The Not Happy Thread

@Wreybies

That's your story and you're sticking to it. It's amazing what some guys will do for... ahem. In your case, I jest, but I'm actually being quite serious in regard to others.

@jazzabel and @Trish Ta guys... I'm feeling a little better today, although my chest still feels like it's on fire. As long as I don't pass it on to my grandson, I'll be happy.

 

He agreed because he thought I was bluffing. I don't bluff.

 

@Wreybies There has to be intent, for sure. For most guys, the thought of a needle going anywhere near...well, I've seen a few run for the hills.

 

On my own unhappy note....

The bathroom saga continues. Now the issue is the run of tiles that serves as a baseboard of sorts. We call it zócalo. It comes out from the plane of the wall in the same way as a baseboard would. This is very typical in any Spanish home. The vanity is the type that looks like a piece of furniture refit as a sink. The back of the vanity, the back edge of the sink on top, and the rear legs are all in a flush line. Completely flat. If the baseboard tile runs behind the vanity then we can't have it flush up against the wall. I came up with the idea of having the run that goes behind the sink be flush with the rest of the wall tile instead of coming out. The guy is himming and hawing because it's an added complexity. Bullshit. My dad says the guy realizes that yes, this has to be taken into account, but he is just going to not put tile in that run and fill it instead with grout. I tell my dad no, that's going to look like shit, my dad says, the guy said that's the way and he's the professional so there must be a reason, and I tell my dad, yeah, there's a reason, he's fucking lazy. My mom tells me to drop it. I tell both of them I won't be answering the phone at my house until I see that the workers are finished and gone. Now here's the kicker for any of you that know tile work. The area where the baseboard tile is going to be is already accounted for so that the first row of wall tiles are uncut and whole. The area has to be filled in with a layer of mortar in order to get the effect of the baseboard tile. There is no extra cutting of tile for what I proposed. The run behind the vanity will simply not be filled in before hand so that when they are laid, they lay flush and the rest stick out.

 

I'm having a bit of trouble picturing this, but even so, it strikes me that any job that requires less in the way of tile cutting is a bonus. The grout solution does sound like a completely half-assed alternative. Like you say... lazy. And less hygienic too.

 

Oh yes. I just endured a bathroom saga of my own. When the project was almost done, they decided to put mirrors over only half of my vanities -- we have two, but each only have one sink. The mirrors that were there before were large, plain mirrors that ran the whole length of the vanity. When we discussed getting new mirrors, with frames, it had never even occurred to me as a possibility that they would give me mirrors that didn't run the whole length of the vanity. I asked them why they were putting in such small mirrors. They gave me two answers: 1) These were the largest mirrors they could find, and 2) This is what everyone is doing these days, and it is very common and typical to put a mirror over only the sink half of the vanity. I scoured the internet for any evidence that this was true, and could find no evidence that anyone, anywhere, even did this, let alone it being a trend or something that had become common. I solicited opinions, and no one thought it looked right.

Also, they told me that these mirrors were $175, and he didn't know how much more I'd want to spend. Well, first of all, he could have asked me. But secondly, WTF? Without making any real effort, I found dozens of mirrors that were a similar size and were all less than $175. In the end, we just ordered new mirrors and put them up ourselves. I was afraid of what these guys would find, and how much it would cost -- I didn't want them finding mirrors that were $1000 a piece and then telling me I owed them $2,000 for mirrors I had specifically requested.

 

It's a bit like this picture, though the baseboard tile in question isn't fluted to look like wood baseboard as you see here, it's just a simple smooth tile, doesn't even have a bullnose edge or anything. Anyway, see how it comes out a bit from the level of the wall tile above? Unless the baseboard tile is extra thick, you have to first do a filler behind it in order to get the sticky-outie effect. My proposal was simply not to do the filler behind those tiles that would run behind the sink. I mean, is it me or is it a no-brainer?

 

No-brainer, Wrey. Yup... seems they are trying to save themselves the effort. Their way would look like a cheap finish... I wouldn't be happy with it.

 

Pre-cisely. It's going to look rubbish. The legs of the cabinet of the sink are long enough that you see that area back there. It's not like the cabinet comes all the way to the floor.

 

I can understand why you don't want to pick up the phone until it's done and dusted, but by then it will be too late.

 

And this part right here is where I became the unwitting bad guy. I did this very thing, Liz, even though the idea was perfectly obvious to me, and when I bring it up to my dad, my mom is behind him making huge eyes at me like no, no, stop! Right out of an episode of Three's Company. This is the second bathroom they redo in their house. The first was the large, main bathroom. My mom was still in the States at the time, I had moved over first and my dad came every once in a while to "help out." He fought me on every little thing in the main bathroom because he thought I was being too picky. There are finishes in that bathroom that I avoid looking at because they piss me off so much that he stood between me and talking to the workers. It's like YOU ARE PAYING GOOD MONEY, why are you letting them tell you what they are going to do?? This bathroom is that same thing all over again, except now my mom is in cahoots.

