8/9/22

Delight and Disappointment

It's hard to know where to start this morning. Mae and I had a lovely morning at the dahlia festival yesterday. I have quite a few flower pictures to show you. The news about the basement is where the disappointment lies. Here's what I'm thinking: I'll tell you about the flowers first, and save the basement woes for the end. If you're sick and tired of hearing about the basement (as am I), you can skip that part at the end. Deal? Deal. 

Okay, flowers first. Thanks to those of you who identified the flower in our bee garden as an Evening Primrose. You are right, of course. I knew someone would know. It must have come in the bag of wildflower seed I sowed last spring.

Mae and I met up at the parking lot at the Swan Island Dahlia Festival yesterday morning. It's early, and many of the dahlias have yet to bloom. Still, there was plenty to see. They have a gift shop and a hut with cut flowers. We were greeted by the pretty gardens and potted flowers growing near their gift shop.


I just love the Black-eyed Susans.


The next two photos are for my pig-loving friend, Sue.



Their garden art was fun. This cat might have come home with me, but he was a little too pricey for my pocketbook.


As for the dahlias, I'm just going to show the pictures of some of my favorites below. I've included the name of the flower in the photo. (The names were as much fun as the flowers!) If there is no name, it's because the flower was in their "test garden," and not yet available for sale. I have to choose just four for my own garden next year. Hard to decide, but I'm leaning toward Bee-Yond, Wannabee, Firefighter, and Checkers. Okay, get yourself a cuppa something, and enjoy:
























Pretty, huh? It's so hard to decide. Mike really likes the one called Fuzzy Wuzzy, and since he worked so hard on getting their pad beside the greenhouse ready to go, I kind of figure I should add in his favorite. Mae accurately pointed out that bees are attracted to the ones with centers. Since I'm always doing my best to cater to the bees, I'm keeping that in mind as I make my selection. They won't arrive here until next April, and so there's no rush to decide.

Okay (cue the shark music), here's my disappointment rant. While we were eating breakfast yesterday, we got the bright idea to call Home Depot ourselves and find out if they were installing carpet at our place yesterday...or anytime, when you get right down to it. Surprisingly (actually, unsurprisingly), they had nothing scheduled, no carpet order, no knowledge of our project whatsoever, except that there were “payment issues” with the carpet, and so it hadn’t been ordered or paid for. Mike ended up talking to the installer, who said it takes about two weeks to get the carpet once it's been ordered, and then another two weeks to be move up on the schedule. The bottom line in this story is that our contractor knew all of this when they moved the furniture out of the basement. He also knew that if the job wasn't done, they'd have to come back and move the furniture back inside while we're gone. And so why, why, why did they go through that whole charade? It boggles the mind.

Here's what I think: He probably thinks he can run out the clock on moving the furniture back inside, and that we'll just be stuck with leaving it where it is. Fat chance. If we do that, we'll have squirrels and mice living in it before we get back. We simply cannot leave it where it is. I don't trust our contractor any farther than I can spit, and so I sent an email to Erik and Matthew this morning, putting them on notice that we might need their help with the heavy stuff. We can do most of it ourselves, but I doubt I can be of much help lifting things like couches and televisions. There's still time, but my faith in this guy following through is nil.

So Mike has confronted the contractor about his lies, demanded he send a crew to move the furniture back into the house. Contractor Man said he'd look at the schedule and call Mike before day's end to tell him when. Did he call? Oh...silly you. Of course not. So Mike will call him again this morning and threaten him with a complaint to his licensing board. Maybe that will help. If not, a complaint will be filed. Of course, that won't help with the present situation. And there's really no use in speculating about what might or might not happen. It is what it is, and it will be what it will be.

I'm having a hard time letting this go. I'm angry and frustrated and appalled at the lying. Also, sewing is my outlet, and I can't even do that. Today, I'm going to try to work off some of my anger by doing some housekeeping chores and some preliminary packing. Mike is spending the morning putting new tires on the truck. It occurs to me that I can always just work on my quilting since the sewing room isn't an option. I have everything I need to work on the pile of quilts that have been sandwiched for quilting. For now, it's too late to start on anything other than small quilts. Possibly, we can find my travel machine along with the other sewing stuff (in the garage), and I can even sew on some quilt bindings.

And now...I'm going to stop talking about this, and hopefully, stop thinking about it too. I'm determined to get my mind right about this, and so I'll start right now.

20 comments:

Barbara said...

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Julierose said...

This is totally unbelievably horrible for you guys!!!
Tom had to call our Better Business Bureau a few years ago to get our guy back--he didn't ans. our phone calls for 3 weeks and finally after the BBB called him with the complaint--he came back and had the nerve to ask us:
"Why did you do that to me???" DUH!!

I really feel bad for you guys, it is so darn frustrating...bad bad words for sure!! Try to relax a bit with your embroidery...a few deep breaths,,,man,
what a total drag!! Hugs for some kind of results Julierose

Julierose said...

P.S. Oh and btw--my favorite dahlia is China Doll--sooo pretty!! ;))))
Julierose

Pamela said...

I highly recommend going to the state contractors board and sending an official letter of your intent to file a claim. Once you do that the clock starts ticking and you will probably see quicker movement than a mere phone call. We had to do this once and had immediate action on our project. Most contractors don’t want to risk people seeing that they have had a claim filed against them.

Betty said...

