Tag Archives: aggravation

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Hold on a minute…

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My husband and I have great health insurance through his military service. We rarely have issues and there’s usually no reason to complain.

Until now.

Our medications are prescribed by our doctors and sent to a mail order pharmacy at their main campus here in Maine. Refills are done by phone and if there’s something you can’t wait the ten days it takes to process? You can pick it up in person.

Until now.

Because they shuttered the local pharmacy due to government staffing cuts a while back and if you have a problem now? Too bad, talk to the bots.

So of course we had a problem when their automated refill system updated and didn’t transfer payment information for security reasons. The next time I needed a refill? I was denied because they no longer had my credit card number.

When I tried to update it online it said no, I had to call and personally speak to a representative. The only problem with that was everyone else in this network found themselves in the same situation and there was only one phone number available.

One.

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See those numbers in the top right hand corner?

One hour, twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. That was me, on hold… and not the least bit happy about it.

In the end I waited over an hour and a half to speak to a human … and no, I was not pleased.

With no other way to update payment information and no chance they would fill prescriptions without payment… half the state of Maine was probably calling the same number at the same time.

It was maddening.

Even more maddening? That number is the same one we use for refills and now even the bots aren’t picking up because the system is overloaded with calls. And it’s not like we can drive to the pharmacy because they closed it.

Government efficiency my *ss.

😡

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So I bought a ring on Etsy.

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It’s a nice ring.

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Sterling silver with aquamarine.

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It seems well made and wasn’t expensive.

Problem?

It doesn’t fit.

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I wanted it for a large finger on my right hand and ordered the size 10 1/2 I always wear on that finger.

Clearly this wasn’t a 10 1/2.

I contacted the seller, who turned out to be Prateek from India.

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Uh, no you didn’t.

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You sent me a 9 1/2 to 10.

And when I sent Prateek this picture (of the ring sizer I bought to avoid problems exactly like this) to prove it?

He never replied.

Grrr.

😡

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Bedroom renovation project, part 7… a recap.

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Eleven days in, this is where we are.

Status: Suspended. No progress. Work stoppage until further notice.

Mood: Annoyed. Aggravated. And basically bat shit crazy.

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Part one, the windows –

We have two brand new custom built windows that are leaking air, gap ridden and nonfunctional. Our bedroom is still empty, torn apart, blind and curtainless.

We’re waiting to hear from one of the five specialty crews from the manufacturer who have been assigned to fix our problem. They cover the entire state and while they could be here tomorrow? They could also be here two weeks from now.

We are not happy.

Part two-

When last reported, our contractor had been sent out into the world to procure a door.

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A stinky little nothing special door which I figured everyone would have in stock and didn’t bother to special order because it would take too much time. I was wrong.

Boy, was I wrong.

Our contractor scoured the area, checking big box stores and small mom and pops. He even tried the Habitat for Humanity re-store.

Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

There isn’t a replacement door available in the size we need anywhere within a 300 mile radius. And probably beyond that. Hell, at this point I’m beginning to wonder if they exist at all.

So we’re going to have to do the thing I didn’t want to do in the first place, special order one. The contractor has been tasked with that job because if I have to think about doors any more than I already have? My brain will explode.

And because he’s special ordering one door?

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We’re having him special order a replacement for the other door which will eventually have to go as well. At least this way they’ll both be new at the same time.

As I write this, I have no idea of the lead time on special order doors. With my luck it will be sometime in mid December when there’s 3 feet of snow on the ground.

As always…

I’ll keep you posted.

🥴

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The door nightmare continues… and ends with a few margaritas.

13 Comments

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Since our contractor has to wait for the window company service reps to inspect that particular nightmare, he’s decided to replace the bedroom door now instead of later.

To recap… the door.

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Nothing special, just a regular door.

As I said earlier we wanted to replace it with something like this, though not in brown.

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Just a pretty little window at the top. How hard could that be?

After our multiple trips to Lowes with inadequate dimensions the other day, I had the contractor pull off the trim and take the rough opening measurements himself.

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I even had him fill out the form and check all the boxes so there would be no doubt.

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Height, width, depth and swing.

Those are the four things you need to know to purchase the correct size. I thought we were home free.

I was wrong.

Of all the doors they had in stock, and trust me… we checked all of them… not one could check all four of our boxes.

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We spent over an hour and a half driving the sales guys nuts looking for one with a window before we had to change gears and settle for the same type of plain 6 panel door we currently have.

Boo to that.

Of course it wasn’t easy finding one of those in the correct size either. After another half hour of searching the hundred doors they had in stock? We found two.

