u/SuchMatter1884

and is it just me or does a large portion of the contractors and tradespeople simply suck? My home inspector didn’t clock that I would need a new oil tank (the home’s only source of heat when I bought the place was forced hot air via furnace.) No company would deliver oil to me until I got a new tank, despite the fact that someone had been filling the tank (because it was full when I purchased the house). I ordered a new oil tank in January but it wasn’t installed until March. I spent the winter feeding my old tank five gallons of diesel at a time, which would not have been necessary if my wood stove had actually been installed on time.

The FIRST thing I did when I bought my house was purchase a wood stove, which was supposed to arrive in December but didn’t come until February, and then the install day was the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday so of course I got a call the morning of from the company telling me that their guys were out and they would need to reschedule. Screw that! If you know that your team is a bunch of irresponsible “boys” who can’t honor their job commitments, then don’t schedule them to work when you know they won’t, and don’t take out your inefficiency on the customer!

I spent the winter feeding my old tank five gallons of diesel at a time, which was a wretched experience that could have been avoided had my wood stove arrived on time.

I hired contractors for unexpected issues in the house who were supposed to fix things, but they made things worse and trashed my property. (I still have Brandon Knight’s ass print from where he fell into my kitchen ceiling from above.) The electricians and plumbers they subcontracted the job to were also terrible, botched the job, and then were MIA when I needed them to make their work right. I’m bone tired and the house is still not done but I absolutely cannot deal with anymore of this type of behavior, it has ground me down to almost nothing

Maybe it’s just me. It doesn’t share the same clarity of tone and robustness of other train horns. It sounds like a duck on its deathbed. It could be cool, but instead it’s lame. Kind of like Ellsworth as a whole, with its 14 tire shops and strip malls and terrible traffic congestion. (Sorry, I’m grumpy.)

from “The Crossroads of the Downeast” to “Where Rednecks Rev Their Engines”

I know single use shipping containers sell for cheaper but I don’t want to run the risk. I only want to buy new. The only place that I can find near me (Downeast) has a significant mark up; their prices seem designed for the real estate investors and flippers that have flooded the region since Covid. I am not that, I am a humble home owner of one abode, and I need a reliable storage situation that I can later re-work into an insulated building. Who/where would you recommend I look? Thanks

My location: Downeast

Please feel free to share best practices, what to avoid, or even folks to contact for tips. Thanks! Looking forward to creating more habitat in my backyard 💚

Based upon recent posts in this sub as well as my own extremely HELLACIOUS experiences of trying not to die from preventable diseases here in the great state of Maine, I thought it would be interesting to collect other folks’ stories. Perhaps it’ll make some of us who feel absolutely screwed by the system feel less alone?
ETA: What do they call the person who graduated at the bottom of their class in medical school? Doctor!
Thank you to everyone who is sharing their experience.

I live on a hill with noisy traffic/truck engines. My goal is to mitigate as much of the noise as possible through updates inside the home, including updating windows to triple glaze. I am also considering a berm with a mix of trees and shrubs in my front yard between my house and the road, but that’s a project that’s a few years out right now. In the meantime, I’m looking for suggestions for effective white/pink/brown noise machines that I can either place by each window. Alternatively, should I install a sound system in the home and have it play pink noise 24/7? Thanks in advance for any tips you may have. I’m looking forward to making this place cozy af

I also plan on installing several water features to help mitigate the traffic noise.

Howdy. I am the proud homeowner of a house on a noisy street and I would like to plant things in my front yard that will help to mitigate the sound of traffic. I live in zone 5a-5b. What would you recommend?

Hello from Maine. I accidentally bought a lemon of a house last September.

Contractors came on the scene in February for what was supposed to be a short project.

Because my house had hidden issues and also because the contracting team lost a few guys this summer, things have taken longer and cost FAR more than I ever anticipated.

Which brings me to my question: I need a storage shed, roughly 10x12. I’ve been looking at pre-fab ones and pricing them out. My contractors tell me they can do it for less than the costs I’m seeing, but based on my experience with them, I just don’t think that’s possible? Their labor hours seem to rack up quickly and I’m tired of them taking smoke breaks what seems like every 15 minutes. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Chance it on a pre-fab and hope for the best, or gamble with the contractors and see how long it takes and how much it ends up costing?

