Armchair Anonymous: Remodeling Disaster

I'm Dak Shepard and I'm joined by Monica Padman.

- Hi. - Today we have Remodeling Disaster. - It's this one hurt, this one hurt me. - He he. - Is that in the middle of a remodel? - Too soon for you. - All too soon. - You would think remodeling disaster.

You're not thinking poop, drugs, fire, you're going to get it all in this episode. - It's up on app. - Any number of things can go wrong in a remodeling project. Please enjoy Remodeling Disasters. - At least? - Yes.

“- What are mom and dad like? That feels like a unique name? Are they unique people?”

- I would say so. Mom was so short or dad's an artist, he's a potter. - There we go. - Love that, great combo. - And where are you? - I'm in Austin. - How do you get also feels fitting? - Do you grow up there or do you move there? - No, I did. Born and raised and still if you're to them.

- Okay, and you are pro or anti-Vintense growth that's happened over the last decade. I feel like a minority in this because I think everything that's happened has made Austin better. Traffic is worse, but also we have new restaurants and new people and that kind of growth I love. - The great attitude. Good because I still like to visit quite often. In fact, I'll be there at the end of next month.

And I want to be welcomed. I don't want to be a part of the problem, you know? - Yeah, we've gotten a little bit mean about it. We're supposed to be nice. That's our thing, right? We're supposed to be welcoming and weird and we need to get back to that. - Okay, so you have a remodeling disaster story. - I do.

- Oh, wonderful. Are you in the current location where this remodel occurred? - No, we have since moved, but we keep it as a rental. So I hope the current tenants aren't listening. [laughter] Maybe we should have gone with the fake name.

- That's great. - Okay, so this started back in 2019. My husband and I had just gotten married.

We later that year bought our first house.

“We bought a full fixer upper, which looking back was quite delusional, I think.”

But we were fully in it. We both come from really capable families. My dad has built a couple houses. My husband's dad owns properties and does renovations. So we were very like, we can do a whole home renovation, no problem.

- Yeah, yeah. - This house was rat invested, had been vacant for nine months. We take on this project, so we move in with my parents for the majority of it, which in our first year of arranges a choice. But we spend about the next eight months working on this house.

So we had to gut it down to basically the studs. We tore down some walls, and then building it back up. Towards the end, couple of the last things that we're doing, one being drywall. So we've re-drywalled the entire house. Then we are installing the kitchen.

So kitchen and flooring are sort of our last two major steps. We have this gorgeous hardwood floor that we are laying down, and we've installed our base cabinets for our kitchen, which is kind of a tedious project if you haven't done it before. Once we get cabinets in, we don't even need the countertop.

We slap some plywood on there, and then we're moving into the house. So we're super excited to be at the end. We've got all our cabinets in, all our hardwood floors down.

We leave, we come back, and the second floor bathroom

is right above the kitchen. We have left a waterline open that has flooded down into the entire kitchen. It's created like a huge ring of water from the ceiling drywall, and it's flooded the whole kitchen. Oh, oh, no, and the hardwood floors have recently been installed.

Just in the hardwood floors. We come into the water, we can see it streaming down. Like someone's running a hose from the second floor. We go and turn off the water, then we're just trying to fix it. So we get it all dried up, and we have to rip out all of the cabinets

and rip out all of the floors. We were mostly just sad more than anything. The floors are warped. The cabinets were fine. They just needed to be set out with the ends and everything to dry them.

Could have been worse.

“I think it bruised our egos more than anything.”

We just lay everything back down, put new floors down, finish the kitchen. Cut to a few months later, we have finished the entire kitchen. So we have this gorgeous white kitchen, white cabinets. We have these beautiful white quartz countertops. It's perfect. We're so proud.

We move in pretty quickly. We start getting a clogged in our drain.

So being the types of people that we are to do everything ourselves. And I don't know if I said that. We did all of this work ourselves with the exception of some electrical and HVAC work. But you mud it and take the drywall and sand it and all that. That is so impressive.

Thank you. Before we get to the disaster, I imagine the pride you have when you sit in a house that you actually did all the shit to, it must be immense. It is, and also you are very aware of all the things that you messed up on. That's the pros and cons to it.

We've done two houses since there's, and we're really bad about pointing things out to people. They're like, oh, this looks so gorgeous. Like, so impressive.

“And we're like, yeah, but do you see where we didn't mud that well?”

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we started in this club and being the people that we are that will never call for help or ask for help.

