On the Fence

We need to replace our fence. It's so old, I don't even know how long it's been there. I do know it's the second fence that's been put up since I've lived here (well over 30 years). I believe that it is somewhere between 20 and 25 years old. I definitely got my money's worth out of it, but it has seen better days. Lots better days.

Enter contractor A. He is replacing the gutters on our house and wanted to quote for the fence, as well. So far, he remains the high bidder at $27K. To be fair, that price included a sliding gate but I did mention that he might want to revise his quote and take out that fancy gate because I'm pretty sure we can live without that. But I suppose that if he couldn't keep the $5K gate, he wasn't interested because he never gave me an updated bid and the gutters are completed.

Then there's contractor B. B for Bubba. Bubba didn't give me the quote in writing. Bubba called me up and gave me three different prices. I wrote them all down. One was for pressure treated pine, one was for cedar, and one was for pre-stained cedar. They ranged from $6K to $9K. But then he called back to tell me that he didn't realize he was supposed to quote replacing the entire fence. (Really? And the part he didn't think was being replaced is actually the section that's the absolute worst!) So he changed his bid and pushed it up to $13K. Now, it was a Friday night and I think it might have been "Miller Time" for Bubba. He called back to tell me that the $13K did not include the stain. Then he called back again to tell me that the $13K was pine, not cedar. Then he called back yet again to tell me that he was going to honor the $9K price, but that it wouldn't include the stain. Am I the only one who's confused?

On to contractor C. Contractor C was eager. He came out after 7 pm (fortunately it's still light) did the measurements and wrote everything up. Nothing wrong with his price and his description of what he wanted to do sounded just fine. But he wanted to be paid in three installments. For a four day job. He wanted it in equal thirds and he wanted his first third then and there even though he wouldn't be starting the job for a couple of weeks. I was ready to give him a check but Mark thought we ought to do a little due diligence. (We have a friend who was converting his garage into a game room and gave a contractor a check for $11K and never saw him again.) I did my best to look this guy up. He claimed to have been in business for over 25 years but had no website and no Facebook page for his business. What he did have were two complaints - one from a guy who gave him $3K and never saw him again and another from a guy whose fence blew down within a month. He called several times to see if we'd made a decision and I just told him we were not happy making three payments on a job that wouldn't even take a week. (I gave the guy who did my laundry room some money up front and it took him 8 weeks to finish. No money until it's done - that's my new policy!) But I have to say that I found it a bit odd that when we refused to sign the contract and give him a check on the spot, he refused to leave the written quote.

Next up was contractor D. He phoned me as I was on the way to a medical appointment. Apparently he was in the area and could come out right then. Didn't seem like a good idea since I wasn't home. I told him the following day would be better and I never heard from him again. That was over a week ago.

We had one more guy come out. He was from what appeared to be a substantial company - multiple "wrapped" vehicles and multiple employees, professional-sounding back office staff. He told me their policy was to collect half the money up front before starting the project. I told him that payment before any work was done was not going to happen. He told me they'd been in business for 42 years. (So why should they need front money?) I told him I'd lived in the house for over 35 years - so we were almost even. He explained to me that some people refuse to pay. I'm sure that's true. I deal with it myself from time to time. But if he puts a fence on my property and I refuse to pay, he can slap a lien on my property. If I give him money and he fails to put a fence up, or puts up an inferior fence, I don't really have any recourse except to sue him (assuming I can find him) and get an unenforceable judgement. It looked to me like he's in a stronger position than I was. So I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

I think I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board on the fence. Or maybe the project can wait until fall when I won't need to worry so much about them damaging my flower beds.

Cats in Captivity

We waited a while after losing Heidi to see how Harry would take it. It was pretty obvious he missed her. He didn't have anyone to chase around the house, or around the yard. Of course he had us, but we thought he'd like to have another cat around the house.

We were thinking a young male would be best. I don't know if there is any scientific evidence to support it, but my experience is that tomcats tend to get along better with others while females are more "particular" about who they like. (Believe me. I had two female cats who only learned to tolerate each other in the last years of their lives and they lived to be 23 and 18. I don't want to go through that kind of drama again.)

Anyway, on our first trip to adopt a kitten we went to the SPCA. I should have called first. But I didn't and when we got there we were told that all the cats were at Petsmart in Frisco. I called there and was told that all the cats had been adopted. That's really good news for all the cats, but not good news for me. So, I started looking online.

I tried phoning the rescue organization that we went through when we adopted Harry. It was only three years ago and it's worked out beautifully. But apparently, you still have to fill out a new application and specify the cat(s) you are interested in because no one actually answers the phone.

I answered all the questions honestly, just as I did the time previously. I didn't expect to be turned down, but apparently each individual "foster mom" gets to decide who does and doesn't get to adopt a cat that is in her care. We were turned down because we said we would allow the cat to go outdoors, and this foster mom just wasn't having that. (The previous one told me she'd prefer we didn't let him go outside, but that since we'd never lost a cat to outdoor hazards, she was going to let me have Harry.)

Here's how it worked for us. When we first got Harry, he went out on a harness and leash so we could see how he was going to behave. We live on a corner. Would he bolt when a car drove past? What would he do when the neighbor's dog started barking? Would he come to me if I called him? He did not go outside unsupervised. He was with us for two years before he realized he could climb the fence. But he doesn't climb the fence (well at least not very often). I don't know if it's because he realizes that there's a dog on the other side or because there's enough for him to do in his own back yard.

