Completely Wipped Out

Thats the only way to describe me at the present. The past two days have wipped me emotionally, physically and in some sort of strange way taught me something new about myself.... or maybe its about men and women.

I suppose I should go back to the beginning and explain what has taken place, but a big part of me wants to just forget it all. It has been a literal nightmare. Yesterday when the Plumbing company got here I wasn't prepared to hear what they had to show and tell me. I had been walking around really believing that we had already done in the past so much work on the pipes I wasn't going to have anymore problems. That is my first lesson, in a old home like mine, dont ever assume you have it all fixed. So the blow of hearing that I need to have my bathroom demolitished and a huge part of the cement in the back was just the beginning. The next lesson I have learned is to follow my gut. See I didn't agree with what they were saying. My ex had really tore out a huge section where the bathroom is and replaced it all. To have roots inside the house, where he had done all that work around 8 or so years ago, just didn't make sense. I asked specifically, could you have dragged roots up with the snake. The manager replied no, as he went on to explain why not. Well, later on that night after I had given approval to begin work, or more like after I had signed my life and credit line away, the main guy overseeing this job sticks his arm up the pipe and sure enough.....roots that had been drug up. Good news! The bathroom didn't need to be redone. But he instead offered to pull instead of 5 or 6 feet of pipe out of the yard, more like 10. All for the same price. In all honesty, it really seemed to make the job easier on them to do this. He disagreed of course, but in my mind it seemed easier to have a huge section to work on instead of 2 splices. So what was suppose to be a 9 foot redo, ends up being about 17 feet redone. Manager wasn't too happy. He apparently forgot his comment that if they had to do a few feet more then wouldn't charge me any additional, and they didn't have to enter the house and demo it. Thank goodness or I would have had to quickly learn how to lay tile, since they don't replace the tile. Arrggh. OK so the pipe is repaired, and then the next hurdled. The guy decides to stick the camera even further down the line. Bad news, two more sections they believe. I don't, want to accept this, I didn't see it in the camera as they insist it is, so my blind faith is going to try some product called Root-X and hope for the best. I didn't even ask them to quote what that would cost, I know I can't afford it, and at this point, Im just getting more emotional and more frustrated with the job. The workers spent more time on the phones and chit chatting then doing the job. Thats fine, I honestly didn't care how much time it took after they had the pipe reinstalled, but please....where has the job ethics gone about doing a job well and doing it to a customers satisfaction. Ha! That leads us up to last night.

Its now about hmm, well its dark, and the kids are ready for bed so lets say around 7 ish. They start to lay the cement. Its a large area, and anyone who knows anything little about cement knows you can't stop once you start. About 10 I head outside and Im amazed watching them mix one bag of cement in a small wheel barrow after another. Ok Whatever, but then I look down. Its horrible. My beautiful cement porch backyard, a MESS, and thats putting it mildly. At this point they are thinking they are almost done. I look at them and say, "there is about an inch gap, downward between the old and the new. You need to add more cement!" They look at me kind of stupid like and say, oh really, you think we do....I insist and then they get back to work. I come out a few minutes later and say this wont do, its rocky looking, full of air pockets, its near the drain spout from the rain gutters, its going to fall apart. So they continue working for about another hour. At 11:30 they stop. The next morning I go out, my heart sinks. Its horrible looking, and worse looking in the day. They had smoothed out some of it, but Im sure it was layered dry and wet and you just can't do that with cement. I talk with Dennis, I talk with my dad, and Im upset (to put it mildly) but Im not sure what to do. Im a female dealing with a bunch of men, most of who can't speak much english. I don't want to be a pain, but I want what I paid $800 to have the cement redone, I could have spent the say $60 bucks on the product and redid it better then they had. So I stop and pray.

The manager comes by later, he sits outside kneeling down looking at it quite seriously. Im positive he has to see what a mess it looks like. So I walk outside. He asks how Im doing and I am honest and say Im upset because it looks horrible and all of my concerns about it. He assures me almost to quickly they will redo it. So today, I have new pipes, but a patch that has been jackhammered, but still sitting there in place. Its a huge mess, but they promise to take care of it. This is just a few of the issues. They billed me before the job, instead of after as they stated. The toilet they put in, leaked...no thats to kind, poured out, after they left.

So that leaves me............spent, whipped out, and with absolutely no desire to make any decision, opinion or thought to anything, including those daunting pinewood derby cars sitting on the fireplace haunting me. The element most struggled with that only a female could really comprehend is this. When faced with this sort of ordeal, you struggle not knowing if they are honestly being nice and trying to help you, or taking advantage of your vulnerablilty and emotions and getting the most out of you. A constant battle of the mind to fight through the emotions a woman is made with and designed as, but trying to see things as a man would. A perfect illustration as to why, 2 becoming one is the way God has designed us to be. We can feel complete in each other having the part we don't have acting on our behalf.

This will be looked back at as one of those footprint moments Im quite sure.

The LORD replied:

"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."