BURNING THE BRISKET
I’ve made several meals in our new kitchen by this time. While, YES it’s a beautiful kitchen to work in, I still have to get used to THE WORK. May I give a big hail-out to all the people who do have to plan, shop, cook and clean up for meals? I am reminded of that after restaurant-hopping for 9 months. I decide to make a nice fancy dinner for my father-in-law. I prepare a large brisket, potato latkes/pancakes, pea pods, salad, and grapefruit, with brownies for dessert. My college friend and his son from Chicago are in town. I set the table for two more. Now, brisket is a sore spot between David and me. He always thinks I cook it too long. I follow his mother’s recipe to the letter, but I fail to crimp the two pieces of foil together at the top of the roast pan. As a result, the steam from the water seeps out. The brisket dries up and burns. I try to save it by pouring in more water, adding wine and tomato sauce. I stubbornly try to carve the leathery meat. My oldest son walks by and tastes a piece. “You made beef jerky!” he excitingly pronounces. I know it’s over. I ask David to go to Costco and pick up some roasted chicken on the way to get his Dad. Yep, never gonna hear the end of this.
SAWDUST FESTIVAL
We decided we like sawdust so much that we want to tackle another project. Really, the window casing in our kitchen is damaged from the ceiling framing, so our contractor gives us a great deal to put in solid wood casing to match our new cabinetry. It takes three craftsmen working from 8 am to 9 pm to finish the woodworking and one finisher 4 solid days of staining, sanding and varnishing to complete the job. We are their first customers to add window casing to the kitchen. I am cooking my potato latkes while listening to the finisher tell me his story of how he started working with our contractor. He starts at the beginning where he learns his carpentry trade in school as a 7th grader in a small town in Mexico. It was either that, or work on his parents’ farm for the rest of his life. He had bigger dreams for himself. He had to leave for the United States when he was sixteen to continue his career. He lived with his uncle’s family and later with his brother. Finding work in an antique shop was the best move for him. Restoring antiques was very popular at the time, and after 10 years, he had learned his craft well. To this day, he continues to send home money to his family so they can have a better life as he does. Antiques are not as popular anymore. For the past five years, he has worked with our contractor in their finishing department. He will someday open his own furniture shop back home where he can be with his family. Back to our project… the last intoxicating smells of varnish waft away; our window casing is completed and we order new blinds to compliment them. We are ready for the painters!
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next week for more food and remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
New Year Thanks
TWO MORE LEAKS
The tile installers finally finish. David isn’t happy with my choice of baseboard, so I have them redo it. They also have to redo the shower tile because it’s not draining well. The plumbers come to finish the bathroom fixtures (sink, shower, toilet). We discover a few days earlier that someone has taken a leak, so to speak, in the toilet while it was in our garage waiting for the floor to be tiled. Now, I’m pretty sure it was one of the workers, but I thankfully didn’t witness it. The plumber has to carry the toilet out to the sewer and pour it down the drain before he brings it into our house. We decide to “blame it on” one of the plumbers who wasn’t able to come that day. They love to haze each other; this was the perfect joke. The next leak occurs when the plumber hooked up the shower. David hears water running in the wall when the shower is turned off! The plumber tells us if you buy your shower fittings from Home Depot or Lowes, they try to make it easier on the customer by having it screw on vs. solder on. This is actually harder on plumbers when they tighten it, because they can’t tighten it hard enough to get a good brace on it without it weakening the structure of the pipe. He fixed the problem by ordering us an extension piece and coming back the next day to solder it on.
SO MANY MANY MEN...
There have been more men walking in and out of my house this year than I can ever recall. True, they have all been here to work on my house, not to see me, but nevertheless I have really gotten to know a lot of them and I know for a fact that I will never forget my talks with them! I have heard stories of taking in a teen who lost her parents, a grandmother who used to dis-assemble and re-assemble a tractor on top of a farm roof for a hoax as a young girl, camaraderie between workers that love each other as brothers and have as much fun all day doing a job that can encroach on the most disgusting to the most satisfying at any given moment. I have learned about small business owners who have the stress of supporting their employees through slow and fast moving months and how difficult it is to manage their businesses and their family life. I have heard from a distraught mother who has held down two jobs her entire life, but can’t get it into her young teenager’s head that he can’t just waste his life away doing nothing, so she has to send him across the country to live with her ex-husband to work at his small business. I have spoken to the kindest people, who drive long distances for work, probably have small homes (one too small for an oven), yet are happy to work long hours at all costs to keep the job they have. No matter what they own, they still have the grace to compliment me on my choice of granite. One even advised me on vitamins and olive oil for less dog hair shedding on our new floor. Not all, but some of these people are proud of their work. That’s what I really appreciate, because that’s how I am when I paint or do graphic design for a client. That’s what I see when I look at my kitchen and bathroom… the people, the pride, and the beauty. I am so grateful.
