Every now and then when thinking about our contractor... I start to worry that perhaps I have been too harsh on my blog. I wince at the thought of some friend or family member running across posts about delays or foolishness or estimates. I don't want to upset anybody after all... and maybe some days my mood affects my attitude toward general contracting more than anything else.
I'm not really sure how much my mood has to do with anything today....
But I can tell you this: My mood was fine when I woke up this morning. My mood started to take a nose-dive around 11 am with no word from our general contractor. My mood turned black and frightening when I came in from waving goodbye to Mom at 12:10 pm to find a missed call from said general contractor and no voice message.
Do you remember this post? THIS POST WHEN I WAS STILL NAIVE AND HOPEFUL ABOUT THE FUTURE "I don't mind advertising for Dean Smith..." Blah blah. Gosh blogging about your daily life can really leave you with pie on your face sometimes, huh? Did you notice the date on said post? November 8, 2006. Two months and 29 days later... I am feeling duped.
The post was about Phase I of our home repair. Phase I - being our kitchen repair - has yet to be completed. As Mom so accurately pointed out this afternoon, the major improvements that have been completed in the kitchen were actually not completed by our general contractor.... The countertops? Nope - that was through Lowe's and their subcontracted installer after Dave and I removed the old countertops ourselves in the middle of the night. The appliances? - nope.. we paid an electrician to install those after Dave and I removed them ourselves to get ready for painting. The sink and plumbing? Nope.. we paid a plumber for that and then Dave had to rip it all out because it was WRONG and do it himself. The paint on the walls? No no.. I painted that. So what we're saying here.. is in two months and 29 days.. our contractor has basically managed to get most of the cabinet frames painted, install some baseboards, lay a tile floor (with badly colored grout which we have spent two months and 29 days restaining after said contractor told me I would just have to 'learn to like it'), and hang a couple doors.
The sign that I was so thrilled to have in the yard again last November... Is gone. I know what you're thinking. You think I burned it. But I didn't. I don't know when the sign disappeared.. but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it mysteriously reappeared in front of a house on Washington Avenue. I'm sure I'm being hypersensitive here, but that offends me somehow. What exactly is that supposed to mean? Are they no longer interested in claiming the work done here? Are they not planning on working here anymore? Dave says maybe there's just more traffic on Washington and therefore, it's better advertising... What a terrible thought. Why exactly would someone who has so much work already that it's next to impossible to spare a member of the crew to hang a pre-hung door need to advertise?
Do you wanna know what makes me really angry? When Mr. Smith called me yesterday morning to tell me that "Clint" was sick and couldn't make it yesterday, I believed him. I felt sorry for "Clint" and I wasn't angry. I appreciated the early phone call to let me know... And I appreciated his insistence that--no matter what--someone would start tiling our tub surround today. So that's what makes me really angry: Yesterday's belief and appreciation.
I have no intention of calling our general contractor. Please remember - he did not leave a voice mail... so apparently he's not anymore keen on talking to me than I am on talking to him.
At some point this afternoon I will calm down and work myself back into some semblance of patience. At some point.. later... much later. I will do this because I really don't know what else to do. Most days it seems we have no other choice... we wouldn't know where to begin looking for another contractor... And what good would it do to take a place at the back of another line anyway? Either way.. it's going to be a long long time before this is done.
Let's just hope for all our sakes he doesn't make the mistake of calling again with lame excuses before the calming down is over.
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