Archives for June 2014

In our family there is one child in particular who tends to annoy us more than any other. This child bugs their siblings relentlessly. This child thinks it is quite funny, and gets great pleasure from doing it.

However, today I left that child with their dad to go to camp while I took the other children to the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

However, one of my other children has picked up where the other one left off. Poking, doing annoying things, pestering, and generally being a nuisance – and getting much enjoyment out of the responses.

So, my conclusion is…in a family there has to be one annoying child. And if the designated regular self-assigned child is unable to fulfill the task, well another child is eager, ready, and willing to step right in and fill the empty position.

Part 1 of our move is almost complete. There are a couple of loads of large stuff that is awkward and takes up a lot of space.
The house is pretty well clean. Jason has some painting, to do over patches. He will have to mop his way out of the house. Otherwise this house is pretty well done.

Now for 2 days off.

Then Tuesday we start the reverse process. Unloading into the new house. We will take loads in our van tuesday. And wednesday we have rented a truck (smaller than we’d like, but it’ll help) and we’ll use the van, trailer, and rental truck to hopefully complete our move into the new place.

And to think in 2 years or so we’ll get to do it all over again! I now understand why when some people move into a new place they get all new furniture – delivered!

As some of you know, I hired a reputable cleaning company to come and clean my rugs in the rental house we are moving out of.

I have 5 kids, the dining room is carpeted. I wanted a good job done. So I was willing to pay top dollar to get this done.

The company we hired had fantastic reviews. In fact about 16 years ago I worked for them. I knew it wasn’t the same owners, however their reviews were great so despite their high quote, we went with them anyways.

The first time the tech came he was at the house for 2 hours. Our neighbor saw him. He insisted to me he was working on one persistent traffic area for 4 hours. But the problem is he wasn’t at my house at 8:30 am when I picked my kids up for school. And he wasn’t at my house at 12:02 when I called my husband to have him come home to see the absolute terrible job that had been done. The carpets were so wet in the basement they were bubbling. Upstairs there were several small objects in the rug, like a splinter of wood off a dresser and a star pendant from a necklace.

With much hesitation and ill will he redid all the rugs in the house. He arrived the next day at 2pm and was driven away at 3 pm, leaving my front door wide open.

I must say that the office staff were extremely friendly and helpful. They were curtious and polite. And they did their best to make me happy.

The tech was very angry to be back, and was having a difficult time hiding this. Although he did try.

He told me that no one could get dirt out of high traffic areas. And yet when I sprayed Resolve on one spot and rubbed with my fingers it came all out.

It used to be that this company had different cleaners they’d use to remove different stains. There was a book of stains and how to completely remove them. He didn’t do this. He used the spray cleaner on all the rug, one cleaner.

After the first wash the house smelled bad. Following the second time it smelled like cleanser.

The final straw that made me write this blog, was the notes that the tech wrote on the invoice.

He said the rugs hadn’t been vacuumed. That is a lie. Every rug in every area of the house, including the closets was vacuumed.

He said that the carpets were stained all over in ink. That is a lie. There are 3 tiny fabric paint stains in one room.

But the tipping point was saying that the rugs were stained all over in dog feces. Yes, we have 2 dogs. However, our dogs are never allowed on the rug unless we are there. And even then they have their own area on the linoleum. They do not ever run around the house. And certainly they have never left feces! We have been extremely careful of this.

This technician is a liar, and whether he has inadequate training or supplies I frankly don’t care. He is a liar and a terrible cleaner. No matter how kind and polite and helpful the office staff (or likely owners) are if the technician isn’t doing an adequate job then I can’t recommend this company.

Expert Cleaners on Manilla Rd in Calgary just isn’t “experts”.

And all those great reviews…they are all a year old or more, and from the time of the previous owners.

So, today is the first day of summer vacation for the kids and I. However, it has been anything but a vacation.

Last night, because of our carpet cleaning fiasco, we ended up crashing at our friends’ place. Today, I took one child to a birthday party and came to our house to keep packing and cleaning. Although there is nothing left on the rugs in any room of our house, there is still a fair amount left to pack. The pantry has to be finished, the kitchen finished, and laundry room finished. The walls have been patched, but not sanded. We are getting close to being finished on the house.

The carpet cleaners returned today to rewash the carpets. They are better, but not stellar by any means. However, they’ll pass inspection now I suppose. I won’t use that company again though.

The yard. That’s another story. I brought the 3 older kids this afternoon to work on hauling all the toys and tools and stuff from the back yard to the front yard, so we can load it and move it.

I have finished all the walls and windows and bathrooms. Hopefully tonight will see the completion of all packing and cleaning inside.

The garage, well let’s not discuss that. That’s Jason’s territory.

So, as is tradition this morning I sorted through the school supplies and checked it with their supply lists. I didn’t take them supply shopping, as is our tradition though. That’ll wait until after the move.

So, maybe tomorrow will be our real first day of summer vacation….maybe…

So, today is the first day of summer vacation for the kids and I. However, it has been anything but a vacation.

Last night, because of our carpet cleaning fiasco, we ended up crashing at our friends’ place. Today, I took one child to a birthday party and came to our house to keep packing and cleaning. Although there is nothing left on the rugs in any room of our house, there is still a fair amount left to pack. The pantry has to be finished, the kitchen finished, and laundry room finished. The walls have been patched, but not sanded. We are getting close to being finished on the house.

The carpet cleaners returned today to rewash the carpets. They are better, but not stellar by any means. However, they’ll pass inspection now I suppose. I won’t use that company again though.

The yard. That’s another story. I brought the 3 older kids this afternoon to work on hauling all the toys and tools and stuff from the back yard to the front yard, so we can load it and move it.

I have finished all the walls and windows and bathrooms. Hopefully tonight will see the completion of all packing and cleaning inside.

The garage, well let’s not discuss that. That’s Jason’s territory.

So, as is tradition this morning I sorted through the school supplies and checked it with their supply lists. I didn’t take them supply shopping, as is our tradition though. That’ll wait until after the move.

So, maybe tomorrow will be our real first day of summer vacation….maybe…