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more bathroom/fireplace remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
The tile installers finally finish. David isn’t happy with my choice of baseboard, so I have them redo it. They also have to redo the shower tile because it’s not draining well. The plumbers come to finish the bathroom fixtures (sink, shower, toilet). We discover a few days earlier that someone has taken a leak, so to speak, in the toilet while it was in our garage waiting for the floor to be tiled. Now, I’m pretty sure it was one of the workers, but I thankfully didn’t witness it. The plumber has to carry the toilet out to the sewer and pour it down the drain before he brings it into our house. We decide to “blame it on” one of the plumbers who wasn’t able to come that day. They love to haze each other; this was the perfect joke. The next leak occurs when the plumber hooked up the shower. David hears water running in the wall when the shower is turned off! The plumber tells us if you buy your shower fittings from Home Depot or Lowes, they try to make it easier on the customer by having it screw on vs. solder on. This is actually harder on plumbers when they tighten it, because they can’t tighten it hard enough to get a good brace on it without it weakening the structure of the pipe. He fixed the problem by ordering us an extension piece and coming back the next day to solder it on.
SO MANY MANY MEN...
There have been more men walking in and out of my house this year than I can ever recall. True, they have all been here to work on my house, not to see me, but nevertheless I have really gotten to know a lot of them and I know for a fact that I will never forget my talks with them! I have heard stories of taking in a teen who lost her parents, a grandmother who used to dis-assemble and re-assemble a tractor on top of a farm roof for a hoax as a young girl, camaraderie between workers that love each other as brothers and have as much fun all day doing a job that can encroach on the most disgusting to the most satisfying at any given moment. I have learned about small business owners who have the stress of supporting their employees through slow and fast moving months and how difficult it is to manage their businesses and their family life. I have heard from a distraught mother who has held down two jobs her entire life, but can’t get it into her young teenager’s head that he can’t just waste his life away doing nothing, so she has to send him across the country to live with her ex-husband to work at his small business. I have spoken to the kindest people, who drive long distances for work, probably have small homes (one too small for an oven), yet are happy to work long hours at all costs to keep the job they have. No matter what they own, they still have the grace to compliment me on my choice of granite. One even advised me on vitamins and olive oil for less dog hair shedding on our new floor. Not all, but some of these people are proud of their work. That’s what I really appreciate, because that’s how I am when I paint or do graphic design for a client. That’s what I see when I look at my kitchen and bathroom… the people, the pride, and the beauty. I am so grateful.
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more bathroom/fireplace remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
Monday, January 3, 2011
One Down, Two To Go
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY — LUCK COME BACK
The marble tile is ready, but they can’t set up in the rain. We are put off another day. Luckily, the next day it’s sunny, but they still don’t complete everything as promised. The tile installers arrive at 10:30 a.m. instead of their usual 8:00 or 8:30. Then they leave for Home Depot to pick up the grout. I call them after an unusually long departure. They have been to TWO Home Depots with no luck finding one of the grout colors usually in stock. They are off to another tile store that carries grout. I suggest Lowes, but he tells me their grout will pit. The installers end up having to leave early before the floor is finished to buy the grout in Anaheim. The next day they get the bathroom shower walls and floor grouted, the main floor tiled, but not grouted, and the fireplace mostly tiled. We have to wait until after the New Year to get our plumber to install the toilet, shower fixtures and sink. The tile installers have more cutting to do, but on Monday it’s raining again.
THE KITCHEN FINALE
We are delighted to see our project manager bring us the final drawer. We also get the missing doors, including the ones above the oven. The finisher comes to clean up the little nail holes and scratches. YES, we can cook in our kitchen!!! We let our insurance agent know. I get to stop collecting and adding up all our restaurant receipts. This has taken me hours and hours over the 9 months. David has the job of scanning and faxing them to her. I never actually got sick of eating out so much because I know how special it was, and what an opportunity it was for our family. We got to eat at a lot of great restaurants that we never would have been able to. I didn’t have to take the time to go grocery shopping, plan meals, cook and clean. It was a vacation for me in that respect, but I had a lot of work managing the contractor, engineer, framers, plumbers, tile installers, and electricians myself. I don’t think I could have done the regular things well too. It hits David when I send him out shopping for New Year’s at Costco and he comes back with a really big receipt that we have to pay for. While I am so excited to have a beautiful new kitchen, I am back to the reality of my life as it was, pre-leaks. We’re still working on our bathroom and fireplace. The Blog will continue until they are done.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BETTER
Food changes: 1. We’re used to good food now – prepared the way we like it and as often as we’ll say yes. This morning before school, out of the blue, my youngest son pronounces that he really wants an artichoke. He wants it so bad, he can smell it through his nose. 2. Last night, I’m forgetting that I have to plan yet another meal. La, la, la. It’s 6:30 pm. Crap! We end up making breakfast for dinner.
