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Archive through January 14, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: Free Expression... (ARCHIVES): The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread (ARCHIVES): Archive through January 14, 2005 users admin

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Mak1
Member

08-12-2002

Monday, December 27, 2004 - 6:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sorry, Eeyore, I didn't really mean to make light of your predicament. I think it's mean and inconsiderate for you to be stuck working that way, and I hope you get some big tips!

Reading the other stories here makes me feel grateful for both sides of my family. We certainly have our quirks and communication gaps, but we do get along well for the most part. It might help that our families aren't large.

Reader, that sounds so sad about your MIL. How did she handle the holiday on her own?

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 9:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My gripe...the former owners of the house I just purchased were f'ing cheapskates. Although I knew they had made few, if any, improvements to the house in the 50 years they owned it (original hardwood floors and plaster walls are great... original plumbing and electrical are not), I didn't realize what they had actually screwed up by doing things the cheap way.

Examples:

My new toilet cost $657, most of which was installation, because when the former homeowners had to install plumbing for sewers, they failed to replace all the lead pipe, simply marrying the PVC to the existing lead pipe -- with no trap in the PVC, and no shut off valves to any fixture. Installation of the dishwasher and garbage disposal cost as much as the dishwasher itself, because of all the additional plumbing required --including shut off valves for the sink.

What little insulation is in the house (in the attic roof) needs to be ripped down, because they stapled it TO THE ROOF itself. Yep, compressed insulation, no gap to allow air to circulate, and all of it hidden until the contractors started to install the powder room in the attic. And no insulation whatsoever in the walls, which I didn't find out until I had the French doors installed in the dining room.

Every friggin' outlet in the house had to be replaced because they were so old plugs wouldn't stay in them. I knew the electrical panel needed to be replaced (up to a 200 amp circuit breaker service from a 60 amp fusebox), and GFI circuits need to be added to the bathrooms, kitchen and basement, but who knew they *taped* plugs into the outlets... And when they added an electric dryer, instead of adding a subpanel to the existing panel, they somehow added an additional meter to the house and who knows...all of which needed to be rewired correctly.

My least favorite words from a contractor are now, "Gee, never saw that before..."



Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 10:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
If they were in the house for 50 years, my guess is they were less than young people. I would suppose money played a very big part in their decisions. We're sort of falling into that catagory in having to make some tough choices in how we have to approach household repairs. Money, or lack thereof, is very much an issue.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 10:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I swear I live in that same house prisoner. Thank god we don't own it. We'd have to gut it completeley. No plaster walls, they just coverd things up with marlite. Holes, seams, outlets, light boxes. You name it, they cheaped out on it.

Prisonerno6~~~Escapee......sounds like we'd make a good team! LOL

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 11:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
They didn't fix things right, they fixed it so "It'll be fine for now". Then never did it the right way.

I hope that when you purchased the home, the realtor or appraiser did a walk through with you and disclosed all of this and deducted it from the asking price.

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 11:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Exactly, Escapee -- and they did that for fifty years. My impression was it was less a case of not having the money and more a case of just being cheap. The friggin' toilet was original to the house. Surely in 50 years they could have saved up for a new toilet. Granted, they didn't have to get the $300 superflush Toto I put in...but an American Standard Cadet at about $100 would have been better than the rusted out monster that was there -- and that overflowed the first night I was in the house. Not too mention the savings in water usage would have paid for the toilet in the long run.

Much of it, like the toilet, was a case of shortsighted money saving. When I had fuel oil delivered, I found out that the last delivery they had was only 100 gallons, just enough to get them through closing. Now, if you have less than 150 gallons delivered, you pay a $60 surcharge -- so they paid a $60 surcharge to avoid paying for oil they didn't think they would use. They also hadn't had the furnace cleaned in "quite some time," according the furnace guys, which, of course, saves them the cost of cleaning, but costs them more to run the furnace.

I did know a fair number of the improvements that would have to be done before making an offer (like the electrical and some of the insulation problems), and my offer took that into consideration. The offer was contingent upon an inspection -- but they made the inspection informational only. In other words, they wouldn't pay for anything the inspection turned up; my only option would be to walk away. However, a lot of what we have found during demo didn't turn up in the inspection...like the hidden lead pipe or complete lack of insulation in the walls or only one shut off valve for the whole friggin' house.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 10:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
So more or less you bought "as is". But, the realators and appraisers know every nook and cranny before selling, and by law (depending on state) they must disclose of certain things. It is somewhat against the law to sell at "money pit"

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 2:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
The realtors are under no obligation to know every nook and cranny -- they are obligated to disclose what they know, but that doesn't mean they've asked the homeowner. If it isn't on the disclosal sheet and hasn't turned up in an inspection, they don't have to ask about it. The appraiser has nothing to do with an inspection; they just determine the value of the house for the mortgage company. Even the inspector has a disclaimer saying they aren't liable for anything they don't find. They aren't going to tear apart walls to see if there is insulation, for example, or look for any hidden rotting lead pipe. The inspector just makes sure each electrical outlet has power; he doesn't make sure that things stay plugged in.

