Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ipod combustion and a complicated roof job

Julia hit the hay very early tonight. She took ONE nap, but it was only 12:00 - 12:45pm. Needless to say, she was falling asleep after her bath. Got some formula into her, and she's out like a light. She ate reasonably well today. I wish I knew what the daycare portions were. They said she had strawberry yogurt, graham crackers, a biscuit with jelly, a bean burrito, pears, peas and green beans today. I really want to know how big that bean burrito was. And they said she ate all of the burrito and even had seconds of green beans. For dinner she didn't each too much: a few meatballs (tiny), a few raviolis (tiny), and half a fish stick. But hey, she more than made up for it at daycare. And she had 15oz of formula in her too.

It's nice that she went to bed early. I've been laying on the bed and listening to music. Haven't done that in a lonnnnng time. Guess I'm kind of melancholy because my playlist includes 3 Doors Down (great music but you will need Prozac after listening to them), Duran Duran and The Cure.

A girl can like the color pink and listen to The Cure, right? Those two aren't mutually exclusive. I had some good times listening to The Cure during 1996. It's funny how I can go through my playlist and instantly go back to when I listened to that particular song. It's like a time machine that changes years with every song.

Ah, the Footloose soundtrack is playing now. I love the Footloose soundtrack. I have it on record. Remember records? Don't have a record player, but I have records just in case. Just in case of what? Oh, who knows. What if all the world's CDs and Ipods spontaneously combusted? Well, if I could find a record player in the carnage, I could listen to the Footloose soundtrack and Madonna.

Soooo sleepy. And I have tomorrow off! What to do? Let's see... pay bills, Julia dr appointment, will likely have to go to the pharmacy because of her wicked cough that's persisted for a month, maybe grocery shop. Essentially errands. I'd like to touch-up paint the hallway too.


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Construction contractors aren't really my favorite people. I don't have a whole lot of experience, but in the past year I've had enough experience to know that it's a pain in the tuckus:

- Bathroom remodel: can we say ugggghhhh? My maternity leave project that consumed a disgusting amount of time. Do you know how many people I interviewed? I will spare my readers who read my blog on MySpace from the trauma of a huge, long recount of the awful process. Conservatively, I had 40 different people come look at the project. I ended up picking the contractor based on the fact that I knew his mother, he wasn't creepy (since I would be home with him all day with Julia), and he was reasonable. Well, he fell through the ceiling, and he didn't repair it very well. And then the quality of his work was not great. If even me - a non-construction person - can see huge flaws from across the room & I'm practically blind, that tells you something. But since I know his mother, it makes it touchy so I'm just living with the subpar job he did.

- Floor swap out: I love the person who did this. He did a great job, did what he said he would, I had questions & contacted him later & he responded within an hour. I would work with him again if I had anything needing done that he does. But he only really does kitchens and floors. If you need a good floor/kitchen dude, I have that one covered.

- Water heater replacement: Let's just not freaking go there. The dude sucked, I should have not hired him, but I was desperate. Let's just say I filed several complaints and so did other people, and his butt is suspended.

- House painting: Actually that one went well... so far. I can't really judge paint jobs. It looks okay. And they were cute. They painted without their shirts on.

- Roof cleaning and treatment: All I want is to get the cedar roof cleaned and treated. I didn't think it was that difficult. One dude came out and gave us a whole long speech that we didn't want to hear. He would not give us an estimate until we listened to his 2 hour long speech. Buh bye. (The manager later called back and wanted us to call them so we can still get our roof cleaned. I don't get it.) Then we ask our neighbors, who had it done, for a recommendation. We get the referral. I'm all excited and immediately check out the WA Contractor's License - MUST always check up on construction dudes - and find out they were literally suspended the week prior. Sooo frustrating! And if you see "suspended," run! The dude we helped get suspended deserved to be suspended. He broke at least 8 plumbing regulations during the install. Back to the roof issue. On Saturday we get an ad for a roof cleaning service. I called, they came out to look, and they just sent me the estimate. It's within the range we were expecting. I go look up the WA Contractor's License, and they were suspended on May 27th.

This does not instill my faith in roofers. Is it that complicated to get your roof cleaned by a licensed/bonded/insured roofer who is not suspended? Apparently so. Almost wants me to ask the pressure-washing obsessed neighbor if he'll wash the roof. Almost.

2 comments:

Leigh Ann said...

It sounds like Julia is eating really good! That's a lot of food she ate in one day. Good for her!

Ann said...

Ah contractors, my fav. One day I will have to entertain you with stories of the kitchen remodeler that was in charge of remodeling our almost 30,000 square foot store. Complete with a large, scary, peeing in the store dog. I was in charge of overseeing the project, and needless to say, we did not get along. He set up camp in his RV, hooking it up to our outlet. While walking his dog down the stores dock, he fell. Of course he sused. I don't think he got anything. Idiot. Because of him, I keep all eyes on any contractor that comes into my home.