10:23 PM - 24.11.04
Two step Progress
The sweet scent of woodsmoke is wafting through the open doors and windows of our home right now. The temperature is 7 C/45 F. The reason? Well the plumber finally showed up this morning to complete or fix the problems from the last two visits. I refused to have the person who had been here twice before back - I want plumbing that works, not a long term relationship. My youngest and I have been on antibiotics for ten days now, meaning the house has been shut up tight, because it has been cold. We haven't been able to keep up with any but basic housework and paperwork. With 20 plus cats in the house and plumbing that isn't working to boot it means the scrubbing and sterilizing that should have occurred didn't. We didn't really notice because we can't breathe that well. It was obvious that the plumber had no such impairment and that he found the smell in the house quite strong. Oi. How to make a good impression 101.
Anyway he did the repairs that were essential and has made arrangements for most of the other problems to be dealt with. The one thing that really irks me though, is that the first plumber cut out a number of tiles to put the new tap into the shower stall and refused to replace or recaulk them. The hole left behind means that water pours down into the laundry room in the basement onto the washer and dryer every time one of us showers. Death by electrocution. That is exacerbated by the fact the faucet that the other fellow put on is too short for the depth of the lip around the tub. The water barely clears the side and often is slopped onto the area just where the tiles are now missing. The owner said he would replace the faucet but not fix the tiles - "that's not plumbing".
The upshot of the visit, other than more frustration, was that I still had several sinks of dishes to wash because the first plumber had also taken out the t joint that was on the pipes under the sink and refused to replace it when he repaired the burst pipe. After that I decided I'd better clean out the rest of the house now that I had ready access to water again. Unbeknownst to us the cats started making their toilette under the stairs going to the basement, so that room had to be sluiced out and everything in it thrown away. After that was done we decided we'd better give the house a good airing too. That had to wait until tonight because I had several errands to do and hence the open doors now.
First errand after the plumber left was to submit my originals of my Records of Employment to the correct government office. Sitting around for two days waiting for the plumber to arrive meant that my claim still wasn't being processed pending that little bit of paperwork. That was about two hours worth of travel time and ten minutes standing in line to drop them off. Oh well. Picked up more food supplies on the way home, then settled in front of the computers. Elections Canada had left voicemails from two different people each with different requests for information. Needed to check on their beastie to see what records I had for them.
Next was job search time - sent out a couple more resumes. For the schooling application, one of the requirements is that one must call at least five businesses that use the services of people taking the same training as I hope to, to interview them on a number of issues. I called Justice Canada, the Securities Commission, one law office and two placement agencies that specialize in those professions. One of the agencies asked for my resume and booked an interview with me for next week. Alright - even without the paper that says I passed.
In my snail mailbox was a Christmas card and invitation to the document management company's Christmas party in early December. It was obvious that the envelope had been ripped open in several places and sloppily repaired. The invitation said to RSVP their staff function organizer no late than November 22. I called her just to explain why I hadn't been polite enough to meet her deadline thinking that the invite was likely held up at the post office until someone got around to fixing the damage done to that envelope. She just said that she had sent my invitation out late so that deadline didn't apply to me. I thanked her for including me, but just noted I don't go out to social functions on my own and that none of my sons were available to escort me on that night. I sent a thank you card to my supervisor too just to be sure he didn't think I was being snotty about current work conditions. It was very thoughtful to include me since most consultants aren't invited to any company functions.
So that's my story for today. I need a nap. Good night dear diary.
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