I linked above to a strappy camisole with the underwire built in.

The tub guy is back. I really kind of hate the tub guy.

Does anyone ever have good experiences with home repairs these days? I don't know if we just have bad luck, but it seems like stuff always goes wrong, or people fuck up the job the first time, or they flat-out lie.

Yay for no more student teaching!! Good luck on the job hunting--you'll get something, I'm sure!

The good thing about renting at my current complex is that the maintenance guys are really good and really fast-responding when there's a problem.

Does anyone ever have good experiences with home repairs these days? I don't know if we just have bad luck, but it seems like stuff always goes wrong, or people fuck up the job the first time, or they flat-out lie.

The Tub Guy was called by the landlord, right? Often these things are a case of an acquaintance of the landlord saying, "Hey, I know someone who can do this work for really cheap."

Ok, I keep reading Tub Guy and my brain goes to the Tub Girl image, and that's no anyplace a brain should go.

See, I'm lucky, as I've never seen Tub Girl. Or maybe I've successfully repressed it.

Does anyone ever have good experiences with home repairs these days? I don't know if we just have bad luck, but it seems like stuff always goes wrong, or people fuck up the job the first time, or they flat-out lie.

My landlord recently did a pretty good job of magically making a new ceiling fixture appear in my kitchen, and back when I first moved in had a plumber at my door to fix the constantly flushing toilet within an hour of me calling him. (Thank God for Flapper-era plumbing and wiiiiide toilet traps—though everything in the bathroom was a bit soggy from the aeration the toilet bowl drained as fast as the flush could refill it despite who knows how many hours of brokenness.) Still waiting on the plaster repair for my bedroom ceiling, though, which is merely a cosmetic problem rather than functional.

The Tub Guy was called by the landlord, right?

No, that's part of the frustrating thing. This guy was recommended by a neighbor of ours who is a super-neat, super-picky old lady. We weren't trying to get the cheapest possible guy; we wanted it done right. And now this guy is looking at our sink, shaking is head, and saying he doesn't know what the problem is. And clearly not wanting to fix it.

Grrr. I need a pocket!Vortex I can pull out and brandish at times like this.

So the weather is all nice and stuff, so I bought a new pair of Birkenstocks. These are a new type that have leather straps instead of suede. The leather is fairly stiff, and I can tell already by the way one strap rubs my toe that I'm gonna get a blister there.

Any ideas on how to preempt blisters?

moleskin on the shoe? moleskin on your toe?