My grandmother - a woman of many gifts - had a marvelous way with words, both in English and Yiddish in which she was fluent. The Yiddish language is rather elastic, in that many words can only be loosely translated which gives them great flexibility to be used in a variety of contexts. They can also be used as a noun or a verb or perhaps even an adjective. For instance, the word 'schlep', which roughly means an arduous trek. You can schlep, as in "you want us to schlep all the way to the beach?" or something can be a schlep, such as "it was such a schlep from the car to the beach."
Another popular word is 'kvetch', which involves complaining. One can kvetch, such as "all he does is kvetch about his 401(k)", or else be a kvetch, as in "she is such a kvetch about losing her money." One of my favorite words is 'farbissineh,' meaning a miserable or unhappy person. But, somebody can be a farbissineh (noun), or else have a farbissineh face (adjective).
A word used often by my grandmother was "nishtugadocht," describing a situation or person involving bad luck, or somebody who couldn't get out of their own way - a sad sack, if you will. "He's such a nishtugadocht, breaking his leg like that." Or, upon hearing that an unfortunate event had befallen somebody she knew, exclaiming "oy, nishtugadocht," as if to say 'how unfortunate.' My grandmother would have been the first to agree that our electrician is a real nishtugadocht.
One of the more minor aspects of our remodeling was installing a real doorbell, in place of the wireless type we had that hadn't worked right since we'd moved in. As we planned to relocate and replace the front door - with the walls to be resheetrocked - we had Sparky run a wire from the doorframe down to the basement. Plus another wire to where the chime would go inside of the foyer next to the door. Compared to the virtually complete rewiring of most of the house, this was really small potatoes. And, when the sheetrock was put up they drew the wires through so everything could eventually be hooked up.
Thursday, November 19. Sparky is here to do more of the electrical finish work, including the doorbell, outside button and chime hookup, as well as running a new line for the dryer which he couldn't tell was not powered by gas. Shaw calls me from home to say that Sparky doesn't want to install the recessed doorbell button I'd bought, as he'd have to drill a hole into the doorframe and doesn't know what he'll hit. It's a doorframe, I reply, plus he ran the wire so he knows what's back there. He wants to put in a surface-mount so he won't need to drill. Screw it, I reply, I'll put the damn button in myself. I hang up, and later learn that one of the carpenters overheard this discussion and put the button in for Sparky, thus sparing him the arduous task of drilling an approximately 1/2 inch hole.
Shaw calls back about an hour later to tell me that apparently the wire in the wall to the transformer (which Sparky didn't have with him and Shaw had to run out and buy) had somehow gotten cut in the basement, and a large hole had to be made in the foyer wall in order to run a new connection. Sparky had no idea how this had happened. Everything will be patched, but the walls are really beginning to look like a quilt.
That night I come home to see the extent of the respackled damage. I also note the cabinet light that was installed backwards, along with the motion detector that Sparky had hooked up to a wire I'd already shown him had been cut and needed to be replaced. I guess he'd forgotten - it had only been a week since we'd gone over it.
Later, Sparky calls to ask me if I'd seen a box of circuit breakers, since he thought he'd left them here and needs them for another job. No, they weren't here, I check.
Oy, nishtugadocht.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Boyz and a Hood
Tuesday, November 17. I'm home waiting for the kitchen guys to install the range hood that was finally delivered along with the rest of the wall cabinets in the kitchen. I'm also waiting for the contractor's guys to come and put up the roof-mounted blower for the range hood, along with the ductwork. I'm up early - even though I knew I'd be going in late - so Shaw can get Logan to school and out of the house by 7AM.
Around 9:30 the kitchen guys arrive and begin doing their thing. The range hood cabinet looks worth the wait. An hour later the others get here, and begin digging through the appliance boxes that have been sitting on the kitchen floor for over a month, trying to locate the external blower. All of these appliances had been ordered from the kitchen guy.
After several minutes and lots of mumbling, the contractor guys look glum. They confab with the kitchen guys - who happened to have been here on the day the appliances were delivered - and after trying to avoid speaking with me the truth comes out that the blower is the wrong model.
We all stare at each other. The kitchen guys call their boss, he says he'll call the appliance supplier and call right back. The contractor guys look lost, and finally decide on their own to start hooking up the washer and dryer in the basement until word comes back about the blower. I realize my staying home at this point is totally useless and leave.
About an hour after arriving at the office I call Kitchen Guy, who tells me he sent one of his men to the supplier and the correct blower will be at our house by two o'clock. I ask him if the contractor guys were told so they don't leave out of boredom, and he assures me that his guys are on top of things, However, since they were also the ones "on top" of approving the appliance delivery in the first place I'm not exactly feeling the love. But at least this problem is solved.
Around 3:30 Kitchen Guy calls me. It seems that our contractor is very unhappy that his guys had to sit around "all day waiting" for the right item, and he wants Kitchen Guy's crew to install it. Kitchen Guy tells me he usually charges about $1,500 for this type of installation, and thinks that the contractor never really wanted to install this item in the first place as it's far more involved than the contractor anticipated - making a large hole in the ceiling, running ductwork through the attic, cutting a hole in the roof, installing the blower and making sure it all lines up. He wants me to know there may be a problem here with the contractor. If there is, I reply, it isn't ours, as they need to work this out between them and get our kitchen finished after more than three months. I ask him if he has a crew available to install the blower, and he replies that he really isn't sure when they'll be able to schedule it due to the holiday next week and all his customers who want their kitchens done before Thanksgiving. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, duh.
