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| Getting Old SUCKS! (Page 2/2) |
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OldsFiero
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NOV 25, 11:55 AM
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Yes, getting old does sometimes suck. I'm still pretty active, but not near as strong as I used to be either and I still think I can do it. Ouch!
As of march 1st I'm now missing a prostate and currently getting radiation treatments in an attempt to nuke the little buggers that seem to have jumped ship prior to surgery.
I'm starting to realize that the golden years are mostly about the color of my urine. 
But hey, when I look around, I realize I'm doing a heck of a lot better than many others and still having fun.
Enjoy life when you can.
Marc
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blackrams
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NOV 25, 12:53 PM
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82-T/A [At Work]
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NOV 25, 01:04 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Raydar:
I have done all three. But I still hate paying someone to do stuff that I know how to do. Like the wall paneling that I mentioned in my previous post.
Wish I would have done that too, in retrospect, but wasn't physically up to it, having had surgery at the end of July. |
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I totally agree with you, and honestly... almost every single time I do pay someone to do something for me, I wish I had just done it myself.
Like... I hate to be that guy, but most people don't care about your stuff like you do.
In my Texas house, I had tiled the kitchen, dining room, pantry, guest bathroom, etc... and then wanted to continue it down the entire hallway and into the great room. But I was running out of time and decided to pay a group of people contracted from the local tile store.
When they arrived, they didn't do anywhere near the job that I would have done. The tile didn't line up well (meaning that the ridges weren't level). Like... I went with a rubber mallet and would carefully tap down the tile in each area to make sure it was flush before I laid the next tile. And then near the baseboard in the hallway, there was a section of tile that needed to be cut really narrow... like 1" wide of a 10" tile. They swore up and down that it was impossible, and they told me that instead, I should just use quarter-round on the baseboard, and then proceeded to tell me what quarter-round was. Note, I'd already removed all the baseboard around the house so that they could install the tile beyond where the baseboard would be. I friggin' hate quarter-round.
Anyway, they flat-out told me they couldn't do it. So when they went to lunch, I whipped out my tile saw, and cut several strips of tile exactly how they said it couldn't be done. It was not hard to do at all, of course, but they were just being lazy. I also asked them arrange tile in a particular area in a particular room, and even laid it out for them, and they totally ignored it and put multiples of the exact same tile next to each other.
Like... WTF... I'm not a perfectionist, but it pisses me off. If I do a job for someone else, I insist on doing it right, and doing it to the best of my ability because it's a reflection of me... for whatever that matters. I dunno, maybe they have the right idea, but yeah.
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blackrams
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NOV 25, 01:36 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I totally agree with you, and honestly... almost every single time I do pay someone to do something for me, I wish I had just done it myself.
Like... I hate to be that guy, but most people don't care about your stuff like you do.
SNIP
Like... WTF... I'm not a perfectionist, but it pisses me off. If I do a job for someone else, I insist on doing it right, and doing it to the best of my ability because it's a reflection of me... for whatever that matters. I dunno, maybe they have the right idea, but yeah.
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Yep, I can relate. My dad was a contractor and built homes. While no expert, I have done a lot of things with his advice and supervision. I also worked much of my way through college working for a concrete contractor and have done concrete projects for every home I've owned and helped friends and neighbors so; I do know a bit about the techniques and ways to do it. I'm currently having a shop built. The contractor I hired to pour my footers, stem walls and slab was doing a lot of things that went directly against the way I learned to do them.
First, my contractor tried to cheat me by pouring the footers with 3K lb. concrete mixture when my contract specifically called for 4K throughout. Then he built his forms both inside and out for the stem walls which was fine but, proceeded to fill the interior with three dump truck loads of fill dirt. He did not intend to compact that fill dirt. Obviously, non-compacted fill will eventually settle and sink leaving me with voids that will eventually lead to cracked concrete. He also informed me that he did not intend to remove the inside forms (plywood) once the stem walls were poured and set up. This is another no go, not supposed to happen and I wasn't about to let him get away with that. Our contract specifically stated that all work must meet code and that simply wasn't going to meet code nor my acceptance.
Well, he did bring his crew back in and compacted the outer edges of the fill dirt but, I also made him dig pier holes (support legs) into the fill dirt down into solid soil. Rain and time have helped the fill dirt settle but nothing like what a compactor would do. Since then, it's rained several times and there's no way for a concrete truck to get back to the site and I told him from the get-go that I wasn't going to pay for a tow truck to come and recover a concrete truck.
Regardless, I still don't have a finished slab to put my building on and have told the contractor that he was about to be replaced, and I would tell anyone that asked how he did his job. You're right about most contractors not giving a damn about the quality of their work. They just want to get paid and move on to the next inexperienced sucker.
My project may still not be done but, I can assure anyone that when it is completed, it'll be done right.
------------------
Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. .
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-25-2024).]
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Raydar
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NOV 25, 09:48 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I totally agree with you, and honestly... almost every single time I do pay someone to do something for me, I wish I had just done it myself.
Like... I hate to be that guy, but most people don't care about your stuff like you do.
...
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So, I found yet another thing to throttle the guy about.
The first thing - which I didn't mention in detail - the paneling. The walls are just short of 8.5 feet tall. I was planning to install a drop ceiling. Think I mentioned that I had done that, in the first post.
Idiot installed the paneling right up against the joists above, leaving about 5" at the bottom. I was going to do baseboards at the bottom, but now I have to find wide baseboards. Do-able, but a pain in the ass.
I went and bought doors, a couple of days ago. Gotta do those before I do the baseboards. Need a total of three.
So when he framed the walls (same guy, many months ago), he left the 2x4 base plate across the bottom of the doorway. Strange, but okay. I can cut that out with my sawzall, when I go to finish the room (which I am in the process of doing.)
I cut out the 38" section of 2x4 from the bottom of the opening, and stood the door up in the opening. Guess what doesn't go all the way to the top of the opening, by about two inches. 
I have no effing idea what he was thinking. I even told him that I wanted to roll engine stands and other heavy stuff through the door (concrete floor) so he had to have known it was in the way.
Of course I can "ghetto-fab" the door into place, and fill the gap at the top. But then I have to cover a ~1/2" gap above the door frame/casing and the paneling. Probably with a piece of quarter round, or cove molding.
Grrrr...
I was so pissed when I came up from the shop, last night, that my wife and dogs even left the room.[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 11-25-2024).]
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Raydar
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NOV 25, 10:02 PM
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After my previous rant, I need to step back a minute, and wish everyone here a happy Thanksgiving.
I am so much more fortunate - and have way fewer challenges - than so many people who I know. And for that I am eternally grateful.
I like to b!tch, but at the end of the day, I am still blessed way beyond what I deserve.
I jokingly like to tell people that "Any day I wake up on this side of the dirt is a good one, and I'll take it." But it's the truth.
Peace.
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blackrams
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NOV 25, 10:05 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Raydar:
So, I found yet another thing to throttle the guy about.
SNIP
I was so pissed when I came up from the shop, last night, that my wife and dogs even left the room.
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All I can say is Incompetence has run amuck. It's all about getting paid and moving on to the next project, not about doing it right. The only thing that has kept the quality of my concrete project in line quality wise is the fact that I'm there watching. My contractor lied to the Permit Inspectors but when I took pictures and showed them what I was talking about, he was cornered, the Inspectors agreed with me.
Rams
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