Barbara’s Bulletin #9: Current Frustrations
As I have briefly mentioned in a couple previous posts, there have been some workmen doing things around my apartment building. Legally the building needs to have a sprinkler system. For the past couple weeks the workmen have being doing stuff in the basement and working on the front apartment (since it’s currently vacant), and then downstairs on the neighbors. I figured if they needed to actually get inside our apartment Joe, our landlord, would give us some sort of advance warning.
Last Wednesday, while Bob was putting Adam on the bus, Joe asked if he could bring the workmen inside so they could take a look and figure out what they would need to put the sprinklers in our apartment. I was getting ready to go to work while also putting food in the slow cooker when Bob texted me. He said something along the lines of clean the house as much as you can in 5 minutes because Joe is coming in and he’s bringing the workmen.
I told Bob that now wasn’t a good time. I still needed to have a quick breastfeeding session with Lydia before heading off to work. I texted Bob and told him that my boobs were out. Unfortunately Bob didn’t check his phone. He barged in with Joe and one of the workers right as Lydia was done. I shoved my shirt down just in time.
I had to rush out to work so I couldn’t be a part of the sprinkler conversation but I heard everything second hand from Bob. Apparently they wanted to start doing work in our apartment on Friday. They basically left us with one day to move our cats litter boxes, pull all the books off the shelf in the living room and rearrange all of our bedroom furniture. It wouldn’t be an easily job. They would need to drill through the floor to run the pipes up and then drill into the walls to attack the sprinklers.
Bob was incredibly pissed about the lack of notice. I was incredibly pissed at the idea of giving total strangers full on access to our living space. Bob and I talked about our concerns. We both didn’t want them to come on Friday and start working but I was worried that we weren’t really going to have much of a say in the matter.
Thursday began with Bob calling Joe to try and voice some of our concerns. At first the conversation didn’t go well. Joe was instantly defensive and argumentative. Bob had to bite his tongue while he calmly explained our side of the situation. Joe got nasty and asked Bob if he realized that the whole situation is an inconvenience for everyone. Bob didn’t back down. They finally came to a compromise and Joe said he would send the workmen in next week so we would have more time to prepare.
At first I was worried. My biggest concern was having jewelry, or really any of belonging for that matter, stolen. I was stressed out about cleaning and rearranging everything to make space for the workmen. Bob was worried that the whole thing would take weeks and that Joe was being unrealistic.
I’m frustrated at the whole situation but I’ve accepted the fact that there isn’t much I can do. I called Babs Sr. and asked her if I could bring some important things over to her house and stash them in my old room until the sprinklers were finished being installed. As soon as she said yes I felt a little less stressed. Then I decided that it wasn’t worth it for me to go crazy cleaning and rearranging everything in my home just to make it easier on Joe and the workmen.
I already have plans this Saturday to take the kids and social distance at the beach with Babs Sr. and some of our extended family. Bob will spend his Saturday gaming with his friends like he does almost every Saturday. I will not throw away my Saturday and miss a chance to try and regain a normal social life because of someone else’s poor planning.
Also to Joe, on the off chance that you should ever read this, I think you’re a pathetic slimy creep. Every time I see you I imagine landing an airplane on those veneers you call teeth. You’re lucky I didn’t call the cops on you when you jokingly told my kids that you were their new daddy. I won’t go on because I’m trying to make this blog a positive space so just count yourself luck that I’m too much of a lady to tell you how I really feel.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Babs