All houses are sold "as is" -- the seller isn't going to come back and fix something you find after you buy the house. In most cases, if the inspection turns up something that needs to be fixed (like an electrical system or termites), then the sellers are given the option of either fixing it, or offering a reduction in the price of the home to cover the cost. Usually they opt to do one of those, because if they find something wrong in the inspection and the seller backs out, then they have to disclose that to the next buyer. In my case, since I knew about the electrical and the furnace issues, I offered about %10 less than the asking price. They added a stipulation to the contract that the inspection was informational only -- they wouldn't fix anything that the inspection found, so all I could do is walk away. Since it didn't turn up anything unexpected, I went ahead with the purchase. It wasn't until later that I found the hidden stuff.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 5:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Prisoner, your story sounds like so many I have heard. Hope that you are able to make the changes that the house needs. The proverbial "money pit" syndrome certainly does exist.

My parents bought a home that had old mattresses in the walls for insulation. They had become damp and were rotting out the wood...quite a mess.

A week after I bought my current home, the bathroom sink fell off the wall breaking the pipes and causing a flood in the basement. Needless to say, I had to put in a new bathroom and then discovered that the bathtub was in danger of dropping through the floor to the basement because of rotten wood. None of it showed up in inspections.

Wish that it had been different for you!

Eeyoreslament
Member

07-20-2003

Monday, January 03, 2005 - 1:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Mini-update: I finished work New Yr's Eve and got home and to sleep around 430 am. I slept through my alarm(830am), and was 25 minutes late for work in the morning, but it was OK because they over-staffed for the morning, so there was very little setup necessary. The morning shift was fine, I was the first one off and home by 5pm, and I didn't have to work in the evening either. Believe it or not, I was actually in a decent mood that morning.

ETA - My section on NYE was only 16 REALLY NICE ppl, and I walked with 200 after tipout, and the shift was so easy, and fun.

Apologies for the lack of complaint in this particular post. Give me a week, I'll find something.



Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 9:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well, we got my son's wheelchair after - forever - and it's no better after a year of use than the last one, but I'm grateful we have it. I wish MGA would get hers.

My gripe this time is also concerning my son's care - or lack of it I guess I should say. Why do some people go into a medical, theraputical, psychological, dental, or personal care profession in order to help those who need their expertise, when all too often it turns out they grow some kind of shell to distance themselves from the people for whom they are caring - and I use this term for lack of a better one. Of course there are some wonderful, caring, intelligent individuals out there, so why can't they be the ones who work with my son?

We recently asked the caregivers at the center why they were not including my son in the bowling outings. They offered no excuse but said they would look into including him. A couple of times they sent home a note saying he would be going and let us know the cost. Today I saw him with the group. When I walked up to say hello to him, I looked up at the score board to see how he was doing, only to find he was not listed. Yes, they included him in the outing. He was sitting in the back of the group with a coat draped over him because it was cold in there, but he wasn't doing any bowling.

Is he capable of bowling, you ask? Yes. Do they have a ramp? Yes. Do they care that he has bowled a 131 with no help except someone rolling him up to the ramp and placing the ball on it? No. Do they know this? Yes! Grrrrrrrrrrr

Hippyt
Member

06-15-2001

Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 10:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gracie,I am sorry. I have no answers,but I am just sorry.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 11:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gracie, that is just despicable! Caregivers should be the kindest, nicest people on the planet. I'm sure a lot of them are too, but if it were me I'd see some heads roll I'd make such a stink. I'm so sorry you are all having to go through this. {{{Gracie}}}

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 12:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
That is awful Gracie! I know when Mom was in the nursing home (to "finish rehab" from her stroke), they had daily activities. I asked them to include her, so she didn't spend all day in her bed just watching TV. They said they asked her (once), and that she "knew" the activities were going on, and if she wanted to participate all she needed to do was ask......of course, one of her problems from the stroke is her inability to initiate actions. So, she wouldn't initiate and ask to participate, but they wouldn't prod her along by asking if she wanted to. I even tried pointing out some activities I knew were going on in the morning (before I'd get there)that I knew she'd be interested in. The activities coordinator would say, "oh sure, we'll see if she wants to join in." I'd get there later and ask her if anyone came to get her to participate, and she'd always say "no."

I had to take it upon myself to read the activity schedule, and conveniently show up sometime before an activity I thought she'd be interested in and "suggest" to her myself that "we" go and take part in the activity.