My husband's like, I got this. I can unclog a drain. He's snaking the drain trying to unclog it, you know, drain out doing all the things and nothing's working. So we think, okay, we got to get a little bit more creative.

This would have been a really, really good time to call a plumber. We said, no, no, it's cool. We're good. My husband buys like a balloon little thing that you insert into the pipes. And then once it's in the pipes, it inflates.

And then shoots a little line of water out. That's supposed to do like a really strong pressure water. That's supposed to clear out the clog. So he thinks this will do it. This is what the plomers would do.

So we can do this. Well, really quick, the plomers would probably put a camera down there already to see what's happening. Yeah, that would have been the right thing to do. So the way our kitchen is set up our kitchen sink has a big window above it. It looks out into the backyard.

So we have that window open.

“My husband's outside at the cleanup line.”

And he has me standing at the kitchen sink. With the kitchen cabinet under the sink where all the pipes are open. And so he has me washing the pipes to make sure there's no leaks or anything. And then also checking the sink to see if he clears it and it starts draining. He feeds this little balloon and inflates it.

And we have an explosion. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Immediately our pipes have burst. Another kitchen sink. Oh, I'm feeling water out.

Picture like me standing there. It's already covered my entire lower body. And it's like a fire hydrant. Oh my gosh. It's full pressure or slickwood coming out.

It's backed up waste. Yeah. That's what I'm going to say. Sorry. It's been a good game.

It takes me about one second to realize that is sewage.

It's blue. Wait, why in the kitchen? Because the main line is clogged and it's all backed up. You know, it's also disgusting to think about the fact that there's poop in your kitchen sink. This is why we shouldn't be doing the work on your own house.

Well, there isn't much. There isn't the normally poop in your kitchen sink. Unless all of that main line waters getting backed all the way up into that little pipes. My God. So I start screaming bloody murder.

Within seconds, I'm covered. He comes running in. He's covered. And he goes back out to stop the water. But in that amount of time, the amount of water sewage. I should really not be saying water. Yeah, I should say shit water.

There's probably three or four inches of standing. No, it's in our kitchen. Oh. How does it smell so bad? No, like a porta potty.

Like shit water was so bad. I have a pretty strong stomach. And I was gagging. It was so gross. We got the water stopped.

But then we just had to deal with the aftermath of it.

Basically, you just get some paper towels out.

Napkins. That's what I would do. I guess I'll start cleaning this up. We just start grabbing every bath towel. Beech towel that we have.

But you think of, it's like putting something down immediately. And a pool. We're taking them out to our backyard and just sloping them on the ground. It's full of shit water. But the grass was gorgeous afterwards, though.

You don't have a shot back. I'm assuming. Well, we do. We were able to shot back up a lot of water. But within not long at all, our towels are all soaked.

So we're like out in the backyard. We're ringing out. Just to bring them back in and scoop up the water.

“Wait, did you consider just burning the house down at that point?”

Yeah, we sure did. We had friends that were about to come over for dinner. That we had to call and say, hey, you can't come. We just filled our entire house with shit. Oh.

That's so depressing. It was really, really sad.

My husband's input mostly was like, we realized we haven't told this story to that many people. We had just moved into this house. I'm like, if I tell everyone that this happened, everyone's going to come over. And I'm going to be like feeding them a meal and all they're going to be about. It's this entire kitchen covered in shit.

It was a crime scene. Did the floors make it? Yes. We were able to. We hope in every thing.

We really do hope if your tenants are not listening here.

“They're like, that's what that smell is.”

I know. Or everyone that's ever eaten at our house.

And that first little bit.

It was just like our kitchen went through it. What it turned into was we obviously had all of the inspections. Plumbing inspections and everything when we bought the house and started doing all this. The house was built in 67. So all of the pipes are cast iron.

So the plumbing inspection, they even put the cameras down in there just a few months before. He was like, yeah, these are in great shape. Eventually you will have to replace them, but you've probably got a good 79 years left of them. So we think great. And that obviously not the case.

There are like tree roots growing in and stuff. So this all culminated to a $40,000 bill to replace all of the pipes underneath the foundation. Oh my god. That's, you know, a different twist on an unauthorized evacuation. It's being covered in shit from the outside in.

It's not a problem tonight. But this has a nice little twist that you guys will like. If it ever goes in that direction, we're delighted. Okay. So you need a shot that.

You need a shot pic to get all that initial water out of there.

And then you're going to donate all of your towels to this project. You're going to hose in the backyard and you're spraying the shit off the towels and the grass. Yeah. It's a character builder though. When it's all done, you get a little surge of like, yeah, we did it, man.

