Learning the lessons of someone else's mistake

oday I am feeling much better, but over the weekend, I’ve been a milisecond away from having a panic attack at a moment’s notice.

Friday our contractor came to the house to start on the insulation project when he noticed a leak in our roof. So, he went up on the roof to see what was going on and noticed a small leak. No big deal right?

Wrong.

It wasn’t just a “small leak.” It was the vast majority of the shingles on our roof sliding off. Garry walked around on the roof and took some pictures and it wasn’t pretty. Most of our shingles are sliding off to the point where you can see the tar tabs on them. They’re all misaligned and if it isn’t fixed soon, it will cause even more leaks and can seriously damage the house.

Our contractor told us that the shingles look brand-new, like they were just put on within the last year. The disclosure we receieved from the listing agent said the roof was 10-years old… in other words, someone lied.

Now, there isn’t really anything we can do about it from a legal stand-point (probably), but I guess it’s more of a “We know you screwed up the roof and WE are spending the money to have it fixed properly FYI.” Not that the previous owner really cares (I doubt it considering the way the landscaping looked), but yes, calling her out on it (without expecting anything from it) is another.

We ended up filing an insurance claim. They are sending an inspector to look at the damage on Friday. Our contractor told us that the shingles weren’t nailed in properly and with the significant amount of wind storms we’ve had this fall, it caused them to tear away from the nail and slide.

At this point, we have no idea what’s going to happen. We’re really hoping our insurance will cover this, but then again we have no idea. We also don’t have $10,000 just lying around to use to replace the roof. Unfortunately, this means our insulation project will be put on hold (well, not sistering the joists, but actually putting in the baffles and insulation) until we can get our roof situation under control. We don’t want to risk any more leaks getting the insulation wet and possibly having a mold issue down the road.

On the bright side, the insurance company said that they may be able to cut us a check for damages on Friday. If it’s enough to cover it all (or at least most of it), we can just pay our current contractor to do the work (which would be ideal) and he could get to work (hopefully) right away.  Otherwise, it could take 1-2 weeks to get everything figured out.

Some other good news – the plumbing people are coming *hopefully* on Wednesday to install our new furnace and water heater. The dishwasher also may be installed by the time Super Bowl weekend rolls around – which would be completely and totally awesome. Not that I’m having a party or anything – completely the opposite for once. I’m planning on some nice, quiet alone time with Garry since we haven’t had much of that lately. Our weekend is pretty packed solid from going to try on bridesmaid dresses, classes, parties and a bunch of other things happening ALL AT ONCE. At some point, I’m going to need a *real* vacation away from everyone. It’s not that I don’t love everyone and appreciate company, but I’m getting kind of burnt out.

I guess that’s the other thing. It’s winter, I’ve been sick for almost a month now, and I’m getting burnt out. I’m tired of dealing with the reprecussions of other people’s problems. I don’t mind helping people with problems, but when I have to deal with the consequences when it has absolutely nothing to do with me, well that irritates me.

I also wish I felt more respected. It’s a bit too personal to go into on here, but I’m just not feeling respected right now and it really blows.

Other than all of this, I’m trying to keep an optimistic outlook. I know it will all work itself out eventually, but that doesn’t keep me from the worry. That knawing little voice in my head that says “Everything is going to turn into a disaster if you don’t figure out 5 different contingency plans RIGHTTHISSECOND.” And, of course, that sends me into a panic-attack because “I can’t think of something off the top of my head!” For reasons being anywhere from something reasonable like: ”I don’t have enough information yet to make an informed, well thought-out plan” to “I’m fat and ugly and that means I can’t do anything right.”

Being in my head is sometimes like a crazy, keliedoscope rollercoaster. Sometimes you feel like you might throw up from all the whizzing and chaos, and other times everything moves in sync and some beautiful things happen.