Happy Monday! I’ve been home for three days now after a much-deserved, relaxing month in France. You might wonder what happens when you leave your cozy little house for a month and trust your handyman to take care of the garden, animals, and house. The truth is, things can go wrong.
While I was away, my boyfriend (BF) stayed in Guatemala City and called the handyman a few times to make sure everything was fine. Even though the handyman assured him it was, he was so slow to answer questions, vague, and sleepy that BF eventually got frustrated and stopped calling.
A couple of days before we returned, BF called again, instructing the handyman to stop eating our eggs and start saving them for our breakfast. That’s when we learned that the hens had stopped laying as much, the rooster had died, and Mrs. Turkey, who had been hatching seven eggs when we left, had no eggs left.
When we got back, Mrs. Turkey was still trying to get into her nest to hatch, which she wouldn’t do if she had been without eggs for days. We suspect the handyman took the eggs home, possibly planning to have a turkey dinner. He claimed he got rid of the turkey eggs because they were bad, yet there were many bad hen eggs he didn’t dispose of. We didn’t believe his story but said nothing.
As for the dead rooster, he claimed he found it dead but didn’t know what happened. Given that a rooster is worth more than his daily salary, it’s possible he sold it. Why he waited until the last day to tell us is beyond me. When we arrived, we counted the animals and noticed about seven chicks were missing too. He argued that he didn’t count the small ones, so he didn’t know how many had died. He didn’t bother informing us while we were away.
The agreement was that the handyman would sleep in the house each night, work a few hours in the morning, go home for the day, and return for a few hours before bed. Over a month, that’s 120 hours of work, which didn’t reflect the condition of things. The house was hastily cleaned, he had planted a few flowers, but the rest of the garden was as we left it, just greener because of the rain. I doubt he ever watered the plants before the rainy season started.
Basically, he took a month off and couldn’t even greet us with four eggs for breakfast. Even if the hens didn’t lay, he could have brought eggs from his house after eating or selling ours for a month. We were that annoyed because if someone steals eggs, they might steal anything. Like the animal food, for example. We bought a big bag of enriched corn to help the hens lay more, but if they weren’t laying, it might be because he stole the food and left the animals starving. Some animals were in bad shape, and two died on the day we arrived, including one of the strongest hens.
We were furious, and BF told the handyman that owing us money for his motorcycle didn’t mean he could do nothing and lie to us. BF was so angry that he didn’t want to deal with him anymore. I tried to automate his work with a cleaning and gardening routine to avoid seeing him until late morning when he would ask for more work. That same day, a hen died, and BF asked him to bury it. When BF came back three hours later, the rotting corpse was still in the cage, contaminating the other animals. That was the last straw. BF asked if he wanted to leave, and the handyman said yes, saving us from a painful layoff.
He still owes us money for the bike, so we told him to bring the papers as collateral until he repaid us. Surprisingly, he returned with his father, who asked why his son couldn’t work for us anymore. After we explained, his father admitted his son was unfit even for that simple job and paid us $300 for the bike. The handyman has two months to repay the remaining $700 and signed a contract transferring the debt to his father. We were quite surprised he took responsibility, but in a small village, you don’t want everyone thinking you’re a thief.
In the end, things turned out well. We don’t have to monitor him all day, and our carpenter, who knows about gardening, could take over the garden while I do the cleaning. It’s easier to clean than to fume for hours while someone works at a snail’s pace.
On our 90-acre development, we’re facing delays from the council. Despite promising them a football field and enough land for a school and a small medical center, they’re now complaining about the cost of building a school. It seems like a couple of corrupt officials want bribes, which isn’t going to happen. I despise corruption.
So, we’re playing hardball and laying off the ten workers who were building a wall around the property once they finish the entry gate. The gate and stone wall look amazing, showing that something is happening on the land. No more free pasture for the villagers’ animals, and when the mayor realizes we’re bringing money to the village, we’ll be ready to negotiate.
The mayor doesn’t understand that for every plot we sell, he’ll collect property taxes, and the new owners will hire local handymen, cleaners, and builders, benefiting the entire community. He’s short-sighted and only looks out for his interests.
We kind of expected this because our contractor was overly enthusiastic, thinking it would be easy since he knew the mayor and would present our project positively. We knew there would be obstacles. They’re also asking for an environmental study costing over $3,000, which no one else in the village, not even the mayor, has had to do. A corrupt councilman even sold a public beach in front of our land, blocking access for everyone, including himself.
Being new in town isn’t easy, but we won’t let them take advantage of us. I’m off to the council now to sort things out.
How is life treating you? Ever felt it’s just easier to do things yourself rather than delegate?