Score one for the little guy (or gal)

I haven't wanted to blog on this for the past six months for fear that me and my big mouth would jeopardize it. But now it's over.

What is it? "It" would be me, all 5'3, 120lbs of me (okay, in my imagination I weigh 120 lbs) suing a local heating and air conditioning company, and winning. Through mediation, I got approximately 2/3rds of what I was asking for.

This might seem like a defeat. But alas. Defeat is in the eye of the beholder. Or something. Defeat is saying, "Man, it really blows that a company took advantage of a lucrative building contract and chose to install a crappy boiler in your house that almost killed you." That is defeat.

I spent the past six months gathering anything I could that might act as evidence against the company - new heating estimates showing my boiler was too small, all of my many service receipts, photos of rust and condensation buildup on my boiler. I put them in neat ziploc baggies to present during the mediation. Evidence A) Katie watches too much TV.

It was actually kind of fun, playing a game where there were real stakes, and no real losers. My remuneration was never going to result in someone losing their job, nor would it make much difference in the company's bottom line. It did, however, make a difference in my bottom line. You shouldn't have to replace a boiler in a 6yr old house. I certainly wouldn't have chosen to spend my money on that, provided that my house wasn't leaking carbon monoxide. I'm such a tightwad that I haven't even replaced my 6 yr old retainer. Evidence B) Why Katie is Still Single.

I succeeded in keeping my cool, even when the company representatives were trying to make this my fault. Even when the company representatives were refusing to meet my bare minimum settlement offer. I took their bare minimum settlement offer when they stopped keeping their cool. I could hear their voices raise against the mediator in the other room and decided that perhaps the extra few hundred dollars isn't worth having them yell at me to my face in court. Plus, they intimated that I would have to involve a collections agency to get my settlement from them. This plus that minus those equals "Okay, sounds good, please let me know when they have exited the building so I can sneak outside to my car."

I still took a good-sized hit in my finances for a mistake that I still believe was made during the construction of my home. But my home is now safe for habitation. Ellie Bean is as hyper as ever (maybe a little carbon monoxide in the kitty would help her sleep at night?). And I chose my battle. A very scary, overwhelming battle, but I chose it. I stuck with it, and I emerged victorious.

Note to Fate: This still doesn't make up for me losing that beauty pageant in high school. But it helps.