That was tough. We can tackle anything, we're plumbers. It's a little bit of a feel to like me, Marines probably. I think it's a good thing. Well, at least, love for me and you.

I presume you only got better at this over the next two. Yes. I would say we've gotten better. Nothing catastrophic. No poop filled rooms at all.

That's a positive turn of events. Well, thank you guys. I just wanted to say I love the podcast. I am a social worker. And so I really loved.

I just wanted to shout out your most recent episode on foster care with Claudia. I work in foster care. I have for the last 10 years since I've been out of school. And that's just a topic that doesn't get a lot of talking space on a major platform. And if it does, you're hearing only the really negative stories that hit the news.

And well, that happens. And that's worth sharing. I feel like we're missing the opportunity to kind of say, OK, well, we know it's bad. What's the plan for reform? So I really appreciate that conversation.

So I just wanted to say thank you for that. I'm really glad because I did hear from a couple of people that work in foster care that were kind of offended or felt judged by it.

“That was certainly not our intention as we I think were hopefully pointed out.”

Like the system is not a good system. The people in the system are well intentioned and wonderful. But the systems producing a result. So we really got to rethink the system. Yes, she focused so much heavier on the older kids aging out that kind of side.

And my day to day is were with families fostering younger kids and kind of catching those earlier years leading to either adoption or re-unification. So she did a couple nice shout outs of like, not all foster parents. You know, you could do a whole other episode on a different side to it. Perhaps we should to make it even.

Well, thank you for doing the work you do and lovely meeting you. And I hope I bump into you at Barton Springs. I hope so. Thank you. OK.

Thank you. See you all. Bye. [MUSIC PLAYING] Side-end scene. I'm going to call her Kelly.

You need a fake name, right? Yes. Yes. So I said, "Side-end scene. I'm going to call her Kelly."

Oh, wow.

Because I didn't want you to be influenced by what you see your first.

It's a nod to Kelly. That's nice. [LAUGHTER] And you have the cue to sweatshirt on. Yes, you do.

Rova. He is so cute. He's a nice boy. Yes. He's been gone for a while.

I know. I miss him. So Kelly, where are you at? I am in Bismarck, North Dakota. Where Carmel rolls are a breakfast delight.

And a car starter is a must. Oh. Oh. Our good friend, Christina, is from Bismarck. That's where we stayed on our trip.

You're on the Missouri River there? Yep. It's beautiful. We were there in the summertime and it was impossibly green.

“Are you required to say that whole phrase after you say where you're from?”

That might be like a thing. I think you guys have to say it.

Thank you.

“So Kelly, you have a remodeling disaster?”

Yes.

I grew up with a dad who fixed everything.

I felt like he kind of empowered us to try. So our bathroom flooring, we needed to redo it. And I was like, OK, let's try. The flooring that was on there was a big vinyl sheet. And it's just tons of glue.

Oh wow. My husband and I feel that a lot of our stuff is from menards. I don't know if you guys know the hardware store. Yep. Oh, I made money up menards.

Yeah. So I got to work with a box cutter and a putty knife. And I'm cutting and I'm just scraping. And there was a tool my dad gave me. But it just wasn't working like a motorized something.

So it's coming off like little inches at a time. And then sometimes I get like a satisfying strip. But it's just laboring. Yeah. This is a day and a half of me going at this floor.

It was a workout. It was very straining. So that night I'm in the shower. And I'm scrubbing and I'm scrubbing and I scrubbed downstairs. And I'm horrified to feel something dangling out of my vagina.

What? Oh, my goodness. What? Oh, wow. I did not see this coming either.

I feel like I grew a third labia.

What? I'm just not sure what's going on. Oh, no. I panic. I come out and I ask my husband to check it out.

And he's like, no. I lay down on the bed. And then I'm checking it. And I'm thinking, okay. I think baby is okay.

You want to keep it moving. Do you use it in a mirror? Do you have like a little hand mirror? No, no, no.

“So I think I'm also trying to talk myself.”

Like for five. Yeah. Yeah, calm yourself down. Yeah. I get up.

I'm moving around and I'm like, no. This is not okay. Does it hurt? What does it feel like?

Well, so there's no blood or anything.

But there's like something there. Yeah. It sounds comfortable. Yes. And then it's cramping a little bit.

Oh, not good. So then I my chart, my doctor. She thankfully had a cancellation in a couple days. And I was so glad that it was at least that long. Because I felt like I was sitting on it,

literally in fair to have like just nervous about what was going on. So I get there and she does her exam. And she tells me that due to that training and all that sure enough. My uterus prolapse. Oh, my God.