Here is Harry's typical day: When he gets up in the morning, he likes to go outside and walk the perimeter of the fence. He takes his job of protecting us from intruders very seriously. After he's patrolled the perimeter, he comes in for his breakfast. After breakfast he likes to make sure nothing has invaded the garage. Then he has a snack. Then he has some trouble deciding where he'd like to be and what he wants to do. Inside? Outside? Eat? Nap? Sit on someone's lap? Chase birds? So many decisions! But when the sun starts to go down, Harry knows where he wants to be. On the back porch chasing bugs - unless it's cold, rainy or too windy. (Harry doesn't care much for cold rain, or wind.) We sit on the porch with him to encourage him and shower praise on him when he captures a moth. (Moths are a bit more challenging to catch than mayflies.) He recently caught a baby snake. He had great fun with that! (I'm not sure how that snake survived being tossed around like that, but Mark moved it to the other side of the fence while Harry wasn't looking, and if it has any sense, it won't come back inside our yard.) When it's time to go in, Harry comes in with us. When we go to bed, he goes upstairs and situates himself at the foot of the bed, although since Heidi's been gone, he prefers to be in between us. And then the next day, he's happy to do it all again.

Hunting. It's what cats do. It's what they're designed to do and they enjoy doing it. Harry is not dependent on the catch of the day for survival as a feral cat often is. But he still enjoys the hunt. He also enjoys playing with his stick toy. (A squeaky, feathered bird attached to a stick with a piece of string.) He especially appreciates that toy when it's raining outside and he's forced to stay indoors. But given a preference, he'd rather chase bugs, snakes, and field mice - outside. (Unless it's nap time.)

I'm reminded of "The Cat's Diary" - Day 183 of my captivity....

Harry lives with us. He is NOT our prisoner. There are a few things I'd like to say to the crazy cat ladies who will only agree to allow cats to be adopted by families who intend to imprison them but I don't think I'll say them here although I do wonder if they seriously want to help the cats find loving homes or if they have some other, stranger motivation that I can't even imagine. Maybe it's a power trip - who knows?

We were very fortunate that someone reminded us about Operation Kindness. That's where we found our Duchess Megan. They are okay with you letting the animal go outside as long as it's supervised. (A common sense policy.) Megan has not yet been allowed out and so far she has shown no interest in going out. She's only been with us for a week now and is still adjusting to her new surroundings and family. It's too soon to introduce the great outdoors, although as she and Harry bond their relationship, I'm sure she'll want to go where he goes. But for now we are content for her to remain inside.

High Pressure Tactics

I almost never answer the land line. It's there for me to make outbound calls. If you're calling it, you're almost certainly a telemarketer and I probably don't want to talk to you. (I can only assume that the "do not call" list has time limitations because I get way too many calls.) But every now and then I pick up that phone.

We are looking to replace the windows in our house. The current windows were put in sometime in the 80s. They were better than the original 1950 vintage windows that came with the house, but we can do better now. It's time for them to go. So when one of those pesky telemarketers called wanting to put me in touch with people who could help me with my home improvement project, I said okay.

A bit of background - having been a home inspector for the past 12 years, Mark has seen more windows than the average bear. And as a HUD consultant, he knows what windows should cost. His requirements are fairly simple - double-glazed, vinyl, and the price should include installation. On the other hand, I care about how they look. The color, whether or not they have grids. And of course, how much they cost.

But back to the phone - I only answered the phone when I felt like it, because I knew I would be getting calls from all sorts of people, and fortunately, whoever that middle-man was had a "made-up" email address for me, so if I didn't want to hear from them again, I didn't correct the email address.

Sears was first up. Their salesman advised me when he made the appointment that "both of us needed to be present for his presentation". Right. He arrived with his window demo kit and Mark was NOT at home. He seemed a bit disappointed but he showed me his wares and measured the windows. He gave me a written estimate that remains the high bidder at over $30K.

Another company, and truthfully I don't remember who it was, was giving me the same line of BS about how both of us needed to be home. I tried to explain that when I got estimates to replace the HVAC unit, no one insisted that both of us be home and that I didn't see the need for it on this occasion. It was funny because the young lady was being fed the answers to my questions/objections by her supervisor. I know because I could hear him tell her what to say and then she would say it. It got really funny when she said it was for the "client's protection". "Protection from what?" I asked. Apparently no one had ever asked that before because the answer was bordering on the nonsensical.
I suggested that the real reason they wanted us both there was so they could apply high pressure sales tactics and get us to sign a contract. But of course, they would never do ANYTHING like that. They did NOT employ high pressure tactics. Right. It was fairly high pressure just being on the phone with them.

There was another company that wanted us both to be there that I ended up making an appointment with. Mark was there when the salesman arrived but he'd barely started his pitch when Mark said he felt ill and excused himself. That guy lost his mind. He refused to continue his presentation (which I could care less about anyway. I only wanted to know if it met our criteria and how much it cost.) He proceeded to scold me for letting him drive for an hour and half only to have to reschedule. (Sorry, I don't get advance notice when Mark is going to be sick.) He also belittled my knowledge of housing in general. And then he implied that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said that contractors needed to be registered with the city in order to pull a permit in Celina. (He'd never heard of such a thing.) Clearly, he'd not done business in Celina before. He was clearly trying to impress me with his superior knowledge of home improvements. Funny thing is, this guy was old enough to know better. Just as well he never called to reschedule because I wouldn't have let him back in my house anyway.

But I guess it could be worse. Window salesmen in the UK are known as "double-glazing" salesmen and apparently they've gained quite a bit of notoriety there. Mark told me that he let one in his house once and ended up signing the contract just so the guy would shut up and leave. Of course, Mark called and canceled the contract the following day.

We still haven't made a decision on the windows. I've got a couple more companies I want to look at. But you can bet that if both of us need to be home in order to get an estimate, it won't be happening.