A day when things go really wrong. My Actifit Report Card: February 28 2 ex

@chiuzzu81 asked for details of a stressful day that I just got back from. So, instead of writing about what happened today in this version of my daily actifit blog I decided I'll tell of a pretty awful morning I had while I was away without internet.

On February 15th my contractor told me that my container home was complete and I could come up and see my new place.

It's a little funny looking because it is long and narrow but overall I like the look.

However, when I arrived it had numerous deficiencies. Now I won't go into all the details as I'm not here to grumble but I will say that the washroom wasn't exactly ready to go.

I mean this is the shower. Not exactly ready for use. Also there isn't a single pipe in the building so obviously the toilet, sinks and shower do not work. As a workaround my neighbor was kind enough to build me an outhouse.

It's not insulated and a fairly long way away from the home but when you have to go its nice to not have to go in the bushes. Even if the toilet seat is literally like ice in -5C weather.

Anyways I find myself in dire need of a washroom at 4:45am so I quickly put on my jacket, slide on some flip flops, unbolt the door and run to the outhouse with a flashlight in hand as its still very dark out.

This flashlight to be exact.

After doing my business I head back to the home to warm up. After all my feet are freezing (I have no socks, just flip flops) and I want to warm up. Except I didn't realize that the door has a lock what will let you out but not back in without a key. I don't have a key.

This is bad: It's -5C, I am wearing pajamas, slippers and a jacket. No wallet. No phone. No keys. Nearest neighbor is about a 30minute walk away (1.5km / 1mile). I'm pretty screwed.

I try all the windows to see if I can get in one of those. Unfortunately the evening before I checked all the locks to make sure the worked and they all did. The one in the bathroom was a little sticky though.

Result : No entering through a window.

By this time I'm weighing my options to make sure I don't get frostbite and die in the town of Rosswood.

Now my shed isn't locked and has a few very basic tools. I'm sad but I find a hammer and go to break a window. The windows are up high so I have to use a ladder to climb up. I bash on it a few times but no luck. I'm too weak, the hammer is too small, or the window is too tough. I'm really cold now so I check out the workshop and RV

.

You can see them in the distance beyond the garbage pile that the contractor left me. The workshop was unlocked and had heat. Horray! I wasn't going to die of hypothermia. The RV was also unlocked and had some clothes, socks, boots so I could work at breaking into my house without risk of frostbite. Still, putting on clothes that were freezing in an ice cold RV at 5am in the dark wasn't much fun.

Then I went back to trying to break into the house. I suppose its lucky that the contractors left some scrap metal pieces and their ladder. Two hours of bashing at the window with hammer, screwdriver and heavy metal deck supports and I finally managed to break the window and get into the home where it was warm and my wallet, phone and car keys were.

Horray!

Then I got to clean up broken glass, tape up the window to prevent wind or water from getting into the home and try to figure out how to board up the window and find someone to replace it. (sigh)

But I had to hurry and get to town (45min away) as I had a meeting with a tenant in an apartment there. I was late but that went well. After that meeting I needed to find a hotel and get a room so I could use the internet and get back to the contractor about deficiencies in the home. Plus discuss the price of the job.

The house was supposed to cost $85,000 with a 15% allowance for overages ($104,000). The final bill came in at over $127,000. Obviously $23,000 difference was something that needed to be discussed! In our initial discussions she agreed to drop the price so it would be only $8,000 more than contract.

So, after a harrowing morning I am finally warm and safe in a nice hotel room and decide to have a shower. After that I open up my email to an angry letter from the contractor saying how her offer to compromise on the price has been rescinded and she wants full payment.

Ugh.

Time to call lawyers (which I did).

Time to document all the deficiencies and prepare for a fight. I hate fighting. Now I won't go into detail but

Many things were obviously not right.

I'm having a pretty poor day but trying to stay in a good mood. Then I get an email from my travel agent. You see I'll be celebrating my 25th anniversary shortly and my family is planning on a cruise vacation.

Unfortunately the airline that we paid a few thousand dollars to for our flight went bankrupt and will not be honoring their tickets. Replacement tickets on another airline will cost an additional $4,000. I call up the credit card company about their trip cancellation insurance and am told that they don't cover bankruptcy. Very annoying because my American express insurance does but the VISA card insurance does not.

I'm feeling pretty down but have to work on finishing my letter to the contractor. I have to be honest and fair in my dealings while still being assertive that I'm not going to pay more than our contract for an unfinished home.

By 6pm I haven't had food for the day (been too busy with other stuff). I'm about to go for food when I get a phone call from my son.

He tells me he has been in a car accident. Of course my first instinct is to ask how he is! Luckily it was only a minor incident and he is fine but of course he is a bit shaken and wants to talk. Then of course I have to talk about the problems with the home. At 9 PM I'm done chatting and head out for food. Except the local restaurants are closed at that time.

I call my wife to tell her I love her. We pray and I go to bed hungry. Tomorrow is another day. Now I could have posted on Actifit that day. I had the steps and I had the story. Honestly though, I wasn't in a good mindset to be writing anything without a lot of venom in my words. I don't want to make venomous posts.

So, I wasn't going to post about this day but I did get a request so I have. To @monica-ene, @jmis101, and @jjmusa2004 just know that even in developed nations things can go badly wrong too :) And if you wonder why I haven't posted on #earn spend give, I've been dealing with other less pleasant stuff.

Thanks for reading
and have a great day everyone.

Or at least a day better than the one I just posted about :)
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Daily Activity, Home Improvement, House Chores, Walking