It was descended all the way. Exiting. Exiting. Oh, wow. Ow.

Ah. But Monica, I've had three kids and one baby for my sister. Oh, hold on. That's beautiful. Nice job.

That's so sweet. Thank you. But I feel like she was holding on by a thread. She was already fragile. So that kicked her out.

And the doctor did offer a mirror. But I was like, I have been avoiding looking down there. And the other thing that shocked me was she told me some women come with their entire uterus between their legs. What? My options were a cup to keep it up, which is just leave it.

Forever? Yes. Or a historic to be. So then a couple days later, my dad comes over and my mom was a nurse forever. He's telling me about this cup I could wear.

And I'm just like, oh my gosh, I'm so embarrassed. My dad's telling me about a cup to keep my parts up. Oh, wow. I think Olga's so depressing. Well, really quick, you did preferences by saying your dad could fix anything.

That's true. He's like, oh, there's a tool. We can use this tool for this. That is true. The worst part is we go to the place to look at new flooring.

You know, the flooring's off. We tell them the preparation and what I've done. And they look at me and my husband and they go, you took off that flooring. And I was like, yeah, they said, my guys don't even do that. That's so much work.

And we just lay the flooring on top of that. Oh, my God. Yeah, or I think they even cut out the plywood underneath and just put new plywood down. You did the impossible. Oh, my God, well, yeah, and you paid for it.

This feels unfair.

“This feels like you should have been rewarded for your hard work.”

I don't like this story. I know. I had to ask the doctor now that this was on the table. I was like, what are the odds your rectum prolapse is? Yeah.

Thankfully, she has only seen that once. She said, and that that's a lot of straining to go to the bathroom. Oh, I was glad that I have ideas at that moment. We interviewed someone with a pet story, and it was that their dogs asked pet prolapse. The veterinarian said, put tons of sugar on the rectum and pack it back in and something about the sugar.

And I started to think, like, yeah, what if I prolapseed?

“What do I go get a bunch of sugar dry up myself before I go with the dog?”

That's a good idea. Of a prolapse thing? Of the dog. It was up your mouth. Oh, the dog.

The dog's buttful hanging out on the side butt. Yes, and this is personal, but what option did you select? Oh, yes. So it was glass spring. So you can't swim for six to seven weeks.

We have a pontoon. Yeah, you know. It's that season. And so I was like, I'm going to check what it's like just a hang out. And I couldn't do it because I like to exercise.

I run. It felt like it was getting worse and worse. I chose in December to have a hysterectomy. But she was very knowledgeable, like kept the blood flow and the ovaries and all that.

So it didn't make me feel better. Man, these are tough options. A hysterectomy or a cop up there forever. My mother had one very young, but I've sense learn that your uterus is so integral in your hormones.

Yeah, has that been a thing where they were like, okay, well, now we got a monitor your hormones? Yes, but also she said that if my ovaries are still there, that should help. Okay.

Wow. You really went through it for this re-model. And unexpected in a great way. You're not thinking re-modeling disaster is going to involve a hysterectomy.

It got me here. We're just so exciting. Wow. We are very happy to talk to you. Yes.

So nice to meet you. Yes. Thank you so much. All right. Take care.

Hi, Megan. How are you? I am so good. Is that a sheet behind you? Are you in a camping tent?

Oh, you did a beautiful sheet. I don't have a walking closet. So this is my makeshift fort. And so like taking a coat rack and a lamp from the other room. And this is what we got.

“Did it bring back any childhood memories of fort building?”

Yeah. But I feel like I remember being so much better as a kid than doing it as an adult. Yeah. And what part of the country are you in?

I am in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is interesting. We just talked to Bismarck North Dakota. So we're in that northern region. We don't get a ton of y'all.

That's true. It's nice to have you. And are you from there? Or did you move there?

grew up and have always been from the Green and Milwaukee area.

Okay. So you have a remodeling disaster story. Yes. To set the stage. So in 2019, my fiance now has been an eye.

We bought our first home. And it's still had the original Oak 1960s. I kind of like that more in GLO trim. And we wanted to give it a facelift. So our realtor recommended a small company.

He had used himself. And we were going to have the trim painted and install new doors. And the quote for it all was about 4500 for labor. But we had bought the doors. We had bought the paint.

So it was pretty much just the labor. That sounds very fair. That wouldn't be the quote here in LA. Yeah. Or now it is.

So the project began.

“And it was pretty much two workers, one installing the doors.”

