Our first house warming gift!

When they opened the ceiling in our family room to dry it out, we noticed something weird about the heating system.  One of the ducts seemed to be blocked.  Today I had the HVAC guy come out and take a look at it and in the process, he found a nasty carton of milk inside our furnace.  It had obviously been placed there maliciously and the HVAC guy suggested maybe we pissed off the realtor or the former owners.

But we didn't.  I can't think of any beef they'd have had with us, not to mention that they moved out at the end of August, so they couldn't have bought milk that expired at the end of September.  Also?  They were grown-ups and professionals, not juvenile delinquents.

Then it struck me: we complained about one of our floor installers.  He was, well, I'll be honest here, lazy and Dave and I felt it was our duty to mention it to the owner.  [Specifically, after the carpet and tile were removed, Dave went out of his way to mark several places on the sub floor that he wanted to have screwed down so the floors wouldn't squeak after the hardwood went in.  This guy, let's call him Bruce, told his boss that he'd laid "at least 100 screws" into the floor that morning, but when Dave got here, he couldn't find a single one.  When Dave asked Bruce to point out some of the screws, he said he'd put a bunch over in the office, right underneath all of their equipment.  When the other worker moved the equipment, Dave asked again to see where the screws were and guess what?  There weren't any.  I think the whole episode put Dave on his bad side.]

I have had to deal with a LOT of crap lately.  You'd think the water damage would be the first thing I'd mention, but it PALES in comparison to the other stuff I haven't been blogging about.  I have an internet stalker who thinks it's funny to call me a meth-addicted alcoholic lesbian, whom several of you have already heard from on your own blogs and for whom I apologize.  I also have somebody threatening to sue me for things I've said about them on this blog.  The best part is that this person has made a lifetime's worth of money working on Internet technology, but doesn't seem to understand the basics of the IP address or that it only took about two minutes to figure out who's been subscribing me to e-newsletters for gay vacation home exchanges.  I've been logging all this vitriol and keeping it in a folder for future reference. 

While laughing.  Who in the world would ever believe I was a meth-addict?!

Anyway, the point is that even with all this other stuff going on, stuff normal people would be freaking out about, none of it has bothered me.  I swear I am every bit as obnoxiously perky as ever.

Until today.

The milk thing REALLY got to me.  Maybe it's because I found it in my own home, this house that we worked so hard for and which we love, our children's home.  Maybe it's because even when I'm being a complainy bitch, I always try to at least be a NICE complainy bitch and I can't imagine pissing someone off so badly with anything I said or did.

Maybe everything happens for a reason.  Maybe Dave pulled the faucet off the shower because we're good people and while a $1,000 deductible is honestly no fun, it's a hellofalot better than spending the next several years trying to figure out what died in our stinky-ass house and wondering what the hell we'd gotten ourselves into.

Comments

[Lynda]

That's just terrible! Who would do that?! Thank goodness you found it. Ugh. Just imagine if you hadn't. Perhaps a phone call to the company (especially if they were the only workers in your house - process of elimination) would be a good idea?

[Jamie]

What a nasty rotten thing to do! So glad you found it though. What is with people? I mean, the nerve of you guys, asking someone to do their job right? Ugh. Im so sorry you're having to deal with all this crap!

[megan]

Welcome to home ownership and the world of ass hat contractors. We've had our fair share in the last 6 months and finally found the best retired general contractor who can do 99% of the jobs on our to do list. Thank g-d for Ahnuld!

[Nicole]

I agree that's a horrible, nasty, rotten, no-good thing to do. Some people don't yet seem to understand that if you do the job you're paid for, all will be well.

But...Lactaid milk?

I hope the other stuff works out too.

[milk&honey]

Shit. Didn't any of these people (or this one obviously stupid person) happen to notice that your husband is a FREAKING LAWYER?!? How clueless do you have to be?

Don't let the man get you down, Manda. Like I've said before, F the Haters.

(is it too soon for a joke about crying over hidden milk? too soon? i really had to suppress that one. sorry!)

XOXO

[Alison]

Wow.

You know what they say: Revenge is a dish best served lactose free!

Me thinks Bruce might be hearing from a certain lawyer in the not so far future.

[Tree]

Wow! Just wow!

Even if I sat down and tried I couldn't come up with such a shitty thing to do to someone.

I'm so sorry!

