You may not see me for a while, I’m going to have to work my ass off for the mistake I just made.
It was about 3 in the morning, and I was planning on taking a bath right before bed (Loosens my muscles and helps me fall asleep). Started the water, went back to my room which is right next door, and started watching a show.
I completely forgot to shut the tub off. It overflowed onto and through the floor. Our dining room got a little flooded, and my mothers collection of books, well lets just say about 30 or 40 mint condition books just lost their value.
This may have been the dumbest stupid mistake I’ve ever made. I REALLY did not mean for this to happen and I am so fucking nervous right now, I’m literally shaking. A few tiles are missing from the roof, there’s water damage to the roof, the floor, the carpet upstairs near the bathroom, and we’re already destitute in terms of money.
God this is an awful day. It was going okay but this…this just sucks.
As I said, I’m going to have to work my ass off to pay this all back. You may not see me for a while, I have no idea how forgiving my menopausal mother is going to be at the moment, I’m really lucky I have a place to sleep tonight still. I know many mothers who would kick their child out right then and there for waking them up at 3:45 with that kind of damage.
An angry lecture, but just a lecture none the less. I told her I was going to do everything in my power to pay her back for the books, the ceiling tiles and the dining room floor and stuff. I may take a while, but considering her short fuse, I am so relieved it turned out well…somewhat mild.
I’ll be honest, it’s about once a year I do something stupid like this. Two years ago, it was failing out of Ivy tech. A year ago, it was the car accident. Now it’s the bath tub. I’m amazed she’s still letting me live here right now.
Yeah, about five years ago my brother did the same thing, though he was more of a douchebag about it. He decided to take a shower with curtain on the outside of the tub.
Anyways. College was a little more my fault I’m willing to admit. Half of the reason was the degree, my first choice in a degree was computer graphics or fine arts or something, basically drawing or doodling. My second choice was Computer Technology. Well, at the time they didn’t have my first choice, so I took Computer Tech. I hated it, and I sucked at it. The other half then became my fault because I procrastinated and stopped showing up to classes and doing homework. So yeah, I fucked up on that one and have only myself to blame. I REALLY wish they would have told me about their policy to drop credit hours from my transcript (I’m allowed to drop up to 15 credit hours, and only needed to drop 12 to get back on financial aid and back in school), but oh well, I did eventually find out about it and now I’m mostly back in school.
The car accident made me realize I’m not meant for driving. Selfish as it may be, I just cannot multitask enough to drive. For now the bus system is good enough, as it can take me to four surrounding counties and all the way up to Indianapolis for relatively cheap.
As for any water, we already took care of that. We have two industrial strength shop vacs and sucked pretty much every ounce of it up last night. The books are still readable and legible, and not damaged beyond repair or anything. They just aren’t pretty anymore.
Those are Armstrong ceiling tiles which are cheap and available at your favorite hardware store. If you want to DIY, you’ll probably have to take down the last row, then start from the nearest missing one in your picture, and work back toward the walls (you have to work from one side toward the other; you can’t insert a tile in the middle). The tiles are crumbly and fragile, which is a pain in the ass, but they just interlock with a tongue-and-groove into the existing ones, and there are clips along the open end. I guess I’d describe putting them up as more of a nuisance than hard.
Dude…I know absolutely nothing about carpentry or construction.
I spend 8 to 14 hours in front of a computer screen each day and have been doing that since I was 11. I’ll pay for the damage and if my stepfather wants me to help fix it, I will, but a DIY job is way out of my league.
Seriously? Dude, you need not know anything about construction or carpentry. You are not building a skyscraper here; You are just replacing some tiles. Peri explained exactly how to do it. It is not rocket science. So you buy the right kind of ceiling tile, take down one piece of the existing tile and take it to Lowes, Home Depot, or your favorite home store. You don’t need to hire a contractor for an arm and a leg to fix it. Just fix it.
Don’t you have any friends that are good at this type of thing? If I can build my own tanneau cover for my pickup from parts at Lowes so I don’t have to spend $400 to buy one, you can do this which is easier and requires fewer tools. I am sorta slight, so picture me maneuvering a eight foot by four foot frame with a cover stretched over it. No one taught me how. I just figured it out and learned on my own. The “I can’t attitude” really makes me mad. The human mind is capable of learning to do new things.
