I don’t usually write poems, but I thought I would do a small one…

Changes in the air
I can now declare
Time grows short on earth
I embrace my family’s worth
Weaving memories in life’s net
I yearn never to forget

Here’s what’s going on… My husband has worked in the retail business at two companies for a combined total of about 20 years. He worked at one company for about 10 years on the West Coast and the other company for about 10 years on the East Coast. He has been a retail manager for most of those years and a darn great one at that. Put it this way… the motto is “Whatever it takes”.

Over the last couple of years, he decided to step down to be a supervisor since I was earning the main income and he could relieve some of the stress of being a manager to spend more quality time with our three boys and myself. Even as a supervisor, sometimes he was able to share his expertise that he learned over the years and other times just sit by and watch as new people came in and did what they think works.

This year he felt like he wasn’t appreciated. He was due for a miniscule raise as usual – same as each year. However, this time, he was denied. What was the reason? He had reached his “cap pay”. He was told the only way he would get a raise is if he were to step back up into a management position. He certainly doesn’t want to do this and put the added stress back onto himself and our family. He started talking with his boss about it and trying to address the situation about the DM (District Manager) decision. There are exceptions to the “cap pay” rule, which my husband qualifies for, but they didn’t want to consider it. There you go… my husband now feels his experience is meaningless. All of those 20 years of learning, classes, going to countless meetings, being in the trenches and training new people is worthless to the very company who helped raise him.

My husband and I talked about this issue at length to figure out what we should do. He works about 30-35 hours a week. It takes him about 40 minutes to get to work. The cost of gas has increased so much, along with his eating out; we figured half of his income is taken just to go to work. It’s like the stories you hear of when parents consider day care so their spouse can go to work only to find out that the day care, clothing, eating out, etc. is actually causing them to lose money and time with their family.

Therefore, he is quitting his J.O.B. with a heavy heart. His 40th birthday is on July 25th, this month. His last day at that job is about July 21st… this month!  I will officially be the main breadwinner in this house. Yes, this brings a lot of worry, stress, and anxiety about it… but many big changes in life bring those feelings. There are also feelings of freedom, relief from frustrations, unpredictability and pressure, etc.

For instance, my top five examples:

1) We NEVER know what my husband’s schedule is from week to week. This causes many problems for planning just about ANYTHING. Even if he puts in for a day off for important family functions well in advance… he isn’t guaranteed that time off and won’t know if he gets it off until the week before.

2) He ALWAYS worked most of the holidays. For example, just this 4th of July he worked all day, late until 9:00 pm. No celebrating for him… and it’s the same every year. Plus, it makes no sense why the store was open that late when in about four hours, there were only three customers.

3) Trying to put in for a vacation is like putting a puzzle together. The retail company is so short staffed that everyone there juggles a week here or there just to have time off.

4) Being at the whim of the company to rely on your health care coverage… which changes every year. The coverage seems to be the cheapest the company can afford with a bulk rate that’s best for who?… the company of course.

5)  Loss of family value by the company…. There was a time when a company would have a manager fly to another state for a meeting. This often times would include a “play time” of goodies. During the ‘good ole’ days, the spouse or whole family would be invited and many expenses paid for. Apparently, this all ceased to exist RIGHT before my husband became a manager. It’s not as if a family would ‘expect’ it. However, a company that is more concerned with including the family in some way to show their support for their top employees was better than how they seem to ignore basic family recognition these days.

There is such a big disconnect now. The needs of the store, with ‘whatever it takes’ is actually destroying the very foundation of the company… slowly… but surely.  Managers do more work these days … way more than most of their employees and are burning out fast. Managers are supposed to ‘manage’ the employees and be the brains of the operation… and sometimes get their hands dirty when needed. Now the company relies on the managers to do everything… including covering all tasks regular employees perform and work on a skeleton crew to save their budget. Yep… companies like this are dying slowly as if it has a disease. When people don’t believe in your company and talk highly of it, it’s just a matter of time.