And one guy painting. And early on, there were small issues. Like the doors not closing properly. Or they were just cut too short. They used our drill bits.

But then never returned them or really worked.

Grudge door open overnight. And the painter in particular was kind of an odd guy. And one day he started acting very strange. And I asked if he was okay. And he said that he got bad news at the doctor.

Oh, no. And then he started taking anti anxiety medication. But then he made the comment that it sometimes made him feel drunk. Sure. Great.

At this point, you know, there wasn't too much thought given to it. Nothing was alarming. I just thought he was kind of weird guy had some stuff going on. How old was he? If I had a guess, I would say like 40.

Okay, at the time my husband's former roommate Bennett was temporarily living with us. And one day I come home while Bennett was there and the painter were there. And we suddenly hear strange noises coming from the bathroom. Oh, no. Oh, wow.

Oh, my God. It's a big umbrella. Strange noises. Yeah. I have a clip if you want to hear it.

Oh, my God. Yes. Of course. Yeah. Okay.

Let me play it for you guys. I'll just play a quick snippet. [MUSIC] Okay. Okay.

Okay. This is not a bad. Wow. What I know is that it was going on long enough. Eventually, you were like, maybe I should record this.

And then you did. It was like 10 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like a psychotic break.

Yeah. Yes. So we hear this going on.

At first, I thought he was talking to someone.

And I knew he had a young son. And at first, I thought maybe he was on the phone with his kid. But yeah.

And I texted the owner of the company saying,

Hey, can you call me or can you call him? Something just feels wrong. And I said, you know, the past couple days. He's been acting a little weird. And he's currently in our bathroom.

Making these strange noises. Speaking of tongues. Yeah. [LAUGHTER] So by then, I would just kind of outside the door.

And he eventually comes out. And again, he's saying that he started this new medication. That was causing bad side effects. But he was barely able to stand in very incoherent. Bennett and I just trying to keep calm.

Just trying to talk with him.

“But also saying, you should call someone to come pick you up.”

You're not in a good state to work. And you clearly cannot drive. Yeah. Time to knock off early for the day. While this is going on, I continue to text the owner.

And I said, hey, I don't really want the sky back until he can kind of get his medications sorted out.

And, too, you're so nice.

Oh, my God. This is going to be a wrap on that guy coming to my house ever again. I hope he gets the help he needs, but like, no. It's always constant. [LAUGHTER]

Maybe like Midwestern noises can be too nice. [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] The owner is fond of he's like, sure thing.

I'll send a new painter in the morning. And this is when we notice some items on the bathroom floor. Uh, syringe. [CHEERING] One of our kitchen spoon.

No. A lighter. Oh. And a makeshift turniquet made from Bennett's razor core. Oh, shoot and open the bathroom.

This is really-- This is advanced stuff. Open to this point. I believe there's a medication thing. And I was like, I don't know.

“I know people can have all sorts of crazy side effects.”

That's scary. Oh, God, he left all his works behind. So Bennett stayed with him inside. He's a very nonchalant guy. So he was just kind of chatting with him like nothing was wrong.

And I don't think he realized that we noticed. And I just kind of went outside to call the police. And the officer is arrived. And immediately, while I'm talking to the officer, the painter comes outside and yells,

"I didn't inject anything." Oh, for something. Wow. Wow. The lady-dolph protested to me.

Yeah. Yeah. So Bennett said that when he was inside with him, and the painter saw the squad car outside, he ran into the bathroom, locked himself in there,

and flushed everything down the toilet. This is all happening in your home. This is so stressful. It's kind of the opposite of when, like, a sage. Yeah.

Yeah. Who do you care about? Cleansing. It included flushing our spoon as well. Oh, look.

It took out of our kitchen drawer. And the cord thing. Mm-hmm. That part was left. But syringe spoon.

So now you have a plumbing issue. Yeah, sure. The police are talking to him. They say you're clearly under the influence, but they couldn't find anything on him.

So they kind of just said, you can't drive, but you just need to leave. His car is parked outside our house. And we live in the suburbs. So he kind of just walked off.

I don't know where we went. I keep the owner updated. So I'm texting him. And again, he's like, also in someone new the next day. But I did not feel comfortable with anyone returning

without me there at this point, especially because I guess the painter really wanted to come back to the house because he kept saying that he left his stuff there. This is upsetting.

Yes. So we were afraid that he still had his stash in the house. We had no idea. I did not know what to do. I was 23 at the time.

I was a first-time homeowner.

