Things that (shouldn’t) surprise me

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Here is the offending insole. Notice that the rest of it doesn’t look worn.

I don’t wear out clothes or shoes. They get old or shabby. Some shrink to an unwearable size. They may be so dirty that I’m embarrassed to wear them but I never wear holes in them. If I want “distressed” jeans I have to buy them that way. My old jeans get thinner and shorter. No holes. Same with shoes.

Last week my big toe hurt. It felt like a blister so I checked it. There was a hole in my sock. Not on the top (where a nail can poke through) but on the bottom under my big toe. Usually I wear the heel area thin. I never get heavy wearing under my toe.

This week that same toe hurt again but this time it was worse. I had worn through the insole of my relatively new sneaker creating a divot that looked like a volcano crater. It was under this same bionic big toe. This pair is about six months old. I purchased them last summer after the stores opened up but they had the goofy one-way arrows on the floor. I rarely wear them preferring my Merrells or Rykas for heavy duty walking. (Full disclosure I did poke a hole at the top of the big toe in my favorite Rykas but they are two years old.)

The top part still looks new. No food spilled or cat barf on them. The insole was a memory cushion style guaranteed to be comfy (but not guaranteed to last). If I wear them out that fast imagine how another person would fare. I had to pry the insole out as it was cemented with gorilla glue. I will replace the insoles and hope that works at least until there is a food stain on them.

I can blame it on the pandemic (that’s the current way to get out of shoddy work and poor customer service). I’m convinced I have a secret night life that takes my sneakers and socks out for a spin. Sure hope they had a good time.

People fatigue me. Especially frustrating ones. Or excessive exposure. The definition of that varies with the individual but doesn’t exceed 90 minutes. Ever! During this past year I have found myself enjoying casual exchanges with people I don’t know. I must be a quart low in the people department which hardly ever happens.

There is an unusual guy who comes in Starbucks the same time I do most days. I rarely talk to anyone (pre-coffee) except to greet the baristas (hoping that will make me a favorite and get me better service). I first noticed him because he had a mask with a gorilla mouth on it. I had to comment on that. When he is not texting, he is funny. (It’s hard for anyone to be funny pre-coffee so he gets extra credits for that.) I find myself happy when I see his car because there might be something upbeat going on conversation-wise in the store. Today I saw him. No gorilla mask. Worse than that, it was a plain white tee-shirt material mask. His gorilla mask was in the wash so he was wearing his tidy whitey version. That made me laugh. Yes it really did look like repurposed underwear.

Blame it on the pandemic – I’m so tired of people blaming it for their incompetence. We are in the midst of several house projects. Most are in a holding pattern waiting for someone to get to us with important information. Covid-19 doesn’t excuse you from following through on what you said. If you said you’ll get right back, I expect that to be within the half hour. Anything else should be prefaced with a factual time frame we can expect to hear. (The twelfth of never is not a good response!)

Many calls are not returned. Not everyone is guilty but the majority are. Some successes – we were able to replace a fireplace in a timely manner (two weeks) and get a gorgeous tree planted in the back yard (under two weeks).

Phrases I don’t want to hear ever again – “We are slammed!” “No one wants to work!” (That is so not true!), “I can’t get the supplies” (this one I’d like to hear before I commit to something). Just be honest please. If your work queue is filled for the year, tell us and we’ll make a decision.

We did get a response from a guy the beloved husband called last week. He had to be called again and he apologized for not getting back but his wife had a baby. That is an acceptable excuse but most of what I hear is bull poopy! You may as well say that your dog ate your homework. It never worked for me so it sure won’t work for you.

70 thoughts on “Things that (shouldn’t) surprise me”

  1. I’ve heard that people that want Trex decking should be prepared to wait as long as a year for it and the DIYers aren’t faring much better since the supplies are either over-the-top expensive or non-existent in lumberyard. Just an incredible year.

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  2. We had three different contractors just blow us off last year with getting back to us. I never followed up with them because I figured that was a warning about what they’d be like. I’m going to have to restart the process with new people later this year. I just hope we have better luck. I’ll be following your progress here. – Marty

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    • Not doing so well here. We did get a new fireplace installed (it’s off season for them) and a tree planted (a miracle). No kitchen or other contractor work though. We were blown off a few times. I’m not sure we’re in a queue. We’ve started doing what we can do ourselves which is why I’ve been painting. Today I did a 12′ cathedral ceiling (I painted the walls not the ceiling). That was a drag but the room looks so much better now.

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    • I have one pair where the seam around the top of the toes sprung a hole. I thought it was shoddy workmanship but maybe not. They have breathable tops which I’m finding are not very durable.

