Monday, June 14, 2010

When your life's Garmin isn't working...

I was talking to a friend recently and we were lamenting the fact that neither one of us feels like we should pay annually to update our Garmin's. It seems like we paid so much for them, and neither one of us wants to continue to pay the cost.

Sometimes, life feels like that.
Before Garmin how did things get done? Before Mapquest? You figured it out or asked someone else right? Maybe even read a map? (Which, I still don't know how to do, but I've made it this far...)
Well, in yet another installment of "This old house" I called a contractor to help me remove the old grab bar from my shower and get rid of the rust which ran down from under the grab bar.
$1,500 was the quote.
Single mom says what?
No.Freaking.Way.
#1- Not in the budget
#2- What part of me appears to be stupid?
#3- I can do this. Um, I've seen commercials for CLR! Myself!
Ever since I got the phone call with the estimate on Friday I was stressed out about this. $1,500. That is A LOT of money. For one tub renovation? And not even a great one? No way. But at the same time, every day I dread getting into a shower with rust build up running down it. And this is a company I have used before and charged me MUCH LESS for the same work. So I was pretty shocked to get that quote. Had I been anticipating anything close to that I would have never wasted their time...
No. By Sunday after much brewing (albeit in a rusty shower) I was pretty fed up. And while I'm not quite ready to call myself "Katie the shower repair lady" I did make a trip to Home Depot and purchased my own CLR, clear caulk and appliance repair touch up paint. And some lawn bags. I spent under $20.00 and fixed my own problem.
Which leads me to feeling like Caroline, Tessa and myself deserve a Wii.
Which I never ever would have believed was SO FUN before Saturday night...
Which is another story all in it's own. For another time.





4 comments:

Katherine said...

Oh I SO want a Wii - my daughter wants it for Dance Dance Revolution... maybe I need to call someone with a quote on my bathroom to push me over that edge! :)

Don't you LOVE it when you tackle a job like that? My daughter has heard me say on many occasion, especially after fixing the oven and two toilets, "I don't NEED no stinkin' man!" GREAT JOB!

Polly said...

KT. Ive missed you!! So glad and happy to see your comment at my blog and I hope you are doing well. xx

Nanny Goats In Panties said...

Awesome! I'm thinking they over quoted you because they're having money troubles of their own, rather than actually charging you what the job is worth. Good for you taking care of it yourself.

Anonymous said...

KT I can not believe you have a blog. you need to contact me dbrack14@comcast.net. Dana Brackett


MusicPlaylistRingtones

Blog Design by JudithShakes Designs.