Re contractors, where are you finding them?

I recommend seeking out recommendations from your real estate agent and also neighbors.

I rarely contact a contractor if I don't know someone who's worked with them before, or at least friend-of-a-friend type connection.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

I’m beginning to understand the appeal of TFG.

Nooooooooooooooooo!


I could have said much the same about life up here, though. Craigslist flakes abound. You have to call someone three times to prove you are serious before they’ll call you back.

And my experience in Huntington Beach may not have generalized to the rest of California, but it seemed to be the capital of bad customer service. I stayed at that Hilton three or four times and each was worse than the one before. I suffered truly abusive service at Simmzy’s… then on my way out the door the manager asked how the service was… I started to tell him and all he did was make excuses for his staff’s incompetence and rudeness.

Anyway… we’re still waiting for some pictures.

quote:

TFG

Too Far Gone??

It’s Biden’s term. “The former guy”. We all know what he means:

“That fu***ing guy.

On the boxes:

“Will you deliver them?”

“What sizes do you have”

“Do you supply tape to put them back together? Will you come to my house and reassemble them?”

The boxes are free. They cost a fortune if you have to buy them. The wardrobe boxes alone are some $50 each if you buy them from the movers (like we did). These are some lazy, stupid people.

But:

Enter George. He’s a military man. Marines 20 years, 25 years Cleveland PD, retired. Has the haircut. Heavily invested in Toys for Tots and they need boxes. I have boxes. Meet at 15:00 hours?

Right on time. Brought his truck. Loaded up the boxes like Grant took Richmond. Thanked me for the donation.

I like this guy.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
On the boxes:

“Will you deliver them?”

“What sizes do you have”

“Do you supply tape to put them back together? Will you come to
my house and reassemble them?”

The boxes are free. They cost a fortune if you have to buy them. The wardrobe boxes alone are some $50 each if you buy them from the movers (like we did). These are some lazy, stupid people.

But:

Enter George. He’s a military man. Marines 20 years, 25 years Cleveland PD, retired. Has the haircut. Heavily invested in Toys for Tots and they need boxes. I have boxes. Meet at 15:00 hours?

Right on time. Brought his truck. Loaded up the boxes like Grant took Richmond. Thanked me for the donation.

Just gotta be selective.

Excellent.

Now where are the pictures of the desk and Christmas lights tie-downs? I mean, it’s not like you’re doing anything else right now…

Finally got the WiFi working. Let me see if I can post some pictures tomorrow.

Right now my printer is sitting on a box (a proper file cabinet arrives tomorrow) but I’m very pleased with my new office.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Finally got the WiFi working. Let me see if I can post some pictures tomorrow.

Yay! (and I re-read my post; I was trying to be funny and hope it didn’t come off as demanding…)

Not at all! I have a lot of pictures I’d like to share! Thanks

George could be a good person to be friends with.

As for the Craigslist bozos...I've had a few like the ones you've described (more on Nextdoor than on CL), but for the most part people have been great.

Our favorites were the couple originally from California (ahem!) who moved to the Chicago area. They made us a wonderful dinner at their house when we agreed to deliver the dining room table they bought from us. We never saw them again but spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening with them.

Looking forward to pics!

Yeah. Maybe stay in touch with George. Ask if he has friends, maybe who do fencing or gutters or whatever you are needing. I bet he does.

"Free" stuff seems to bring out the flakiest of the flakes. I figure they figure if it's free, it's not a big deal if they don't show up.

I once had seven eighths of a Costco box of baby wipes (something my ex had for camping). I put them on CL for free. Had a dozen responses in the first hour. I give the first guy my address and he says he'll be there by 9:00. Never showed up. I sent him a text and said if he wasn't there by 10:00, I was moving to the next person. At 10:00, the wipes were still sitting in the driveway. I gave the next person the address and she said she'd be there at 11:00. At 11:30 she shows up and the wipes are gone. Apparently the first guy slipped in while I wasn't looking and took them. The other woman was p!ssed. Oh, well.

I once had two big boxes of styronuts. I put them on CL for free. A person said she'd come get them that evening. I went to bed. It rained overnight. She hadn't picked them up. They were soaked. I did spread them out in the basement and let them dry, then started over, rather than send them to the landfill.

On the flip side, you may recall that a year or two ago, my neighbor (around the corner and three houses down) had a grill at the end of his driveway with a sign that said "FREE". I wheeled it to my house and it was sitting in the driveway, but up against the house. I had taken the sign off. A guy pulls into my driveway and starts figuring how he's going to get the grill in his truck. I go out to ask him what's up. He says he's there to get the grill. I told him I had just gotten it, no it wasn't up for grabs, and very sorry, but please leave. He was p!ssed. That was the Weber Genesis 330 that was originally a $900 grill (it still wants new burners, but the screws are completely rusted).

The journey begins:


House is empty:





We left the office furniture. It would cost more to move than it's worth:

We saw some cool scenery on the way out:



But most of I-40 looks like this:



Trying to keep the trailer from being stolen. It seems to have worked:



One of many stops along the way to mess with the tarp. This is Jackrabbit, AZ. I scavenged an old fence post to put on top of the tarp, which worked until it sawed a hole in the tarp and fell in to the trailer. I am using that post as part of the landscape in this new place.



This is where we stayed in Flagstaff. See those rocks? I used some of them to hold the tarp down and they did the same thing the fence post did. They are also now part of my landscape.





The final tarp solution. Three new tarps, two sheets of plywood and more bungee cords, all cobbled up in the parking lot of the Home Depot in OKC. No more problems after that.

Great photos!!

re your method to keep trailer from being stolen, brilliant!!