Why does it have to be so hard to find reliable contractors?! It took us two years to find someone to rebuild our deck and even then he left our job unfinished while he took three weeks to do another job. Another one was the roofer that thought I would sign over the insurance check to him right before he took a two week vacation! He called to ask right after the time he knew my husband would have left for work, thinking "dumb female" no doubt. He was wrong and was promptly fired the next day. I could write a book on the subject! So frustrating, hope you at least get your things moved back in before the trip.
BTW, those flowers are beautiful. It would be hard to choose between them.

Elaine Walker said...

Yes I also had a very frustrating experience with Home Depot and their contractor. Is was a flooring install and it never was resolved to my satisfaction. So Home Depot lost another customer. Im sure they don’t care.
Elaine530@centurylink.net

MissPat said...

My son hired a contractor (in TX) to put a second story on their house. After the family moved to his in-laws house, put all the furniture in the garage, and the old roof had been removed, the contractor stopped showing up. Long story short, they needed to find a new contractor which was no easy task and my son lived in the garage until the job was done. I know that won't make you feel any better, but life is too short to spend it being aggravated by things you can't change.
The dahlias were beautiful. I would have a hard time choosing just 4.
Pat

Lyndsey said...

I loved the dahlias. So many to choose from. We don't have any dahlias in the garden at the moment so I think I'll investigate what is available near us. Don't get me started on contractors. We have had a few problems recently and my thought are best left unsaid!

Cathy Smith said...

Did your insurance adjuster recommend this contractor? If so, he needs to hear all about what is going on. I was totally frustrated with the team who repaired my kitchen post-leak. All it took was one call to the adjuster and the finish work was completed! Trust me - I FEEL your pain!

CA Bobbie said...

I love them all but I d agree with Mike the FuzzyWuzzy needs to be included. Sadly I don't heve succss width flowers but still love seeing them. I have "forever" flowers "planted" amongst my greens.

gpc said...

I wonder if our Dahlia Hill is blooming -- I will need to go and check it out now that you've reminded me. I have never grown dahlias. I tried it once and the rodents ate the bulbs before they even got to grow, despite the red pepper flakes I planted with them. Now I can't imagine planting something that I'd need to dig up every fall, I am simply too lazy to even consider it. So it is nice that we have local volunteers who do exactly that on a city lot. :) Apparently I am even too lazy to look, but I will put that on my list for this week! As to "holding on" to things that anger one, I am the queen of long held resentments so I have no advice. But I do have tons of sympathy. How very frustrating, and, besides the lack of integrity, what stupid behavior on the contractor's part.

piecefulwendy said...

So many pretty dahlias! As for the contractor, what a headache! Won't bother to repeat my thoughts on that, since I've already shared them with you. While it's too bad that you all may have to move the furniture back in yourselves, at least it will get back in without damage. Not sure I'd trust the contractor on that score.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry you're having to go through all this! On top of the original damage to your home, now to have a contractor who lies on top of it. If/when he ever calls back, I'd remind him that you will be sending in reviews to YELP, Google, and to BBB (doesn't matter if he isn't a member, they still accept reviews, and that's one of the ways we look up prior experiences when we are vetting people to do work for us). Also, you can lodge a complaint with the state contractors board with details about your experience. On top of that, there is a consumer contact person with most every office of each governor that you can call and discuss the issues. I've made that call a number of times to assist clients in my prior business, and every single time they came through with flying colors. That office usually is happy to make a call on your behalf - as the office holders are working for US. Hope this all helps you! Deb E

Jenny said...

How disappointing, no wonder you are angry. I seem to remember that this is a insurance job? Can you change contractors, I wonder, but that may only add to the time factor. How frustrating, no doubt this was to be completed before you take off on your trip.
Those dahlias, so pretty, and so many different kinds.

Marie said...

By any chance, do you remember if any of these flowers are the dinner plate size? or are they just the smaller ones? Beautiful pictures by the way.

Cathy said...

I feel so bad for you guys with the carpet situation. I haven’t ever had any personal problems with contractors (yet, knock on wood). My career was in construction credit and I had lots of contacts in the state legislature, licensing boards, many trades (incl. general contractors), insurance as well as an attorney on retainer. I’m sure our personal projects were always performed with an eye to keeping the holder of the credit strings happy!

Judy in Missouri said...

I can just imagine your frustration. And sympathize! Fire his a— and hire someone else, I say.

Lu Rae said...

Barb, I love the pics from the dahlia festival. I also feel your pain about being frustrated with contractors and their lies. We bought a new upright freezer from Menards last year. The first one had a defective seal,instead of replacing the seal, they brought out a new freezer. WE went through 5 freezers. Either the seal was bad or the door was dented. They wouldn't just replace the seal. Then back on the 12th of July my husband contacted the company. Spent over two weeks getting the run around, before finally getting a letter emailed to us authorizing
Menards to pick up the old and deliver a whole new one. This one is definitely better. Heavier door and better seal. So, I'm hoping you have better luck with your problem. Take care and hoping for a sunny day for both of us.

Susan said...

I like all of the dahlias. I would file a complaint with the BBB as well as the licensing board. I would also try and find another contractor.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Those dahlias are spectacular!!!! I don't think I'd be able to choose because I'd want one of everything.
As for the latest basement woes - it's simply beyond comprehension that they haven't even so much as ordered the carpet. It defies any definition of an above-board contractor, that's for sure.