Ending January on a shit note....

 January 2024 is really ending on an extremely shitty note for me.

First, I got sick because there was a virus going around in the office and I ended up catching the bug from our accountant, who is always seated literally right across from me in our office space. She was coughing pretty much the whole of last week, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I ended up getting infected. 

Due to that, I am currently on a 3 day MC, today being my last day, but fuck my life because as if being sick is not bad enough, 2 projects of mine that are currently in the renovation stages had to have issues arise from it.

Let's refer to the first project as Project Bacon.

Project Bacon is actually already in it's final lap and we are about to do the handover next Tuesday, all the renovation works are done save for a few minor touch ups here and there. The deal with this particular project is I can't really predict how the customers would react to certain situations because the husbands' attitude can be quite unpredictable. 

One day he can be really understanding and close one eye for certain defects that he may have spotted. But then on other days, he can become extremely nit-picky and take issue with the smallest issues.

Yesterday was the delivery date for his fridge, and that's usually how someone can sort of tell how "complete" the renovation is, because once the homeowners are receiving the deliveries for big ticket items such as a fridge or a television, the renovation is good as done and the space is essentially ready for moving in, but then there was an issue.... 

"Why is the fridge jutting out from the cabinet so much?"

... and he attaches a photo along with that message in the group chat that everyone who is involved in the project is a part of.

Not my project, but the same fridge with the same amount of jutting.

This is completely normal for fridges, if you do not want your fridge to jut out, then buy a slimmer fridge. "Counter Depth Fridge" do exist and the reason why those slimmer fridges are called 'Counter Depth Fridge" is because kitchen counters have a standard depth of 600mm, this measurement is based on ergonomics and we usually don't tinker around the the depth too much unless specially requested by the homeowner.

My boss, who is also the Project Manager of this project, then responds back and informs the customer that the fridge jutting out is normal because fridges are deeper than the standard counter depth, he then attaches a screenshot of my 3D rendering that I did showcasing that even in the 3D, the jut out was reflected. 

Mr Bacon couldn't take that as an answer and request for a call, but my boss was busy, then Mrs Bacon responds back...

"But the 3D rendering isn't jutting out as much."

... and it's by like 4cm. So my boss finally gets on a call with them and the conversation didn't end well. Mr Bacon is complaining, Mr Bacon's Mum is also taking part in the conversation and making a whole bunch of noise because she happened to be on site as well, and my boss was unfortunately not able to assuage them that the jut out that they are looking at is normal.

THIS

LEVEL

OF

JUT

IS NORMAL!

Every once in a while, you will get customers like the Bacons who will question why something is not done to standard when it is the standard, I honestly have no words.

This is the very first time in my 5 years as an Interior Designer that a customer is complaining about their fridge sticking out too much, and when you tell them it is normal, because it is normal.

"I wasn't aware that it would jut out that much."

I get that sometimes, we have to manage the customers expectations, but this is akin to me telling people who go to the pool...

"Hey, just to let you know, there is chlorine in the swimming pool, ."

… and if they go in not knowing there is chlorine in the pool, but then end up getting the smell of chlorine on themselves, their reaction would be...

"Oh, it must be the chlorine form the pool causing that smell."

… and then they just accept that and move on instead of whining to the pool and asking why they smell weird. 

You are the one who got the fridge! I didn't buy it on your behalf without your consent! This is literally your own problem for buying a thick fridge.  

The reason why I don't want to do Project Management is because I want to avoid stupid situations like this, like having to justify why water is wet, why fire is hot, why humans need to take a shit, why a 750mm fridge would stick out from a 600mm deep cabinet.

I really don't know how to deal with this, the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get. On one hand, I am thinking, maybe all I need to do is speak to them logically, which my boss did, but it failed miserably and the Bacons are in their own echo chamber because Mr Bacon is agreeing with Mrs Bacon, and Mrs Bacon is agreeing with Mummy Bacon, and Mummy Bacon is agreeing with Mr Bacon. It's like a daisy chain of stupid just going round and round jerking each other off with WRONG. 

"Oooh, yeah, how is that wrong feeling? Does it feel good? I love that wrong! The wrong feels so good."

Today, as I was watching A Quiet Place 2 on Netflix and trying to enjoy the last day of my MC whilst pushing out the thought of the stupid Bacons out of my mind, I get a text from my boss about another project.

It had to do with a specific tile I had chosen with the clients for the project, turns out what we chose wasn't suitable for floor tiles because it was too fragile and we had to do a reselection.

I have a bit of PTSD after what happen the last time with a different group of customers involving tiles.

The difference is that this time, the project has already begun and we are in the midst of doing the tiling works, if I could visit the tile shop today to sort everything out, I would, but I am on MC and I doubt the customer can make it today.

I was very apprehensive about the whole situation, thinking the customers will flare up like how the last one did, but thankfully, both husband and wife were quite calm and the wife agreed to meet me tomorrow to reselect their flooring. Hopefully I can find a matching one because I really don't know what I would do if I can't.