** I’m sure you know I could go on about this topic and cover more flaws, but it isn’t needed here. We have come to a decision. We are going through this big change and will enjoy the ride, even if it is a bumpy one. 

Well, I wanted to start off sharing about my new project as many of my online friends still haven’t heard about it. You’ll want to read about it! So, here goes…

Officially Plugged In - A website I started to showcase friends and folks who are in the public eye. The showcase contains a video, a mini interview and links to official websites. This is the first website of it’s kind!!

My friend Karlyn described the OfficiallyPluggedin.com site well in her blog today… she said, “These are artists, musicians, actors, directors, producers, authors, business people and more, who care about their representation in the public eye and want to make sure you know where to get the real info on them, their background, their website, contact information, etc and not be mislead by copy-cat sites, false or outdated information by others posted online, unofficial fan sites, or even people with a similar name.. If you are in the public eye and want to keep your friends and family (and fans) safe, then I encourage you to check out OfficiallyPluggedIn.com and all it has to offer you and protecting your online identity. As Wendy told me, «It’s just good to know who the ‘real deal’ is», you know?”

I have been helping actor Sean Patrick Flanery (Young Indiana Jones, Boondock Saints) with his Official website and MySpace account. There was some doubt from friends and fans as to whether he was indeed the real person he claimed to be. So, I had him make a video that said who he was and where his official website was located. This helped friends and fans wonderfully and they write in often to say they are glad Sean did the video. This got me to thinking that others can also do the same thing and so a site to showcase these videos came to mind.

I set the new website up at the end of last year and showcased Sean’s video after I talked with him about it. He was more than happy with the idea. So, this year, after New Year’s Eve, I started getting it going. To date … there are 23 videos/interviews showcased on the website. This site is not just for folks who are famous, but also for folks who are up and coming and are in the public eye.

I am always looking to help my friends out with the projects and things they are working on. This website will be useful to many folks as a resource to find others in certain fields to work with. For example, a casting agent may look at the videos of the actors/actresses and decide they like what they see and hear. So, they’ll contact them for film or television work. A filmmaker may like a band they see listed and want to use their music in a film. There are lots of ideas that can come out of this. Folks will be able to see, hear and reach the official site of folks showcased. The listings are complimentary! If I ever get too busy with it, I will try to keep basic showcases free and those who want up fast can pay a fee or pay to be featured.

This site brings people a presentation of folks that are real. You can hear and see them. The site helps to keep family, friends and fans safe on the internet.

Take a look at the ABOUT page and the GET LISTED pages for more information about why you should seriously consider getting showcased. All videos showcased will have the video/info posted at the various video/social networks listed at the bottom of the OfficiallyPlugggedin.com website.

I feel really strongly about this project. If you believe it is good, please get yourself showcased or tell folks who should be posted to get in touch with me. It is beneficial for everyone involved. Help me get this out there!

There is a MySpace set up for OfficiallyPluggedin.com (www.myspace.com/officiallypluggedin) where you can find some banners to post. If you want a size or something besides what is there, let me know.

TODAY is February 29, 2008. It’s my birthday and I am now 10 (40) years old… a rare day as it only comes once every four years. I often get asked when is it that I celebrate my birthday when there isn’t a 29th… well, I tend to celebrate a bit on both Feb. 28th and on March 1st… it depends on some family and friends and when they can celebrate it with me. However, I do prefer the 28th if it isn’t a Leap Year. Though celebrating over a couple days is nice, but I do feel spoiled no matter what year it is. I am blessed to have my family and friends. I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes today. You are awesome!! I wasn’t expecting such a huge outpouring of love and wishes.

My birthday goodies!!!!!!! The three cards in the front are the ones my boys made. My youngest made his with colorful lettering and filled it with hearts. My middle guy made a creative card box that held a card inside. My oldest used glitter glue which made the card have a raised affect…. He wrote in his card, “Most people have their birthday once a year, but yours is once every four. So it only makes sense that you make your birthday four times as special. Happy 40th Birthday Mom.” He is only 14. I love all my boys and husband!

