We don’t have the pool up yet.
The Monday after Number Two Son and I got the lion’s share of work done, I messaged our driveway guy to see if he was available. He said he’d be out on Wednesday.
Narrator’s voice: He wasn’t out that Wednesday. Nor did he come out the following Wednesday. Didn’t message me back or call or otherwise try to contact me, either.
The next week, I contacted another contractor based on posts in our local Facebook group. He said he’d come out the Friday of the Feis weekend. When I hadn’t heard from him by the time I left for my airport pickup run, I messaged him to say that I wasn’t home but my wife was.
He replied that he wouldn’t be able to make it out that day. Mind you, this was at 4 in the afternoon.
He said he’d be out Monday.
Narrator’s voice: You know where this is going, right?
I’m not that customer. At least, I try not to be. I understand that stuff happens when it comes to contracting work. Equipment breaks. Employees get sick. Weather causes delays. I get it.
What I don’t get is the lack of communication from so many contractors. We’ve run into the same problem on other jobs, both here and with our rent houses in town. Contractors just…disappear. They don’t return calls or Facebook or text messages. It’s frustrating as hell. Stuff happens. I get it. Just keep me updated. A simple, “I’m running behind today and can’t get out there until after 6. Is that okay?” would go a long way toward keeping me from jumping to the next guy on my list.
I contacted a third company on Wednesday, he showed up on Thursday, and we’re on the schedule pending weather. That’s been the holdup the whole time though. We’ve had over four inches of rain this past week and the forecast calls for another inch or more late next week. I know that’s a SWAG this far out, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The cooler part about the third contractor is that he used to live just up the road, so he knows the area and the soil makeup. He felt confident he’d be able to knock out what we needed in about half a day.
Uh-Oh
As I was working on this post Saturday afternoon, I noticed my computer was running pretty sluggishly, like something was taking up a lot of CPU cycles. I’m running Folding@Home, sure, but it’s never caused the computer to bog down. It’s specifically designed not to do that.
Then the machine crashed and refused to boot back up. I got as far as a login screen a couple of times, but I also got warnings that the CPU was overheating. That was disconcerting, to say the least, because all seven case fans seemed to be running just fine. I had to switch over to my writing laptop to get the post done. I’m letting the desktop cool for a while before I try to diagnose anything.
Writing
This post marks three years of consecutive weekly posts. My streak started April 30, 2022. I’d had it in my head to try such a thing for a while, based mostly on Dean Wesley’s Smith’s years-long daily blog streak. I didn’t make a big deal about announcing it when I started it because I’ve got such a history of doing that and not following through.
But I’ve made it three years at this point, by hook or by crook.
I’ve found myself slipping a little bit on the streak. When I started, I’d jot bits and pieces throughout the week which would give me a thousand or so words by the weekend. But lately, I’ve been waiting until the last minute, scrambling on Saturday to remember stuff I wanted to mention. I need to do better on that.
I don’t think I’ve learned anything special from the streak, but I don’t know that I was planning on learning anything.
Politics
I’ve tried really hard not to talk about political stuff here. The most I’ve done lately is to heavily encourage my readers to vote.
But man.
The latest actions from Washington are just stupid. And I’m convinced Mr. Trump is simply trolling the left (and the centrists) at this point. The image of him as pope. Renaming Veterans Day. The parade, even though he’s supposedly trying to cut expenses. The constant rumblings about a third term.
He’s trolling everyone, and the news media is eating it up. They’re stoking the fires of outrage just as much as he is.
It makes me wonder what everyone is trying to hide.
I don’t think there’s a specific conspiracy against Mr. Trump. Having worked on project teams in the past and knowing how hard it is for people to keep secrets, I’ve never been a big believer in conspiracy theories. Too many things have to go exactly right and too many people have to keep their mouths shut.
But sometimes, my mind wanders…
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