Of course, I shouldn't have expected too much from them. Upon her arrival there, she had a bad case of hemorroids, so we got her some over the counter Prep H. They took that away from her and said she couldn't have anything without a doctor's note. They were going to "put it away" for her in some sort of storage with her name on it, and once they heard from her doc, they'd let her use some (under supervision). Three days later she still had them, but no Prep H. They said they were "waiting for the doctor to get back to them," that they'd faxed him and he hadn't responded. So I stood over the nurse's desk, whipped out my newly acquired cell, and told them to give me the doctor's number and I'd call him myself. She had her Prep H within the hour (the doc's office claims they never got a fax from the nursing home). Well, actually, she had some other form of cream, cause they "didn't know what happened" to the tube they "put away" for her. Never saw that particular tube again.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 7:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
(((((Grace))))))

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 9:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
(((Gracie))), give 'em heck!

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 10:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks for the hugs everyone. I just needed to let off some of the steam before I let the rest of the steam off when I blast them.

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 10:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Aww, Gracie. I just came here and read your vent--after reading your note in my folder. My heavens, vent away! I think I would have exploded all over someone by now. And it makes me doubly sad for people who have no one in their lives who care and are there for them.

Denecee
Member

09-05-2002

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 11:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
(((Gracie))) and ((((Gracie's son))))

Abby7
Member

07-17-2002

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 9:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Some people are just not worth even talking to or about. I'm so mad at myself because I'm old enough to know better, yet still fall in to the trap at times.

This gripe is about me and what an idiot I can be.

I really need to learn to just let certain, stupid, stupid things go.

God help me.

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 10:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Heck, Abby, that's normal to do that. And at least you realize, in the scheme of things, it is silly to waste your time and brainpower on figuring out ways to get an alien to scoop up that person and carry him/her away! LOL!

I burned inside for 2 years about a couple of ugly incidents with an old co-worker -- burned with a fire that I just could not put out. And then I finally (ever so slowly) let it go. Now I am free of the all-consuming anger, thank goodness.

Abby7
Member

07-17-2002

Thursday, January 06, 2005 - 10:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
thanks herckie:

so funny, between my post above and others dh came home and "someone else".

well, don't want to go in to it here but i ended up dying with laughter over the response to my "drama".

so funny, it's ridiculous.

when asked, "why even bother with it" we just laughed and it was all over.

then, i get a call.

well, a call so unexpected. about a "good deed" i had done so long ago I had completely forgotten about it.

well, that phone call changed my whole point of view about all the pettiness, discussion, people i even "spoke with".

hopefully, another lesson learned. forget about it. it's not important.

i really need to just enjoy my life and don't involve my life in ANY WAY with pettiness.

Jasper
Member

09-14-2000

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 1:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Pettiness is playing a huge part in my life at the moment and I am on the verge of jacking in a job I have had for seven years because I have just had enough of this person's small minded petty, vicious tongue. Everyday I walk in hear bracing myself for the next onslaught of some absolutely ridiculous complaint.

I made myself a list of a variety of "things" I was going to do this year from the smallest inane thing like eat at the dining room table with the "good" dishes just for the heck of it more often to not allowing people like the above stated interfere with my life. The only solution I feel at this point is to leave.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Friday, January 14, 2005 - 1:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Why can't my Mom's home oxygen rep get it right? Or maybe I'm the one who doesn't know things.....

It just seems simple to me. I request the tubing that has the foam ear cushions on it. So what does he do? Brings me 10 canulas, and three sets of ear foams. What am I supposed to do, take the dirty grungy foam off of the old canula, and put them on the clean one? Not to mention, when the ear foams come separate from the canula, they fall off. I had to go out and buy some cloth tape to tape them on so they'd stay put. At least he brought the ear foams this time. He usually doesn't. The other guy that had this route used to bring the canulas with the ear foams already on them.

Oh, and he brought just one piece of 25 foot extension tubing. Just how long does he expect us to use that? Certainly not as long as it takes to use up 10 canulas!

This is the guy who called a few months ago and insisted he had to come in and check the regulator. Just "routine." I told him to call in advance of his arrival, since I sleep in the day. He never even showed up. When it had been an hour late, I called his office, and they were supposedly relaying my message to him. Finally happened to turn my cell phone on, and there was a message from him there that he had been trying to "call me all day." Uh huh.

Rescheduled to his next day in our area. Never called. So I called him and he claimed he didn't know I meant I wanted to reschedule for that day.

Rescheduled again. Again I told him to call before he arrived. He just plain showed up. Thankfully I was up, but hadn't had time to vacuum. As I opened the door, and before I could even open my mouth to say hi, he demanded I put the dogs outside.



Vacanick
Member

07-12-2004

Friday, January 14, 2005 - 1:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm sorry you had to go through that Whoami. The Rep should have been more sensative. I can't believe he asked you to put your dogs outside.

We dealt with Home Oxygen Reps for years with my mom and sometimes they got it right and sometimes they didn't. But they were usually very good about correcting the mistake. I didn't even know they had canula's with ear foams, we used to use cotton balls.