Feast or Famine Labor Pool
Yesterday the new guy started, the replacement for Helbert, painting the roof. It didn't go great. Jim went to church and left me here to oversee this guy.
I'm working on taxes because for expats they aren't due until June 15th. So, it's always in my nature to delay as much as possible because I just do, don't know why I hate doing taxes but I'm more detail oriented than Jim.
So here I am, surrounded by piles of paper, receipts, etc, tapping away on the keyboard, knocking out all the data entry. I noticed even before Jim left that Juan the painter was buzzing around, dragging his feet and acting like the last thing he wanted to do is to paint the roof.
Yeah, I get it. I didn't want to do taxes either, plus no one is paying me to do it. But it has to be done, just like the roof needs to be painted.
He even asked Jim to buy him breakfast. This must be a cultural thing because Helbert demanded lunch on those days he worked for us. But none of the other workers wanted to be fed, just these two. I'm not used to having to provide meals for the workers.
Once Jim left Juan was Juan less energetic. He kept coming into the house over and over again with a litany of complaints and excuses. It's too hot, the roof is hot, he needed more water, what's the wifi password, you get the point....
I felt guilty running Juan outside to finish the painting, but he was seriously cutting into my tax time. By the time Jim returned at noon Juan had completed about half the job, wanted half the pay and a ride home, claiming he would finish next Sunday.
I swear, man, Ticos are either the best go get'em workers or they are a bunch of lazy sad sacks. I miss the Mexicans now.
Discovered this morning that the Tico electrician we used did a lot of things wrong. Ran the wrong amperage electrical line in to my dryer and now Whirlpool has decided that voids the warrantee. Gotta try to get a refund from the first guy and find someone with more on the ball. Just a never ending confloption. I hate it when workers do the least possible and do it wrong. I don't mind paying for a job done correctly, but I hate people that take shortcuts.
I'm working on taxes because for expats they aren't due until June 15th. So, it's always in my nature to delay as much as possible because I just do, don't know why I hate doing taxes but I'm more detail oriented than Jim.
So here I am, surrounded by piles of paper, receipts, etc, tapping away on the keyboard, knocking out all the data entry. I noticed even before Jim left that Juan the painter was buzzing around, dragging his feet and acting like the last thing he wanted to do is to paint the roof.
Yeah, I get it. I didn't want to do taxes either, plus no one is paying me to do it. But it has to be done, just like the roof needs to be painted.
He even asked Jim to buy him breakfast. This must be a cultural thing because Helbert demanded lunch on those days he worked for us. But none of the other workers wanted to be fed, just these two. I'm not used to having to provide meals for the workers.
Once Jim left Juan was Juan less energetic. He kept coming into the house over and over again with a litany of complaints and excuses. It's too hot, the roof is hot, he needed more water, what's the wifi password, you get the point....
I felt guilty running Juan outside to finish the painting, but he was seriously cutting into my tax time. By the time Jim returned at noon Juan had completed about half the job, wanted half the pay and a ride home, claiming he would finish next Sunday.
I swear, man, Ticos are either the best go get'em workers or they are a bunch of lazy sad sacks. I miss the Mexicans now.
Discovered this morning that the Tico electrician we used did a lot of things wrong. Ran the wrong amperage electrical line in to my dryer and now Whirlpool has decided that voids the warrantee. Gotta try to get a refund from the first guy and find someone with more on the ball. Just a never ending confloption. I hate it when workers do the least possible and do it wrong. I don't mind paying for a job done correctly, but I hate people that take shortcuts.
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