Deck dude is giving US a stroke
2006-06-16 - 7:40 p.m.

B finally sent that letter to the deck dude a few days ago, and he sent it certified mail so deck dude would have to sign for and we'd know he received it. But today, B brought the mail in when he got home and that letter had been returned to us! It was marked as "Attempted not known," which I would suppose means he doesn't live at that address anymore.

So B and I were thinking that deck dude must've skipped town. B picked up the phone to try calling him again, but I suggested we check for his address online. Before the deck dude was last here, B spoke with his wife, presumably at their home, so I wanted to see what address was associated with that phone number at 411 dot com. It said there was an old listing for that number and did indeed list the address B had mailed the letter to, so I wasn't expecting that B would get any answer at that phone number, either. But B tried it anyway and deck dude's wife answered.

B told her who he was and what he was calling about and she said that, according to deck dude's schedule, our deck had already been sanded and sealed. B said no way, that's not been done, and asked if everthing was okay with the deck dude, and she sounded really upset and said no, that in fact he has been very sick and suffered several more strokes recently.

That would certainly explain why he hasn't been back to finish the job. But why would his schedule say he's already finished? And what's with that letter being returned? How come the address is no good but the phone number still works?

Is this guy for real or not? Is it just our bad luck that we hired someone who did a shitty job on the deck and then got sick, or is it our bad luck that we hired a guy who did a shitty job, never finished and won't own up to it? How in the heck are we supposed to know for sure?

Anyway, his wife told B that she'd have him call back tonight between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. It's now almost 8:00 p.m. and he never called. Geez. If the guy really is sick and really has had all these strokes, he should have someone else come over here and finish the job. It's hard to know just how to proceed from here, though.

On a totally different subject, I've been checking out that lipo message board every day so I can be prepared for it as best as I can and know what to expect. One woman in particular said that, before her lipo, she always had gaps in the waist of her pants because if they fit around her hips they'd be too big around her waist. It was encouraging to know that she doesn't have that problem any more, so it's really, truly possible that I'll never have to deal with that problem again. That just blows my mind.

My hand is bugging me so I'll have to stop here. Hope you all have a good weekend!

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