 

@chicagoliz: The worst tradesman story I ever heard was from a woman I know from the park (we both have dogs). She has an adopted child with cerebral palsy, moved from London to the countryside to have a more relaxed life. Anyway, she had some local guy come and install a new bathroom, with a large bath. Several weeks later, the bathroom literally fell through the floor, into the dining room. And the guy refused to have anything to do with her, blamed her for filling the bath too much? The saddest thing is, nobody in the UK sues and there isn't really any effective consumer protection.

@Wreybies: You are totally right, of course, I just hope hope you aren't getting too upset. Can you tell him he won't get his money until you are satisfied with the work?

 

It's not that people don't want to sue, that's for sure.

 

Nope. Not my bathroom. Not even my house. My parents and I share what was once a coffee plantation. Their house is on one end of the property, mine on the other. It was explained to us by the neighbors that at one time my house was a separate property adjacent to the plantation and it was purchased and annexed at some point.

 

Wrey, that must be terrible. I hope you can resolve it, and soon.

 

See I complain about my computer breaking and my roommate being inconsiderate and messy, but here are all of you getting sick and stuff! I hope you all get better soon. I don't really get sick or injured or infected with anything, so I suppose I have much to be thankful for.

Get well all of you! I'm thinking good thoughts and praying good prayers for ya!

 

I just found out that hunger and malnutrition kill more people each year than malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis. Combined. The other three are huge issues too, of course, but malnutrition/hunger could so easily be remedied, yet it affects so many.

This makes me quite sad, but also inspired me to write a new piece for charity awareness.

Andrae: Hope you can get your computer fixed!

 

And then yesterday, I messed up my knee as well. I wasn't doing anything, I was sitting on the sofa with a leg folded under me and went to get up. Well I'm not sure exactly what locked and where, but suddenly I had this locking feeling and incredible pain. Cold sweat soaking my entire body and tunnel vision and near fainting kind of pain. I managed to flex my knee slowly, fully thought 'that's it, I've broken it and I have to go to hospital', when the knee unlocked with a big clunk and the pain eased off. My leg is now so sore, I have to take painkillers all the time. As a bonus, my dog Jasper was supposed to get neutered this morning, and now he isn't. Poor boy, I wish I didn't have to do it at all.

 

I hope your knee feels better, jazzabel! I've had knee problems in the past, too. They can be very painful.

I have definitely not been happy lately.

Yesterday, maintenance entered my apartment to due routine safety inspections and duct cleaning. I've been living here a little over a year now and this isn't the first time they've entered my apartment. But this time around they shut the closet door while one of my cats was still inside! I don't know how long she was trapped in there but I left for work at 1:00pm and didn't get home until 10:30pm that night!

While she was perfectly fine, she destroyed the carpet trying to get out. She doesn't even have front claws (disclaimer: done before I got her)! So I went to complain to the leasing office. The desk clerk said I wouldn't be responsible for the damage and put in the work order, but the service manager left me a voicemail stating that they aren't responsible for pet damages and they won't fix it!

I'm going to try and talk to the property manager tomorrow, but, just to make things more difficult, I'm leaving for a much needed vacation before the leasing office opens. I have a feeling this is going to be a long, stressful fight to get them to admit their negligence and replace the carpet.

Looks like another night without much sleep.

 

I had my teeth worked on by the dentist on Monday. I was supposed to hit the road back to Tennessee today, but now those same teeth that were "operated" on have flared up in pain to the point where I can't talk, eat, or sleep, and even after near lethal doses of OTC and prescription painkillers, I can't find any relief from the agony. So I am now delayed a day because I have to go back to the dentist to have them looked at and see what is going on here. Most definitely not happy!

 

Oh no, I feel for you, guys... I so wish things will get better for everyone. Shoddy workmen, computers crapping out, sick kids, world hunger, unhappy cats, painful knees and teeth... I'm sending virtual boxes of chocolate to everyone, unless you are allergic to chocolate or nuts or can't chew due to toothache, in which case, feel free to imagine the box filled with the treat of your choice (say, the best, most surefire painkiller in the world).

 

I'm imagining a huge shot of morphine administered directly to the jaw.

 

I'm imagining a massive coffee machine, see if a block of caffeine actually help me not be an idiot.

 

@Annûniel: I'm so sorry to hear about your cat! And it's so typical they'd respond that way, it's sad when people are crass and irresponsible. How much would it be to fix the carpet yourself? Because it might be better to do it yourself then go trough some mammoth fight with people who don't give a crap.

@Aww, thanks @KaTrian, I'll have peanut butter cups, yum!

@Alesia: Sounds like they closed your teeth before they cleared the infection. I know how that feels. I hope you are feeling better by now.

 

Damn.

My roomie and I were invited to the Magic Castle (if you don't know what it is, then whatever) tonight for whatever it is they do there. We were told it required jacket and tie. Dress code and stuff. So we went out and bought jacket and tie yesterday, thinking we'd be fine. So this evening we got there and the security tyrants told us we weren't well dressed enough so they wouldn't let us in.

Ugh.

Now we're back home and I'm much happier here.

Magic Castle, die in a pit of sulphuric acid.