This is my first-time hiring any sort of handyman service. And so I decided to call our realtor who recommended the company. And he actually was mad when I told him because that same painter did work at

his house while his wife was home and pregnant. Oh.

“And he's like, you need to fire this company immediately.”

So I put their tools at the end of the driveway. And I left a voice mail for the owner saying, don't contact me again. Anyone from your company is not allowed on our property. This is the point where the owner becomes

very hostile and things take a turn for the worst. Oh, wow. We had not paid anything yet. So we paid for the doors in the paint, but there is no down payment prior to them starting work.

And the job was maybe 50% done, but also poorly done, I would think so. This man is on heroin. Yeah. When we took a closer look,

the guy had spent a week doing what maybe should have been a day or two's work. And we realized they had not sanded anything prior. Nothing was primed.

Like he just came in and started painting over what was there. We later got a quote that it was going to be 7,000 to fix the original $4,500.

sending threatening tax about filing a lean

on the house, suing for double damages, ruining my credit, saying it wasn't his fault. His worker went crazy.

I think it is. You own the company. Minimally of the two people involved one bared more responsibility than the other.

As much as he was trying to convince me that I was too young to ruin my financial situation over this. Oh my god. So I was getting these messages

and phone calls almost daily. And I just ignored them. I'm like, I'm not dealing with this. We're just going to not respond. To make things worse,

a couple weeks later, Bennett, our roommate, was showering. And he stepped onto

the bath mat.

And he stepped on a needle

that was embedded into the bath mat. No. And it was embedded in his foot. No.

Boyle boy. This story. This is got twist. Really? Why?

Did he have to get an HIV test? Yeah. So we had one of those fluffy bath mats. And then when we really shook it out,

there was like seven needle tips in there. Oh. That was where he was hiding them all. Maybe. They did a lot of work when we weren't home.

So we had to deal with the painer. The owner was being threatening. And then now we are dealing with our roommate. Who had to get checked out for these things. Months of calls and texts from the owner go by and their

fragment escalates to now anonymous numbers. They were ranging from attempting to make my husband.

“I believe we were cheating on each other.”

They were contacting my parents saying like, I know where they live. Sounds like the owner might have had his own a dick tattoo. And that the whole gang might party together.

That's why this owner's an idiot. Because clearly something very shady is going on. And if you're saying like, where on do you guys? All we're asking is for you to leave us alone. He needs to run with that.

Oh, sure. Any rational person would think I have potential. I will answer if I have an option to walk away. I'm going to. Unless you two are fucked up.

Right. So that goes on. And a lot of social media harassment. Like we would block all these numbers in accounts. And new ones would come up.

And I had waited until the window for him to file a lean head past. Just so I didn't have to deal with that aspect of it. And then I was like, I'm going to write Google reviews now. Report this to agencies. And at that point, I just felt like there was not much more.

He could say outside of becoming physically threatening. And I was like, this guy sucks. I'm more mad that this is still going on. Here's my Google review. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I knew things would probably get worse. And they did. It took a little bit. But we could tell when he finally saw them. Because then insert all these Facebook messages.

And essentially, he was calling us every horrible name in the book. My husband and I saying, like, we cost his company over $100,000. Essentially blaming his worker's livelihoods on us. And then he actually was threatening his own life because of what we did. I wonder if the guy in the bathroom was also the owner.

Yeah. And fortunately, they were two different people. So then at that point, we contacted the police. And we didn't go the restraining order. They said that might be difficult because we couldn't prove that different numbers and profiles were from him.

“But they did call the guy and kind of were like, you need to leave this couple alone.”

And it actually worked because we never heard from him again.

Oh, wow. There's the business still operational. I don't think so. I kind of try to keep tabs peripherally, but they've got some other bad reviews. Not like mine.

Oh, my god. Needles. I have a completely unrelated follow-up question. I like to make predictions or make big guesses. Are you a big skier?

No. Okay, never mind. But what? Why? Because her nose is so tan.

And I thought, oh, maybe she's wearing goggles. And she was skiing recently. I did come back from Puntakata about two weeks ago. Yeah. I thought what's content.

Maybe some skiing. The story really got us, right? Yeah. You more than me because you just had a lot of workers and currently have a lot of workers in your house. For you, it's like really pressure.

Well, yeah, but also I just imagine like my home, it's such a violation. It really feels itky. I'm so sorry that happened. I'm glad it stopped. Yeah.

I mean, this almost turned into a stalking story. I would say in a lot of ways it was, you know, as a crazy time. But that's my sort of cautionary tale is that how much information people can find out about. You pretty easily online.