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  4. Covid is the blanket excuse for everything not working or showing up. Really tired of it. Luckily nothing has broken (yet) and we’ve manage without having to get any repairs. With the freeze repairs, new construction, few and costly building supplies, everyone says it’s hard to find anyone with time to help.
    We’re pretty open here – but some shelves are thin, and there are tons and tons of “Help Wanted” signs everywhere.. Employers are paying people to come in even for an interview. Many companies are raising salaries to try and hold onto staff/workers. It’s pretty weird.
    So glad you got your tree! Planting a tree makes it seem more like your home. Now all you need is the birds to accept you, right? They must be a tough crowd there.
    It is getting better. Everyone has to just hang in there…and hope nothing else get ransom wared?

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    • Except for an increase in gas prices, we weren’t affected by the hackers. Some places farther south are running out. Here, for some reason, people didn’t rush out to hoard. I’m surprised because they sure hoarded the tp at the beginning of the pandemic.

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  6. Renovations are insanely and routinely behind of late. My dear friend’s reno project was promised to be finished nearly 3 months ago. They even stood her up for a meeting that she came back to town for specifically. It’s just nuts. If I’d preformed like that at work, I’d have been fired.

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    • Yes. Something that makes me change masks often is that I use a tinted sunscreen so there is always orange inside the mask. Gross! The whiteness of his mask did look like underwear. For a guy who wears a gorilla mask, I was surprised. Maybe he had a “meeting.”

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  9. I have noticed that I’m a bit more social with strangers than I was before experiencing such lengthy isolation. I feel genuinely more interested and hope it lasts. It’s been nice to genuinely feel more friendly. 😉

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  15. Thank you for blogging about two of the things that are making me snarly this week!

    My walking shoes usually don’t last more than 6 months. They get 20-30 miles a week. Apparently, 6 months is all serious walkers or runners are supposed to expected. The concept of planned obsolescence in order to make more money is really irritating. I would like my shoes and appliances to last longer (and I bet the environment would also).

    I so hear you on the not calling back. I’ve been waiting for a week for a supposed supervisor to respond to an email. I even called to follow up. Her voicemail message ends with “Have a blessed day” and it was all I could do not to snarl, “I don’t WANT a blessed day, I want you to do your JOB.”

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    • I’ve never had so many “no returns” in my life. People used to want your business. Now it seems they are more choosy. I wonder if my job is too small or too complicated. One person told me outright they weren’t interested in my project. I respected that as I was able to cross them off my list. As for sneakers, what is going on? This is a first. Sort of at least. I did poke my toe through the top after a year and I’ve never done that before. Those were my favorites too. I’m paying more attention to the insoles now. No more memory foam for me. Hope you get your call back sometimes this year.

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  17. I would never last with shoes like that. Marley and I get serious walking shoes (all the dog walking we do) and we buy two pair each at the start of the year, wear them down to not much, and get two new ones. We just replaced the ones that went a little too long due to the pandemic. Feels so good to have new sneakers so I don’t feel the rocks on the sidewalk anymore!

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  18. Yes, I too am tired of blaming it on the pandemic. We can’t get our deck replaced because there are no supplies and no one wants to work. We cannot get our sidewalk replaced because the company is slammed. Yada. yada, yada. Not buying it, both literally and figuratively. 🤨

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  19. I have such shoes too… they look like fresh from the store but the sole is broken… walking shoes. named anapurna… they can be glad I’m not at anapurna but just in the swampy wilderness of brittany or they had caused my death…
    and we also hate the covid.excuser… no one ever offered me to pay my bills later just because of covid, but maybe I will say next time, my account department is in home office, call back later, let’s say 2027…

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  20. Amen to “all of the above”……On the shoes – they (almost everyone) just don’t make things the way they used to (I can hear my Mom saying that now…..) – even sometimes the BIG brand names! I agree it’s super frustrating when someone doesn’t follow through like they said they would OR just plain doesn’t call back. I never have understood that because I ALWAYS do those things – I worked for the Army as a civilian in my first job – you don’t NOT follow through there…..then later in Hospital Administration and you REALLY don’t NOT follow through there with patients and their families. Maybe it’s me but I DO think people have changed (except for me of course – I’m still PERFECT!).

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I suppose there always were people who didn’t follow through but it seems that either they don’t need my business or just don’t care because somehow they survive doing business the way they do.

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  21. Kate, I want a nickel (is that too much, not enough?) for everyBODY that has said to us, “We are slammed!”… painters seem to use this the most in our experience. People wear me out. I think it is going to be difficult for me to to re-enter or re-engage with the people population. We did running around yesterday and what little patience I used to have was shot. I could hardly wait to get home to my little casa.

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    • Totally agree. I can only take so much nonsense. The only sensible person was the guy who planted my tree. Best of all he texted so we didn’t need to talk on the phone. He was booked 4 weeks out but because I was near a big job (and mine was only one tree) he slotted it in easily at the end of the day. He called exactly when he said he would and he showed up when he said he would. Gosh, I wish half of the people I deal with were like that. The fireplace people were nice too. This isn’t their busy period so it was easy peasy but he said that even in the fall when it gets busy, they ramp up with extra people so the time frame is reasonable. No one wants to buy a fireplace in November with deliver in March.

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