Kitchen Changes: 1. We substituted our glass-top electric stove with a gas one. I really love the way it cooks! It takes me twenty minutes to clean this new stainless steel stove the first time. It even rusts when I don’t dry it right away! My glass stove took about two minutes. I’m getting better - down to ten minutes on the gas stove. 2. It’s a hide-and-seek game every time we need a utensil or bowl. We have a lot of drawers-within-drawers in this Euro-style cabinetry. But it looks good! 3. We used to have a useless exhaust fan under our under-mount microwave. Now our stove hood actually does what it’s supposed to do – suck up smoke and smells. 4. Our old disposal was loud and frequently broke down with food stuck in the pipes. Our new disposals are so quiet we have to listen carefully to make sure they’re on. There will be a lot less yelling and cursing around here. 5. We didn’t worry about water drips (not leaks) on the old travertine floor. Although durable, with our new wood floor, we’re worried about water spills in the kitchen. We still have to get some non-skid mats to soak up drips from washing dishes. 6. We used to have a Brita water container on the counter for water. Now we use Reverse Osmosis and an Instant Hot faucet. Takes up less space, the water tastes great, and we’re learning to use the instant hot for quite a few good uses. Oops, do I sound like an advertisement?
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more bathroom/fireplace remodel progression and our restaurant stories! Scroll down for the photos.
The marble tile is ready, but they can’t set up in the rain. We are put off another day. Luckily, the next day it’s sunny, but they still don’t complete everything as promised. The tile installers arrive at 10:30 a.m. instead of their usual 8:00 or 8:30. Then they leave for Home Depot to pick up the grout. I call them after an unusually long departure. They have been to TWO Home Depots with no luck finding one of the grout colors usually in stock. They are off to another tile store that carries grout. I suggest Lowes, but he tells me their grout will pit. The installers end up having to leave early before the floor is finished to buy the grout in Anaheim. The next day they get the bathroom shower walls and floor grouted, the main floor tiled, but not grouted, and the fireplace mostly tiled. We have to wait until after the New Year to get our plumber to install the toilet, shower fixtures and sink. The tile installers have more cutting to do, but on Monday it’s raining again.
THE KITCHEN FINALE
We are delighted to see our project manager bring us the final drawer. We also get the missing doors, including the ones above the oven. The finisher comes to clean up the little nail holes and scratches. YES, we can cook in our kitchen!!! We let our insurance agent know. I get to stop collecting and adding up all our restaurant receipts. This has taken me hours and hours over the 9 months. David has the job of scanning and faxing them to her. I never actually got sick of eating out so much because I know how special it was, and what an opportunity it was for our family. We got to eat at a lot of great restaurants that we never would have been able to. I didn’t have to take the time to go grocery shopping, plan meals, cook and clean. It was a vacation for me in that respect, but I had a lot of work managing the contractor, engineer, framers, plumbers, tile installers, and electricians myself. I don’t think I could have done the regular things well too. It hits David when I send him out shopping for New Year’s at Costco and he comes back with a really big receipt that we have to pay for. While I am so excited to have a beautiful new kitchen, I am back to the reality of my life as it was, pre-leaks. We’re still working on our bathroom and fireplace. The Blog will continue until they are done.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BETTER
Food changes: 1. We’re used to good food now – prepared the way we like it and as often as we’ll say yes. This morning before school, out of the blue, my youngest son pronounces that he really wants an artichoke. He wants it so bad, he can smell it through his nose. 2. Last night, I’m forgetting that I have to plan yet another meal. La, la, la. It’s 6:30 pm. Crap! We end up making breakfast for dinner.
Kitchen Changes: 1. We substituted our glass-top electric stove with a gas one. I really love the way it cooks! It takes me twenty minutes to clean this new stainless steel stove the first time. It even rusts when I don’t dry it right away! My glass stove took about two minutes. I’m getting better - down to ten minutes on the gas stove. 2. It’s a hide-and-seek game every time we need a utensil or bowl. We have a lot of drawers-within-drawers in this Euro-style cabinetry. But it looks good! 3. We used to have a useless exhaust fan under our under-mount microwave. Now our stove hood actually does what it’s supposed to do – suck up smoke and smells. 4. Our old disposal was loud and frequently broke down with food stuck in the pipes. Our new disposals are so quiet we have to listen carefully to make sure they’re on. There will be a lot less yelling and cursing around here. 5. We didn’t worry about water drips (not leaks) on the old travertine floor. Although durable, with our new wood floor, we’re worried about water spills in the kitchen. We still have to get some non-skid mats to soak up drips from washing dishes. 6. We used to have a Brita water container on the counter for water. Now we use Reverse Osmosis and an Instant Hot faucet. Takes up less space, the water tastes great, and we’re learning to use the instant hot for quite a few good uses. Oops, do I sound like an advertisement?
