ArrrrGGGG!!!!! There is a multitude of reasons that I generally Don't Like People. And People in general seem constantly at the ready to reinforce that they should not be liked. But today one person in specific wins the prize.....
I spent all yesterday morning digging out the dirt over the septic lids and cleaning them carefully with a broom so that dirt would not fall into the septic very much when the pump people came today. And this morning I waited, glad that I would not need to worry over the winter about a full septic tank. The guy arrived to pump the septic, and luckily I was out there attaching the water hose to the spigot, cause the guy uses a big pipe to pry the first lid loose (instead of of using a rope or hook to lift it out by the handle)… and then goes to the second lid and I think it is a pretty strange way to get the lids out, so I watch him pry, pry, then hit it repeatedly with the pipe… and CRACK! He cracks the concrete lid all the way across right at the handle! And of course, now it won’t come out by lifting the handle because it is wedging into place because of the crack. So I wasn’t sure what to do, so I come in and call the septic place and let them know what happened. Michelle says she will call back in a few minutes, so I am sitting waiting for her to call while the guy is pumping out the one side that he got the lid off of. Then the guy knocks on the door and says he pumped out the one side, but that he could not get the lid off the other side because it is cracked. And I say “I know. I watched you crack it. I called (the septic company) and told them and the lady said she will call back in a few minutes.” The guy gets all huffy and says “Well, it is the sewer gas… it ate the lid all up.” REALLY? So now we are going from it was already cracked to sewer gas? I said “No, it was fine when I took it off a few months ago to check the levels. You can’t pry it sideways, you have to lift it out by the handle.” Now he gets really irate and he says “I can’t lift it by the handle, YOU want to do it?!?” Then proceeds to yank on the handle to prove his point, but the thing shifts and is only held in place by the lid cracking more and wedging into place. I don’t want to get into a fight with this guy, and he is getting red faced and kind of scary. So I head towards the house and say “Look, I already called the office and they will be calling back in a few minutes.” So I go inside and call the office again and tell Michelle what the driver said and that we probably need to get a manager out here or something because I am not accepting of someone trying to lie about something they did. She says she will call back. Then just after I hang up, I hear the engine of the truck making different noise and look outside to see the guy driving away. I call and let Michelle know he drove off… then go and take a dozen pictures and notice that he chipped a big spot out of the other lid when he put it (or more probably tossed it) back in the hole. Michelle calls back a bit later and asks what size the lid is and says a manager will be coming out at some point. She is nice and I am trying hard not to let my frustration at the whole thing affect that. I let her know I took a bunch of pictures and told her about the big chip on the other lid and that my septic is still not pumped on the other side. Later she calls again and asks if I can send the pictures. Hopefully this will all get resolved, but what a mess!!!
* Update... The manager just called and said he has new lids that should hopefully fit, and he has a couple jobs to get done first, but that he will be out here sometime today to get things resolved. Maybe there will be some small redemption for People.
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