[Roseann]

You know, Lactaid milk has a huge shelf life. My mom drinks it, and she has some she just bought that has an expiry sometime in November.
So, they could have bought it, right before you moved in, and set it there.
Just saying. As horrible as it is, it could have been the previous owners.

[Jen]

Amanda,

I'm so sorry that someone felt they had the right to do this to you. Not only to you & Dave, but to the kids as well. Kharma is a bitch & I hope that they get what's coming to them triple. As for the stalker, WOW. ((( )))

[karen]

OMG!!!!!!
I can't believe anyone would do such a thing.
Lactaid milk does have an extremely long shelf life, it could have been there before you moved in. I agree with you. The whole shower/water problem is probably a blessing in disguise. And about the stalker and other "don't know what they're talking abouts" keep your chin up. Good things do happen to good people and you're "good people".
I hope the rest of the crap just goes away asap. It will get better soon.

[kalisah]

Well my goodness, child, what have you done to deserve all this? My compliments to you for handling it all so maturely. Keep your head up - it's bound to get better soon. You have a lot of fans out here who love you. xoxo

[DaisyCake]

to put on my detective hat, the lactose free milk makes me think that it may have been the previous owners instead of Bruce.
The expiration date would be plausible, and the fact that it's lactose free....I mean come on. A malicious person would buy whole milk. Cram all the lactose in there you can. Unless, of course, you want to have a while until the stench starts wafting through.

that sucks.

[DaisyCake]

to edit my comment (I should preview before I publish) EITHER WAY the person is malicious. Buying lactose free doesn't make you non-malicious.

and no matter if it was Bruce or Previous Owner, it sucks.

[kheatherg]

Meth addict? Lesbian? Alchoholic?
LOL

Thats quite a combo!

I dunno anything about the milk incident, is it possible someone just forgot and left it there while working? I can certainly see where it "hits home" because it seems so damn personal!!

Chin up, one foot in front of the other, move forward.......

[Tracy27]

Wow. We had the Buyer from Hell when we sold our last house, and yet it never would've occured to me to do something that vile to him - especially since he has kids. I mean, not that I haven't been tempted to stuff someone's office chair with little bits of raw chicken before, but I'd never actually DO it. Incredible, how shitty some people can be.

[Croft]

Sorry you have been having such a rough time! But I think it may have been the previous owners who planted the milk. I drink Lactaid milk and just checked the carton I bought a few weeks ago - expiration mid Nov! It has a very long shelf life - and also is EXPENSIVE. I doubt Bruce would have gone out and bought that instead of regular milk. Perhaps the previous owners were just (lactose intolerant) jerks who were mad about the price their house sold at or something???

[Tana]

That is just crazy! I am always so trusting of others while maybe I shouldn't be.
You should totally call your realtor whom ever did that is just plain RUDE and malicious! My goodness girl...at least you found it now huh??

[mothergoosemouse]

Creepy. All of it.

But the house is gorgeous!

[sherry]

That is unbelievably vile that someone would do that just because they got called out on doing a lazy job. I'm so glad it was found.

And the rest of the stuff you're dealing with? I'm impressed with how well you're taking it. I would be really ticked off.

[S.A.]

See, I'm thinking that some workers did it to the previous owners. I don't think that Lazy Guy would buy Lactaid just to leave it in your duct...as previously mentioned it is a lot more expensive than regular milk.

[Jenny H.]

Weird!

My favorite part was the meth-addicted-alcoholic-lesbian! Wha? That is funny.

I am so sorry you are having such a crazy time just after moving in to your beautiful new home. I hope it gets better! And soon!

[andrea]

How shitty of someone to do to you guys, regardless of who it was, it just plain sucks. I'll have to agree with everyone else, the water damage was indeed a blessing in disguise, although it must be painful to think of it that way.

Sorry to hear about your stalker, I hate mean people.

[poobou]

So, was the Lactaid milk something that he could've found at your house? Maybe a container he fished out of the trash? I'm just wondering because I drink Lactaid due to that whole gastric bypass "milk isn't my friend anymore" thing, and I didn't know if you drink it for similar reasons.

The fact that someone is stalking you sucks, but "meth-addicted alcoholic lesbian"? That IS kind of funny only because it's so completely preposterous.

[b*babbler]

Wow, the utter crappiness of the world can still shock me.

Stalkers? Spam sign-ups? Milk in the vent system? Gah!

I'd definitely say that Dave pulling the shower handle off was meant to happen.

[Tiffany]

That is just horrible. But on the bright side, at least you found it.