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more bathroom/fireplace remodel progression and our restaurant stories! Scroll down for the photos.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
End of Year Drama
MONTAGE HOLIDAY
We choose Thanksgiving dinner at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. I called ahead to make sure they have prime rib at their buffet. David, his dad, and my boys are not big fans of turkey. “Yes, we have prime rib and turkey” the woman at the Montage says, as she proudly rattles off the rest of the menu. They have a photographer taking family portraits while we wait briefly for our table. Inside, everything is beautifully decorated, the band plays, we go up to get our food. David and the boys are NOT happy. They are serving turkey and pork roast. NO prime rib! The drink service is going on 20 minutes wait and David finally has to speak up to the Grand Ballroom Manager. He tells us there never was a prime rib, but tries to get us some from another kitchen. No luck. He does bring us back two beautiful plates of beef short ribs. Delicious, but it is still not prime rib. The next day, I call up to let the Hotel Manager know what happened. The manager on staff did try to make it right, but had we known there was no prime rib, we never would have gone in the first place. She asks me what she can do for us including having us back for Christmas buffet. We are promised prime rib. I accept. They keep true to their word.
TILE TORTURE
The marble tile has arrived at our doorstep from Ann Sacks. We eagerly bring it inside like children awaiting marble candy. Two days later, our tile installer opens the packages with bad news. “This is not the same color.” Big mistake. We wasted two days because we didn’t check the tile when we received it. Athens Grey arrived instead of Athens Silver. Hey, one more thing on our, what-else-can-go-wrong?, list! It takes four more days for the new tile to arrive. We have to wait on this Athens Silver before anything else gets done so nothing else gets damaged when the shower walls are completed.
BIRTHDAY BLUES
My birthday arrives. We are greeted by the Contractor Owner, Office manager and Project manager at our door for a meeting about our contract. I don’t even have time for breakfast. David and I are not happy that this project is taking six and a half months long from when we hired them – one and a half months past their proposed due date. The owner is not happy that we have decided to stop paying them until they finish their work. We would like to see them get their installers over here and finish up the job and we will gladly pay. We are tired of being at the back of the line. Why do they do good work on time for everyone else but us? I am exhausted after all this time and frustration, coupled with it being my birthday. I fight it, but my eyes start tearing up. The meeting ends in pretty good terms. They promise to get the cabinet installer and the finisher here on Monday. They arrive as promised. Now for the plumber…
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next week for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
We choose Thanksgiving dinner at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. I called ahead to make sure they have prime rib at their buffet. David, his dad, and my boys are not big fans of turkey. “Yes, we have prime rib and turkey” the woman at the Montage says, as she proudly rattles off the rest of the menu. They have a photographer taking family portraits while we wait briefly for our table. Inside, everything is beautifully decorated, the band plays, we go up to get our food. David and the boys are NOT happy. They are serving turkey and pork roast. NO prime rib! The drink service is going on 20 minutes wait and David finally has to speak up to the Grand Ballroom Manager. He tells us there never was a prime rib, but tries to get us some from another kitchen. No luck. He does bring us back two beautiful plates of beef short ribs. Delicious, but it is still not prime rib. The next day, I call up to let the Hotel Manager know what happened. The manager on staff did try to make it right, but had we known there was no prime rib, we never would have gone in the first place. She asks me what she can do for us including having us back for Christmas buffet. We are promised prime rib. I accept. They keep true to their word.
TILE TORTURE
The marble tile has arrived at our doorstep from Ann Sacks. We eagerly bring it inside like children awaiting marble candy. Two days later, our tile installer opens the packages with bad news. “This is not the same color.” Big mistake. We wasted two days because we didn’t check the tile when we received it. Athens Grey arrived instead of Athens Silver. Hey, one more thing on our, what-else-can-go-wrong?, list! It takes four more days for the new tile to arrive. We have to wait on this Athens Silver before anything else gets done so nothing else gets damaged when the shower walls are completed.
BIRTHDAY BLUES
My birthday arrives. We are greeted by the Contractor Owner, Office manager and Project manager at our door for a meeting about our contract. I don’t even have time for breakfast. David and I are not happy that this project is taking six and a half months long from when we hired them – one and a half months past their proposed due date. The owner is not happy that we have decided to stop paying them until they finish their work. We would like to see them get their installers over here and finish up the job and we will gladly pay. We are tired of being at the back of the line. Why do they do good work on time for everyone else but us? I am exhausted after all this time and frustration, coupled with it being my birthday. I fight it, but my eyes start tearing up. The meeting ends in pretty good terms. They promise to get the cabinet installer and the finisher here on Monday. They arrive as promised. Now for the plumber…
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next week for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
Monday, December 20, 2010
We Will Persevere
POPCORN PERSISTENCE
My sons decide to make popcorn in the microwave. They love popcorn. My youngest, age eleven, starts talking about re-popping the kernels to enjoy every last one. I get it; I love popcorn too, but REALLY? He starts insisting on it. We start to argue. As he is arguing, a tear falls from his eye, and I see his passion. I am reminded of someone. Myself. This is not about the popcorn. It’s about the fact that he knows he CAN do this. It’s about tenacity. I ask him to show me how. He puts the popcorn kernels into a bowl (no extra oil), covers them with a paper towel and secures it with a rubber band. We put the bowl into the microwave. After 2 ½ minutes, the popping finishes and the kernels look like they just came out of the bag. I look at his face. He is beaming. I think back to when David and I wanted to remove our retaining wall and add an island. The contractor brought over his expert engineer. “Can’t be done,” he said. “The plumbing is too complex and the beam length is too long for extra framing.” I was not going to let this “expert with a ‘no’ attitude” stop me. When you really want something, you find a way to get it done. I found another engineer with a creative attitude. An engineer like my son. One with tenacity. We now have an island AND extra popcorn!
