Hello! I hope everyone is doing OK. We’re currently being hit by Tropical Depression Sally, and she has brought autumn with her. Sigh. Highs today and this week are only going to be in the 60s, and I see that a low next week will drop to 38. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, I miss summer already. Sally can go suck an egg.
Onto today’s main topic: hiring contractors. It is completely INSANE how difficult it is to hire a contractor. My mom has been trying ALL SUMMER to get someone out here to top three trees. They aren’t even difficult trees. I mean, they’re tall, obviously, but they aren’t near power lines, they aren’t near a house, they aren’t in our backyard or in a difficult place to get to. They are right out at the road, all next to each other. As far as topping trees goes, it should be a fairly quick and easy job.
Yet, she has called so many people to try to get someone out here to handle the task. I am not sure how many people she’s called, but most of them never call back. (We got a phone call from one who called three weeks after we left a message with them. We were confused as to who they even were until we referenced the list she has and saw when she had called them.) She has been able to get two people out here for an estimate. One of the estimates was insanely high. The other estimate was fine (half of what the first was), and she asked them to do it. Well, it was “we’ll come in a couple weeks,” “next week,” “end of the week,” and now it’s been enough lies to fill more than six weeks.
So, she’s called another contractor, who said he’d be out yesterday to give an estimate. Guess who never showed up? I really don’t understand this. I know that they are busy people. I know the weather has a huge impact on scheduling. But why make promises they can’t keep? At this rate, we are not going to get this done before the leaves fall. We’ll be lucky to get it done by winter. Completely ridiculous.
We had the same issue last year when we were trying to fix up our back porch to comply with an insurance request. We would have lost the insurance on the house if we didn’t get this fixed, and it was very stressful. Finally, finally, finally, we got someone to come out here to fix it. And they did such a good job, they are actually now our go-to handyman. Unfortunately, they don’t do trees.
When I had a house, this was my experience as well. I’d end up calling 10 people. Maybe seven would actually answer the phone or call me back within a reasonable amount of time. Of those, five would actually show up to give an estimate — though maybe one of those actually showed up when they said they would. Of the five, three would give reasonable estimates. Of those, one would actually show up to do the work. What a process and ordeal.
So, if you live in the Bristol, Virginia, area and know of someone who will actually do what they say they will do, let me know.
On a side note, I am actually waiting on three packages today. It’s crazy that they are all coming on the same day and all via UPS. One might not come until tomorrow, but still. They at least are in Bristol right now. I’m also waiting on a phone call from my car insurance company to hopefully get my rate reduced. I’ve driven maybe 15 miles in the past six months, and my rate is ridiculously high. It’s high even if I were driving around. So, hopefully, I can get that rate cut today.
Until next time!
Frazzled Daisy 
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