Down, down and down

Life has not been good to me lately.

I hate going home. I hate stepping into the kitchen especially. Everyday I see the incomplete kitchen, I get so mad. So frustrating I just didn't know what to do. It does look like the contractor is never going to finish the job despite having taken the money.

Who would want to finish the work now that the money has been paid. Only a fool would pay up before the job is completed and that fool is none other than ME.

I blamed myself for listening to my mother. My mother kept telling me the old man will not cheat us. So I trusted her and I paid. And look at the mess I got myself into.

Already stressed with the contractors, suddenly business picked up and I am overloaded with assignments. So many until I began to have sleepless nights. I think and think of where to find "heads". Been working late daily as well.

With all the worry and stress, I am now rewarded with gastritis. It was bearable until a few days ago, I had to take sick leave. I puked. I felt my stomach filled with gas and acid. Then the pain. Then the bloatedness. Then the hunger pang but after eating 2 mouthful, I felt so full but then an hour later I am hungry again but I could only take another 2 mouthful. And for the past 2 days, my stomach has been churning.

Oh...not to forget during my sick leave I was working from home. Not that I liked to do it. Boss was on the phone with me talking about work and I had to get things done.

I am not happy at all. I'm still having gastritis. Medication has not been of much help. How can I get the contractors to finish the job? I paid him out of sympathy. He has a sick wife whom I have met. His eldest son is utterly useless. He is an old man in his 60s. I feel for him when I see him climb the ladder to nail the wood and so on. I wished he didn't have to work so hard anymore at his age. For these facts, I am being taken advantage of.

It is an expensive lesson. Never be kind anymore. Never have a soft heart anymore. Never trust anyone, not even your own mother.

Life sucks.

Contractors

Has anyone has any pleasant encounter with house contractors? I'd like to hear your good stories.

Let me tell you about my experience with contractors.

My house is undergoing renovation. Not a very extensive one but it is to extend the kitchen, shift the toilet to the back and build the wall fence in front. Renovation started somewhere in end July. I was told it takes 3 weeks to complete. Hmm...3 weeks is not that long. I could live with the mess for 3 weeks, I told myself.

As usual, I don't quite trust these people. So I told myself...ok...give them 5 weeks. Should be sufficient to get everything done. Guess what? It's not completed until now!

The problem? This old man kept telling my mom he has no money to buy materials. So mom pitied him and gave him some money. And yes, he did buy the material. But it was not enough for the entire works. Now he has taken almost all the payment and he has yet to complete the reno. Despite calling him to come over and get it done, he still said he has no money to buy material.

Honestly, my patience has run dry. I have exploded right in front of them. Still no movement. During times like this I wished I have a "taiko" who can help me to talk to them.

Not much work left actually. Just a little bit of tiles to replace because they ran short of it. And then the painting and fix up the kitchen cabinet. That is all that was left to be done. I have gone for months without electricity for the kitchen, no fridge to use and poorEdrik had to make do with bread everyday as his lunch pack. I couldn't make him egg sandwich because I was not able to cook in the dark. The pipes weren't ready and I had no water to use in the kitchen.

Now I have water and electricity, but I have no cabinets to store my things. The whole house is in such a mess and thick layers of dust can be seen all over the place.

Today I cleaned the new kitchen until my fingers ached. You know the new windows which they put up? There were cement splattered all over it. At the sill and on the glass. And then the door frame also had the same problem. Had to wipe hard and use scrapers to scrape off the cement. My nails all turned ugly because of the harsh work. We even decided to paint the place on our own now. What to do? We cannot sit and wait. It has taken too long. We have to go and get our own paint now. Means, more money needed to pump in again. It was so much of hard work and I began to curse and swear them in my heart.

Finally, tonight I told my mom this. "So suey to have given the job to them. Please tell this to the contractor.They have been fortunate to meet us but we have been unfortunate to meet them"

Moral of the story : Never ever trust contractors. Never ever have a soft spot for them, regardless if the contractor is an old man who comes to you with very, very sad story. You just have to shut your ears and conscience when you deal with contractors.

While you may pity them, once they put your house in a mess and you have no water to wash, no electricity to use, you can't cook and you plead with them to quickly get it done..they will still turn a deaf ear on you. You will not get any sympathy from them.

My feelings about them at this very moment : I wish I could get my hands on them and wring their necks till their heads drop. That would give me some satisfaction.