Won't Get Fooled Again

I have suddenly become very paranoid, or, depending on how you look at it, very discerning. Many of the recent happenings have led me to feel the world is against me. Remember our water heater experience? Well, as annoying as it was, things seemed to tie up pretty nicely. Or so I thought. Within 2 days of the leak, a nice repair man came out, removed the junky old water heater and installed a shiny new one. Granted, only the water heater itself was covered by insurance and we had to pay out of pocket to retro-fit and earthquake proof the unit. But, we were happy to do it as it meant hot showers and clean laundry. This past Saturday, the "handyman" came out to look at the water damage to the ceiling and give us an estimate for the repair. He seemed really nice. We chitty chatted for a bit and discovered that our paths had crossed in former lives. He told us that the ceiling boards would have to be removed, he'd have to "tent off" the area and dry it out for a day or 2 with dehumidifiers and then put up new dry wall, tape & mud. He also pointed out that there was "Penicillium, Aspergillus" growing on the cinderblock back wall. That would have to be removed with a grinder, then the wall would be primed with a special mold killing primer. He would then paint the entire area to match the rest of the garage. It all sounded totally reasonable. At some point, LA-B very casually says "and you are a licensed and bonded contractor, right?" OH YES, OF COURSE.

Flash forward to yesterday when a new contractor shows up to look at the mess because, as it turns out dude #1 was NOT licensed or bonded. This guy looks at the space, says it's pretty dry, he just needs to put up new boards and patch it. Oh and, that isn't dangerous mold at all. Just dryer lint or something. So, that was that. What was supposed to be a BIG job, could now really be done by a monkey. You think I would be happy about this, right? But, no. It makes me question my faith in people.

Later that same night I am sitting on the couch watching American Idol when I hear what sounds like someone jingling keys in the water heater closet. I go open the door and the noise is prominent and certainly not normal. I look around and try to figure out the origin of the noise. As best I could tell, it was coming from INSIDE the unit. (Sounds like a scene from a B-horror movie, huh?) So, I call the home-warranty company and they tell me to call the water heater repair place who then tell me to call the home-warranty place. Finally, red tape, bureaucracy...someone is coming out tomorrow to look at the unit. UG.

Yesterday, same day. I received an invitation to a party that, on further investigation, it turns out I, in fact, am NOT invited to. Can I just say it sends me back to like third grade and Stacy is inviting everyone to her slumber party but me?

Today, I learn that someone I was trying to help and do something REALLY nice for has been lying to me. I mean REALLY lying.

I feel like such a sucker. It makes me want to crawl under my desk and not come back out. What is going on with this world? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.