Petty World: The Hot Water Heater and A Job Well Done

I alluded in another blog about our hot water heater dripping from the pipes for quite some time.  Before that, it was dripping on the floor and soaking the carpet that is on the floor in front of our washer and dryer and side door.

One that floor was a pile of boxes waiting to go to recycling.  (This is not a problem.  Sometimes I wait a little long to go, but it never piles up too much.)  In front of that pile of boxes was a box of fabric from a job I did.  The plan was to go through the scraps to see if there were any pieces left that might be salvageable for another project.

So as you might have guessed the boxes and the fabric became a smelly mess I was vaguely aware of, but inside the box the fabric was in plastic bags so I wasn't concerned about the fabric at the moment.

When my husband finally fixed the leak he just walked away from it.  The job was done.  He left everything right were it was including the bucket of water under the hot water heater, the ruined boxes and the box of fabric.

The first of the month is when I insist the recycling go, so I went to grab the boxes and realized that the job repairing the hot water heater had been left exactly where it stood when the damage was done.  Now, I will not sit here at the computer and try to tell you that this is not my fault.  The the dripping pipes were unknown to me.  I knew about the drip and I knew about the damage.  I guess I thought maybe this time he'd do whole job.  Apparently not.

So I picked up the soggy boxes and bucket of water.  Straightened up the area that had been shoved around while he did his repair work and opened up the box of fabric.  This is when I realized the water had soaked through the bags and onto the fabric.  This was $13 and up per yard fabric.  I shouldn't have left it on the floor.  I shouldn't have assumed it would be safe until I could get to it, but I did.  I took it out to the garage and assumed it would be safe until I could go through the scraps.

Now it wreaks of  mold and sour polyester and I'm not so sure if I want to take the time to try to salvage it.  Another waste of money because a job was only half done.  What am I supposed to do?  I can do everything around here.  I really can do it all.  I've done it all in the past, but I don't want to anymore.  It's time for him to be a homeowner, father and most of all a husband and he's fighting me on this.  I'm tired and I don't know what to do.

So what is a job well done?  A job well done is a job done where no one can tell you did the job.  Everything is put away, cleaned up, wiped off, etc.  If I have to come behind you after something like that and pick up, clean up, haul away, or whatever, than you haven't helped, you've hurt.