Hey here I am again writing about holiday disasters.
The holidays have come and gone, and I just now feel it necessary to record the further dealings with OP.
This year we had an extended adventure; potatoes attacking, cabinets destroyed, hotel rooms, hospital visits and I've had my ducts cleaned (oh if only they were )
We've had a third party negotiator (you might think of them as a therapist) for some time now, and just before the holidays I sat in a couples session trying to communicate with the OP just how much crap I have to do, dealing with coworkers who behave like they are 5, then coming home and dealing with more 5 year olds, and how much I needed a break.
I go to work the next day, only to get a message on the phone that "we" need to deal with the snow in the driveway. Sigh. Fine add it to the list. I then give her a call to tell her I will be late from work that evening. Only I get "your son has been horrible all day, the basement is flooded" click. Well, now I'm in no hurry to go home, so off I go to organic money. Do a little shopping, pick up dinner for me and then head home. Only I'm not going to go in the house. I park, get the shovel and start clearing the driveway.
Sometime during the shoveling, OP comes to the door and says we need to talk. I say I'm busy and continue shoveling. OP "requests" a talk again. I say that I'm wiped out, and I'm just going to do the shoveling right now, at which point I get "fine then you need to call a plumber". I say no, and OP storms into the house. Back to my happy shoveling I go.
Finally, tired and with no snow left to deal with, into the happy house I go. Apparently the kitchen sink had gotten blocked up because of potato peels in the drain. The water had managed to leak out of the pipes under the sink into the cabinet under the sink. The sink has had a leak in the past, so the wood has already taken a beating and water has gone into the basement as well. I do what I can to clean it up, try and fix the drain (with no success). I go into the basement, no flood, just a small area with water which I quickly clean up and go to bed.
The next day, just to start off right, I go downstairs, fix the drain and clean out all the potatoes.
When OP gets up I tell her I fixed the drain (she's surprised at this) and says I need to call the plumber to cancel the appt she made. Uh uh, you did it you can undo it. I also then say that if she and child stay in a hotel that night, I'll fix the cabinet. OP would rather have a professional and says I need to be home for it (yeah, right) and I repeat that I will deal with it.
I go to work, and see that a pretty big snow storm is coming again that night and make my plans to leave work reasonably early. But before that I get a call telling me I need to come home because the 'professional' will be there and OP has no one to take care of our son. I say that's not possible... click.
So (drama rising) I drive home in the snow storm, doing my best not to slide around on the road. Now the fun begins... as I pull up to my no longer so lovely house, I see two trucks "Flood and Fire Specialists" parked in the driveway. Walking in the door three guys are leaning over where my kitchen sink once was, look at me and say "hi we're destroying your kitchen".
The OP is sitting in the living room. "I have to go get our son" she says, gets on her coat and goes (strange, I rushed home because I thought I had to take care of him). As I'm standing there the guy then grabs a hammer and BAM, right through the drywall. Yup, wet he says (funny, looked pretty dry to me given the dust when you hit it).
I find my kitchen sink in the dining room.
They get a phone call, circle around, turn on some fans and say "looks like you'll be getting a new kitchen for xmas". F you Mr. Happy Flood guy. They then pack up, "got another job" and leave.
Alone in my house, I eat my dinner and sometime later get a phone call from the mother of one of my sons friends. "What do you want me to do with your son?" strange, OP left about an hour ago to get my son. "Oh well she had to run an errand for me, she must be doing that first". Uh huh, so again no real hurry except to get me dragged into this f-up....
02-10-2008 02:20 PM 
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