For weeks... months really, nobody contacts me from work. I go away for one week to work on my house and suddenly Im in demand. Emails, voice mails, etc . It took me all monday morning to go through.
I have this feeling of general blah. I havent had an original thought in weeks. My only reality seems to be determined by a house. The really self flaggelating thing is we plan to do this again (and possibly again) in the future. The only way to get a mortgage down to a truly manageable amount is the 'Property Ladder'. Though the lottery would be nice as well...
This is the reality of today in Alberta. Oh I know it's not just here, but it's really nutty here. I dont know where the money is coming from. People say it's all the oil but who really gets that money? It doesnt trickle down to the common employee. The big companies are the ones raking it in and they dont like to share. I should know, I'm one of the little people. Actually, Im probably somewhere in the shrinking middle... but thats not the point.
Where the big money is, if you are a little person, seems to be in the trades. A tradesperson in Alberta has a license to print money it seems. They charge what they want, show up when they want and generally dont seem to have to answer to anyone. Specifically, construction contractors. I dont want to stand too high here, but man.... the stories I've heard are downright criminal.... and they're considered reality! 'You have to expect that when dealing with contractors' WHY!?! Why do I have to expect that when dealing with contractors?
Why is it that when a service becomes in demand, those delivering the service suddenly decide to take the low road and deliver less for more? Is it fear? Get all you can while you can.
Simply because you CAN charge more for doing less (and with less quality), doesnt mean you should.
I'd like to hear some positive stories for a change about contractors doing more for less....
Why is that statement so funny?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Dissatisfaction
It's been a little while since I posted last. Just havent felt inspired I guess... I havent been emotional enough ... good or bad.
Not that Im doing this for anyone else (though if anyone is actually reading this, I do like comments cause then it feels more like a conversation). Anyways, on with the show.
On the good side of things, I got some work done on the house. Mostly some plumbing type work in the bathrooms. I cant say I got as much done as I'd have liked, but I ran into some issues along the way and had to 'make it right'. We've set a goal of putting up the house for sale in March. There's quite a bit still to do, but I think we should be able to accomplish it. I will probably have to take some vacation time though. I get giddy over the idea of actually having the place done. I literally get chills.
On the darker side of things...
Why are some people so crazy? What switch goes off in someone's head that tells them it's ok to be a complete and utter idiot?
We drove down to Calgary on Thursday night. We being Catherine, Jacob, and I. I was passing a silver car on my right and this truck comes flying up behind us. Im still beside the silver car so I cant pull over yet. The truck flashes the high beams but I still cant quite pull over. So what does he do? He cuts off the silver car on my right barely missing it, then proceeds to pull into my lane causing me to slam on my brakes and pull onto the shoulder! He didnt just cut me off, he actually tried to hit us! I had no time to think, I just reacted. If my reactions had been wrong.....
Heart pounding, I didnt know what to do next.... do I follow and try to get the cops on this guy? His actions have shown he has no inhibitions about using his car as a weapon.... and I've got my wife and 19 month old son in the car. I couldnt take the chance that this night would turn into The Night My Life Was Ruined... so I watched helplessly as he sped off down the road. It was a pretty messy night, license plates were caked with mud, there was nothing we could call in.
Jacob slept through the whole thing, Cath and I really couldnt believe what we experienced....
What possesses a person to do something like that? He really couldnt wait 10 seconds for me to be able to safely pull over? I guess I'll never know what was going on there and can only hope that the guy (or girl I guess) doesnt go on to kill someone else.
Im dont wanna brood over this, I just wanted to get the experience off my chest.
Though a big part of me shakes with rage and a desire to find that idiot.... but what then? Really.... what would I do? Beat him up? Smash his truck? In doing these things, I would break the law and probably have to pay. There is no satisfaction there, the only course of action that would be have been just is if there was a cop right there and could have brought the law down on him. But there wasnt, and I know realistically that I dont have enough evidence to find the guy and charge him.
So he gets away with it and will probably do it again...
Not that Im doing this for anyone else (though if anyone is actually reading this, I do like comments cause then it feels more like a conversation). Anyways, on with the show.
On the good side of things, I got some work done on the house. Mostly some plumbing type work in the bathrooms. I cant say I got as much done as I'd have liked, but I ran into some issues along the way and had to 'make it right'. We've set a goal of putting up the house for sale in March. There's quite a bit still to do, but I think we should be able to accomplish it. I will probably have to take some vacation time though. I get giddy over the idea of actually having the place done. I literally get chills.
On the darker side of things...
Why are some people so crazy? What switch goes off in someone's head that tells them it's ok to be a complete and utter idiot?
We drove down to Calgary on Thursday night. We being Catherine, Jacob, and I. I was passing a silver car on my right and this truck comes flying up behind us. Im still beside the silver car so I cant pull over yet. The truck flashes the high beams but I still cant quite pull over. So what does he do? He cuts off the silver car on my right barely missing it, then proceeds to pull into my lane causing me to slam on my brakes and pull onto the shoulder! He didnt just cut me off, he actually tried to hit us! I had no time to think, I just reacted. If my reactions had been wrong.....
Heart pounding, I didnt know what to do next.... do I follow and try to get the cops on this guy? His actions have shown he has no inhibitions about using his car as a weapon.... and I've got my wife and 19 month old son in the car. I couldnt take the chance that this night would turn into The Night My Life Was Ruined... so I watched helplessly as he sped off down the road. It was a pretty messy night, license plates were caked with mud, there was nothing we could call in.
Jacob slept through the whole thing, Cath and I really couldnt believe what we experienced....
What possesses a person to do something like that? He really couldnt wait 10 seconds for me to be able to safely pull over? I guess I'll never know what was going on there and can only hope that the guy (or girl I guess) doesnt go on to kill someone else.
Im dont wanna brood over this, I just wanted to get the experience off my chest.
Though a big part of me shakes with rage and a desire to find that idiot.... but what then? Really.... what would I do? Beat him up? Smash his truck? In doing these things, I would break the law and probably have to pay. There is no satisfaction there, the only course of action that would be have been just is if there was a cop right there and could have brought the law down on him. But there wasnt, and I know realistically that I dont have enough evidence to find the guy and charge him.
So he gets away with it and will probably do it again...
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