Two Hours Late and $10
Short
 |
| Not great, but better than the gaping maw that was. |
We have a
large crack between our entrance steps to our little town-home. The crack does not a cause any problems,
except it does not look very nice, and Mrs. C thinks it is a home to our ant
problem (it’s not).
We have been
putting up with or ignoring this crack for years. The other day I decided to fix it.
“I’m going to Lowes and get some “Quick
Crete” and patch that crack.”
“Don’t do that, I’ll call the
association and they’ll have it fixed.”
“We’ve been staring at that crack for
years and now you decide you could have the association fix it? I’ll do it, the association will take forever
to get around to it.”
“Suit yourself.”
I went to Lowes
and bought a 25-pound bag of the mix.
The pimply faced kid at Lowes said I would need at least 50 pounds after
I described the size of the crack that needed filling. I have learned that pimply faced kids at
Lowes act like they know what they are talking about, but they don’t know
shit. Twenty-five pounds would be more than
enough.
I got home,
cleaned up the crack, chipping away at excess hunks of step that had pulled
away forming the crack. I filled some of
the crack with coarse sand that I had from a previous task and then mixed the patch
material with water. I splattered the
goop into the crack and then smoothed it with a trowel. The process cost me about $20…I had to buy a
trowel, took about two hours and ruined a pair of jeans.
When I was
finished and cleaning up my tools and bucket, what did I spot on the street?
A dude from
the association with a wheel barrow full of concrete. He
was going around the neighborhood patching cracks in the curbing on the street.
Crap!
For ten
bucks, I’m pretty sure he would have taken five minutes of his time to patch
the crack on my stairs. I could have
saved $10, some sweat and two hours of my day, not to mention the fact that he
would have done a much better job since he probably knew what he was doing.
Two hours
late, and $10 short!
It figures that if you do it yourself, the guy that does this for a living will show up right after you're done.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and weekend, Joe. ☺
But now it's done and you can say I DID IT MYSELF!! The general proclamation of every toddler who learns something new, only I bet you done it better ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell, if you want to explore your talents you could hop on a plane and come repair my crazy paving. I don't see folk with wheelbarrows anywhere and they sure don't answer the phone.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, you have the satisfaction of knowing you fixed it yourself.
ReplyDeleteIt's done, forget it!!
ReplyDeleteYou have a sense of accomplishment and pride in your work to show for it.
ReplyDeleteThat’s kind of cheating isn’t it? Having some dude fix your crack...wait, that didn’t come out right. But you know what I mean. You might as well look at a map for directions or heaven help us, read instructions before putting something together. Have some pride dude :)
ReplyDeleteYou know, Murphy is a nasty nasty person who loves to pull pranks like this. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that professional wheelbarrow guy could have made it look any better, but it might have saved you a pair of jeans. The Universe has a wicked sense of humor. I won't blame Even Steven, because I don't recall anything really great that has happened to you lately that needs to be evened out.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had a big crack (heh, heh) like that at the end of her porch, at the steps going down to her garage. I think Hick patched it for her. Not many guys walk by with a wheelbarrow full of concrete out in the sticks.
Murphy's Law dictates that the minute you choose to do one thing, the alternative will come waltzing along to rub your nose in it.
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that concrete guy was commissioned ONLY for curbing fixes, so you still did a good thing patching your own steps.
ReplyDeleteGrrr!! What timing, but be proud Joe, it is done and you did it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you taking on the repair! Here in Florida, people look at a crack like that, wonder if their house is sinking into a sinkhole, call their insurance company, and then in turn the insurance company hires an engineering firm who determines that it's just a crack and needs to be patched.
ReplyDelete