BUSY BATHROOM
Six installers come to inspect the bathroom material. I tell them I didn’t get it yet because they were out of stock. They tell me since there’s no rush, would I like to have the chicken wire and float — “it’s better”. I say “of course”. I call my project manager and ask why they weren’t doing that in the first place. He says “they’re about the same, but if I want the chicken wire and float, he’ll do that.” I say “yes” The six men have to spend two whole days on the float. It’s not a big bathroom. I look for the magician’s chicken to come out of there next. No sense waiting long; I have to spend another day shopping and searching for material that all works together (shower walls and niches, shower floor, main floor, sink backsplash) that is in our price range AND in stock. I find some new material. We end up going back to some of the old material we fell in love with. By the time we are ready, (we were on hold for the counter material from the fabricator) they are in stock again. The installers slowly piece the shower walls together. When it comes time for the sides of the niches (where the shampoo bottles will go) we run out of marble! The project manager measured the bathroom. The tile installer says he should have ordered more. Another hold!
JINXED ELECTRICAL
Problem after problem. The electrician orders some of our parts from Pennsylvania, the Dutch country, he explains. “We live in an electrical hole as far as parts go. I have to go all the way up to Orange if I want some parts or just order it. Mostly I just end up going to Home Depot and pay more. “ We’re waiting and waiting. He finally calls to find out what’s taking so long. The order never went through! He orders it again. We wait for a really long time again. We joke that it’s coming from another country. No, just Pennsylvania. The parts finally come in and one piece is back-ordered! We ordered our pendant lights ourselves, online. They came in less than a week. They look pretty cool, frosted glass and a metal pendulum inside. The electrician puts one up carefully. The glass is so fragile and the metal pendulum so heavy, that it cracks the glass. He puts the next one up. He is much more careful on the second pendant. Same thing happens. Frustrated beyond belief, he leaves. He tells us he will pay for the pendants, but doesn’t want to put up the third. We try to get our money back from the company. They refuse. A couple days later, I am about 10 feet away from the pendant when the glass just falls down on our granite island and floor, shattering into a million pieces. Thankfully, my family and dog were not close! The next pendants we buy have this weird, uneven shadow on the glass. The electrician is desperately trying to rub it out so he doesn’t have to put new lights up a third time. I break out laughing. He’s smiling, but calls me a sadist. I’m not really laughing at him – it’s the situation. What more can go wrong? They finally rub out clean. Whew!
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
My sons decide to make popcorn in the microwave. They love popcorn. My youngest, age eleven, starts talking about re-popping the kernels to enjoy every last one. I get it; I love popcorn too, but REALLY? He starts insisting on it. We start to argue. As he is arguing, a tear falls from his eye, and I see his passion. I am reminded of someone. Myself. This is not about the popcorn. It’s about the fact that he knows he CAN do this. It’s about tenacity. I ask him to show me how. He puts the popcorn kernels into a bowl (no extra oil), covers them with a paper towel and secures it with a rubber band. We put the bowl into the microwave. After 2 ½ minutes, the popping finishes and the kernels look like they just came out of the bag. I look at his face. He is beaming. I think back to when David and I wanted to remove our retaining wall and add an island. The contractor brought over his expert engineer. “Can’t be done,” he said. “The plumbing is too complex and the beam length is too long for extra framing.” I was not going to let this “expert with a ‘no’ attitude” stop me. When you really want something, you find a way to get it done. I found another engineer with a creative attitude. An engineer like my son. One with tenacity. We now have an island AND extra popcorn!
BUSY BATHROOM
Six installers come to inspect the bathroom material. I tell them I didn’t get it yet because they were out of stock. They tell me since there’s no rush, would I like to have the chicken wire and float — “it’s better”. I say “of course”. I call my project manager and ask why they weren’t doing that in the first place. He says “they’re about the same, but if I want the chicken wire and float, he’ll do that.” I say “yes” The six men have to spend two whole days on the float. It’s not a big bathroom. I look for the magician’s chicken to come out of there next. No sense waiting long; I have to spend another day shopping and searching for material that all works together (shower walls and niches, shower floor, main floor, sink backsplash) that is in our price range AND in stock. I find some new material. We end up going back to some of the old material we fell in love with. By the time we are ready, (we were on hold for the counter material from the fabricator) they are in stock again. The installers slowly piece the shower walls together. When it comes time for the sides of the niches (where the shampoo bottles will go) we run out of marble! The project manager measured the bathroom. The tile installer says he should have ordered more. Another hold!