The flowers with bear and the tower of yummy goodies are from my mom and her husband. I was totally surprised by them and ate some sweets after dinner. My husband came home from work carrying the big spring bouquet of flowers. Awwww!!!! I got lots of phone calls from my family and friends today. I am very blessed to be here to share more time and memories.

We are now home from the surgery. Things went well enough that my son could be released the same day. He went in surgery at 8:45am and came out about 11:30am. The doctors removed his appendix, scar tissue and the crystallized part from the appendix rupture. Everything went well. He slept most of the day and ate at around 4:00pm, got up and walked around, etc. and so he was allowed to go home. He still has a lot of recovery this week, but he wanted to show them how much he wanted to go home. That’s my son for you!     I need to monitor his pain, etc. for the rest of the week. He is allowed to swim in 4-5 days. THAT made him happy!

He is sleeping right now and seems comfortable. We are all relieved…especially ME! *whew

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes!

I am just going to make a quick blog post here since I have a million things to do before bed. My son is due to have his surgery tomorrow. We will be going in early and staying overnight. Once I get home and get him situated, I will check in and make another post about how things went. We are both nervous about it. But, better to take care of that ole’ appendix so that it doesn’t happen again.

Not sure what this is about fully? Read my previous blog post about my son and his ruptured appendix.

Basically, he is fully healed. He is happy and has gained much of his weight back now.
We were told that some doctors may even leave it alone after he was well again. However, these doctors think it is best to remove the appendix as there is always a chance of getting appendicitis again. It really depends on where the rupture happened. It could have just been a split, or the end could have ruptured leaving the rest of the appendix in tact. They won’t know until they get in there.

This is supposed to be an outpatient overnight surgery. So hopefully all goes well. I feel pretty good about it, just a bit nervous and protective of my son.

~Wendy

I thought it was time to do an update.

My son is doing well. We have a Dr. appointment this coming week and we will then find out when his surgery will be to remove his ruptured appendix. My whole family got hit by nasty colds, but we should be pretty much over them in a few days.

Lots of things happening, as always in my neck of the woods. I’ll cover more of that at a later date. I have some catching up to do, some interviews to weave and if you are waiting to hear from me, it won’t be long. I’ll email you soon!

My friends are busy with lots of neat things as well. A few I can mention about are:

* Brett made a new song called “Tightrope” - Listen here (*Brett, waiting for your reply on what that tv debut is about. )

* The ’soopa’ multi-talented Paul, Rob, and Zara are working on a film called “FUROR” - More Details Here
They are all part of Soopa 8 run by Sid who is also super nice.

* Will is progressing with the Cowboy Smoke film. Please tell family and friends to go view the film trailer and leave comments of their thoughts - View here (Official Site)

* Some rumbling going on with James and Cory, which I’ll share soon. Fun stuff.

* Arin and Susan have posted their full feature film on YouTube until August 15. They are the first to feature a full film on YouTube - View Here

* Mike Hedge is taking an Eco Trip across the USA - Read More

* Dan was on the show THE LOT and had to come up with a beautiful short film. Letting Go - View here

If I forgot to mention anyone, I am sorry. I still suffer from a stuffy head. By the way, I found that sucking on ice helped my laryngitis. I almost had it full blown and was drinking lots of fluids, but the ice helped the most. Maybe it was the contstant moisture or the cold that helped the swelling. I am getting better and very happy to get things back to normal.

Feel free to post your latest happenings in the comments section below to share.

Personal note: My son turns 8 years old this coming week and my husband and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary on June 30. I still love him with all of my heart! My one true love. We were so made for each other!

