10.07.2002
Admission of sheer stupidity
Ok, I am going to come right out and say what many of you will think when you read what follows - boy am I an Idiot! This involves my home, my money, and the handyman who came between them.
I had some problems getting the hardwood floors refinished this past summer, and long story short needed to bring someone else in to finish the work. Enter Frank. Frank seems like a nice enough guy, he's punctual, softspoken, and did what we needed him to do when we wanted him to do it. That's pretty swell. So impressed with Frank was I that I decided to hire him on to do some more work inside the house, as well as some landscaping out front. The only catch was, he was going to be using some helpers, and wanted us to pay a bit more than half the job up front to cover for labor (around here, there are many guys who make a buck laboring for others on a per job basis, and I don't doubt that most of it is under the table), This is my first and biggest mistake - I pay him cash (see first sentence above before you e-mail me reminding me what I already know), still after day one, most of the front yard is cleared up, and it looks to me like another day or two plus the interior work is all that needs done. Alas, this is all that gets done by Frank and his helpers. I discover that Frank has skipped town, hopped a bus out of here, and no doubt used his cash advance to help finance his journey. I really don't expect to see the money again. I am guilty of trusting someone I knew little about. I am guilty of not seeing the red flags when they were right in front of me, I am guilty of being optimistic, which is particularly rare for me. Still none of that adds up to the Guilt that Frank is walking around with, not that he cares, because Frank is little more than a thief plain and simple. I call it an expensive lesson that I will never forget.
go and tell me all about it
Ok, I am going to come right out and say what many of you will think when you read what follows - boy am I an Idiot! This involves my home, my money, and the handyman who came between them.
I had some problems getting the hardwood floors refinished this past summer, and long story short needed to bring someone else in to finish the work. Enter Frank. Frank seems like a nice enough guy, he's punctual, softspoken, and did what we needed him to do when we wanted him to do it. That's pretty swell. So impressed with Frank was I that I decided to hire him on to do some more work inside the house, as well as some landscaping out front. The only catch was, he was going to be using some helpers, and wanted us to pay a bit more than half the job up front to cover for labor (around here, there are many guys who make a buck laboring for others on a per job basis, and I don't doubt that most of it is under the table), This is my first and biggest mistake - I pay him cash (see first sentence above before you e-mail me reminding me what I already know), still after day one, most of the front yard is cleared up, and it looks to me like another day or two plus the interior work is all that needs done. Alas, this is all that gets done by Frank and his helpers. I discover that Frank has skipped town, hopped a bus out of here, and no doubt used his cash advance to help finance his journey. I really don't expect to see the money again. I am guilty of trusting someone I knew little about. I am guilty of not seeing the red flags when they were right in front of me, I am guilty of being optimistic, which is particularly rare for me. Still none of that adds up to the Guilt that Frank is walking around with, not that he cares, because Frank is little more than a thief plain and simple. I call it an expensive lesson that I will never forget.
go and tell me all about it
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