tool and his saw, and they came in the house.  UNbelievable!

It didn't get any better.  Michael finally returned with our stain that Bubba had INSISTED over and over did not exist.  He SWORE that he and Nasan had used every drop.  That was not what Nasan told me, and I knew there was some left.  From that point on, Mikey, Jerry and Michael finished most of the job while Bubba wandered around in a daze.

Good news is the countertop on the island is perfectly STRAIGHT.  Look at the level Michael brought to check it:

Is it finished.  Nope!  It seems Bubba forgot to get the putty to fill up the nail holes.  The wallpaper has to be replaced, and some minor damage to the wood repaired.  I intend to let it be known that Bubba is NEVER allowed back at my house.  It is quite obvious to me now that Michael sent the two guys he needed the least to finish this job.

That's it.  Needless to say, my blue dress never got past the ironing board where I laid it this morning.  Maybe tomorrow or the next day.  The sewing assembly line has slowed down quite drastically.

Hugs, Joy