Watch here for future exciting things. Make sure to subscribe to this blog in the right hand column

I thought I would post this info in case others would be able to benefit from it. I may update this post later with more details that may be helpful…

The last two weeks have been really hard for us here. My 11 yr old son (Timothy) got sick, with what we thought was the stomach flu. He had the usual symptoms like a flu, seemed to start getting better a little bit, then got worse. I took him to the emergency room because as much as we were doing for him, trying to keep him hydrated and back to eating didn’t seem to be working. He had no appetite. I had even been talking with the doctors on the phone and we all treated it as a stomach virus. I had a strange feeling one night after trying to sleep for an hour near him… and decided to call the doctor again. This time he agreed that I should take him in. So, at 2:00 am, I drove him 20 minutes to the emergency room in Gettysburg, PA, which is closest to where we live. After many hours, the next afternoon we were told he had a ruptured appendix with a large abscess and very high white blood cell count. They called for transport to take the both of us to Penn State Children’s Hospital and we stayed there for a week until he was released yesterday.

They put a stomach tube in where the large abscess was and drained it. Through the whole order of IVs and blood tests, etc. he got poked 11 times, poor thing. Things look better, but he is still weak and recovering here at home. He is on two separate antibiotics that are taken at four different times a day for three weeks. He lost a lot of weight and is still trying to get a full appetite back. In 4-6 weeks he will have his appendix removed.

That night that I decided to take him to the emergency room, I was checking on him after I slept for an hour. He wasn’t easy to rouse to get him to drink some more fluids, and he was sleeping but was lying in a crooked position. So, I went to straighten him up and accidently touched his stomach which made him come out of a deep sleep with a big “ouch”. That is when I decided to call the doctor. By that time in his illness, his stomach muscles shouldn’t hurt anymore from throwing up. Something else seemed wrong.

When they checked him at the emergency room, his left side hurt. You would think with an appendix problem, it would be in his right side, where the appendix is. But, at that point, the pain was from swelling from an abscess located in his abdomen in a different area. One more odd thing that I noticed that day is that he had a strange smell on his breath. I mentioned it to the doctor. At first they thought he maybe had a kidney infection. After the CT Scan, they realized it was a ruptured appendix and that he had a large abscess of puss that was very infectious. That was mostly what was making him sick. He also had a very elevated white blood cell count. Usually that means his body had kicked into gear to try and fight infection. But, from what I saw come out, and how the surgeons mentioned the abscess was VERY infectious, it seemed we got him help just in time.

It has been an extremely stressful, upsetting, scary thing to go through with him. He was so sick and weak. There was so much to drain out. It was dangerous for him. We are exhausted. *sigh.

Anyways, I have lots to do here to help him heal and have laundry, bills, and chores to catch up on, not to mention sleep and mental relaxation. I can’t seem to turn this whole thing off enough to relax. I held a lot of stuff in to be strong for him and keep him calm as I could through the whole process. We were definitely scared.

I can say one thing for sure, the whole nursing staff and surgeons for the pediatric care at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey were really excellent!

It has been an interesting week.

(1) I have been following Arin and Susan with their video blog covering of the Sundance Film Fest. They just made their film, Four Eyed Monsters, available on DVD for the first time in limited quantity. They are using what they earn from the DVD sales to help get themselves out of $80,000 in credit card debt. (I have been in CC debt and know of the stress it causes, so I know they appreciate any help you can give.) If you are interested in more info with neat episode videos about their film and where to get the DVD, go to www.foureyedmonsters.com

(2) I recently did a fun and informational TeleInterview with Stuart Tan(such a NICE, smart guy!) in which he titled the interview “Secrets of a Superstar Work-At-Home Mom”. If you are interested in listening to the interview, you can go here to “Internet Marketing Singapore“. You can also get it by signing up on my site at www.wendyshepherd.com near the bottom of the page. When you sign up there, you will also receive my internet business blog updates, which are different in nature than my family/friends blog posts. If you don’t want to sign up and really want to hear the interview and learn more about my online stuff, then just message me and I’ll get it to you some how.

