Wednesday, May 09, 2007

contractors be ware...

So yesterday I had a horrible horrible return to my senses. I recalled just how much I hated dealing with contractors.

As I told my mom on the phone after 2 days of not even being able to get a phone call returned from any of the 10 contractors I called "There is a special place in the 9th ring of H E double hockey sticks for those contractors... right next to the lawyers... I hope they're happy there"

The spelling was obviously for K's benefit though I am sure she could have easily guessed what I was talking about if she cared to. She had her dolls covering the entire dining table though so what did she care?

Around 4pm I called Mr Kaos and said something along the lines of the following

One of the things I hated most working at the design firm was dealing with the damn contractors that were getting paid good money to do their fucking job and still didn't show up, and we were at their mercy to get the work done so our clients wouldn't go ape shit... I can't even get a contractor on the phone except that one guy that was nice enough to tell me they don't do windows anymore and recommend somebody, and the person that he recommended had a very nice receptionist but it doesn't change the fact that no one called me back and it is all their fault that I have a fuzzy brow and need a dye job and a haircut, I mean it is just ridiculous that I can't make plans because....

This is when he interjected that I might be a little too stressed about the situation... I replied

What do you expect, I need to get my hair cut and I can't and some GUY ripped out the window without a plan to replace it in place. If I want someone to come fuck up my house I don't need to pay someone I can do it myself or let you. So I called the Home Improvement Super Store and talked to someone there and he said they can have a custom window ready for us to pick in two weeks. Then I called Grandmother's House of All Things Home Improvement Related and they put me on hold for FOREVER and they were not as helpful but said basically the same thing, actually he said 8 days to 2 weeks. I trust the guy that just said 2 weeks though, it sounds more honest... So when you come home.....

CAMI!! he interrupted again telling me that he would leave straight away, come home, confirm some measurements and then go over to the Home Improvement Super Store and get me a window. He would. right away. He would take care of it since he was the one that ripped. it. out.

Phew.

That left me able to do more important things, like clean the kitchen, make some dinner, and play cone of silence in the yard with K. She loves that game.

So he left the conglomerate. He arrived home. He measured some things. He got in the big ol car and went to the store. We talked on the phone, did I like side sliding windows? Up and downs? The ones with the cross bars inside? Frosted glass or clear? We made some choices and he came home with a window. He thinks he can MAKE it fit. I have faith in him because he always manages to make things work. Always. That is a good part of the reason that he is my Mr. Kaos and not some other random woman's Mr. Boring.

After hauling the window in the house we sat down to a calm meal (I feel much calmer when I feel like I'm getting a little somethin somethin whether it's in the bedroom or the home improvement department). I washed the child, we watched a batman cartoon instead of reading a bedtime story (literacy be damned) and then the little Kaos drifted off to dreamland.

And all things here in the house of Kaos? Drifting back to normal. Once again we stayed up late watching the Daily Show and talking into the night, and there was hardly a mention of the word "window".

5 comments:

Bubblewench said...

so where is the window now?

CamiKaos said...

on the floor.

in the bathroom.

waiting to be installed.

sometimes soon.

ish.

by the sexy man that sleeps in my bed.

sybil law said...

Thanks for the "window" into your life.
:)
I had to open all the WINDOWS here because it is so warm out.
I must remember to close the downstairs WINDOWs tonight.
Okay. You get my point, playdate girl. ;)

Anonymous said...

If Mr. Kaos gets the winder to fit - you should change his name to Kaptain Kaos! He'd deserve it, trust me. It takes a little skill and inventiveness to "make" stuff fit and look right. Trust me. .., well.., then.., humor me.

Dumb Ash Contractors who will not return calls:
Always get references. At any rate you're stuck with them now unless they violate contract. 10 contractors and non of them return calls? Thats outrageous. Are they on some long freaking cult religion holiday?

Follow these instructions:
When you ask them to return the call - remind them they NEVER return calls before and THIS time they had better return the call ON TIME. Remind them you trusted them to be professional and YOUR time is valuable and you cant just sit around waiting for them call by chance, thats why you hired them to begin with - to be professional. Returning calls is very much a part of professional demeanor AND leads to better references when the job is done. Emphasis "Better references" on professional results.

MAKE THEM BELIEVERS. You can expect some of them to lose memos, or get side tracked from time to time, but not all of them, not all or even most of the time.

Want me to sit on em for ya? I'm just 213 pounds, but if I bounce or jump on em its like 426 pounds. - grinz

Anonymous said...

Cone of silence sounds fun!