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The one on the bottom shelf had busted up trim, the one we made the salesman drag down from up top? Had a massive dent on the front.

At this point I was ready to call it quits, grab a piece of plywood and go home to seal up the bedroom wall.

But from the corner of my eye, way down the aisle, in a different section… away from every other GD door we’d looked at… was a row of fire safe doors. I asked if this door was suitable for an exterior entry and was assured it was.

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Yes. It was more expensive. (I didn’t care)

Yes, the trim would have to be purchased separately and more work would be required to install it. (I didn’t care)

It was the right height, width, depth and swing.

All four boxes checked.

Thank you Jesus. We grabbed it and ran out the door.

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Straight to our local pub where I consoled myself with a few positively scrumptious apple cider margaritas.

If something is wrong with this door when the contractor starts the replacement process?

I’ll pay him to go get a new one.

I’m done.

🥴

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Window replacement project, day two… things did not improve.

28 Comments

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When I left you yesterday, one window had been installed, and clearly it had issues.

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Many calls were made by our contractor to the store, the supplier and the company rep, but while he waited for answers he decided to replace the other window of the exact same size to see if the same issue cropped up.

This being our house, of course it did.

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The framing was measured six ways to Sunday before installation and all was well. Plum, level and perfect.

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Yet when the new window was plopped in, there was a similar gap on the side. Our contractor is flummoxed. So much so, he called other carpenter friends for advice, but everything they told him to do… he’d already done.

Did I mention the husband is not pleased and kept going in to help (read… talk the ears off) the contractor?

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It was beyond aggravating… and at the end of the day we had two new expensive windows in the bedroom, neither of which were airtight.

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But hey…there was an extra long shim in place that did double duty as a clock shelf , so it wasn’t a total loss.

😩

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And so it begins. Badly, of course.

28 Comments

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It started with our contractor being 3 hours late. Not a big deal in the scheme of things, but he was pissed because the windows we ordered were supposed to be delivered for free the day before and weren’t. This meant he had to empty his trailer and go get them himself which cost him… thankfully not us … 3 hours of work time.

By early afternoon, we had a hole in the bedroom where the old window was removed.

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The hole of which I had to make sure Lord Dudley Mountcatten was unaware, lest he take a flying leap to freedom.

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According to our contractor the old windows were installed incorrectly without the proper tape, sealants and secure flanges which would explain the leakage and rotted wood.

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Properly taped, the new window was installed.

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Mind you, we didn’t cheap out here and ordered some pretty expensive Marvin replacements. I expected them to be awesome.

The first one wasn’t.

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Though everything was level, flush and plumb with the frame, the bottom part of the window not only had a scratch in the glass but showed gaps to the outside on either side.

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And while I enjoy looking out the window? I don’t want to be able to stick things out the window.

Clearly something was wrong.

Of course it was… because no project ever goes smoothly at Casa River.

The poor contractor spent all afternoon taking it in and out thinking it was his fault, but it doesn’t seem to be. A manufacturing error… on our custom made expensive as shit window?

Grr…

And because we needed more bad news? Even if the contractor manages to solve the gap problem, our existing sill and trim don’t line up now and will all have to be replaced. Which will be true for the other four as well.

More work. More expense.

Why is nothing ever easy?

😩

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What fresh (ditch) hell is this?

24 Comments

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Our ditch is the gift that keeps on giving.

Or more accurately, the nightmare that never ends at this point.

It’s also why after my husband complained yet again to DOT, we woke up to this the other morning.

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A crew of workers with multiple pieces of heavy machinery …

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Spreading a line of dirt right next to the road.

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Which in theory sounded good.

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But in actuality will make no difference or help the original erosion problem.

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Because after sweeping it…

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The packer didn’t pack it.

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But road his little machine on the very edge of the road never compacting or even touching the dirt.

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WTH?

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We’d just started to see some grass grow on the sides which we were hoping would keep the erosion to a minimum…. and now there’s more unpacked dirt to wash away.

Where’s the logic in this?

Where….

🥴

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Well, this is new….

37 Comments

 

We’re inundated by telemarketers.

The phone rings day and night with scammers and I’ve gotten to the point where if I don’t recognize your number, I don’t answer.

 

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Sorry, even then.

We get all the usual ones…. Rachel from card holder services, the IRS, Windows tech support, expiring warranties, and occasionally the bank who wants me to pay back the college loans I never took.

But the other day, this message broke the monotony.

 

 

 

If any of my readers are fluent in Chinese….

Can you please tell me what I ordered and when it will be delivered?

 

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( Game of Thrones may be over…

But the memes live on. )