*Personally, I think I giggle too much, and my husband tends to agree. I’m happy, what can I say?

(3) I have a couple copies of Jonathan Clay’s CDs that are autographed. If you are interested in getting a copy in exchange for a review about his music/songs, message me about it. The review should be about 3 or more paragraphs and will be posted on one of my websites with your name credited. This offer will be over at the end of January, 2007. You can read the interview I did with Jonathan Clay here.

(4) I have delved into homeschooling my children about mid-way through the month. We are progressing through the learning material nicely. There is always a bumpy start in the beginning, where it is hard to get my boys to focus and come out of the “holiday/timeoff” mode. We seem to be past that now.

(5) After the interview I did with Stuart, I realized again the importance of writing my ebooks/book to help others learn what I have done, answer their questions, and more importantly, provide some information and step-by-steps to help them get started. I have written a bit here and there, but this last weekend I sat down for hours upon hours writing.

(6) One last thing, I don’t watch too much television at all. There is one show that I have watched since the beginning, and that is LOST. There is something about this show that is way different than the others that keeps my interest. My oldest son watched the show with me, but I have to make sure to watch for bad scenes that wouldn’t be acceptable for him to see. I am happy to say I just found out that… LOST is coming on again starting February 3!

I just watched two season previews and a bunch of “moments” that were posted in another blog.

Here they are…

LOST Preview #1
LOST Preview #2

Moment #1
Moment #2
Moment #3
Moment #4
Moment #5
Moment #6
Moment #7
Moment #8
Moment #9
Moment #10

- Laters for now!

Ok, I want to post a blog with a little of everything on my mind lately.

1) I was rummaging through photos today and ran across a half naked photo of myself. Here it is…

2) Since it is the new year and I found I hadn’t fully accomplished a goal I wanted to do last year, I looked into how much it would cost to bring a big idea I have into fruition. Well, the cost is estimated at 20k-30k. Wow. Yes, that is how big of an idea it is. I just seem to be full of the ideas without a ton of financing to put into the projects. I have considered partners, sponsors, and someone mentioned I should look into grants that I wouldn’t have to pay back. I don’t know anything about that. I have been brainstorming about it. I don’t want a corporation behind it at this point, because it is my baby and I want to be in control. When too many people get in on the decision making, it gets expensive and drawn out time wise. So, I would rather try and find a way to raise the funds and have the website built. I wish I could code it, but there are areas in the system that I can’t possibly do at this point. So, I either have to learn, or I have to hire out for it. I know a great guy, I just need the funds. Options at this point are a donation that gets repaid over time, or preselling sponsorships, and a few other ideas I have.

Know of anyone who wants to donate money as a gift with no strings attached? or in exchange for advertising? (has to be family friendly) Gosh, when I say that I realize it starts to sound like someone trying to raise funds in the film business for an independent feature film they want to make. It is hard, but can be done. I know it can. If not, I will find a way! Unfortunately, this isn’t the only big idea brewing around in my head… but it is the only one I have written down right now. (frustration, anguish, nagging feelings to get this project going) Figures, big ideas, small wallet.

3) New year, new look… I opened up my graphics program when I wasn’t feeling well and worked on some new graphics for my website on my www.wendyshepherd.com website. Take a look and let me know if you run across any errors. Thanks!

4) At the beginning of the New Year, I love hearing from my friends. I love to know what their plans and goals are. Here is what I found out recently…

Shawn just sold out his Affiliate Summit. My friend knows his stuff and loves what he does helping others in the industry.

Brett is traveling to some exciting places! Man, to be able to see those beautiful spots in the world and mingle with wonderful people. I hope you have the time of your life!

Karlyn has recently started working for ModernSage.com Modern Sage is a leading women’s natural health community where you will find great advice from experts and members on living well, natural remedies, healthy meals, spirituality, family, work, laughter, inspiration, and much more. Congrats!