“Like the things you would say and we would try to figure out like, how does he know that?”

Like how does he know where we work? The links, certain people will go to was very eye open. Oh, yeah.

Like the amount of time he put into it that he could have been making money.

“Instead of chasing this money in his mind, he lost.”

But just losing more because he's so distracted by this thing. Well, as you said, he is not a rational person. He's probably on drugs. I hope it's a better. I hope to.

That's just the way. Yeah. Oh, well, man. It's delightful to meet you. Thank you so much.

And just real quick, I want to shout out my two co-workers. Kristen and Becca, they introduced me to your podcast. And on behalf of all radiology professionals out there, we would love to see more insert foreign body. Because we have a lot of these stories.

Oh, right. That wasn't on the list. We should put that in the backdrop. Made a liver. There's some good ones out there.

Wow. Becca and Kristen, thank you. Shout out. Turning Megan on to it. Big shout out and lovely meeting you.

Bye. Bye.

I'm glad I'm not addicted to heroin.

I really am. Sure. Some people are very grateful for you. Hello. Jessica, Monica was just taking a moment of gratitude for not being addicted to heroin.

I don't know if you want to join that. Yeah. I'm right there with you. Okay. Although I hear that it's like a warm bath.

I do like that. Uh-oh. That sounds great. It's just stick with the bath. It's funny.

Because this reminds me of when people are selling me fish. Really hardcore. They're like, well, sort fish is just like a steak. And I go, yeah, but we have steak. If that's the sales point.

I don't like wise. If you're in search of a warm bath, that's at your disposal. Have a bathtub. I can do it anytime. I just feel like when people are struggling with gratitude.

Uh-huh. They can go to that. Yeah. Like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm gratitude. That wasn't the capitated.

So, we, that would be quick. Oh, wow. You're very glass-haffful. Very, very glass-haffful. Jessica, where are you?

I am in Ohio. Okay. Keep an consistent. We've had a lot of Northern callers today. What part of Ohio?

I am in Northern Ohio. And hour and a half away from Cedar Point. Oh. In which direction? South East.

Cedar Point is exactly halfway between me and Detroit. Oh, okay. Great. How often do you go? I used to go like once a year, but not so much anymore.

I have a lot of anxiety and stuff. It's a lot of people. It's hard. A lot of people. The rides make me sick.

I like him. (laughter) But as a kid, boy, what could be better? Even as a kid. (laughter)

You suffered through a zeter point. Yeah. Okay. So you have a remodeling disaster story. I sure do.

It takes place in 2014.

“First, you should know that dynamic between me and my husband is,”

I have crippling anxiety. This is just who I am. My husband, on the other hand, if he gets an idea and is ahead, he's got a role with it,

like immediately. He cannot sleep until the thing is done. Sure. So, our house at the time.

This was the first house we were bought.

The house itself, it was small. It was only like a southern square feet. But our garage, we had a detached garage that was very large and heated, real nice. But for this story, in particular,

he decided one day he just randomly wanted to redo our floors. We had hardwood floors. Beautiful, so the whole thing. I've got dogs, so I didn't want carpet.

This was perfectly. This was the original flooring. When was the house built? 50s? Okay.

When we bought it, it had carpet in it. Christine carpet, but I had a bunch of big dogs. So it wasn't going to work. So we ripped it all up. And the floors actually were fine.

Like when we ripped the carpet up, looked great. But we knew eventually we're going to have to re-finish them. One day randomly, he just decides, "This is a weekend, we're doing it." Me, don't like it.

I have to work this day. Can't handle it emotionally. [laughter] So we're in a fight immediately about this. [laughter]

And he's like, "No, no, it's fine. We're just going to move all of our stuff into the garage. We've got room out there. And then I'll do it while you're at work." No, this sounds like a plan of mine.

Yeah, I can relate. The whole thing will date me 45 minutes. [laughter] Yeah, you can find one. [laughter]

I am bad, but I go along, said I'm like whatever. I'm just going to move my stuff. It's fine. He can handle it while I'm at work. When I'm at work, I go on break.

I get a message. And he sent me a picture. He's got the whole garage set up for date night. After work, can't hold. Why?

The whole thing. He's trying to make me not mad at him. Also, it sounds very ADHD. It's like he was starting to do the floors, but he moved his shit out there and he's like, "Oh, I could arrange this.

Now I'm going to have a thing like that." Now I'm going to do date night.

“He's like, "You can't even remember what the project was."”

