For years while Bud and I both worked full time jobs, any type of repair work that needed to be done at our home became a scheduling nightmare. Obviously, one of us would have to take off from work. Unfortunately, it was rarely obvious which one of us should do that, since both of us had pretty intensive jobs that required our presence on a regular basis. We tried switching off -- first my turn, next time his. But that seldom worked out because whenever it was my turn, something would come up and I couldn't get away. Or, the same would happen with him. And then, of course, there are the repair people themselves. They say they'll be there at 2:00 pm. 2:00 pm comes and goes -- no repairman. 2:30 pm comes and goes -- still no repairman and no phone call. By 3:00 pm you're searching for a telephone number to call and let them have a piece of what's left of your mind, and lo and behold, the service truck pulls in the driveway. Or, the repairman says he'll be there sometime between 8:00 am and noon. Oh goodie! I just love aimlessly waiting. Especially on those occasions when the repairman was lying mistaken and did NOT get there between 8:00 am and noon, and did NOT call.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that problem is solved at our house. Since I can't go anywhere, or do anything, and I don't have a life, I can be here to cheerfully greet every repairman no matter what day of the week or time of the day he/she/it chooses to appear. They can't get my goat because I would have just been sitting here doing nothing anyway. Ha, ha, ha. We have, at last, outdone them. And now, instead of them being an inconvenience, they actually bring a little bit of variety and excitement into my day.
When we first bought our home 30 years ago, there was a hole in the wall behind where the clothes dryer was supposed to go, but there was no vent hooked up. We have a basement and one side of it is "finished" meaning it has a poured concrete floor with drains and cinderblock walls. The other side is still dirt filled, though you can stand up in it in many places. The two sides are divided by a wall. Bud hooked up the dryer vent so that it vented directly into the dirt side of our basement, and that's where it has been venting lo these many years. Well, our HVAC unit is also installed in the dirt side of our basement. This last time the repairman came out to do our spring preventive maintenance on our HVAC, he informed me the dryer was going to have to be vented to the outside because not only was all that lint a fire hazard, but the moisture from the dryer was causing rust to form on the HVAC unit and it would void our warranty. We have had the same HVAC company for all of our needs for the entire previous 25 years. They have installed two complete, brand new units here. The first after we'd been here only five years, because the one our homebuilder installed was worthless. The second because after more than 20 years, the first one they installed wore out. They have serviced our system at least twice a year for 25 years, and more often in years when there were problems. Now I ask you, after 25 years of regularly being in the dirt part of our basement, why did it suddenly dawn on the repairman that the dryer vent was an issue? These things baffle me. However, yesterday I had an estimator come out and tell me how much it would costs to have the dryer vented to the outdoors. When he gave me the estimate, and I approved the work, he said they would call me and let me know when someone could come out, as this type of work is considered filler work and they do it whenever they can get around to it. I said "fine, but not tomorrow. We have doctors appointments tomorrow and won't be home. Any other day will be great." The phone rang at 8:20 am this morning. It was the HVAC contractor wanting to know if he could send his men out to fix my dryer vent. Do I speak a foreign language? It's like talking to my husband. The man only hears what he wants to hear. But rather than delay this nonsense any longer, I told him sure, send 'em on out. Our doctors appointments aren't until this afternoon, and he promised it would take only about two hours to complete the work. So I got dressed and the cute young men who got stuck with the dirty work showed up less than a half hour after the telephone call. They went straight to work. The dogs, who were unceremoniously tossed out into the backyard for the duration, barked endlessly. The young men hammered and clanged and made horrible noises as they cut a hole through the brick foundation to the outside. And, yes, they were finished in less than two hours. But it only took ten minutes for all that noise to give me an incredible headache. Now they are gone. It is peaceful until Bud comes to pick me up to go to the doctors appointments. I hope I get my head to quit trying to explode before he gets home.
But tomorrow will be another repairman nightmare. Odd things happen in 30 year old houses. The toilet in our main bathroom has decided to start sinking through the floor. I am assuming there is or has been a water leak that weakened the floor supporting the toilet, but I really have no idea why this stupid thing is trying to drop through the floor. I have a plumbing contractor coming tomorrow to solve the problem. I'm really very concerned about this toilet as it is the one Bud uses most, and he is no lightweight. I don't want to have to try to fish him out of the basement if the damn thing decides to go all the way through while he's reading. So tomorrow the plumber will come. He will tear up the entire floor in the bathroom, replace any weakened joists and flooring, reinstall the old toilet (it's 30 years old and uses a lot of water on the first flush which I love because those low-flow toilets need to be flushed more than once to get the desired result) and lay peel-and-stick tile back down in the bathroom. He estimates this will take eight hours. I'm thrilled! Eight hours of knocking, banging, hammering, etc., and eight hours of dogs barking because once again they have been relegated to the backyard for the duration.
