Did you have a different screen name pre-Houzz?
10 years ago
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- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years agoAlisande thanked Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
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What do you wish you would have done differently?
Comments (25)Sigh. So many things. 1. Perform a warrant check on all contractors. That would have saved me a lot of money and heartache and frustration. 2. Be home AT ALL TIMES while work is being performed. I can't count the number of things that aren't quite right, but I have had to let them slide because they can't be undone by the time I get home. For example, I have had to give up on the idea of a trash pullout I planned under the sink, because (even though I told him repeatedly) he did not position the waste outlet correctly, and most of the sink cabinet it taken up with jerry-rigged plumbing. 3. Use specialist tradesmen. Jailbird Contractor was a very good framer. He was an OK finish carpenter. He built fabulous fences and his roofing (I think) is good. He had excellent electricians and drywallers. But he and his "plumber" left a lot to be desired, and despite telling me what a good tiler he was, his handiwork makes me sad nearly every day. Plus, while refinishing my original 100-year old softwood floors, he may have ruined them, and may have made it worse by trying to "fix" his mistake. I am having a specialist evaluation done this week. 4. Move out. 5. Make contractors fix things RIGHT AWAY. Apparently Jailbird Contractor would work on one project until he ran into difficulties, then would abandon that project and move onto another, saying that he would "come back at the end and fix it then". Uh-huh. That worked real well. This meant that the new contractor had to come in, figure out what was wrong, un-do a good chunk of each project, then finish it. This would not have happened if I had cowgirled-up and been a hardas* in the first place, making him finish each project. 6. All materials that I have paid for should have been ON MY SITE as soon as they were paid for. I lost all my expensive trim for the whole house (plus other materials), because Jailbird Contractor was storing it in his rented space (I don't know where that was). He maintains that it was taken when his storage unit was cleared out (presumably because he disappeared and hasn't paid storage fees for some time, since he is in jail). Either that, or he never bought it/sold it. 7. Job cards and inspection records STAY WITH THE PROPERTY OWNER or ON SITE AT ALL TIMES. My paperwork is in Jailbird Contractor's truck. Lord knows where that truck is. 8. Your contractor is not your friend. Jailbird Contractor liked to pull the paternal approach on me, and I will admit to playing along with it, just to humour him and shut him up. Never again. This is a professional relationship, even though you are in my house and my intimate spaces every day. I will be much quicker to call contractors on their cr*p in future. In fact, I plan on having one such conversation with the current contractor this afternoon ... the painting crew came through last week, and I was horrified to discover that they helped themselves to sodas, beer and icecream out of my kitchen. That is NOT......See MoreName a job you used to have and why you quit.
Comments (28)Most jobs I left because I was moving on, leaving home for college or married and relocating. But one in college I quit just b/c I hated it. I worked at McDonalds' for 3 months, the morning shift. All my classes that semester ended up later in the day, 1:00 pm was the earliest. So I would go in (walked about 12 blocks) at 5am and work til noon, go home shower and then to classes. Those were long days! It was OSU in Columbus, Ohio. I never felt hated in my life until I met that supervisor. I never understood why, but I felt the whole time that she really just hated me at first sight. I had no training, she just put me on a register. I think she wanted me to fail and would give me tasks that seemed made for that purpose. But I figured it out (it's not rocket science) and she said "Oh, I was told you worked at McD's before." Nope, read my application! But, a cash register is a cash register. I thought I'd just need to prove myself to her, but the better I did the job the more she seemed to hate me. Then after 2 weeks she asked me to cover a birthday party for her. I said whatever, I like kids, I think I can handle that. She told me to "make up some games," so I did. She failed to tell me the party was for a physically disabled child and that all the other child guests were also physically disabled. My games required on-the-spot modifications. I was an education major, I could handle that. I made sure the kids had fun. The mother of the child was very pleased and tipped me $20 (a lot of money to a college student)! When the supervisor asked with a smirk how it went, naive me, I told her how well it went. She told me to turn the $20 in and told me I wouldn't be doing any more parties. I was very upset over that situation, she knew the child was disabled and just didn't want to work with different kids. Even though she didn't want to do it, she didn't want me to do it well and like it. I felt like she tried again to set me up for failure, it didn't work, and after that she was really pissed at me. Every time I asked for a weekend off to go home, it was denied ("home" was 2 hours away). I worked every weekend for 3 months. When I asked for Thanksgiving weekend off and it was denied, I quit. I cried when I told my dad, he instilled such a work ethic into me I felt like I let him down to quit a job. I knew it was hard for them to put me through college, and a job was part of my end of the deal. I had already put in applications elsewhere, so I did find another one almost immediately which I kept for 3 years until I graduated from college, married and moved away. It was fun and I was treated very well....See MoreDo you have a Global Pass or TSA pre- check.....
Comments (59)Update: I had the interview and all went well. Of course, the logistics of getting to the airport for a 10 minute appointment are a bit crazy. The hourly parking deck closest to the terminal was full, so I had to park and take a shuttle. Then because it was evening it was in another place in the terminal vs. the main office. I found I am not that good at scanning my fingerprints on the trainer kiosk they had there. So, my advice is if you have an appointment, allow a LOT of extra time, especially if it's anywhere near rush hour....See MoreDo you have a big screen TV? And cable television?
Comments (63)Do you use it frequently? We use ours daily. We wake up to the news and I come home for lunch M-F and tune into shows during that time. We also watch TV at night, especially before bed. Do you spend the big bucks on cable for the TV and not watch it very often? Yes, and I feel ripped off with Directv. Also do you fight over it with your SO? No. We have multiple TVs so if we disagree on a show then I just watch in a different room. Our house isn't that big and it's just me and the hubby. We have a 54" in our living room and I don't consider that very big anymore. When we replace it someday we'll go to 65-70". Our living room is open to the kitchen and I have to squint to see the guide on my 54" so bigger is needed lol. In our bedroom I think we have a 46" ?? It's not very far from our bed so it's plenty big. And in the basement we have around a 50" but we never go down there. Our TVs are older but get the job done. It's so hard for me to spend money on an item when I have something that already works. So I just wait until things break. I'm down to my last working HDMI port on the living room TV so once that one goes then I'll cheerfully buy a new 65-70"......See More- 10 years ago
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