Breaking Up is Hard to Do!

I’ve said it before—breaking up is hard to do. Can you hear Neil Sedaka? I can. 

You might remember my break-up with Doctor McDaniel (my hive doctor). He used me for 20 years, then broke up with me via a letter--saying he was retiring! Didn't even have the guts to do it face-to-face! Yeah, that's right--after I put his kids through college!

I'm not good at break-ups. I get attached. 

So, let me tell you a new story of breaking up and the heartache that ensued—and the idiot I became!

It started last fall when my garden girl, Sara told me that she could handle everything associated with our sprinkler system. If you have one then you know what I’m talking about: leaks, broken heads, cracked pipes, sprayers spraying in the wrong direction, starting it up and shutting it down, etc. It's a lot. A. Lot. Still, it's something we cannot live without in the south.

As you can imagine, when Butch sees the sprinkler system watering the driveway or street, he goes a little crazy, “Do you know how much water is wasted? That’s got to be $500 down the drain!” Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but close. I’ve had to listen to him complain about this or that for years. I might be exaggerating a little--just a little.

Anyway, last fall "we" (and by "we" I mean "I"--as I make most household decisions) made the decision to let Sara take care of it for us. After all, she was handling all of the settings anyway. 

Well, I procrastinated--which is so unlike me. I just struggled with how I was going to "break-up" with Craig--my sprinkler guy after 30 years. I decided to tell him in the spring. I thought he would reach out to me to let me know the he was going to be activating my system. I thought that would be the perfect time to let him down easy. Instead, it got messy--as break-ups often do!

Last week, Butch and I came home from running errands only to find an unknown vehicle in the driveway. That's not totally unusual--people are coming and going around here all the time. Anyway, he was coming out of the garage and we realized it was the sprinkler system guy. Butch talked to him briefly. Now, I decided, "what the heck. We'll just keep Craig and his crew. I'll have to let Sara know."

The next thing I knew, I got the bill from Sara: Irrigation start up, repair (4) PVC pipes where roots had broken the lines, replace 3 heads. 

Now I knew I definitely had to let Craig go. It's getting messy! I sent this email--I agonized over it first, to send the right message and second, to make sure it was a clean break. This is what I sent:

Hi Craig,

I just want to let you know that our garden people have repaired our sprinkler problems. Since they are the ones who handle everything else and set the controls of our system, I’m going to let them handle it from now on. 

Thank you for everything you've done for us. 

Sincerely,

Barbara 

PS Please send me the bill for the work your guy did last week. 

**********************

Okay, I was happy to have that done. Then, Craig replied:

That's fine.

 

BTW, we haven't been to your house this year, unless you contacted a tech directly and they came to you. I have no work orders in 2025 for you.

Thanks,

Craig 

*******************

Oh. My. Gosh! You have got to be kidding me! What an idiot I am! The guy we interacted with last week was Sara's guy!! 

I wanted a clean break, but now I had to respond! I just went with the idiot routine and said, 

"Okay, then the guy we saw was one of the garden guys. There are so many people coming and going around here..."

Sheesh!

Moral of this story:

1. Don't procrastinate.

2. Make sure you know "who's who" of the people working at your house.

3. Try not to be an idiot (that can be hard for me!--it comes naturally)!

Like I said, Breaking up is hard to do!