I sure hope nothing else goes kaflooey. Well, that's a wasted wish. In a 30 year old house, things just need to be repaired regularly and often. Oh the things we poor stay-at-home people have to endure! I may take up drinking again.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that problem is solved at our house. Since I can't go anywhere, or do anything, and I don't have a life, I can be here to cheerfully greet every repairman no matter what day of the week or time of the day he/she/it chooses to appear. They can't get my goat because I would have just been sitting here doing nothing anyway. Ha, ha, ha. We have, at last, outdone them. And now, instead of them being an inconvenience, they actually bring a little bit of variety and excitement into my day.
When we first bought our home 30 years ago, there was a hole in the wall behind where the clothes dryer was supposed to go, but there was no vent hooked up. We have a basement and one side of it is "finished" meaning it has a poured concrete floor with drains and cinderblock walls. The other side is still dirt filled, though you can stand up in it in many places. The two sides are divided by a wall. Bud hooked up the dryer vent so that it vented directly into the dirt side of our basement, and that's where it has been venting lo these many years. Well, our HVAC unit is also installed in the dirt side of our basement. This last time the repairman came out to do our spring preventive maintenance on our HVAC, he informed me the dryer was going to have to be vented to the outside because not only was all that lint a fire hazard, but the moisture from the dryer was causing rust to form on the HVAC unit and it would void our warranty. We have had the same HVAC company for all of our needs for the entire previous 25 years. They have installed two complete, brand new units here. The first after we'd been here only five years, because the one our homebuilder installed was worthless. The second because after more than 20 years, the first one they installed wore out. They have serviced our system at least twice a year for 25 years, and more often in years when there were problems. Now I ask you, after 25 years of regularly being in the dirt part of our basement, why did it suddenly dawn on the repairman that the dryer vent was an issue? These things baffle me. However, yesterday I had an estimator come out and tell me how much it would costs to have the dryer vented to the outdoors. When he gave me the estimate, and I approved the work, he said they would call me and let me know when someone could come out, as this type of work is considered filler work and they do it whenever they can get around to it. I said "fine, but not tomorrow. We have doctors appointments tomorrow and won't be home. Any other day will be great." The phone rang at 8:20 am this morning. It was the HVAC contractor wanting to know if he could send his men out to fix my dryer vent. Do I speak a foreign language? It's like talking to my husband. The man only hears what he wants to hear. But rather than delay this nonsense any longer, I told him sure, send 'em on out. Our doctors appointments aren't until this afternoon, and he promised it would take only about two hours to complete the work. So I got dressed and the cute young men who got stuck with the dirty work showed up less than a half hour after the telephone call. They went straight to work. The dogs, who were unceremoniously tossed out into the backyard for the duration, barked endlessly. The young men hammered and clanged and made horrible noises as they cut a hole through the brick foundation to the outside. And, yes, they were finished in less than two hours. But it only took ten minutes for all that noise to give me an incredible headache. Now they are gone. It is peaceful until Bud comes to pick me up to go to the doctors appointments. I hope I get my head to quit trying to explode before he gets home.
But tomorrow will be another repairman nightmare. Odd things happen in 30 year old houses. The toilet in our main bathroom has decided to start sinking through the floor. I am assuming there is or has been a water leak that weakened the floor supporting the toilet, but I really have no idea why this stupid thing is trying to drop through the floor. I have a plumbing contractor coming tomorrow to solve the problem. I'm really very concerned about this toilet as it is the one Bud uses most, and he is no lightweight. I don't want to have to try to fish him out of the basement if the damn thing decides to go all the way through while he's reading. So tomorrow the plumber will come. He will tear up the entire floor in the bathroom, replace any weakened joists and flooring, reinstall the old toilet (it's 30 years old and uses a lot of water on the first flush which I love because those low-flow toilets need to be flushed more than once to get the desired result) and lay peel-and-stick tile back down in the bathroom. He estimates this will take eight hours. I'm thrilled! Eight hours of knocking, banging, hammering, etc., and eight hours of dogs barking because once again they have been relegated to the backyard for the duration.
I sure hope nothing else goes kaflooey. Well, that's a wasted wish. In a 30 year old house, things just need to be repaired regularly and often. Oh the things we poor stay-at-home people have to endure! I may take up drinking again.
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