JINXED ELECTRICAL
Problem after problem. The electrician orders some of our parts from Pennsylvania, the Dutch country, he explains. “We live in an electrical hole as far as parts go. I have to go all the way up to Orange if I want some parts or just order it. Mostly I just end up going to Home Depot and pay more. “ We’re waiting and waiting. He finally calls to find out what’s taking so long. The order never went through! He orders it again. We wait for a really long time again. We joke that it’s coming from another country. No, just Pennsylvania. The parts finally come in and one piece is back-ordered! We ordered our pendant lights ourselves, online. They came in less than a week. They look pretty cool, frosted glass and a metal pendulum inside. The electrician puts one up carefully. The glass is so fragile and the metal pendulum so heavy, that it cracks the glass. He puts the next one up. He is much more careful on the second pendant. Same thing happens. Frustrated beyond belief, he leaves. He tells us he will pay for the pendants, but doesn’t want to put up the third. We try to get our money back from the company. They refuse. A couple days later, I am about 10 feet away from the pendant when the glass just falls down on our granite island and floor, shattering into a million pieces. Thankfully, my family and dog were not close! The next pendants we buy have this weird, uneven shadow on the glass. The electrician is desperately trying to rub it out so he doesn’t have to put new lights up a third time. I break out laughing. He’s smiling, but calls me a sadist. I’m not really laughing at him – it’s the situation. What more can go wrong? They finally rub out clean. Whew!
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Now We’re Talkin’
A LITTLE LETTER GOES A LONG WAY
The appliance installers come Friday morning. Our dishwasher and microwave go in. They carry our oven in from the garage, and as they are about to place it in the allotted hole in the cabinet, the installers notice the hole is way too short. They are surprised, since they have worked with our contractor a lot and have never come across a hole EIGHT inches too small before. Our project manager doesn’t get us a carpenter scheduled until the next Friday. So much for our kitchen being ready to cook in this week! I drive up to Anaheim to choose our counter material for our bathroom at the fabricator. I choose a white quartzite. They tell me it will be ready Monday or Tuesday. On Tuesday I find out it won’t be ready until Wednesday. This holds the tile installer up for two days. The painter is delayed because of the tile. He must think I’m a raving lunatic (okay, bioch) as I walk around the house mumble/cursing out everyone. David decides to write a letter to our project manager, his boss, and the owner of the company. The first two are at our house that evening. We go over the list of “to do's” David has prepared. They are ready to solve the oven hole problem immediately, even if it means remaking the entire cabinet. They cross out every item on the list to be tackled tomorrow. Cross your fingers, by George, I think we just might get through this.
NEW CONCEPTS
We’re still getting used to not looking for our refrigerator in the hallway. My youngest left his cereal bowl on the stairs before school so I can bring it upstairs for him. “Our ‘cereal station’ is in the kitchen now.” I say. “No more leaving the dishes downstairs because you ‘ran out of time’ to bring them up to the bathroom to wash them out”. Pretty soon we’ll actually get to use the guest bathroom sink instead of the laundry room sink. We now have a real sink in the kitchen. We also have a filtered water system and instant hot. Yep, living the high life.
FIRST DATE NO-NO
David is on a business trip until 6 pm, so I make reservations for Benihanas at 8 pm. My Godmother is visiting. We go to Borders to find a book for my youngest son. He is set on this scary book David and I told him he couldn’t get last time. He spends the entire time reading it to prove to me he isn’t scared. I refuse to let him buy it. Diverting him to another series is useless. We leave the store empty-handed. As we near the car, something begins to smell. To my horror I realize I’ve left the car running the entire time we were in the bookstore! I guess Mom’s been pretty scattered, heh, heh. We get seated next to a nice looking couple. The woman tells the server it’s the man’s birthday. He says he’s 21. David has told the server it is our eldest’s son’s birthday. Not really true. We are just after the free pineapple. The couple believes us and our son is officially embarrassed. The man asks our son if he is a Charger fan because he is wearing “the sweatshirt”, and tells us no one is a bigger fan than he is. He goes on and on about sports, ignoring his date. He then leaves the table a couple times during the meal to make a phone call. David overhears their conversation when he returns. It seems his roommate has gotten dumped for the first time and needs consoling. I ask the man if this is really his 21st birthday because he looks about 30. He tells me he is 39. At the end of our meal, he starts talking to David about business. I tell him he better take his date out for coffee (in a humorous way) because he ignored her so much. We all say we hope this isn’t their first date, but they say it is.
