Living remotely has caused us to be more sustainable in our daily life. Neither of us is always happy with that, but we manage. At least for the time being.
My cleaning girl disappeared from the face of the Earth after she told me she was pregnant. She came once after we returned from vacation last spring, and then never showed up again. Nor did she phone to say she couldn't come back. My neighbor warned me that I shouldn't expect much. Maybe I should have listened so I would not have been so disappointed.
But the last four days I have cleaned our house. No applause. I saved some money and got a good workout in the deal. And for the time being a clean house. (Downstairs, anyway!)
Then there was the kitchen faucet story. Last week I phoned several plumbers after we received our Amazon order of a new faucet. Some never picked up their phone. One said he was "backed up" and didn't know when he could "come out" (minimum cost $75). The answering machine for still another plumber said, "Our mailbox is full. Please hang up."
But one company said they were busy for a couple of days, but they would call first before coming out. That was one week ago. I did call back on Friday to remind them we were still waiting. (They charge $70 an hour beginning when they leave their business--35 minutes distance from here.) Their dispatcher said, "Maybe Tuesday? And you live where? Oh, that might be difficult."
So over the weekend my dear Hub got out the tools, put on his headlamp, and crawled under the farmhouse sink to dismantle the old and set in the new faucet. YouTube said it was EASY.
Long story short, it wasn't easy. The water hoses from the new faucet were too short (trip into town yesterday for parts), he had to add a piece of wood underneath the cabinet to get a snugger installment, and then accidentally disconnected the worn plastic drainpipe to the sink. We just stopped that side of the sink up with the drain stopper.
The faucet works! The drainpipe leaks, but that can be fixed with a new rubber ring.
So what did we save this week?
Our own sanity and a lot of headaches dealing with people who do not want to work!
(Update: When I called the plumber just now to check to see if she had received my cancellation call message from last night, she thanked me for calling to cancel. Am I missing something here?)
3 comments:
It's practically impossible to get a plumber here....unbelievable.
My plumber is a saint. I'm going to contact the Pope about my plumber, and I'm not even a Catholic. I had a plumbing problem on a Friday evening at about 8. I left a message for my plumber. He called back within 15 minutes and said he was on another job and he couldn't get here for 90 minutes. By then, my neighbor had arrived. I put the aforementioned plumber on the phone with said neighbor, and plumber told neighbor how to make the repair, which he did in less than 30 minutes. However, if I had needed the plumber, I know he would have gotten here as soon as he could and would not have charged me an outrageous amount of money. This is a man who looks with some disgust at the work other plumbers have done and then repairs their outrages without charging me extra. I would be all over him if he weren't married.
Love,
Janie, who loves to brag about her plumber
Bit, doesn't it feel so good to get the job done yourself and save a few bucks too!!!!
Post a Comment