This is my stuff version. [laughter] But love him. So he's trying to make me happy at this point. So I'm just like, whatever.

I guess I'm not mad. Then he goes to pick me up that night. And at this point time, I was working retail. So it's like 10, 10, 30 at night. And I had to work in the morning.

I had to open the next day.

Get some food."

“And then we'll go home and relax at the date night thing.”

We set up. So we get to Wendy's.

And as soon as I started opening up my spicy chicken sandwich,

I get a voicemail. And I know exactly what it says to this day. I'll never forget it. It is my neighbor from across the street. And he says, "Jessica, this is John from across the street.

I don't want to alarm you, but your grudge is on fire." [laughter] Oh, my God. Oh, date night. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Also, why did he light the candles so early? His plan was to light it for the presentation. I then get rid of it. But ADHD.

He went to the big moment where the reveal happened. And that's where he's talking about it. Then it was back to the floors. So immediately, I panic. It's my stomach just drops.

You know, I'm just sick at this point. And I'm like, "Our grudge is on fire." And he's like, "What? And I said, "Can you not?" He takes another bite of his junior bacon cheeseburger.

Like it's nothing."

So he rushed home long to drive of my life.

And we get there. And it's immediate chaos on scene. I get out of the car. The neighbor lady across the street, Michelle. She's just screaming and like, "There's dogs in there.

Safety edible." Oh.

“But remember, our grudge is not attached to our house.”

So as much as I appreciate that, I'm like, "Okay, calm down. I'm trying to get everybody else to calm down at this point." And then the fireman are running out of the grudge with like, "Ask cans. Like, this is gonna blow." Oh.

Oh. So I go into completing anxiety meltdown. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, if somebody dies here tonight, this is all because I was throwing a tantrum." You know, so much pressure.

Then the fire marshal comes over. And it's immediately apparent. This to them looks like arson for insurance fraud. We moved everything except for our beloved pets into the grudge. And then let it on fire.

Yeah. Yeah. This looks suspicious. It looks so bad. But luckily, I had the text messages from him.

He was like, "Oh, this is an arson. This is pathetic." Oh, no. So he just feels bad for me at this point. Because in my mind, I'm like, "I'm going to jail.

I've not built for jail." So everything that I owned just went up and flayed. No. And was the garage shot. Oh, yeah.

Everything was gone. Oh, fuck. Oh, my God. What was your husband's reaction? I mean, if he felt bad about earlier in the day.

He's still embarrassed. He hasn't know that I'm doing this. [laughing] But the marriage stood through that big, big, big dilemma. He's got a little Mr. Beanen in him,

but the rest of himself. That's so nice. A little Mr. Beanen. Yeah, that was 12 years ago. There's still the guy.

I know I like that. He's my person. Oh. Well, Jessica, this is delightful. I mean, terrible for you, but yeah.

Well, thank you. Before I go, though, I do need to say, "Dex." Thank you so much for creating both hit and run inchips. Because those are like my two favorites. Oh.

They're my comfort movie. I only watched them. Monica, you were great in chips, also. Thank you. And love them so much.

Thank you. That's so sweet. Yes. Yes.

I can say that I was not a first day armchair.

Because I was mad. I thought you were wasting your time. I wanted you to write more movies. Oh. Wonderful.

That's a good reason. But I am glad we got you eventually. I didn't take long. I got to get on board because it's what you're doing now. Also, I need to do two quick shoutouts.

One of my sister-in-law, because she gave me confidence to do this. She's the best. And also, my niece Olivia. She's an Ontario. And we're all obsessed with you guys.

No. Sweet. I love this shoutout to both.

“Okay, Jessica, you should try to get your hands on brother's justice, which is the third movie.”

I made, which is much harder to find. But that's the first movie I ever made. Oh, and it's by far the craziest. It's funny that it's very popular. It's literally tonight.

I'm going to try and track it down. Please do. Okay. We'll lovely meeting you. Thank you.

You're good too. Have a great day. Bye. Oh, ladies. So happy.

Great group. That was a good app. Fun bunch. Really? Mark Mark and the fun bunch.

All right. Well, I'm now going to run across the street to my house. Make sure no one's structured. She didn't know. That's right.

Okay. All right. Love you. Do you want to sing a tune or something? We're going to have a theme song.

Oh. Okay. Great. We don't have a book. So for this new show.

So here I go. Go, go. We're going to add some random questions. And then we'll help. Oh, oh.

Jerry's will get some suggestions.

On the flyer. I wish. On the flyer. On the flyer. I wish.

Enjoy.