June 3, 2008

• Alive and Well… well, almost…

  Well, it seems that I’m still alive after quite a while away from Xanga at least in writing. I hadn’t anticipated that I’d be “away” this long but the distractions (even though being for a good cause) have been numerous.

  Bee and I have been spending a great deal of time this spring doing
  “maintenance” of our home and property just trying to get things all
  together for another long time of letting things take care of
  themselves. One has to do that now and then or it simply gets out of
  hand. This time we needed help from “contractors”. Most of the time we
  do the work ourselves. However, replacing the roofs and siding on the
  house, garage, and the other buildings on the place is a little bit
  much for just ol' Mr.Vee. Add to that some long needed repairs on the pool
  and its just over the top on getting all that done before the Lord
  comes back.

  Anyway, it is in times like these one learns of what one likes and what
  one does not like. Here’s a few that I’ve come up with in the last few
  months… along with a few other things that I’ve learned along the way.

  1.    I’ve found that I like contractors that understand why they are
  hired, stay on top of the job, and have a sense for what is appropriate
  so I don’t have to be constantly doing their job saying “I don’t that
  like that”, “that isn’t going to work”, “why is that done so sloppily?”
  etc. I think you get the drift. I’ve had one fellow who has been superb
  at this. He should be given a medal and a bonus.

  2.    I hate “no shows”. I work out of my home office and this helps to
  open the gate and put the dogs in the kennel, and answer questions.
  Those folks who are so inconsiderate to say they are coming and never
  show have become one of my least favorite kind of folks. That’s
  especially true when they come back and do it again and say “pretty
  please, I had some inane excuse for not showing”.

  3.    Look out for summer college help. Some of those kids only wish they were men and have no idea what real work is like. Now to be fair, I know some college help that are no where near a description like this and have my respect. My experience during the last few weeks did not include these better folks.

  4.  I like honesty and a willingness to work doing the things that
  they say they do professionally.  I’m learning to spot a “loser” a mile
  away.

  5.    The quality of the workers is a more reliable sign of the crew’s
  ability to do a good job than the crew chief. When both are not so
  good, things just aren’t going to go well at all.

  6.    There just is no substitute for ingenuity as a tradesman. It is
  an awful waste of time and resources to do dumb things and it spoils
  any good reputation that they had in the first place.  I went out this
  morning and saw the new booster pump (for the pool) installed
  haphazardly (yes, already piped in) right in front of the big filter
  where I need a step to step up and pull the filter out for maintenance.  Duh-oh!

  7.    An honest, contractor with a good crew is worth the money you pay
  them. Anything less and you’ll soon find out how little gets done but
  still costs you so much.

  8.    Find a contractor that knows how to manage his time and his crews well. Such a fellow is worth his weight in gold.

  9.    In the end, the one you recommend is the one who actually
  finishes the job… ALL of it. I’m still waiting on getting some flood lights
  remounted on the two peaks of my garage that one crew removed and never
  replaced. Yes, its still on the punch list. I’m still wondering if it
  will ever get done. I’m hoping so.

  10.    A smart contractor always asks how you want things done and
  offers good ideas to work out various problems along the way. He will
  not do it and then find out everything is backwards and has to be done
  over.

  Anyway, such is life at this point in time. It surely seem like
  “patience, determination, and insistence” are the watchwords for now.

  As for the rest of the writing, I have at least a couple of dozen
  attempted postings that are half done… just so many distractions… I’ll
  be SOOOOOO glad when this is over.  Blessings, Mr.Vee

  • 9:53 am
  • 5 Comments