"Vox Humana" > wrote in message
...
>
> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Vox Humana wrote:
> > > "Sam D." > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > >
> > >>"Vox Humana" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > >>
> > >>>I'm back from a week away at a relative's house. It was a bad
> > >
> > > experience
> > >
> > >>>all around, and home never looked so good. In addition to the
> > >
> > > unpleasant
> > >
> > >>>circumstances of the visit, Thanksgiving dinner was truly awful:
> > >>
> > >>You have me wondering. Did the cook who prepared this dinner receive
any
> > >>comments about it from the guests? I mean, what can you say when you
get
> > >>served food like that from a relative?
> > >>
> > >>Either my own memory is fading or I've been fortunate. I remember some
> > >>individual items that have been bad but I can't recall ever having a
> > >>Thanksgiving dinner that was bad overall, and I've eaten Thanksgiving
at
> a
> > >>lot of different places. What I can recall are a couple of unpleasant
> > >>Thanksgiving experiences because of some family bickering.
> > >
> > >
> > > There were only three of us. It is my policy to never criticize food
> that
> > > someone prepares for me. I was very cautious about the portion size
> that I
> > > took knowing that there was a good chance that it wasn't going to be
> tasty.
> > > I ate what I could, but I couldn't eat the stuffing. No one said a
> word.
> > > The "cook" said "If I had to cook like this every day I wouldn't eat."
> I
> > > silently agreed with her.
> > >
> > > In addition to the bad food, there were 15 dogs. I had to wear shoes
> the
> > > entire time because the carpet had wet spots everywhere as did the
> > > furniture. A couple of dogs crapped on the floor during dinner. And,
> as
> > > unbelievable as this might seem, the adult son (and I use the term
> "adult"
> > > in reference to his age only) had used the upstairs toilet, flushed
it,
> and
> > > it overflowed. He threw a couple of towels on the floor and went to
> bed.
> > > The filthy water soaked into the living room ceiling and all the
drywall
> > > tape was hanging. The carpet was wet with the contents of the toilet
> water.
> > > Unfortunately, he did this twice within a few days. It was like
eating
> > > dinner in a badly maintained kennel attached to an outhouse!
> > >
> > >
> >
> > And then what happened! Did the host fly into a drunken rage and cut
> > you in half with a bread knife?
> >
> > (This story just keeps getting more and more believable!)
>
> Nothing violent happened. However, after dinner, I had to work on her
> bathroom. The reason that I went early was because she wanted me to
> wallpaper her bathroom. (We all know how much fun that is!) She had her
> son-in-law put in a new ceramic floor and a new vanity and sink top (Her
son
> destroyed the old one.) I asked her to removed the old wallpaper and
scrub
> the walls so the room was ready to paper. She didn't bother with removing
> the paper -- she said "It wasn't calling me so I never got around to it."
> The SIL put in the floor but didn't grout it properly, nor did he finish
the
> cove tile that made up the baseboard. He didn't attempt to grout that
> incomplete cove tile. The new vanity and sink top were simple set in
> place - not attached to the walls or each other. There were a couple of
> large holes in the wall were someone had used a towel bar as a grab bar
and
> pulled the anchors through the drywall blowing out fist sized chunks of
> gypsum. It took me three days to get the paper off, the walls patched,
> ceiling painted, and cabinet installed. When I prepared to hang the paper
> it was obvious that she hadn't purchased enough. I hung all I could, but
> was short an entire double roll. On Thanksgiving day I had to install a
new
> light fixture and grout the floor. The next day she decided she wanted
the
> remaining scrap strip of paper hung regardless of the fact that it wasn't
> possible to match the pattern and that she would have to purchase more
paper
> anyway. That is the point where I thought there was going to be shouting.
> I went ahead and hung the paper. Amidst all the chaos and other work, she
> wanted me to install a new laminate floor in her master bath! I told her
> that I couldn't do it. She went out and bought the materials anyway and
> told me where I could find them when I needed them. I told her that I
> wouldn't be needing them because I wasn't going to start another project!


Wow, you have incredible patience, relative or no relative. I think at some
point during that ordeal I would have just gotten into my car and driven
off. From your postings it's obvious you're a super cook--next time cook
the dinner at your house and invite friends over. You'll be much happier
and I'm sure they'll be ecstatic

-Scott