In an ideal world, we’re all wealthy enough to have a staff to take care of our various and sundry chores. In the real world, HAH! But maybe we can treat ourselves to one or two hired helps. Do you? What would you gladly pay to have done instead of tackling it yourself?
I ask because today (or maybe tomorrow) our gutter guy is finally coming, having been snowed out of his first appointment. Apart from the back of our house being 2 stories up, even if I could easily access all gutters from a ladder, it’s still yuck! And when FCD was still able to climb up there and do it himself, I was still terrified the entire time that he’d slip and fall - so much so that I kept the phone in hand, ready to dial 9-1-1.
Another, not quite typical chore for most, is painting the boat bottom. Over the years, we’ve put in many long, dirty, sweaty hours sanding off old, loose paint and applying 2 or 3 coats of heavy, smelly new paint to get us thru another boating season. When we were younger, it was doable. But one year, we decided it was worth the extra $$ to have someone else deal with it. Truly a case of the best tool for the job being a checkbook.
There are days I’d love to have a resident chef who not only prepares great meals, but who knows what I want, even if I don’t know. On the other hand, I do enjoy cooking. It’s the clean-up after…
Anyway, do you pay someone else do to something that you can do but don’t want to do? Or if you had the means, is there something you’d rather hire someone to do?
simple if it wasn’t for my relatives’ i’d simply hire one of the neighbor girls to cook and clean for me via the IHSS system in ca …
some things I could technically do myself but I’m not temperamentally inclined to do and others I just don’t have the mental capacity to give a rat’s as of a tinker damn if they ever were done like dusting…So just about all house and yardwork only chore I enjoy really is cooking and even that’s not an everyday thing …
Definitely all the heavy lifting stuff and the high stuff. My house is two stories so roof and gutter cleaning are hired out, in fact, I need to get someone out here to do it because it’s been too long.
The first yard and garden clean-up of the year and all the tree trimming.
Inside, I’d hire a personal nutrition chef. I cannot get my husband to leave the freakin’ butter alone. He wants to cook everything in it and it’s a constant battle. I’d like a chef to make me lean, nutritious and tasty meals. I can cook and do so every so often, but since my husband retired, he’s taken on the cooking. I can cook good nutritious meals too.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 28 Amurrkin out and N.O.S. with a predicted high of 61 and N.O.S. for the day. I was a slugabed until seven-thirty! Imagine that! I need to do a few errands about town so I shall go forth and do so at some point. Sup will be beastloaf, mac 'n cheese, peas 'n carrots, and rolls. One thing we do here is eat fairly well.
We hire somebody to clean out gutters, cause ick, and we can. We also hired a house cleaner last year cause we got tahrd of doin’ it and cause we can. We still do all the yahd irk, but that may become a hired out task either this year or next year. We’re in the beginnin’ stages of thinkin’ about that.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, as I do intend to go amongst the public I suppose I should purtify and don the appropriate attire, bother of bothers that it is.
I also found a home business (started in lockdown) which cooks meals to order and delivers them.
They ask for 3 days notice and the meals simply sit in the fridge then go in the microwave.
IMO paying someone to change your car’s oil is the best bargain going. I know some people like to do it themselves but it’s a messy job and especially tiresome in the winter if you don’t have a garage. Well worth the $50 or whatever it costs.
Morning all. 27F but supposed to go up to 56F today, which the Weather Wizards say is the hottest day we’ll have this week. At least no rain is forecast this week (Batten Down the Hatches!!!). Need to do the Shop-n-Sammich run a little later.
As for services, I have a lawn (Tru-Green) and pest control (Cook’s) service that I pay annually for services (I still mow my lawn myself). And of course I take the car in for service when I need to and am a AAA member (even if I’ve had no call to use them in years). I’m seriously thinking about hiring a maid service, mostly to sweep and mop the floors, I handle most of the other things but for some reason don’t like doing those–like shady says, I’m just not inclined to do them. Now if I could pay someone to join a gym and get me in shape…
Never worried about gutters (have no trees on my property so few leaves) but since I got new ones installed last year, I guess I do need to have that added to the list, as I have not intent to climb a ladder that high.
shoe, referring to your last message on last week’s MMP, glad things are getting easier and your muscles and stamina are learning the new regime. Keep doing well.
OK, need to check the news for Moanday and then prepare myself for the great outdoors. All y’all have a great week.
I’m with you there! Not that I ever did it myself, but in his younger days, my husband loved futzing around with cars. Then he realized it wasn’t fun any more.
It helps, too, that our car guys give the vehicle a once-over and they tend to catch things when they’re wearing out but before they fail. It’s great to have a garage you can trust not to invent problems.
Would that I could swing this every year!! The one year we had it done was wonderful!! But with the size of our yard, it’s just not doable on a regular basis. I need to train the grands to use a rake!
Showered, dressed, and thinking about today’s plans. I need to fill my car, go to the post office, and swing by Food Lion. And since we’ve burned our first ton of pellets, I have 2 empty pallets to remove from the garage. And if it warms enough, I’ll head outside with my little chain saw and cut up the big branches that fell in front of the shop. Or that may wait till tomorrow after I return Toby. We shall see…
I live in a townhouse so all outside stuff is done by people other than me. Housecleaning and cooking though is done by me. Automotive stuff is done by automotive people. It’s snowing right now and I have to drive to irk. This is the last January 24 I will have to drive to irk though!
I forgot about the car servicing; yeah I pay for that too; it’s well worth the money and hassle. Way back when we had very little money and old cars we changed the oil ourselves and before I moved out on my own I even changed the plugs in my car. Those days are loooooooooooong gone.
