good riddance
he is gone. in all, i paid him for 40 hours on a project that he'd quoted at 22 hours. plus 4 for the flooring and a piss poor job at that. while leveling the floor he applied silicone to the crack between the seams of underlayment and did not smooth before laying down the vinyl. result - bumpy floor wherever silicone was applied (thankfully not too many places and hoping that people will not look too closely). he however did not admit to a single mistake he has made during this whole project. but i was able to shut his face once and for all about doing my work for cheap when i told him exactly how much a professional - bonded and insured - had quoted for the job.
on the last day he brought along a lackadaisical assistant (against my express wishes, see previous blog) who was evidently well-briefed to move at the pace of a three-toed sloth. he took two hours to drill a hole through the floor of the living room for surround speaker wires (the exit hole was already there) and another set of holes in the bedroom for a underground phone line pass-through. nothing fancy - just drill, go into crawl space, weave in wire through one hole and weave out through the other....two hours. subsequently, he just stood around holding items his mentor handed him. and, by the end of the day i paid him for five hours of work. apparently he'd *worked* for five hours. yet, i wore a stupid grin on my face when we went to dinner for lis and z's anniversary that night. i was so glad to imagine a life without the irritation and aggarvation of the past 1.5 month.
to date, i am floating on air. i don't even feel like chronicling the myriad minor dramas that ensued during that 8-hour sunday (which of course they did). suffice it to say, i am overjoyed to have a man out of my house who i suspect would go through my underwear drawer if he'd only been left unsupervised long enough.
i am afraid to do a final cost analysis though. because i fear i have not saved any money to show for all the aggravation I suffered.
on the last day he brought along a lackadaisical assistant (against my express wishes, see previous blog) who was evidently well-briefed to move at the pace of a three-toed sloth. he took two hours to drill a hole through the floor of the living room for surround speaker wires (the exit hole was already there) and another set of holes in the bedroom for a underground phone line pass-through. nothing fancy - just drill, go into crawl space, weave in wire through one hole and weave out through the other....two hours. subsequently, he just stood around holding items his mentor handed him. and, by the end of the day i paid him for five hours of work. apparently he'd *worked* for five hours. yet, i wore a stupid grin on my face when we went to dinner for lis and z's anniversary that night. i was so glad to imagine a life without the irritation and aggarvation of the past 1.5 month.
to date, i am floating on air. i don't even feel like chronicling the myriad minor dramas that ensued during that 8-hour sunday (which of course they did). suffice it to say, i am overjoyed to have a man out of my house who i suspect would go through my underwear drawer if he'd only been left unsupervised long enough.
i am afraid to do a final cost analysis though. because i fear i have not saved any money to show for all the aggravation I suffered.
