Piss and Moan

Estimate on the estimate?

Posted on March 18, 2021 by backuphill

Working with contractors is a frustrating endeavor. Sometimes I wonder how some of these outfits stay in business since they apparently have a hard time following through with even the simplest part of the job – giving a potential customer an estimate or bid for a proposed project.

Now, maybe I am wrong (I have been know to do that once in a while) but I would think that these business would be falling all over themselves to line up jobs for the year. At the very least, get the estimate out there for consideration. Granted, not every potential client will choose them for varying reasons, but you can’t get a job if you don’t give the customer even the chance to consider you.

I am looking at having a concrete patio build off the back of the house (its not a small job) and I would like someone who knows what they heck they are doing rather than a few “weekend warriors” to tackle it with me. So, I have called about 17 different businesses in the landscaping to concrete categories. Of those calls, only 14 had the courtesy to call back, 11 came out to look at the project, and only 8 have submitted a bid for consideration.

Are these companies THAT busy that they just don’t need the work? Are they overwhelmed with job opportunities and can’t get the process started? I am confused as to why even the easy part is difficult to do.

I texted two of the businesses that came by to look at the job and said they would submit an estimate within a few days. Four days after they stopped by I asked for an estimated time on when they would get the estimate sent off to me. So, I asked for an estimate on the estimate. Only one has bothered to respond so far, and he has set his deadline for himself as “today.” I guess I’ll see.

Anyway, thought I would vent about a frustrating process I have been dealing with for over a month. I am hoping to have a decision made by the end of the week, so fingers crossed I get a couple more estimates to work with and compare.

Anyone else had a (or multiple) frustrating interaction with a contractor as of late? What has been your experience in the last year or so (setting aside that many couldn’t work for a short while because of “precautions” related to Covid-19)?

Virtual over the shoulder

Posted on March 16, 2021 by backuphill

In my line of work, I do a lot of “virtual over the shoulder” looking at a client’s computer. It’s the best way to help them troubleshoot issues they have in the software and we can help them (sometimes “holding their hand”) as work through processes to get the data they need. This is, of course, with their permission.

The matter is entirely different when you haven’t explicitly authorized a computer/mobile operating system, app, or browser, to look over your shoulder virtually while you use a device. Instead they collect more and more data about what you do and where you go, all in the name of providing information and data to people who want to sell you things (or have other motivations).

I am getting more and more wary of the intrusiveness that we have allowed, mostly without a fight. We just accept it.

So, I have started looking at alternative browsers that provide more of the privacy that we should want, but moreover expect. I have used Chrome for years and years, both personally and at work. However, as more information comes to light about business practices and intrusiveness (even the “incognito” mode tracks you) it becomes harder and harder to accept.

Transitioning to something different is difficult because you inevitably are going to be asked to sacrifice something in the trade-off. Weighing all those factors becomes somewhat of a challenge since there are benefits with the varying products that are out there. The nagging question is always, “What’s the best way to go from here? Am I making the right choice?” It’s a question I haven’t been able to settle as I look at the different options.

So, what say you?

Are you on a similar journey and what are you finding? Have you taken steps to move browsers and what did you consider as you did so?

Tell me what you are considering, or considered if you have already made the move.

Space fatigue

Posted on March 15, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas on Pexels.com

Space is not endless, at least not in the “out of this world” sense.

We humans like to collect stuff. Some of it is useful, some not so useful. Some of it is because of nostalgia, memories, sentimental value, or whatever and then sometimes it’s just because it’s cool. Whatever the reason we collect stuff, there is always a tipping point that each of us reaches.

“Where am I going to put this?”

Space, especially in a small-ish house, comes at a premium. There is only so much space. You can only rearrange it so many times before you just don’t have any options left. You can stuff it full (hoarders?) or you can try to maintain a balance, but for every single thing that comes into the house there has to be a space for it to go.

Why do we have a hard time letting go of things? What is it about an item that makes us keep them for whatever weird reason it is? Why do we even store things for other people (kids, relatives, friends) when we don’t have space for ourselves?

A tipping point has been reached here.

There can be no more things brought home without giving up ground on something that no longer has a useful purpose, or is used more than a couple times a year. There just can’t be more. It’s hard to say, “No,” to someone or even myself but there is this fatigue that becomes too great for trying to make things “work” or “fit.”

This space is either going to be the final frontier with manageable things, or it’s time to explore different worlds and expand this universe.

Changing time

Posted on March 12, 2021 by backuphill

It’s time to change…the change of time…

It’s time to dump the silly “Fall back” and “Spring forward” nonsense. It was probably useful at a time, but that time has passed and it is time to move on. Time is ticking…can’t waste even a second…no time like the present…

(It is weird that there are so many “time” clichés?)

Anyway, WA state passed the necessary laws it needed a while back to stay on Daylight Savings time, but they can’t go into effect unless Congress acts and makes it a federal thing. Thankfully, it has been reintroduced in Congress and it might actually have enough traction to pass this time, or time to pass, or…well, you get it.

Business people, health people, regular people all have said it is time to go. Everyone hates this ritual and there are lots of reasons for it’s time to pass. Let’s just hope Congress get’s their act together and makes it happen. This could be the very last time we need to do it (for those of us that have had to do it since it was instituted).

It’s time to make this change permanent…this time.

What do you think? How do you feel about this issue?

(How many times did I use the word time in this blog about the time change?)