I had a Chevy Citation years ago. To change the oil, I had to get in the car and turn the wheels all the way to the right, then get under the car and slip the filter wrench into position, loosen it, retract the wrench, get back in the car and turn the wheels all the way to the left, get back under the car, hand-loosen the filter until it came off the engine block, get back in the car, turn the wheels all the way right to get the filter out of its home, then reverse the procedure to install the filter. Did it once, never again – I’m crazy but I’m not stupid.
BTW, is that an acoustic or electric cat in the case?
Afternoon, mumpers! Chilly and cloudy out there today, I have been away from home for a weekend music festival, all good fun even with last minute line-up changes due to covid. We had a blast…but it’s good to be home.
We pay for people to do property repairs and I want someone to do something, anything with the mess of a garden that we have neither interest nor inclination to do ourselves. Indoor stuff we mostly do ourselves unless it’s beyond our capabilities.
From last week…Nellie a brainscrape is my term for a nasal swab antigen taste. We had to prove negative tests or provide proof of vaccinations before we could get into our music event. I already had our covid passes done, but we did lateral flows as well just to be sure.
Nut appendages of all sorts crossed for the Thing! And congrats on the essay mark too.
I was going to do a bunch of things this afternoon but Shadow has decided he needs lap time and fuss instead.
All righty - vehicle is gassed up, package is mailed, and groceries have been procured at Food Lion. I just finished in the garage. The empty pallets are outside awaiting demolition and transport to the dump. The second ton has been de-plastic’d (it was triple-wrapped) and I swept up the spilled pellets. As I was finishing, I noticed a ladder outside the garage door - our gutter guys are here - HUZZAH!!
The sun is shining and the temp is rising, so I may take care of the branches today. I’ll need to take the wagon over by the shed to haul the logs to the firewood pile. Or maybe I’ll just take them into the basement… Anyway, that’ll be after lunch, after FCD returns from therapy. I want someone around to call 9-1-1 in case I hack my leg open or something silly like that.
BooFae - do you recall when you visited DC and we all met for lunch, I asked you about the little pull-over spots along country roads in England? What I didn’t ask was how do they work? That is, how do drivers determine who pulls over. I would assume first one there gets out of the way of the other, but is there more to it?
We pay someone to mow the lawn. I also indulge in a grocery ordering app. My husband thinks delivered groceries are somehow cheating, but given the choice between making time to go myself, nagging my husband to go with no results and hitting “place order,” I’m going to place my order.
I’d dearly love to have a cleaning service, which used to be another point of contention. The husband unit would relax on the couch while the kids scattered to chill. I’d be in the kitchen or the bathroom or wherever, alone, cleaning up and wiping things down. After I got mad I was the only one cleaning, the husband unit’s solution was the kids would clean after dinner for me, while he directed from the kitchen table and got annoyed at how long it took the kids to clean the kitchen.
After maybe two days of that, I insisted on what my kids call “Family Bonding with Dishes.” If you live here and you’re not incapacitated, you don’t sit down until the day’s dishes are clean and put away. That includes me, the kids and the husband unit. I usually still have to direct, but it’s worth it if it means avoiding a situation where only certain people are exempt from cleaning. And that is how we decided not to get a cleaning service…yet. (I’m still determined to get one, but that’s not a hill I’m willing to die on.)
Anyway, it’s warmer than it has been for a bit today, albeit grey. Work is a trickle. I always get antsy when work is light - but ticked off when it’s crazy busy. I’m always looking for something to complain about.
I pay someone to mow my lawn. I use to do it myself, first with an PITA electric mower then a new self propelled model. Then I hurt my knee at work so my wife hired someone to do it for us. After my knee was back to normal we stayed with the lawn service.
Last year we bought a travel trailer that needed some long overdue maintenance. I did what I could do but there was some stuff that needed to be done but I don’t have a safe place to work on the trailer. I needed to jack the trailer to repack the wheel bearings but the only place I can do this is on a slightly sloped grassy area. The only other option would be in the street in front of my house, to many people think our neighborhood is a race track. I paid to have that done along with checking and cleaning all the water and waste tanks. Not going to worry about any of that this spring, bought a brand new trailer for our travels for this year and beyond. It’s smaller and will just fit in my driveway if I have to get under it.
Thanks. I had the post pending until “oops!” and posted it late - didn’t know if anyone saw it.
There was a lot to read, as I had a lot to get off my mind.
As for today - holy lake effect, batman! It started snowing last night, so I thought, “I’ll be responsible and clear off my car!”
This morning: “Where the heck is my ca- oh, there it is. Hiding under a pile of fresh snow.”
Cleared off my car, shoveled the driveway in the ruts made earlier, so I just shovel a path for each tire.
One hour later: “Where’s my car? Where are the paths I shoveled?”
… and it’s still coming down, y’all.
I hate to be that ‘Been there, done that’ guy, but I spent the winter at my Grandmother’s house in Morley Mich (just south of Big Rapids) when I was much younger. I used to park my little white Triumph TR4 in the same place so I could find it in the morning.
Anyway, I feel your pain. Also, good on ya for getting all ‘bulked up’
As for paying someone to do something, I’d rather pay someone to do just about everything except the procuring and cooking of the food. Unfortunately finances don’t allow that. But there are some things I can’t do anymore, like go up on ladders, and some things I can still do, but slowly. It’s a decision every time.
I have a cleaning lady that comes every other week. I wouldn’t have her if I wasn’t still crippled. I have a lady that keeps my yard which is only one giant palm and rocks and weeds. She keeps the weeds away and picks up the dropped fronds.
Once I get moved I will probably only have a yard service as I expect to have a real grass yard. I can do my own cleaning once my ankle gets well.
No word yet on either house I have offers on. Should have known by lunchtime but nada. Kind of aggravating to keep being put off.
