I am impatient. While I like to plan and anticipate a vacation, I really don't' like waiting on things that don't seem to have a planned conclusion.
We have a number of things just hanging out in the world waiting to conclude. None of these are life threatening, but all are annoying in their own way.
The first is the saga with the deck furniture. In 2020 when we had to cancel our New York and Canadian Cruise trip we turned that vacation money into quality furniture for our deck. If we couldn't leave home, at least we could be cozy in our yard. We were quickly the owners of a teak couch and two side chairs that were teak and mesh. (We wanted the matching chairs to the couch, but were trying to be reasonable with our spending.)
Unfortunately, the mesh chairs had a flaw. At the back and bottom of the seat the mesh was secured to the frame with screws, but the depth of the screw wasn't really big enough to maintain it's grip. Moving the chairs, or sitting in them was enough jiggling for the screws to simply drop out. We replaced one of the chairs but continued to have troubles. Finally, in May we went back to the retailer who agreed to return the chairs and apply the original purchase price to a new purchase. (High regards to Summerhouse Furniture for their professionalism.). We ordered the chair that we originally wanted but couldn't stomach the price. Somehow splitting the cost over two years made it better.
So, the order was placed May 12th. We get monthly phone calls from Summerhouse regarding the delays and at last check-in the chairs are set to arrive by November 15th. The summer season is obviously over, but the good news is that we didn't have to worry about what to do with the chairs while the deck was being worked on. See Deck Saga below.
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| The better, but missing chair |
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| The mesh chair |
The Deck Saga
Our house is still really new and we don't need major improvements. However, the deck that the builder installed at the back of our house was questionable, and we're sure it was to code, we think it barely met the minimum requirements. After 4 years the stairs were extremely wobbly and didn't feel safe. So, with a bit of planning we decided to have the deck resurfaced and have the stairs rebuilt.
We engaged the contactor on March 30, paid a deposit and waited. We waited some more, and then when we got done with that, we waited again. The crew finally arrived to start work on July 6th. They made quick work of removing and replacing the old deck boards. Of course, the moment the work started our deck and back yard became completely unusable. We underestimated the amount of time it would take, which is something I blame on HGTV. I should know better, as the two-week home makeover is just as unrealistic as the dog walker and a yoga mat designer finding a two bedroom apartment in Paris.
The main deck work has been done since early August, but we opted to install a custom metal railing. As we are NEVER going to stain the deck again. It was supposed to be a three week fabrication and a week or so to schedule the installation. But, here we are on October 7th with no railing. Contractor Chris emailed last month and said that they were expecting installation on 10/13. We haven't heard anything about that since then, so if it happens it will be a pleasant surprise.
Sadly for Contractor Chris, he doesn't get paid until the job is done. Our deck payment is sitting in the money market account growing month by month. We offered to make a partial payment, but he never responded.
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| The resurfaced deck, still dangerous without a railing. |
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| The deck without boards - super dangerous! |
Clothing Saga Canada vs the US
Ok, this one is stupid, but is really irritating. On September 21 I ordered some items from J.Jill a national retailer in the US. On September 25th I ordered some clothing from a small shop I found in Victoria British Columbia, Canada.
The international delivery arrived yesterday.
The package from J.Jill was shipped on the 24th and made it's way from New Hampshire to Chicago by the 27th. It took it three days to get to the FedEx facility in Kent, which is a 23 minute drive from our house (12 miles).
It has been sitting in the FedEx facility for seven days with no movement. Eventually, the package will be transferred to the US Postal Service for the "final mile", but who knows when that will be. It has been so long, that the charge to my credit card for the purchase has already been paid.
I wish I didn't like their clothing so much, because the delay is aggravating.
Finally, 2020 Taxes
Usually I prepare our family taxes but this year when I completed the returns the amount of money that I showed we had to pay was triple the amount that we've ever had to write a check for. (It's good news, bad news - if you have to pay, you're probably doing pretty good financially.) So, we decided to find an accountant to check our numbers. She filed an extension with the IRS to allow the time for her to complete our taxes.
I scanned all the information she wanted, and then... you know it. WAITING.
July --- wait
August - wait
September - come on... reaching out, any word? A reply, "just finishing up corporate quarterly returns and then I'll get yours done and we can go over them."
October 7th... these damn things are DUE 10/15! I pinged her today to see if we can schedule time next week. The lack of communication is beyond frustrating, and unless she comes back and says "you only owe $3,000" I'm pretty sure this will be the end of our business relationship. I'll spend the remainder of the year searching for a new accountant.
