First off the day started with getting up about 45 minutes early because one of the dogs was puking. Nothing serious, but of course had to get up, clean the little bit up, and then just stayed up.
DH met with the electric co-op company guy at the property again on Monday. He had originally given us a quote last Fall. But, in the meantime DH had changed where he was putting the main meter panel box (or whatever they are called), which meant farther away, ie, more money to bring in. Based on the numbers the guy had originally thrown out, of the per ft price of the wire, DH was expecting the new/revised quote to be like $1000-$1500 more. He had already assumed this extra cost in the cost breakdown for "utilities" in our construction loan, so it would be covered. Well, he sent us the new quote at the end of the day yesterday and it was only $500 more! Nice. That helps. But, it has to be paid up front, before they will put us in the schedule queue to come out and do the work. Well, we are tapped out on cash right now, as we are paying the rockery bill and taxes.
I called first thing this morning to see if I could put it on a credit card. Yes, we can, but no, they aren't set up to do it over the phone. Grrr.. We wanted to get this paid asap, so that we get set up in the schedule to get out here asap. So, we had to make a trip into the city this morning to get that taken care of. While there we also stopped at the electrical supply place to order the meter panel box. DH ended up changing what we needed on that one too - less stuff on it........so you'd think it would be less than the one they quoted us last fall?! No, it was like $150 more. DH says "well, dang, that's not what I wanted to hear". Then the guy said hold on and got it down to about the same price as the other one they had quoted us on. They won't have it in until tomorrow, so we're going to have to make another trip in there to pick that up (and pay for it). That will just go on the credit card too, and then we'll submit with the excavator billing to our lender and we'll get reimbursed the electrical stuff and I'll pay off the credit card. This is a new to me credit card we got just to have for these kinds of things. It also has a 2% cash back on all purchases, so should be some nice cash back rewards coming our way.
We also stopped at the farm/feed supply store to get something DH needed. I could hear all the baby chicks cheeping, so of course I had to go look at all of them! I can't wait until next spring and I can get a few :)
DH is also changing his idea/plan for the 5 water hydrants he wants to install in various spots around the house, shop and property. He's changing the design a bit, less parts needed, so they will be a little cheaper now, too.
He called his dad last night to do his weekly chat. Get this! So that 5-6 days MIL was in the hospital? Apparently the hospital turned FIL in for "malnutrition" of MIL and he got a visit by someone from the state or something! Are you kidding me?! C'mon...she's 85 years old, has half a lung, on oxygen, has dementia (and a host of other medical problems) and has never in her life weighed more than 100 pounds, anyway. Of course she doesn't have a huge appetite and doesn't eat a whole lot most of the time. They guy dotes on her. Won't put her in a nursing home because he'd feel too guilty and wants to take care of her. DH laughed and said mom was an AWFUL cook (she was!!) - she probably eats better now than when she had to make all the meals. LOL.
I'm so sorry to hear about your father-in-law's "mistreatment" of his wife! I know they have a job to do but accusations like that could be very stressful for some!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it really upset FIL...I'm interested to hear what SIL has to say about it....she's a social worker (child) for goodness sake!
DeleteThat is distressing to have someone be accused of not feeding someone who won't eat and is naturally thin. I remember my grandmother not eating and no one could cajole her.
ReplyDeleteI know when my grandma got in her last few years she hardly at much either.
DeleteIf that were the criteria for elder abuse I know my sister and I would be visited. Mom rarely eats at all and we take her prepared food, buy her whatever she wants to eat (nothing much but ice cream, take her out to eat , and on and on and on. She is to the point now that 1/2 of a McDonalds hamburger fills her. I know this because she called me last night and asked if I would get her one because she was craving a burger. I sat with her and visited while she ate and she literally cut it in half, ate half then put the remainder in her fridge. Mom weighed about 130 all her life and now weighs 101 soaking wet. I guess we are guilty of malnourishment too.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! I feel bad for my FIL as I know he wears himself out trying to take care of her and to have that happen is awful.
DeleteGlad you are finding some savings here and there. But when the builders and contractors start spending your money, they just can't spend it fast enough. We has a bathroom floor tiled and 1/3 bottom of our shower retiled and it is finished now and beautiful, but while we spent less than $400 shopping for cheap tile, the labor was over $3000! Yikes. And when I got there to clean up the construction mess, I could see that they bought way more grout than they needed and I even have quite a bit of tile to take back...Fine. But I was blown away to see that they bought rags...nice pristine rags in a box. Uh, couldn't you just tell me you needed rags?! And last year we had a double carport enclosed - it already had concrete floor and so all he needed was insulation, metal and steel framing. It costs us over $8000. We cannot afford him for any more jobs. He bid like $5000. From now on we are going to have to find other people for the rest of the small jobs we have (plummer to hook up a water filter, electrician to hang some lights in the kitchen, etc.) Crazy! And it seems like the smaller towns/rural, good luck getting anyone to show up. Rant over.
ReplyDeleteTo me, if they bid you a cost on their labor, then that's what they should bill you. Hopefully we can keep tabs/oversight on all this pretty well. Like the changed electric meter panel yesterday - price was more money than first one and rather than just think to himself "oh, fine" DH says "oh, that's not good" and then guy "magically" was able to lower the price. LOL I don't like contractors either!
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