Dean has decided to go forward with his dreams of writing. There is nothing more exciting than putting your ideas on paper or typing them up and seeing them come to life.

Mikel has lots of film projects he is working on. Will is coming out with his new film, Cowboy Smoke, in which I designed the official website.

Mike is working on more interviews and is the personal assistant of Kim Poirier

Paul has been working on beautiful paintings and showing them, along with doing 3d graphics for our Graphicpod.com website and working on acting and writings for film/tv.

Stuart gives great advice and is rubbing elbows with some really wonderful people in the marketing industry and we’ll be doing something sometime this month that I will announce later.

Tara keeps creating cool online products. We met on Mark Joyner’s Simpleology forums and I am looking forward to Mark’s new book!

Joel is having more helpful products created and launching them soon.

Brad now has renamed his band to Annasay and has released some new songs.

Zachary was nominated for a local award (a Kenny) in Rockville, MD, for the song “The Process,” and will be playing at the award night.

Jonathan recently did an interview with me that I posted in a previous blog and will be touring with some bands.

Eddie recently got a new job which he loves and posted a cool list of best music in 2006.

James Gunn just posted how his film SLiTHER got the best feature film of 2006 in RUE MORGUE magazine! and his wife, Jenna, has been on Rachael Ray, QVC, and a NEW “The Office” episode. (I like reading their blogs since they are so “real” and share some neat stuff)

Susan and Arin (Four Eyed Monsters film) are going to do a screening in Second Life. I look forward to trying to participate!

Drake Bell just released his new CD and has been appearing on tv and across the internet doing interviews. I have been addicted to the song “Fool the World”.

Ok, that is all for now. If I forgot anyone, it is probably because I haven’t touched base with you yet. So, please feel free to comment about what you are up to as I would love to know!!

My 12 yr old son is already thinking about saving for a car and college. Entrepreneurship seems to be running in his veins. He has decided to start making jewelry by hand to sell and save the money for his future. (he’ll also donate some to charity) . We both love making this jewelry. The first pieces will be handmade sterling silver bracelets.

I just finished setting up his basic site called Jewelry Jingle. Two bracelets are in stock and others can be preordered.

I’m a proud mom!

……………………………………………

Comments:    1.

Wendy, there is a lot of detail!
Maybe you could explain to us curious folks how your son does it!
I am impressed!

Barb

Comment by Xerraire — 7/2/2006 @ 11:23 am | Edit This
2.

Hi Barb,

He connects one link at a time and adds a clasp to join the ends to make the bracelet.

~Wendy

Comment by Wendy Shepherd — 7/2/2006 @ 11:38 am
3.

i am very much impressed by this idea of your 12 year old son and the way you helped him putting up his website.
i am on a 30 day vacation from work i was just thinking how to put up a simple and wonderfull website to start a bussiness of my own am starting to be an enteprnuar minded person,soon after starting receiving your blogs.
Thank you and have a nice time
from mombasa kenya.keep it up

Comment by swaleh — 7/3/2006 @ 4:51 am
4.

So great when kids decide to take control of things early on. Beautiful bracelet and great website. I hope him all the best of luck in his new venture.

Comment by wendy — 7/8/2006 @ 5:02 am
5.

This is cool. Looks like the apple didnt fall far from the tree!!!
Keep up the good work they are beautiful.
Will there be any in gold??
Blessings, Stephanie

Comment by Stephanie — 7/9/2006 @ 8:54 pm
6.

Wow Wendy that is simply beautiful.
I would be proud too.

Just found your blog through a link on
your article submission site. Thanks
for always allowing me to get my name out
there with my articles. I hope you benefit
from them as well.

I’ve decided to do more writing after an article
I wrote received great reviews and a spot as
featured blogger on wordpress. Maybe I’ll just
write about organizing instead of actually doing
the work LOL

Thanks again,
have fun jewelry making with your son.
Annie

Comment by Annie Thomas Burke — 7/10/2006 @ 6:18 pm

We’ve had a lot of construction done in the last few years. Our house, chimney, sunroom, and now our pool.