You know what? I knew nothing about writing stories and books. I went to school to program computers for 8 hours a day. (That’s what I do for work) I never learned to write fiction and no one taught me. I sat down and learned how. I did read other fiction to see how it was put together. Look at your intact tiles to see how they are put together. You have an opportunity to learn how to put up ceiling tile. What are you going to do if you hire someone to do this for you and it happens again? You won’t be able to fix it next time if you let someone do it for you.
I’m not trying to pick on you. I am just trying to motivate you.
Seriously? Dude, you need not know anything about construction or carpentry. You are not building a skyscraper here; You are just replacing some tiles. Peri explained exactly how to do it. It is not rocket science. So you buy the right kind of ceiling tile, take down one piece of the existing tile and take it to Lowes, Home Depot, or your favorite home store. You don’t need to hire a contractor for an arm and a leg to fix it. Just fix it.
So…ignore the potential water damage and molding and just put tiles up. Yeah…no.
Look, regardless of how it’s done, I know absolutely nothing about ceiling tiles. When I say absolutely nothing, I really mean it too. I’ve never been inside a home depot and I’ve only been inside Lowes once.
Not to mention, I’m very accident prone. As I said, if my stepfather starts to fix it and needs my help, I’ll be more than willing to do it, but there is no way I could do it on my own. Physical labor is just not my forte.
And no, all of my friends are gamers like me.
Finally, as for the “Can’t Do” attitude. Yes I said I can’t do it on my own but I -never- stated I’m unwilling to learn under supervision. In fact, my stepfather probably wouldn’t even let me try this on my own. He knows me better than you do, and so do I.
It is, of course, your choice (and stepdad’s) whether or not to take it on. But I was once like you (even started at about the same age), and afraid to take on physical things, preferring to stick with code. Today, I definitely feel empowered by the knowledge I have in the physical world, which all started after I saw some quick-and-dirty bookshelves a friend built, and realized that I could replicate them cheaper than buying some particle board shit at Wal*Mart. And they’re stronger, too.
I now live very well on a modest income, partly because I fix everything (plumbing, woodwork, electrical, my car) myself, and have learned to improvise fixes that will allow me to get the most out of something-- either fixing it or hacking it to get a little more life out. That requires me to invest time in fixing things, but it also means I get to work less, and I get a variety of stuff instead of being stuck in front of a screen 40 hours a week. And I don’t feel at the mercy of contractors.
Shrug I can see both sides of the equation, and there are times I do get stuff done by a pro because they’ve got expertise or machines I don’t have. But you said “we’re already destitute in terms of money”, so maybe work with your stepfather, and do it together. Knowledge is power and all that, so picking up a new skill is good (IMHO). And more than anything, don’t let fear rule your life.
Well things are taking a turn for the worse. Both my mother and stepfather are…basically loose cannons (as in, worse than how heated up I can get in an argument).
They’ve been fighting a lot lately and usually after a fight they’re so pissed they take it out on me. Whats worse, the fights they have are becoming slightly more hostile each and every argument, to the point that I’m worried one might physically attack or even kill the other, and considering how crippled my mother is, I can take two guesses as to who’d win that fight but I’d only need one.
Today had two fights, I didn’t hear what the first one was about and could only hear muffled screaming, not actual words, but they had another fight half an hour after that, one I was around to hear. Mom took the cordless phone and tossed it on the bed, she apparently didn’t toss it hard enough as it bumped against the wooden base before hitting the bed. Dave started making a lot of crazy awful comments about this, and so the fight ensues.
Apart from the fact that I know I’m going to catch flak from all this, I am really worried about my mother. When I say she’s crippled, I’m saying it’s bad enough that despite how short she is, all she would have to do is fall down on her ass and she could become paralyzed with ease. Dave doesn’t have to do anything severe to actually kill her.
I will say I won’t hesitate to call the cops if I see even one punch thrown.
Sorry, I know this is sort of irrelevant to the thread but I figured it’d be better here than in a brand new thread.
I wish there was some way I could help. I used to live in a 200 year old house I rented, but I was forced to do many repairs with my dad because our land lord was a dead beat.
I am sincerely sorry this had to happen to such a nice person.
I don’t know you that well, but from the very limited amount we spoke, regardless of what happens, I know you’ll make the right decisions when the time comes for them. I’m sorry you and your family are going through this rough time and I hope that things will work out peacefully.
I’ll do my best to send good vibes your way in the meantime.