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
The appliance installers come Friday morning. Our dishwasher and microwave go in. They carry our oven in from the garage, and as they are about to place it in the allotted hole in the cabinet, the installers notice the hole is way too short. They are surprised, since they have worked with our contractor a lot and have never come across a hole EIGHT inches too small before. Our project manager doesn’t get us a carpenter scheduled until the next Friday. So much for our kitchen being ready to cook in this week! I drive up to Anaheim to choose our counter material for our bathroom at the fabricator. I choose a white quartzite. They tell me it will be ready Monday or Tuesday. On Tuesday I find out it won’t be ready until Wednesday. This holds the tile installer up for two days. The painter is delayed because of the tile. He must think I’m a raving lunatic (okay, bioch) as I walk around the house mumble/cursing out everyone. David decides to write a letter to our project manager, his boss, and the owner of the company. The first two are at our house that evening. We go over the list of “to do's” David has prepared. They are ready to solve the oven hole problem immediately, even if it means remaking the entire cabinet. They cross out every item on the list to be tackled tomorrow. Cross your fingers, by George, I think we just might get through this.
NEW CONCEPTS
We’re still getting used to not looking for our refrigerator in the hallway. My youngest left his cereal bowl on the stairs before school so I can bring it upstairs for him. “Our ‘cereal station’ is in the kitchen now.” I say. “No more leaving the dishes downstairs because you ‘ran out of time’ to bring them up to the bathroom to wash them out”. Pretty soon we’ll actually get to use the guest bathroom sink instead of the laundry room sink. We now have a real sink in the kitchen. We also have a filtered water system and instant hot. Yep, living the high life.
FIRST DATE NO-NO
David is on a business trip until 6 pm, so I make reservations for Benihanas at 8 pm. My Godmother is visiting. We go to Borders to find a book for my youngest son. He is set on this scary book David and I told him he couldn’t get last time. He spends the entire time reading it to prove to me he isn’t scared. I refuse to let him buy it. Diverting him to another series is useless. We leave the store empty-handed. As we near the car, something begins to smell. To my horror I realize I’ve left the car running the entire time we were in the bookstore! I guess Mom’s been pretty scattered, heh, heh. We get seated next to a nice looking couple. The woman tells the server it’s the man’s birthday. He says he’s 21. David has told the server it is our eldest’s son’s birthday. Not really true. We are just after the free pineapple. The couple believes us and our son is officially embarrassed. The man asks our son if he is a Charger fan because he is wearing “the sweatshirt”, and tells us no one is a bigger fan than he is. He goes on and on about sports, ignoring his date. He then leaves the table a couple times during the meal to make a phone call. David overhears their conversation when he returns. It seems his roommate has gotten dumped for the first time and needs consoling. I ask the man if this is really his 21st birthday because he looks about 30. He tells me he is 39. At the end of our meal, he starts talking to David about business. I tell him he better take his date out for coffee (in a humorous way) because he ignored her so much. We all say we hope this isn’t their first date, but they say it is.
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.
Friday, December 3, 2010
You Are Cut Off
NOT AGAIN!
We’re coming down to the end. I can taste it. Not the food, because our insurance cut us off. We gave our agent a date that the contractor gave us. They underestimated the completion of the cabinets by TWO weeks. Everything else was delayed because of this, and now we must pay to eat out at restaurants because we still don’t have a working kitchen! So it’s Thursday night of our last week. Wood floors are done. We have final adjustments and drawers here and there to go for cabinets. We have final electric and plumbing wrapping up. The glass backsplash has just been completed. The appliance installers are coming Friday morning. The plumber decides to test the water line. All is going well until David spots a T shaped water line at the ceiling close to the cabinets. Unbelievably, the plumbers didn’t pressure check the lines before they closed the ceiling up! Our plumber starts cursing out his apprentice because he has a feeling of what happened. Luckily, (this is a good tip) we took photos of all the plumbing before they closed up the walls, and the plumber was able to see exactly where the problem was before he started cutting into the ceiling to find the leak. He was right; his apprentice didn’t snap the hoses into the connection deep enough, so it was leaking there. He was able to reach the hose by cutting out a piece of our perfectly dry walled ceiling and taking out the crown molding of the cabinet to reach the connection piece. Our plumber says we got lucky because the water didn’t do any damage. True enough; it could have happened overnight and ruined a lot more. I shudder to think!
WHY DID I SAY THAT?
It is still the same night. 1:30 am. David is up working late. I am writing this blog. David finishes work and checks under the sink. He notices water leaking around the Reverse Osmosis hose and wraps a small towel around it. A gush of water streams out of the hose. “Lisa! Help! Get the shop vac!” He sucks up the water with the shop vac, as I get as many towels as I can to clean up the remainder. David also discovers the dishwasher is connected with the cold water hose instead of the hot. Was our plumber sleepwalking when he was hooking up our plumbing? Clearly, they need to give him less hours!
