We all know what it is like to live in the US right now. Probably more of us than I care to accept have lost jobs or changed jobs, etc in the last 5 years. We hear every day how horrendous the unemployment rate is, how nobody can get a job, how all of the people currently receiving aid of any form really truly need it.
I call bullshit on that.
First of all, I live in a very small town and there are always plenty of 'now hiring' posts around. Maybe they aren't somewhere people want to work, but right now we don't necessarily have the luxury of choosing. If you have bills to pay and mouths to feed, you are not too good to work at a gas station or a fast food place or at Wal-Mart.
Having said that, I have had my own experiences with people who do have jobs but just don't seem hungry enough to do their jobs well or to complete the work and guarantee themselves future work. Here are some examples:
August 2009: Plumber hired to make some repairs to our sewer pump and lines in the downstairs bath. Discussed further updates needed in other 2 bathrooms for future work. Plumber not only did not make the correct repairs but charged us double his quote (hubby paid with no questions asked, leaving me to fume and swear at the wall later when I found out). So of course we never hired him for the other work.
November 2009: Yard crew called to quote enormous clean up job on our property. Removal of 20-30 bushes, replanting of several immature dogwoods and crape myrtles, raking, etc. We had just bought the house that summer and the yard was a disaster. Crew came and did about half the work, charged double the quote (again, hubby paid no questions asked and when I found out my brain imploded and I died. The person posting this is my ghost, back for revenge). Oh yeah, and the emmeffer stole 2 baby dogwoods and did not replant anything. Obviously, we did not call him back. And he should be looking to do a good job to take on monthly maintenance customers. Unless he's not that hungry.
December 2009: carpenters and painters hired to work in my home did a shitty job and then never showed up to finish the work after Day 3. We apparently hurt their feelings when we asked them not to use our dining set as a step ladder and asked them to clean the white paint they spilled on those green chairs. We even dragged our ladder in from the garage for them to use instead of our chairs. Hurt their poor wittle feewings so they never came back. Asshats.
December 2009: flooring professional called for quote to install hardwood floors on 2800 square feet. Came to measure and discuss flooring options, never sent quote, never heard from him again. To this day I'm a little worried he may have been hit by a bus or fallen into a volcano, because in 2009 not too many people were hiring for work like that. So surely he must be dead if he didn't need the work, right?
I took a break from hiring anyone to work on the house because Drew was born, and ain't nobody got time for that with a newborn.
May 2010: Bee Keeper called to remove 50,000 bees from the walls and attic. The effin bees are his to begin with. That turdsicle lives around the corner from us and his property backs up to ours. He keeps his frackin bees in the woods near our property, and they keep returning. He was to remove all the bees for free because he was taking them back to his property. He charged us, we paid, and the effers showed back up a year later. He returned to remove them, did not charge us this time (I dare him to try) but then saw us at a festival a week later and charged us $5 for a little jar of honey. I'm not crying over $5, but I really feel like I earned a freebie there for the headache he caused us. Still see those damn bees from time to time. I'm gonna go blow up his hives if they ever show up again. (slightly unstable? You betcha.)
July 2012: Stopped by the bank who has our mortgage to request a refinance quote. Was told both mortgage bankers were on vacation the same week. BOTH MORTGAGE BANKERS WERE ON VACATION THE SAME WEEK. Are you nuts? That would never have happened at the bank I worked for. So I left a message asking for a call on the quote. Never heard from them. Tried again in August, no returned call again. In September I called the manager of that branch, whom I knew professionally AND she had done my home equity line. I left her 2 messages in September and still NEVER HEARD BACK FROM HER. How do these people even afford to take vacations when they ignore commission opportunities?
August 2012: Four window companies called to quote on replacement of 19 windows. Two bothered to call back and come quote us. A third wouldn't even make the drive from Cary, said the job was too big for his crew, but his website shows pictures of these enormous estates whose windows they allegedly replaced. We do NOT live in an enormous estate. Our home is a decent size, yes, but not abnormally large. My guess is this guy is just lazy. The fourth never returned our initial call. Must have been so busy with all the people replacing windows right now. All the unemployed people. Riiiiight.
October 2012: Emailed the bank my mortgage was with and let them know about the lack of communication in my 4 attempts to refinance my mortgage. Heard back two days later and reassured it would not happen again. Womp wommpp. Too late effers! Not giving you a 5th chance! Why? Because I'm not a sucker!
January 2013: called 5 contractors--yes 5! to quote a deck rebuild. One guy told me he won't do it because due to the permit process in my town it's not worth the gas for all the trips he would have to make. I offered to pay for all that in the job, he still didn't take the job. NOT HUNGRY I GUESS. Only one guy came out.
March 2013: Called 3 tree removal services for quotes on removing 5 trees next to my deck. 2 came out to estimate. One guy was supposed to leave a written quote in my mailbox later that week and never did. One guy came out and quoted me on the spot, and he will get the job. The third called me back and left a message but I never was able to get him out here.
Today: Got an email from my mortgage lender working on the refinance. This entire process I have had to chase her down for updates and information. I did not hear from her for a month and two days ago she told me she needed something from me by today otherwise we miss a compliance deadline and have to start all over. We have been doing this since October, and on 4 occasions I have had to send her a stiff message to please respond to my communications, all met with bullshit excuses and whining about some health problems her boyfriend is having and wah wah wah cry me a frickin river down the unprofessional canyon, lady. So today she awakened the beast. Or the bitch. Whatever is most appropriate for my current crazed state of mind. It's pretty scary though. So scary that after I emailed her to let her know exactly what I thought of her compliance deadline, I called my husband and told him from here on out he needed to deal with her.
Having said all that, I am very fortunate that we found the contractor we use now. We needed a repair to some rotting trim on the outside of the sunroom to satisfy our lending company for the refinance. This guy came out and quoted us, did an excellent job and charged us precisely what he said he would. So we immediately hired him for a multitude of small jobs in the house (including the work those carpenters and painters left undone 3 years ago--now my eyeball doesn't pulse and throb out of it's socket every time I climb the stairs or sit in the den, where the unfinished work was at it's worst.) Mr. Williams was the first guy we have ever hired in this town who came out on schedule, worked all day with just a 30 minute lunch break, did great work he took pride in, and exceeded all of my expectations. In one short week he transformed my home. I am now waiting to close the refinance so that he can rebuild my deck and install new windows and siding. I have tons of work for him, and plan to use him until he gets hit by a bus or falls into a volcano. I'm freakin giddy over this guy. He's totally getting a Christmas gift from me. I need to ask his birthday too. And see what he and his wife are doing at Thanksgiving.
But, to close up the whole purpose of this post, consider this my 'Now Hiring' post for the Town of Smithfield, NC. My community needs lots of good workers who are willing to actually work to the completion of the job and satisfaction of the people who need them. Below is a list of the kind of good people this town needs. If you are truly hungry and want to work, and are qualified to do any of this stuff, I suggest you make yourself known. In most cases, the competition sucks so you won't go hungry here!
Painters
Plumbers
Carpenters
Deck builders
Window installers
Flooring installers
General Contractors: but you will be up against Mr. Williams, good luck to ya. He's tough competition!
Bankers
Mortgage Lenders
Landscape crews
Beekeepers: but if you plan to keep bees you better live far from me
Oh, and the (un)professional who is responsible for us needing to hire all these people in the first place: Home Inspectors!!!!
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