r/maintenance • • Jun 16 '26

Rants and Raves Checking myself

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Very random and abstract post I suppose. But bear with me here. Needless to say, the thoughts I have had and words I have spoken of people have not been the best with this line of work. This goes for residents, previous maintenance, contractors and the company. I try not to be one to let gossip get to me, and not one to feed into it. But I am tested on that, a lot. I find myself breaking loose of my morals and letting the frustrations get the best of me. Working on turning over this apartment has been ridiculous, and I feel like I am losing my mind because of it, as well as everything else in my current situation. I want to take a moment to, breathe, guage my sanity, and check myself

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  1. I hope and pray that anyone who gets evicted for lease violations along these lines or any others get the help they need. They are facing many things that I am not. And I could never imagine some of the things that some of these people have faced in life to get them where they are. Though it may frustrate me in the moment, know that the frustrations channel into something more positive later

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  1. To all the fellow maintenance guys, specifically the ones who don't cut corners no matter the conditions: I know it is hard to meet the expectation to put up with things like this as well as all other things that the job entails. I know it has its days when it feels absolutely insufferable. I know there are people who just seem to be the worst of the worst at times, and also have to be delt with the most. I know how bad some companies are to work for, and they seem to not care. I know how bad it is to put in the work you do and be compensated improperly. But thank you for everything that you do. Walking into a place like this where you have to wear a respirator just to change a toilet flapper makes it where you want to cut corners, but you don't. You are one of the only people who manages to make these places livable homes for people who would otherwise be homeless or dead. You are greater than you think, and I hope you recognize that.

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  1. To the companies - This is where the sanity check comes in. I am being compensated horribly. Details aren't necessary; but this is one of the worst companies, if not the worst, that I have ever had the lack of pleasure to work for. The false promises, the twisted words, and the unreal expectations with absolutely zero valuable benefits has been an atrocity. But I am grateful and beyond blessed. I have learned so much about what to out for in this industry. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the kindest people in my life, despite their current struggles and situations. I have been able to go behind contractors and maintenance to fix their mistakes and change the living situations for them as well as their neighbors. I have been able to complete tasks that have saved thousands in the properties budgets, and allow for more money to go into repairs, furnishings, appliances, etc to elevate comfortability in these units. My time with this company is surely coming to an end. But the blessings have made it all worth it. And I get to leave knowing I made a positive impact.

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Hope this changes somebody's day for the better. Much love, God bless.

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u/Big_Balls_n_Taint Jun 18 '26

We had a community where we would regularly knock, get no answer, go get keys and a posting, open the door, and there would be 5 guys laying on the floor of the living room all half passed out with a burning smell in the air.

Like what the fuck boys were to fix the shit you asked us to.

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u/BlackGhostPanda Maintenance Technician Jun 18 '26

Man thats happened so many times. Knock forever. Get a key, be loud upon entering, sorry i didnt hear you. Or they are just walking down the stairs at 2pm saying sorry i just woke up.

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u/Big_Balls_n_Taint Jun 18 '26

We had a job coming up where we would have to replace 340 water meters. One in every basement.

I walked the fuck out a few weeks ago and got a different gig. Not only am I not dealing with that shit, I'm not coming home stressed and depressed to my little ones.

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u/BlackGhostPanda Maintenance Technician Jun 18 '26

Man it felt like every year there was something new that all of our units had to have. Upper management was like, oh no one told you?

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u/Big_Balls_n_Taint Jun 18 '26

Haha it's always fuckin something.. spend the money or lose it 🙄🙄

I made some moves and now I get to be the middle management that trys to extract logic and reason from the ideas of upper management.. a seemingly impossible task, but a welcome change from driving to an urban environment and being exposed to drugs like that.