Loss of freedom

Posted on March 11, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Paulo Marcelo Martins on Pexels.com

Did everyone really think China was just going to leave Hong Kong alone when the British handed it over 23 years ago? Sure, the agreement said that China would have to keep it’s democracy intact and not limit the freedoms of the people loving there. Ha! With a wink, wink, and a nudge, nudge China said, “Sure, we’ll do that.” But they secretly had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

We have watched the slow-ish erosion of freedoms ever since. Today, the Communists in China effectively eliminated democracy from the one area most hoped would have greater influence on the rest of China. The resistance in Hong Kong has been admirable, but Communism just keeps on rolling. Mao is probably dancing in his grave today.

I feel sad for the people in Hong Kong. Their lives aren’t going to get better. It almost always goes the wrong direction when it comes to this stuff.

That Great Wall of China just got, for all intents and purposes, a little longer.

When it don’t

Posted on March 10, 2021 by backuphill

Yesterday. Yesterday was a challenge. Well, not the whole day, but a part of the day that mattered more than the rest, if that makes sense.

Like most people who are working from home these days, Zoom or Teams or whatever video conferencing platform you use is kind of an essential part of your job. Meeting with clients, meeting with your supervisors/teammates/co-workers, or meeting with potential clients is something that typically needs to be done several times throughout the day.

Yesterday, I was co-hosting a meeting (a training) with clients and the challenges of the day started shortly after the meeting began.

First, the video started to freeze and the sound was choppy. Then the internet just dropped altogether.

Gone. Kicked outta the meeting.

I frantically tried to reconnect, and within a minute or two I am back in the meeting. Apologies to my co-worker and clients.

15 minutes later I am dropped again.

This time, after waiting for over 5 minutes to get a signal back, I find there just is no internet at all. Damn. Wait several minutes, still no internet. Wait several more minutes, look to see if there is internet by staring at the router. It says there is WiFi, but of course that just means it is broadcasting not that there is data being transferred.

I tell my phone to stop using WiFi and then log into the Xfinity app. Sure enough, internet is down for maintenance in the area. Affected customers is between 51-500. “Expected restoration of services…” is an hour and a half. Seriously?

How about a little warning? Or, better yet, if this was an unexpected outage, how about a text message with info letting me know this info without me having to become a detective for the internet signal?

Thankfully the outage didn’t last as long as they estimated. The internet came back and I logged back into the meeting after 30 minutes. It appeared that I might get kicked from the meeting again after 20 minutes, but apparently they figured out something and I was able to co-host as expected.

The internet is obviously a necessity these days, especially when it comes to work.

But, when it don’t work, it don’t work. And neither do you.

Random questions

Posted on March 8, 2021 by backuphill

Ever get a totally random question during a conversation with someone that has nothing to do with what you were talking about?

The kind of question that makes you think, “What do they know and how do they know it?”

After all, the question is based on information they aren’t supposed to have or know about. But, based on the randomness of the question, it makes you think they know something they aren’t supposed to and not letting on what they know.

And then, to top it off, they just drop the subject altogether and then move on, like they were just trying to gauge your reaction. Kinda like they are pushing your buttons just to see what happens.

Ever happen to you?

Asking, for a friend…

Posted on March 5, 2021 by backuphill

Asking for a friend. It’s a rhetorical question, really, but I still need to ask just to get it off my chest. You can provide your answers to the question in the comments, if you are so led. What would you do?

Scenario:

If you knew someone (let’s say a really good friend or even a family member) was struggling financially and you know that they had a history of making really poor decisions, what would you do when you learned they made yet another one?

Said someones are on state and federal assistance, have four kids, can’t keep up with rent or other bills, has debt collectors “knocking on the door,” and is basically using every sort of charity they can qualify for to meet needs the other sources can’t or won’t meet.

It’s tax return season and they likely will be getting a pretty substantial return based on the low income from the previous year and the number of children. There is also a pending 3rd stimulus payment coming up, so there is money coming in that could be used to do what needs to be done to get caught back up.

But, instead of using the money to do the right thing, some of the money is being used to ponder a move to another state, has been used to purchase flights to the possible state, and of course the spending for the trip will go up from there. The trip is being seen as a “vacation,” almost a scouting trip for their plans.

Advice?

They have been advised that moving is expensive (especially to a new state). They don’t have any prospects of a job at the place they would move. They have no real clue what the living expenses are like there.

They won’t listen to good counsel. Others have told them this is a terrible idea. Yet they charge forward.

So, I am asking for a friend…

What would you do? How would you address this? How would you go forward in this situation?

Buffer

Posted on March 4, 2021 by backuphill

I made a mistake. I think (at least I think I think) I knew better, but I ignored my better instincts that told me I should do something that I did not.

I should have left a buffer day between returning from vacation and going back to work.

This getting home late and then getting up early for work stuff is terrible.

Of course, now I am on the second day back at work but I can now see that yesterday was a terrible day. There was just too much to do on the personal side of things to get caught up on time to work on the work side of things too. That cause stress…probably self-imposed stress, but stress nonetheless.

I think it is smart to include that buffer day. A day to catch up on home stuff, ease back into the regular schedule, and mentally prepare for what is to come once back at work. I didn’t do the buffer day because I was trying to be frugal with the vacation days. Not that I have to be, that’s just the way I am.

Anyway, regular schedule is back in full swing and I am not fully adjusted. But, it is what it is.

Retirement looks better and better, 20 years from now…

The road seems so long.

Travel day

Posted on March 2, 2021 by backuphill

The trip home will begin shortly and I don’t like using the app the write. So, I’ll update you on how the return home goes tomorrow.

I already know there will be a less comfortable trip based on an email I got a couple days ago…so there’s that to look forward to.

Catch ya tomorrow!