Do I have a sign on my back?

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 12:21 pm (Cottage Industry)
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And does it read, “Contractors, ignore me!”?

Or maybe it’s more direct: “Screw these people!”?

Or maybe it’s just this:

 target

Why is it that no one wants to work on our house? (OK, I don’t really want to work on it either, but no one has offered to pay me to.)

  1. There’s the plumber who won’t call us back — week and a half. (This is plumber #2: plumber #1 came once, gave us an estimate, and never came back when we called, so we got #2 to do that work (bathroom). Now #2’s not calling back to finish the project he started a few months ago that just needs a final hook-up so we can have heat in our kitchen again.)
  2. There’s the porte cochere pier/garage contractor whom we lined up in May, who started in September, who took 2 months to do a 2-week job, who repeatedly fails to show up when he says he will, and who’s left us with a pile of rubble in the driveway that I’m quite certain will stay there unless Mike calls and bitches to him. Even then, it might stay there until we haul it away.
  3. There’s the landscape company who did such a beautiful job on our neighbor’s retaining wall in record time. I called them last week to give us an estimate, and they assured me they’d be out then, even earned points by calling me back when they couldn’t make it last week, and said they’d be here first thing this week. It’s now Tuesday, and I’ve not heard a word.
  4. There’s the kitchen countertop installers who would have completely mismeasured had Mike not been there to guide them and who still had to come back twice when the sink countertop was wrong (and it still wasn’t quite right but we couldn’t bear it and left it be).

It’s no wonder we’ve ended up doing so much work on our own. Yes, it saves money, but most of all it’s the only way we can get anything done.

I really don’t understand it. Being in business for myself, I know what hoops I jump through for my clients. How is it that the standards essential in the corporate world go out the window in the contracting/trades world? Is it a case of demand trumping supply? Is it that even less-than-stellar people can get all the work they need? Is it that the work is just too hard and there’s more than enough easy pickins to go around?

Or do I just need to get that darn sign off my back?

One only needs two tools in life: 
WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop. 
                                                        ~ G.M. Weilacher

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I ♥ leftovers.

Monday, November 26, 2007 at 3:53 pm (Youngest of Seven)
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Not quite as catchy as “I♥NY” but the sentiment’s as sincere.

About now, I expect a lot of you have happily chucked the remains of the turkey with a heartfelt “that’s entirely enough of that for another year.”

Not me! Because I didn’t cook the Thanksgiving meal this year, I was only lucky enough to take home a few goodies — enough for a full plate each for Mike and me. They were delicious, but left me hungry for more.

Nothing makes me happier than leftovers in the fridge — knowing that my next meal is already made, no thought required, just heat it up and enjoy. It doesn’t bother me a bit to eat Rustic Polenta or Mediterranean Couscous 3 days in a row for lunch and dinner or stuffing for a week.

I think this is a new idea for Mike, though. My mother-in-law has the uncanny ability to always prepare the right amount of food  — 4 servings. Everyone is always full; there are never any leftovers. Makes me wonder if this is a small family-big family thing (Mike is an only child; I have 6 siblings.).

It also explains why Mike has put on weight since we’ve been married — it’s not that my cooking is so good, it’s just that it’s so much. And, in his world, leftovers are unheard of, so we must have to eat it all the first time.

Unfortunately, I have no such excuse for my own post-nuptial portliness — I’ve always cooked this way. Big family = making a lot, and cooking for two seems like such a waste of time. All that effort for only one meal? No thanks. I’m happy for my 3-quart crockpot, my hefty pots and pans, pasta by the pound, and the wonder of microwave reheating. 

What’s for dinner? To echo my mother (see Pie in the Sky post ), “I have no idea.” But you can be sure it’ll be tomorrow’s lunch  — and if I’m lucky — dinner, too.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that
for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. 
The original meal has never been found. 
                                                        ~ Calvin Trillin

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Pie in the sky? Better on the table!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 2:34 pm (Writing by Ear)
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My mother was never a very inspired cook — not that I blame her. I would no doubt have gone insane being responsible for feeding oh, 6, 7, 8, or 9 people every day for 25 years or so. (I can barely handle one meal for Mike and me.) I remember many occasions as a kid asking her in the morning “what’s for supper?” and her saying “I have no idea.” I’m sure she didn’t, and I’m quite certain she didn’t appreciate the question.

She did teach me how to make pie, though, at a fairly young age (10). Like you, probably, I’ve always had ideas in my head for what I’d like to do when I grow up. One of them is to have a pie shop. What to call it? Pie in the Sky? Easy as Pie? Sweetie Pie? Slice of Heaven? 3.1415?  Maybe just ∏? (a la Prince). Or a little broader…Just Desserts? (I like baking other goodies, too.)

Fun to think about, but I’m sure the reality of it wouldn’t be. Once you HAVE to do anything it becomes work…and the legalities and logistics involved (bakers have to get up in the middle of the night, right?) — nevermind!

But can’t you just see it? (And smell it!) A cheery little storefront. Pies in a case — lemon meringue, apple, peach, pecan, raspberry, coconut cream. A few bistro tables. Coffee, tea, milk. Ice cream or whipped cream.

A sweet dream. But for now, reality is pretty great, too — being able to look forward to the perfect “a little of each, please” ending to another wonderful Thanksgiving feast. May yours be equally blessed. I better get rollin’.

Seize the moment. Remember all those women
on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
~ Erma Bombeck

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