![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swingchickiefirst of all, i hope everyone at state farm insurance gets eaten by wolverines. i am so pissed at them right now. they are not covering the repairs to my roof, because the crack in the shingles is due to "poor workmanship" and the 50-year-old rotting plywood underneath that has to be replaced is due to "poor workmanship" (um, 50 years ago?) and "old age". basically, if my roof leaks for any reason other than a meteor crashing through it, they won't pay. *seethe*
funny thing is, they'll pay for the repair of the water damage to my kitchen. sooooo... they'll pay to fix the problem inside... even though, if i can't afford to fix the outside, it's going to leak again and they'd have to pay again? yeah, that makes sense.
jack has been an amazing help through all of this. he told his next-door neighbor (who used to be a roofer) about my problem, and that i don't have thousands of dollars to fix it, and the neighbor came over with him last night to go up there and take a look. he's going to do the work for free, as are jack and his best friend (who also happens to be his neighbor)... the only thing i'll have to pay for is the cost of the materials, and about $500 to a guy the neighbor knows who is still a full-time roofer and can oversee all the work to make sure it's done well. so, it was going to cost me $1000 to patch the roof (estimate #1), or $4200 to replace that whole side (estimate #2)... now it'll only cost me about $1000 to replace the whole side.
i'm overwhelmed by the guys' generosity, and i'll admit, a little freaked out by it. two guys who barely know me are going to spend their entire weekend up on my roof, in the cold, doing hard labor. and they don't want money for it. i don't know what to do, i'm grateful but my brain can't handle it. i'm used to paying people for their services, and this is a service worth SO much money that they're doing for free... i've been really stressed about it since last night, feeling like i'm taking advantage of some really nice people who care about jack a lot. i asked jack if they'd be cool with me getting them a big gift certificate to a restaurant in the area, or something like that, as a thank-you, and he said that'd be a good idea... but a $100 gift certificate to outback steakhouse is just NOT enough compensation for an entire weekend of grueling work. ugh.
funny thing is, they'll pay for the repair of the water damage to my kitchen. sooooo... they'll pay to fix the problem inside... even though, if i can't afford to fix the outside, it's going to leak again and they'd have to pay again? yeah, that makes sense.
jack has been an amazing help through all of this. he told his next-door neighbor (who used to be a roofer) about my problem, and that i don't have thousands of dollars to fix it, and the neighbor came over with him last night to go up there and take a look. he's going to do the work for free, as are jack and his best friend (who also happens to be his neighbor)... the only thing i'll have to pay for is the cost of the materials, and about $500 to a guy the neighbor knows who is still a full-time roofer and can oversee all the work to make sure it's done well. so, it was going to cost me $1000 to patch the roof (estimate #1), or $4200 to replace that whole side (estimate #2)... now it'll only cost me about $1000 to replace the whole side.
i'm overwhelmed by the guys' generosity, and i'll admit, a little freaked out by it. two guys who barely know me are going to spend their entire weekend up on my roof, in the cold, doing hard labor. and they don't want money for it. i don't know what to do, i'm grateful but my brain can't handle it. i'm used to paying people for their services, and this is a service worth SO much money that they're doing for free... i've been really stressed about it since last night, feeling like i'm taking advantage of some really nice people who care about jack a lot. i asked jack if they'd be cool with me getting them a big gift certificate to a restaurant in the area, or something like that, as a thank-you, and he said that'd be a good idea... but a $100 gift certificate to outback steakhouse is just NOT enough compensation for an entire weekend of grueling work. ugh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 12:06 pm (UTC)my (unsolicited) advice is to enjoy this wonderful outpouring of humanity because it seems so rare nowadays. cook them a nice meal, bring them drinks and give them the warm-fuzzy feeling of seeing how happy and grateful you are. maybe after you meet these guys, it'll come to you in a flash just what the perfect thank-you gift is (i.e. maybe you'll find out they love NASCAR or something. . .)