Dealing with construction of anything can wear on the nerves. Project dates are always changing while the construction bills are still expected to be paid on time. Your daily schedule is interrupted throughout the whole project.

I still can’t believe the lack of common courtesy in these projects.

One day I heard someone drive up the driveway. I waited before I went to the door. I didn’t hear a knock, so I went to see who it was. It was a worker for one of the projects we had going on. I walked outside to where the project was supposed to be going on and couldn’t find this guy. As I came back around the side of the house, I saw him coming from the back of my shed. Hmmm… wonder what he was doing there. No projects going on over there. I could guess. You can guess. I know we know what he was doing over there.

Today I hear someone drive up the driveway. These are guys arriving to work on our project. I look out and they are preparing things to get busy on the project. I sit down and check my email. My husband looks out the front window and makes a sound. I turn and ask what was wrong? He said one of the guys out front is doing his business in the front yard. Yuck!

What happened to stopping at the nearest gas station? This is a business doing this to their customer. Now whether they know their employees are doing this, I know not. But, I WILL have this built into any further contracts. If someone were to piss on my property during the contracted work, there will be a cost. A payment of $100 or so for each incident!

What would you do?
………………………………………..
Comments:    1.

I’m gonna put my money on cake. I bet he was baking a cake behind your shed.

Comment by Will — 4/21/2006 @ 3:33 pm
2.

I am rather shocked to be reading this.

Recently we had a theft incident as well. It was rather small, too small to phone the police, but, I feel we should have on principle.

Wendy, if not for the reprocussions, I swear, I’d make that digital camera and the power of the BLOG work for me in this instance!

Comment by Barbara (Xerraire) — 4/21/2006 @ 3:40 pm
3.

I would be so frustrated as well. That is totally inappropriate and indecent.

Comment by Karlyn — 4/21/2006 @ 4:32 pm
4.

Actually after thinking about it, “Common” was a keyword on your blog subject.

Comment by Barbara (Xerraire) — 4/21/2006 @ 5:56 pm
5.

Let’s not forget the empty cans of Mountain Dew, Gatoraid, Pepsi & Coke littered throughout the yard. Or the empty bag of pork rinds floating in the pool. There is a piece of paper sunk to the very bottom of the pool which I’m thinking is the “Scematic” for the project. The treeline in back of the pool is littered with debris high and low which I’ve yet to identify. There are McDonalds wrappers in the driveway as well as some kind of Mexican food wrapper I’ve never seen before!

Comment by Michael Shepherd — 4/21/2006 @ 8:17 pm
6.

When contractors are building a house here in Arizona, they usually have a porta-potty delivered and maintained for the duration of the project. Maybe you need to have that provision in the next contract plus a dumpster for their trash.

I can see that it is not practical to ask workers to work at a site without the amenities they need throughout the day but I feel it is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure their workers are provided for. (Of course, they may pass those costs on to you, the consumer, thus driving up the cost.)

Comment by Julie — 4/22/2006 @ 10:45 am
7.

Hey Mom. Yes, a porta-potty would be nice for them also. They only work about 5-6 hours on these projects at a time, with an hour lunch (off site) in between. I will be more in control of any further contracts for future work. I also want more control over the draw schedule. Once they get the bulk of your money with the first few installments, they piddle around getting the rest of the job done. I want to write up the draw schedule! I also want to put in a clause that states an end date of the project. For every day they go over that end date, they pay $100 or so.

Comment by Wendy Shepherd — 4/22/2006 @ 11:21 am
8.

I cannot believe what you have had to put up with when they did there business on my lawn I would have fired them on the spot and your contract deal sounds like the way to go…And I totally agree with your idea about charging them for the job not finished they would sure have harassed you if the job was not paid for on time. Good luck, Stephanie

Comment by Stephanie — 4/25/2006 @ 6:35 pm