The Tale of Troubled Grout

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I should have known, from watching enough episodes of Backyard Builds with the Marsh kids, that something always goes wrong. In my case, it was the grout.

Let me back up. Breaking news: Marsh Consulting LLC has relocated! Our busy young family has just moved to a new house across town. We’re still in D.C., yet the short distance was little advantage to the process. Turns out it still takes a lot of sweat equity to get all the books, toys and excess boxes of oatmeal out of one house, into a truck, and across town into the other house. Moving is a headache that has been filtered through a kaleidoscope into a thousand replicate headaches.

But it wasn’t the moving that did me in. It was the grout.

In order to prepare our old house for sale, we did all kinds of overdue maintenance. One small item, I thought, was the grout. I needed some guys to clean and repair it in several tiled rooms and a shower. Turns out, there isn’t a grout team to be had. About five grout teams told me they are booked until summer or don’t serve our neighborhood. Two never showed. Two more came, but both told me they couldn’t caulk a shower. In the end, it turned into a botched job of part DIY and part very-unskilled-paid-labor. It’s still not done. Stay tuned to find out how it resolves.

When You Need Help, You Need Good Help

I was reminded, through this pitiful ordeal, of my last maternity leave four years ago when I had to direct my life from an armchair for several months. When you need help, you need good help. If you’re bothering to call in a team or a person, you simply don’t have the bandwidth for a messy process.

I see freelance writing through this lens. It’s a skilled trade, and the good people who hire me need someone to show up and do a decent job on their timeline. It is my professional aspiration to never be the no-show grout guy in your life!

Please Update Your Records

Please note that my business address has officially changed. Let me know if you need an updated W2 for your Accounts Payable.

Looking for help with financial content in 2022? Reach out and let’s talk about your project needs.