browser life

Ok, to recap, my basement flooded in April. In the process of removing damaged drywall and insulation, it was discovered that the foundation was cracked and the southern wall of the basement beginning to sag. Anchors were placed and a secondary drainage system installed in July, and we were instructed to tighten the anchors once a week until the beginning of September, which we faithfully did.

In July, I informed the carpenter who had removed the drywall, insulation, brickwork, desk, shelves, etc. to make room for the foundation company's work that I would be needing him to come by the week after Labor Day to put everything back together. He agreed. I called him in September, and he said he was so behind schedule with other projects that he wouldn't be able to come out until the end of the month, which annoyed me, but I agreed to call him back then.

So I call him end of September. He says he's even further behind and won't be able to start for a few more weeks. I call him one more time last week, and he finally agrees to come out on Friday afternoon to assess what needs to be done.

I hurry home from aquacise on Friday, make a quick lunch and wait in the living room because I don't always hear the doorbell in other parts of the house. I wait for three stinking hours. No phone call to say if he's gonna be late or just won't be coming by.

I'm pretty ticked out being blown off, and since Dan was home a little early from work this afternoon, I ask him if he'll call the carpenter for me. Dan does, and the guy is rude to him! Gives all kinds of excuses and then finally says he'll TRY to come by sometime end of this week or next and that he'll call before he comes over.

I understand that projects often take more time than planned, but it's inexcusable to say you're going to be someplace and then not show up and not call to re-schedule. And then to get all defensive when someone asks where you were is pretty unprofessional. But this guy is the only one who knows what the basement looked like before it was dis-assembled, and it would be so much simpler for him to put everything back together than for me to try to get a stranger to try to figure it out (we're trying to re-use as much as possible because we don't have the money to buy many new materials).

The other problem is that Dan and I cannot afford to go to a large company to get this work completed. We're already paying copious amounts of money monthly to pay off the Mayo Clinic and the loan we had to get to pay the foundation repairs. The carpenter we're using is a friend of the family and has been cutting us a lot of slack financially.

So I guess you do get exactly what you pay for. But, dammit, I want my basement back! Last night, the temperature got down to freezing, and it really sucks that there's no insulation on the walls that got worked on.

I'd be tempted to see if we could do this ourselves, but there are exposed electrical wires and other hazards, not to mention plenty of drywall dust still around to aggravate my asthma. So I guess I'll just sulk while waiting around for this dude to maybe get around to us by Thanksgiving. One thing is for sure: the other work we need done on the house will be handled by someone else, probably next year if we are lucky enough to get a tax refund then.

In other news, I finally have worked my way up to 20 minutes on the Gazelle machine (a non-impact glider). Crap, it hurt those last five minutes! Low back spasms, pain in my right foot (I think the plantar fasciitis is getting worse), legs shaking, and feeling as though vampires drained me of all my energy which has persisted the rest of the day.

But I am creeping slowly closer to that magic 30 minute, three day a week exercise mark that is supposed to "cure" my fibromyalgia. And I still do aquacise three other days a week. Too bad this stuff still kicks my ass energy-wise, but the majority of rheumatologists in Sioux Falls couldn't possibly be wrong, could they?

One more note and then I'll have to quit so I might not sleep through my aquacise class in the morning (even though I couldn't get up until noon today). I have been keeping one of my New Year's resolutions, believe it or not, the one about cooking. At some point, I plan to post about all the new dishes I've made; for example, this coming weekend I'm going to make "Taco Pasta Bowls" using homemade enchilada sauce since I can't find any gluten free canned stuff in Sioux Falls.

Just wish I could fix my basement as easily as I can make stir fry Thai noodles.