How to set your contractor on fire

There's nothing like a good rant to clear out frustration.

Today, I called Mr. Contractor on his cell phone and of course, his voicemail was full. So, I called his office and his secretary answered. In my most pissed off Customer voice, I curtly said to her...this is Joanie L. and I want John to call me immediately. And she said OK, she'd pass the message on to him. Honestly, I didn't think he'd call back but at 12:45PM my cell rang.

It was John.

So, my heart was racing and my mouth got dry, but I remembered the cardinal rule when talking to a man who thinks he's got the upper hand:

Lower your voice an octave.
Talk to him as though he is stupid (which most of the time they are.)

And I confidently, calmly and forcefully told him how I felt and how I would not put another dime into this job. And for MY PAIN, the least he could do was cover the difference for these windows. I didn't even have to use the *L* word...

I held my breath. (I figured he would tell me that he was packing up his tent and refunding my money.)

But...I heard a long sigh.

And then the words...

Yes, you are right. I will eat the 5K and give you what you want.

I feel vindicated. Today, John was on the receiving end of my Hungarian temper and trust me he didn't like it. He knows that I mean business.

So, on Friday, I will have a new contract that spells out exactly what I expect from him, firm completion dates with penalties if he slips the dates, a provision for reviewing all records of my job to ensure that material is correctly ordered and I can SEE that the order has been placed.

My DH is skeptical and believes that John will not hold up his end of the bargain and we will be letting the lawyer loose to make his life more miserable than it already is. Actually, I am not holding my breath for a new contract. Historically, he hasn't come through without a lot of phone calls and threats. But it's the principle.

But I feel better letting out what I've kept inside for the last 9 months. :-)

On the stitching front I worked on Autumn Leaves. I still am experimenting with over one techniques and I did find a mistake but I am not ripping out this piece again. I will live with it. I do not like how some of my stitches appear smaller. The green DMC I am using is thinner than the black DMC so the green stitches sink into the black and don't show very well. It's frustrating and I am not sure I really like how it looks. I refuse to rip it out. No, I am not going to rip it out and begin again....OK, I need an INTERVENTION...Please tell me NOT to rip it out cause it's fine!!!

Well, I gotta go to bed. Thanks ladies for all your comments, I really appreciate them! You've all made me feel like I needed to light up my contractor's life and not in a good way...hee-hee...