Well this week has not been the whirlwind of successes that I had hoped. Despite thinking that I had planned really well on both budget and time, I clearly underestimated things. I’m going to document as many as I can recall so that I might plan better in the future.
Vendor Issues
I needed a hole drilled in a door so that I could place a deadbolt. I don’t have the special tool for this so thought ok I’ll splurge on a locksmith and get them to do it. Two locksmiths and days later and nothing is done and I’m in a worse mood. Crimes committed include:
- Not showing up on time. The time being a 3 hour window.
- Me calling them 15 minutes after they should have been there. I should not have to babysit.
- Them telling me they were running an hour and a half behind. It’s safe to say they knew a long time ago they would not make it, yet didn’t call me. Rude.
- Lack of apology for the inconvenience to me. Rude.
- Finally showing up and surprised it was a job to drill a hole in a door. They didn’t have the tools to do that. I don’t know if it was them or the dispatcher, but someone did a terrible job.
So that was just one guy. There was another that was equally bad. I still don’t have a solution and it is a three day weekend. Luckily I have the security system installed and the doors are actually very secure.
Internet. I have had google fiber for 8 years. Never had an outage. I had Spectrum for just 6 days and they already had a 2 hour outage. While I was trying to setup the wifi based security system. This caused much frustration and a few hours of lost time.
I bought a desk to assemble. Don’t do that. Buy used so you don’t have to assemble. Or hire someone to assemble. It took 4 hours and it’s not a super nice desk.
HP printer. To install this printer – should be an easy task – required me to download TWO apps, sign up for an account, retrieve a password from another account and agree to some complicated scheme of getting ink sent to me. Never again. As soon as I’m making a good profit, this printer is history and I’ll replace it with one that I go buy the ink when I need it.
Haste Makes Waste
While I was having frustrations, I started buying things without paying enough attention. I ended up with those terrible scented garbage bags, extremely thick contractor black garbage bags, so as a result no garbage bags I could use. Having a bunch of garbage and no garbage bags is not fun.
Really really check what you are ordering. I ordered the wrong plastic seams. I didn’t realize it until I got them and then it was move in time. Then when I got online I couldn’t find the right ones. Apparently they aren’t made in the size I need. I found one sketchy company with the most terrible website and think I placed an order. I’m not sure. At best, they will arrive late.
Next Time
Buy a bunch of those wall outlets that take the 2 outlet plug and make it into 6. Then buy 10 extension cords, a really long coax cable and any other cables you can think of. Not having these created logistical issues and frustrations
Buy used furniture. Assembling furniture is not fun or fast. Plus you pay more. So there’s no upside other than the delivery is often free. Forget it. Hire a person to source the furniture and go get it.
Buy parts sooner. You make mistakes sometimes in purchasing. So don’t wait until move in to buy the stuff.
Open the parts boxes you receive (that you ordered ahead of time) and check them.
Buy a bunch of shelves and tables. Or borrow some. You will have a bunch of crap on the floor otherwise and that’s no fun.
Take good photos of what was damaged when you walked in. I should have done this while there with the landlord. I did it afterward, so not sure how convincing that would be in a disagreement.
Things I Did Right
Get a comfortable chair ahead of time since you will be sitting a lot.
Work on the security first. That means electricity, then internet, then security system and locks.
Hire good people.
Give yourself way more time than you think and expect budget to swell. I think we could do it in a week, but I gave myself a month. I had a lot more in the bank than I thought I would need. I’m going through it but shouldn’t have to move more funds around anytime soon.
Up Next
Tuesday Grant comes over to my house and we begin disassembly. The goal is to get the two sidewalls (no electronics) up in the new space. It’s supposed to rain but hopefully it won’t (I rarely say that).
Once we get it over there we can start solving issues like:
- How to get the acrylic to seam well.
- How to get the acrylic stable.
- How to place the acrylic so that it can be removed for repairs.
- How to adjust the wires .
- How to protect the flooring.
- How to place the projector because the AC unit is right about the same place.
- How to safely transport all the electronics.
My hope is that within a week or so, we’ll have 80% of the room together and in two weeks have it done. Also in 2 weeks we’ll have the curtains sewn and hung up. That date would be June 10th.