A California Scam Designed For You!

 If you live in California, or for the matter ANY state that's passed a Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act, like California's SB 350, BEWARE!

A week ago I got a call from a company that was offering seniors free quotes on remodeling areas of your home, in my case changing a bath tub to a walk in shower, for a "free" estimate with final costs rebated partially by our Senate Bill 350 that I found out was passed in 2015.

At 79 and never able to use a bath tub again I had been thinking of doing this anyway and agreed to have someone come by and give me a quote. 

A young man indeed came on the selected date, quite late and after a discussion and viewing my bath tub area quoted me a remodel price of $30,000.00. This was just to remove tub and tiles and put in a walk-in shower. No measurements were taken, just a quote he made at the time. He didn't even ask what I wanted ... doors, tile, a seat. Nothing.

As a point of reference, I had water damage from a pin hole in the copper pipe that brought water into my condo. This was in my walk-in closet wall and may have been going on for a long time. Insurance covered $25,000.00 of the damage which was extensive. Dry wall in the left side of the bathroom had to be totally removed and all the built-in cabinets which we discovered had black mold. Dry wall 4 ft. up was removed in the walk-in closet, the hallway and half of the living room behind the kitchen and the entire floor of the master bedroom and walk-in closet.  All of this had black mold and I was forced to live in a few hundred feet of my condo for eleven l o o o n g weeks. I made some extra changes since it was ripped up anyway. I figured I paid an additional $5, 000 on top of insurance to get at least half of the bathroom I wanted.

Talking to friends and a retired contractor, they all agreed this was way too costly. The contractor said he'd do it for $30,000 smiling and licking his lips. So the more I thought about it I cancelled my appointment. For that I had hell to pay!

The new appointment, after several calls encouraging me for another "try," was for Wednesday, January 22, 2025. On the follow-up call, the day before, I told the caller I was cancelling. Asked why, I explained I was put off my the first visit and wasn't't ready for any work to be done. 

Within 30 minutes I received four phone calls from differing numbers Reminding me of the visit the next day. I told each of them I was cancelling.

As you can see, they all came from La Puente from three different numbers. I spoke to a Julie at California Upgrades, a John again at the same place. There was even a 310-713-8819 call from the Rebate program twice. I thought I was done.  Then at 7:30 while at dinner with friends, yet another call I ignored. 

Then, this morning it started all over again:

Five more times from La Puente, CA; five times from four different numbers. After I blocked them, I got three more calls at 9:48, 9:56 and 11:43 from Blocked I.D. numbers.

I told the last caller I would report them to the State of California and he hung up on me. In fact nearly everyone hung on me when I said I didn't want them to call me. Reporting them on my blog is a better way I think. It won't be lost in the state bureaucracy.

Here is short rendering of SB 350 which is 36 pages long:

It is very convoluted, as most bills are, and it takes a stretch to figure out how I or any senior would benefit from this program. It is essentially about increasing energy efficiency, think solar panels, not walk-in showers.

Here is the potential victim. The space measures 4'9" W x 7' H x 29" D.
Not a big project and the plumbing is already there.

I think the tub is original to the space. Tile work was added when the bath was remodeled with new cabinets that had to be torn out due to black mold and wet dry wall on the other side which is completely new and 21st century modern.

Do I know what a new walk-in shower will cost? No, but surely it can't cost as much as the estimate I was given. He had no business card or references, he left doodling on a sheet of paper and nothing that qualified him or me for this benefit program. The rebate "might" happen after I paid the full amount. With the terrible fires a county away and new ones today south of us, I can't imagine any construction will be timely or reasonably priced. I have decided to just wait.

This afternoon I received more calls I ignored. I guess their game is to wear me down. I'm half German and Teutonic will is something I learned early on. After this is published I'm hoping further calls will cease. DON'T let this happen to you!!!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Entertainment By Design?

 

Over the past week I was able to see nine movies out of several hundred available at the 36th Palm Springs Film Festival. There was NOT one prequel OR sequel shown to my knowledge. Each film was unique, individual and most were from around the world! There were many unique stories to tell not the endless pap we get from Hollywood which seems to have run out of ideas.

To give you an idea of the variety I will give a short synopsis of the nine I saw. I encourage you to see many of them though the MAGA crowd may not be happy that several feature Gay relationships.

FOUR MOTHERS: an Irish entry, tells of a successful Gay author who tries to balance his career and care of his stroke victim mother. She is a handful and while trying to figure out care for her so he can go on a book tour in America finds his Gay friends dump their mothers on him as well. They don't like each other and make impossible demands on him. There is a solution but, as they say, the journey there is funny, touching and poignant. Highly recommended!

I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU: A Gay couple is waiting to adopt a child. They have finally been chosen and decide to celebrate the adoption and their 10th anniversary in Italy before their lives change. Friends arrange the visit, hotel, car rental and dinner with a fabulous cook. Somehow, four murders later they return to the hotel and home in time to get their baby. It is funny, shocking and amazing and had the audience not sure if it should laugh or cry! It got a hardy applause!

LOVE ME: A live action-animation story of love between two entities in the distant future where the earth is just water and all life is gone. It questions what life and love are. Sobering look at our future if we don't become better caretakers of Earth.

MISTRESS DISPELLER: From China, this tells of how a wife can hire a woman to get rid of her husband's mistress. Certainly a new story line. The wife finds proof of her suspicions and hires the dispeller who meets the mistress, brings wife and mistress together, confronts the husband and after this is done helps the mistress find a man of her own. I have never seen anything like this but apparently it IS done in China.

OLD FOX: A Taiwanese movie of a widowed father and son trying to improve their lives. The son befriends a powerful landlord and the two become friends as the "Fox" recognizes himself in the boy and decides to help.

GROUP THERAPY: Hosted by Neal Patrick Harris he queries a collection of comedians about their lives and struggles. I realize some of our best comedians come from a world of pain and hurt. Their act is a kind of working through this pain. While interesting I can think of several Billy Crystal movies that did it better. It does make you wonder how society functions after listening to them.

DRIVE BACK HOME: Alan Cummings stars as a Gay brother whose straight brother is called to bail him out of jail. Their journey from Toronto to New Brunswick finally gives them time to adjust and learn to care for each other. Wear a sweater. Canada in winter is COLD!

A NICE INDIAN BOY: A huge crowd pleaser (packed house and huge standby crowd) an about a young, Gay East Indian doctor looking for a partner. From an Indian play, the American Indie cast creates a beginning and end with a sister marrying first and her Gay brother in the end. It truly explores love both arranged and through romance in a truly captivating way. It will have a general release in April. Highly recommended!

THE MOUNTAIN: Three kids befriend each other in New Zealand as a girl with cancer is convinced that if she can climb Mt. Taranaki she will be healed. All three kids have lost parents and becomes the tie that binds. It looks at parents, love and the struggle to move on. 

These were all original plots that address the human condition as many good films do. Hollywood has lost its way and needs to look farther away just as the best films do. As I saw last week, there are still many good stories to tell. You just have to have the courage to tell them.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!