Pros vs. Cons
My return to construction is causing me to have mixed emotions. I get some extra money every two weeks, so that is kind of nice. I have funny things to laugh at, and that’s always nice. I am helping a friend I have know for years, that’s nice. That’s about it. I think the bad stuff might outweigh all the good.
I might as well begin. The first bad thing is I need to get out of bed long before anyone in the house gets up. Not just a few minutes, but at least an hour. I guess I can live with that, however, my alarm clock is broken. I know, I have written that I don’t use an alarm clock. I wrote I have an alive alarm clock, Maggie, the Great Pyrenees.
For some reason, Maggie is now scratching my side of the bed at 5:10 AM. She doesn’t want out, she just doesn’t want me to be late for work. I have told her several times, I don’t need to get up until 5:45. She doesn’t listen or care.
I think I have a neighbor that drives by at 5:10 and wakes Maggie up. I wish that neighbor would be a little more considerate and wait another hour before they drive by.
I try to be nice to my sleeping family and tip toe around the house so they can get the extra hour of sleep, that as long as I have this job, I will never get again. I walk around in the dark trying to keep four dogs quiet. Remember, the rest of the family can sleep another hour. I start the coffee so it is ready for Elaine when she gets up, in an hour. Heck, I’m already up, I might as well be nice. They don’t even wake up when I grind the coffee beans, but that doesn’t bother me. After all, they can sleep at least another hour.
I hope you agree, but I’m putting this on the cons list.
I don’t think the guy I replaced was working very hard before I arrived. There was a little issue about a missing laundry sink. It seem he neglected to tell the plumbers to put in a laundry sink in a particular house.
Boss: Monner, the homeowner at 2239 K——n just informed me their laundry sink is not in their house. Me: They are right, that house does not have a laundry sink. Boss: Well, (long pause) they paid for one. Maybe we should try to get it in the house. Me: Well, (even longer pause) you realize that the flooring is going in the walls are painted and the laundry sink will go into a cabinet that has not been ordered. Boss: Well, (long pause) maybe I should ask if I can refund the money for the laundry sink. Me: I just guessing now, but I think if someone paid for a laundry sink they would most likely want to have one. Boss: OK, but we need to hurry, the guy you replaced was so far behind on this house I am paying for this homeowner to rent an apartment because they could not close on this house.
That one goes in the cons category.
We have another homeowner that added a HUGE window in his master bedroom. He told me he was really looking forward to lying in his bed and looking west at the magnificent skyline. He crouched down in his future master bedroom and looked out his window to look at the mountains. He could see the mountains, if he blocked out the fifty, or so, rooftops he saw below the mountains. I think he was a little disappointed. I know he was disappointed when he stood back up and moved closer to the window. He looked out the window and said, “I paid $500 for this window and I can look into my neighbors yard and see their dog s–t (he used construction language) in their yard.
OK, that goes in the pros category.
Now for the most negative con of all. I STILL am required to dye yarn for the store. And to make it worse, I heard Ivy tell a customer that I would be happy to dye a special order skein for her. Now I have TWO jobs.
Suddenly life has become very unfair. I can’t even get help writing these stories.
Our crazy lives!
Monner