Monday Musings- Arrogance and Cover-ups
Happy Monday, ladies. Monday musings are never planned. I just start typing and it pours out, so hang on for a twisty ride 🙂
Our weekend was a chilly one. Not because the weather was cold but because our furnace is broken. Please pardon the upcoming rant…I detest arrogant men.
Repair Men
Our furnace has been on the fritz for several weeks. It seems to have a mind of its own and only comes on when it feels like it. Our warranty company sent a repair guy out to diagnose the problem. He was one of those morons who discounts women and would only talk to the “man of the house”.
The problem is, my husband didn’t pay much attention to what was happening with the furnace. He knew it was broken but I knew how to explain it exactly. I’m the one who adjusts the temperature throughout the day, listens to it, and knows what it’s doing or not doing.
He declared our zone motor was broken and it’s not covered by our warranty. I tried to explain how it was acting because his diagnosis didn’t sound right to me. This repair guy wouldn’t even look towards me when I spoke to him so I knew he wasn’t listening.
He said we were on the hook to fix it because our contract doesn’t cover that and he wouldn’t do it. We hired someone to replace that motor, which they confirmed was “acting up”, but the following day, the furnace was back to acting exactly the same as before and we are $600 poorer.
How do you deal with men like that?
Bathing suits and such
I’ve been so cold the last few weeks that we’ve decided to plan a few warm-weather trips. We’re going to visit my brother in Loreto Bay, Mexico which I am super excited about, and have a very quick trip to Hawaii planned. Of course, both of those destinations will require a bathing suit. Sheesh.
My one and only bathing suit is hanging along with my exercise band on the key to my armoire to remind me I’ll soon be walking down a beach. Muscle tone is not overrated 🙂 Here’s the thing…even if I had the rock-hard body of a goddess, I’m more modest at 65, and I just don’t want everything on display so I’m exploring swim dresses and swim rompers.
Swimsuit alternatives
I’m thinking kaftans, and coverups will be my friend on these trips. I’ll be packing hats, copious amounts of sunscreen and am shopping for casual clothes and coverups with sun protection built-in.
Sun-protective fashion on my radar
My brother’s latest book
My brother Pete’s latest adventure book for children is out and you can order it here! I loved his first one and I’m collecting them for when my grandson gets a few years older. Peter is the one in our family who really inherited my Dad’s love of storytelling and writing. It’s a tale of magic, time travel, fairies, and dragons…perfect for the young children in your life.
A new “live”
One of my favorite, (perhaps the only) part of Instagram I enjoy is the Live chats. Susan from une femme d’un certain âge and I are going LIVE to chat on Tuesday at 10 am PT, 1 pm ET. The topic is going gray. This promises to be lots of fun! Susan is hosting and you can watch us here.
Thanks for reading ladies and remember to wear what makes you feel confident.
As the Lady of the house, show him the front door. It has long been my experience that when laborers are not agreeing with how your plans to remodel your master bathroom don’t align with their thinking I simply say thank you for your time and show them the door. This way they don’t take up much of my time. I followed this procedure with anything in the house that’s broken or needs to be changed. As far as gray hair I think your hair is beautiful the way it is, I am not a fan of gray hair on the majority of people. I know it takes time to color your hair but I definitely think it is worth it.
We don’t have a warranty contract, mostly we have service contracts for our HVACs.
I think telling the customer service person you don’t want that person back again because they were dismissive of you and only wanted to talk to the “man” is the way to go. The repair fellow will hear about that from his boss. My husband is well trained so he usually defers to me in front of the service person if I have “observations” about the way it’s malfunctioning.
These days this stuff has got a lot of electronics in it. Switching it all on/off is always my first step.
I go with a basic swimsuit and add a pair of pull-on shorts or a tunic. That way you can get in the water and swim, and when you aren’t in the water pull the cover-up on. I’m a one-piece gal, but my cousin, who has always been a bikini girl goes with a two-piece, saying that it dries faster under her cover-up. If you feel hesitant then slather on a couple of rounds of self-tanner. Flab always looks better with a bit of color.
At our age it’s not kind of our skin to get too much sun, so you can go with a cover-up without regret.
My sun is so fragile now, I prefer to cover it from the sun and parasols do a lovely job:)
I sold heavy equipment for Caterpillar and Komatsu for 30 years. It is always fun when men underestimate me. I have many men who respect me for not tolerating their arrogance! Never be afraid to speak up. I have yet to find a bathing suit that respects me!
The only way to deal with a sexist man like that is to refuse to have him talk to your husband – don’t have your husband in the room. Advise him that you are the one who is familiar with the symptoms of the problem and he has to talk to you. If he won’t call his office and explain the problem, ask for another repairman. When he says it is a problem not covered by the warranty and you are sure he is wrong, same response. Unfortunately, the repair companies are finding it hard to find competent employees, and we are seeing more and more of these incompetent bozo’s being sent out as its all the company has!
Hate dealing with those kind of men. For my whole life I was the decision maker even while married and was continually ignored from home repairs to buying cars to buying homes.
Agreed!
On swimsuits, I actually love swim shorts, and a rash guard the best. Then a high neck or long torso style suit. The skirting moves around too much for my taste once wet.
I work in a gym full of male attitude, so I ask around for repair people recommendations , and I usually don’t get “ contracts” , I’d rather pay a person that was recommended.