the dailypic 4923 yr14 175 The Replacments

Sixteen weeks later… we will finish a load of laundry. Today the final touches were put on the replacement bathroom, the washer and dryer were hooked up, and all that is left is one set of doors and painting. It is 100% functional. The new machines are running their first loads as I type. Sixteen weeks is a third of a year. yet I have been told many times, “wow, that was quick.” It was not quick. I suffer from ‘relative expected patience.’ I have patience, ‘REP’ is different than not having patience, but it can be just as bad. See those of us with REP do the math in our heads on how long something should take, then hold everyone else to those expectations. I can see how this could be considered unfair.

I have learned so much about things in the last 16 weeks. We are in an interesting position to learn things from. First, the room that burnt was only built seven years ago. And this was not the first fire. We had one back in 2009. These two things feed my relative expected patience calculations. Experience in two parts should lead to a reasonably accurate calculation, right? Wrong, see, I forgot an essential piece of math. The world’s axis shifted, and now things are different forever. Call it C*vid, evolution, global division, generational angst, whatever you want. It needs to be added to EVERY math equation going forward. However, it is a shifty little variable.

Take the lessons from the first fire. Similar situation in the level of damage. Dealing with insurance, mortgage companies, and investigators, should be similar to the first time, but it was not. Seems to be a lot more people involved, in spots where there does not seem to be a need, and anything you need will cost you more money and time. Everyone we had on our side, our adjustor, builder, and suppliers, were excellent. But in situations like this, there are two teams. Our team, our circle I just listed, and the other team, insurance, mortgages, banks, etc. It seems somewhere along the road, a ton of other people came out of the woodwork with questions, price hikes, and distractions. They are not a third team, ‘team’ would imply they are working together. I wish they were a team, be much easier to deal with. No, they are small entities fueled the same way: get paid, charge more, and eat time. I feel a lot more people made money off my fire than the first time. Then there is inflation, that is what it is, and it is real – we all know this – and the cost is not what it was seven years ago. Not even close. Managing these things is a job. I was seasonal help for my bathroom for sixteen weeks while it took some time off. Well, it is time for it to get back on the job and clean my damn clothes before I lose my relative expected patience. As far as my math goes, it is eight weeks late for work.

This is my circle I will always recommend:

Builder: Tucker Construction, Bellingham, MA

Insurance Adjuster: Gentili + Rossini Associates, Andrew Walsh, Franklin, MA

Appliances: Frank’s Appliance Service, Milford, MA

tr/trp