IHOP HIPPI
With all the restaurants we’ve been driving to and all the parking lots we’ve parked at, it was bound to happen. David scrapes a car as he pulls into a spot at IHop for breakfast. The kids and I inspect it; David writes the note, a man appears from the restaurant. He is a throwback from the ‘70s. Long brown hair and a beard. He very calmly lets us know that his daughters noticed we are looking at his wife’s van and it looks like we hit it. We told him we were sorry and we were just writing the note and noticed he had some other scrapes there anyway. He agreed and said he would talk to his wife about it after he got our information. We all ate breakfast (not together) and they waved to us as they left the parking lot. We fully expected to hear from them about the cost, but they never called. Wow. That could have been ugly. I have to remember to pay that forward if someone accidentally does something to me they regret.
SONNY’S SALAD
Friends sing praises about Sonny’s in San Clemente. Lines are out the door. Looks like a fun little Italian place. We order salad, pizza, and a tri-Italian pasta dish. Pizza is good, but burnt on one side. Pasta dish okay. David tries the salad. He is not impressed with the Italian dressing. “Taste this,” he says. “It is so bland.” I agree – not much to it. When we get the check, David has an epiphany. “The salad dressing is really butter!” He tells the waitress hoping she made a mistake. “NO, that IS our dressing,” she says with a stern face. She storms off, we all look at each other, glad that David told her that at the end of the meal vs. the beginning. This little lady must have made the dressing herself!
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Even though our food has stopped from insurance, we have plenty of more stories! Check back next Monday. Scroll down for the photos.
We’re coming down to the end. I can taste it. Not the food, because our insurance cut us off. We gave our agent a date that the contractor gave us. They underestimated the completion of the cabinets by TWO weeks. Everything else was delayed because of this, and now we must pay to eat out at restaurants because we still don’t have a working kitchen! So it’s Thursday night of our last week. Wood floors are done. We have final adjustments and drawers here and there to go for cabinets. We have final electric and plumbing wrapping up. The glass backsplash has just been completed. The appliance installers are coming Friday morning. The plumber decides to test the water line. All is going well until David spots a T shaped water line at the ceiling close to the cabinets. Unbelievably, the plumbers didn’t pressure check the lines before they closed the ceiling up! Our plumber starts cursing out his apprentice because he has a feeling of what happened. Luckily, (this is a good tip) we took photos of all the plumbing before they closed up the walls, and the plumber was able to see exactly where the problem was before he started cutting into the ceiling to find the leak. He was right; his apprentice didn’t snap the hoses into the connection deep enough, so it was leaking there. He was able to reach the hose by cutting out a piece of our perfectly dry walled ceiling and taking out the crown molding of the cabinet to reach the connection piece. Our plumber says we got lucky because the water didn’t do any damage. True enough; it could have happened overnight and ruined a lot more. I shudder to think!
WHY DID I SAY THAT?
It is still the same night. 1:30 am. David is up working late. I am writing this blog. David finishes work and checks under the sink. He notices water leaking around the Reverse Osmosis hose and wraps a small towel around it. A gush of water streams out of the hose. “Lisa! Help! Get the shop vac!” He sucks up the water with the shop vac, as I get as many towels as I can to clean up the remainder. David also discovers the dishwasher is connected with the cold water hose instead of the hot. Was our plumber sleepwalking when he was hooking up our plumbing? Clearly, they need to give him less hours!
IHOP HIPPI
With all the restaurants we’ve been driving to and all the parking lots we’ve parked at, it was bound to happen. David scrapes a car as he pulls into a spot at IHop for breakfast. The kids and I inspect it; David writes the note, a man appears from the restaurant. He is a throwback from the ‘70s. Long brown hair and a beard. He very calmly lets us know that his daughters noticed we are looking at his wife’s van and it looks like we hit it. We told him we were sorry and we were just writing the note and noticed he had some other scrapes there anyway. He agreed and said he would talk to his wife about it after he got our information. We all ate breakfast (not together) and they waved to us as they left the parking lot. We fully expected to hear from them about the cost, but they never called. Wow. That could have been ugly. I have to remember to pay that forward if someone accidentally does something to me they regret.
SONNY’S SALAD
Friends sing praises about Sonny’s in San Clemente. Lines are out the door. Looks like a fun little Italian place. We order salad, pizza, and a tri-Italian pasta dish. Pizza is good, but burnt on one side. Pasta dish okay. David tries the salad. He is not impressed with the Italian dressing. “Taste this,” he says. “It is so bland.” I agree – not much to it. When we get the check, David has an epiphany. “The salad dressing is really butter!” He tells the waitress hoping she made a mistake. “NO, that IS our dressing,” she says with a stern face. She storms off, we all look at each other, glad that David told her that at the end of the meal vs. the beginning. This little lady must have made the dressing herself!
NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Even though our food has stopped from insurance, we have plenty of more stories! Check back next Monday. Scroll down for the photos.
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