Distance is no issue, I will go to them.

Also will consider docs in Northern Mass/NH

Feel free to share why you think said doctor is wonderful

Thank you!
Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay funky

ETA: Mainers are not looking good here in the comments. I should not have to explain or defend myself for asking for a recommendation. If you don't have anything useful to say, why not just go about your day? Why take time to shit on a stranger?
Isn't life hard enough for us all, already?
Please GTFOOH with your toxic BS. I’m guessing you’re all “men” of a certain age, but despite you being a grownup, you never learned how to behave like one.

Hi. I just need to vent and to receive some empathy. I don’t even know if the health issues I’m experiencing are all connected to my Hashimoto’s, and despite my attempts to get appropriate medical care, it just isn’t happening.

I have just lived through the hardest period of my life, which involved a home purchase, a move, the death of my mom in the home that I purchased, and the subsequent discovery that the home I purchased is a lemon, which proceeded to fall apart around me in the immediate aftermath of my mom’s death. Suffice it to say that my health has suffered greatly. I used to be very outdoorsy and active, and was trying to manage a lot of the yard work outside this spring when my skin completely exploded. I have become extremely photosensitive and heat sensitive, and cannot tolerate any sun on my skin. If I sweat, it turns into lesions. I have been chasing down answers from doctors to no avail. But the hardest realization is that I have lost my friends because I can no longer do the things that they like to do (be outside, walk). I have gently explained this, and I have demonstrated with my behavior what works for me (when I was healthy, I used to have a group of female friends over my house regularly). I have recently taken a few friends out to eat at a nice restaurant. They know my situation, I have known these friends for almost 30 years. But they still text me to say things like “Hey SuchMatter!! Let’s go for a walk this weekend” and I feel so lame for having to explain for the millionth time that my body has betrayed me and I cannot do the thing that my friend wants to do. And it feels like absolute shit that my friends don’t care enough about me to propose something that I can do. Obviously it’s time for new friends but I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. I never anticipated starting from scratch at age 50 but here we are. Thank you for listening to me. I just wanted to be seen.

I first moved to Hancock County in 1996 and it is definitely time for me to move. I need to be somewhere that is less touristy, operates year-round, and has access to better healthcare. I know Biddeford is undergoing a bit of a revitalization but I’d love to hear more about what the folks who live there think.

I have a big head and I need a hat or two because I am allergic to the sun.

I know about Madeline’s Hair Replacement and am looking forward to having a formal appointment with them. But is there anywhere in the greater Portland area where I can buy a wig today?

I’ve had Hashimoto’s for years but never knew about any of the symptoms, nor what a flare might look or feel like (this is because my Hashimoto’s was diagnosed while I was in the midst of getting my second hip replacement in my early 30s as a result of Ehlers Danlos 😔). The only thing I have been prescribed to manage it is 25mcg levothyroxine. But I just went through the most hellacious period of my life and my health, as a result, has completely deteriorated. This includes widespread boils and lesions from my scalp all the way through the rest of my body, particularly on my left side (where the sun hits me when I drive). If I sweat, it turns into a lesion. I have completely upended my life to try and get to the bottom of what is happening in my body/to my health, but thought I might post here in case anyone can relate. (Dermatology has been unhelpful, I don’t currently have an endocrinologist, and I am waiting for an appt with a functional medicine doctor)

Can anyone relate?
My hair used to be my crowning glory (and what I would hide behind when necessary). But now I have been developing painful draining abscesses throughout my body, including on my head and neck. I have been trying everything to no avail, from changing and restricting my diet, showering 2x a day, taking all kinds of new herbs, supplements, Rxs, limiting stress...but nothing helps. I have to put hydrocolloid bandages on the abscesses to help with the pain and oozing, but it's tough to do for the ones on my head. I have lost so much hair recently just in removing my daily bandages. I'm also tired of constantly falling apart, and I feel like having a wig would be one less thing for me to worry about in terms of personal care. Has anyone else here taken the plunge?