That night I get home and Shaw shows me that one of the wall cabinets the kitchen guys actually did install is the wrong one.
The next morning I wait home again, so I can review the range hood situation with the contractor. He tells me that he spoke with Kitchen Guy whose boys will do it. When, we don't know. We also find out that the kitchen crew won't be back until the right wall cabinet comes in, and the correct cabinet fronts for the dining room wall. After Thanksgiving. Cancelling ours was obviously a good idea.
Around 9:30 the kitchen guys arrive and begin doing their thing. The range hood cabinet looks worth the wait. An hour later the others get here, and begin digging through the appliance boxes that have been sitting on the kitchen floor for over a month, trying to locate the external blower. All of these appliances had been ordered from the kitchen guy.
After several minutes and lots of mumbling, the contractor guys look glum. They confab with the kitchen guys - who happened to have been here on the day the appliances were delivered - and after trying to avoid speaking with me the truth comes out that the blower is the wrong model.
We all stare at each other. The kitchen guys call their boss, he says he'll call the appliance supplier and call right back. The contractor guys look lost, and finally decide on their own to start hooking up the washer and dryer in the basement until word comes back about the blower. I realize my staying home at this point is totally useless and leave.
About an hour after arriving at the office I call Kitchen Guy, who tells me he sent one of his men to the supplier and the correct blower will be at our house by two o'clock. I ask him if the contractor guys were told so they don't leave out of boredom, and he assures me that his guys are on top of things, However, since they were also the ones "on top" of approving the appliance delivery in the first place I'm not exactly feeling the love. But at least this problem is solved.
Around 3:30 Kitchen Guy calls me. It seems that our contractor is very unhappy that his guys had to sit around "all day waiting" for the right item, and he wants Kitchen Guy's crew to install it. Kitchen Guy tells me he usually charges about $1,500 for this type of installation, and thinks that the contractor never really wanted to install this item in the first place as it's far more involved than the contractor anticipated - making a large hole in the ceiling, running ductwork through the attic, cutting a hole in the roof, installing the blower and making sure it all lines up. He wants me to know there may be a problem here with the contractor. If there is, I reply, it isn't ours, as they need to work this out between them and get our kitchen finished after more than three months. I ask him if he has a crew available to install the blower, and he replies that he really isn't sure when they'll be able to schedule it due to the holiday next week and all his customers who want their kitchens done before Thanksgiving. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, duh.
That night I get home and Shaw shows me that one of the wall cabinets the kitchen guys actually did install is the wrong one.
The next morning I wait home again, so I can review the range hood situation with the contractor. He tells me that he spoke with Kitchen Guy whose boys will do it. When, we don't know. We also find out that the kitchen crew won't be back until the right wall cabinet comes in, and the correct cabinet fronts for the dining room wall. After Thanksgiving. Cancelling ours was obviously a good idea.
Friday, November 13, 2009
And Cecil B. DeMille Said, 'Let There Be Light'
Wednesday, November 11. Sparky is here, because I know I need to be home whenever he's doing any work. Every time I show him a fixture he reacts as if he's never seen one like it before. Now, I'll admit that some of the lights we're putting up aren't exactly off the shelf at Home Depot, but it isn't as if I'm manufacturing these things myself. Wall sconces, undercabinet and in-cabinet lighting, exterior lights - most of them have been ordered on-line from actual lighting companies, so the odds are pretty good they've been purchased by others before me, perhaps even by licensed electricians. And yet each one seems to be a first for Sparky. So it's been agreed by the contractor and me that I should be around as much as possible to show him what to do.
Anyway, today he hooks up the recessed lights in the dining room, installs the electric outlets, and even hooks up the lighting in and under the wall cabinets that are already in place. It's raining when he gets here so it's not looking good for him to install the outside fixtures... even he realizes that water and electricity aren't a good match. Around 1PM, though, the skies clear, I subtly yet hopefully mention that it's now dry outside, and he sends his assistant outside so about an hour later we have five of the outside wall lights put up. Finally, we'll be able to find our way outside at night. And, of course, they look great, but who among us is really surprised?.
More molding goes in, they start tiling the basement floor - which actually makes it look a lot less like a basement, I must admit, and was an excellent idea of Shaw's - and lots and lots and lots and lots of sanding takes place. Our almost 50-year-old walls, faced with sheetrock that's thinner than what they use now, haven't exactly aged all that well. I've become known around here as the "Blue Tape Terror", because every time I notice a flaw in a wall I stick a piece of blue painters tape next to it so they'll notice it needs to be spackled. Of course this makes the house appear to be suffering from a bad case of blue measles, but the point gets across.
Anyway, today he hooks up the recessed lights in the dining room, installs the electric outlets, and even hooks up the lighting in and under the wall cabinets that are already in place. It's raining when he gets here so it's not looking good for him to install the outside fixtures... even he realizes that water and electricity aren't a good match. Around 1PM, though, the skies clear, I subtly yet hopefully mention that it's now dry outside, and he sends his assistant outside so about an hour later we have five of the outside wall lights put up. Finally, we'll be able to find our way outside at night. And, of course, they look great, but who among us is really surprised?.
More molding goes in, they start tiling the basement floor - which actually makes it look a lot less like a basement, I must admit, and was an excellent idea of Shaw's - and lots and lots and lots and lots of sanding takes place. Our almost 50-year-old walls, faced with sheetrock that's thinner than what they use now, haven't exactly aged all that well. I've become known around here as the "Blue Tape Terror", because every time I notice a flaw in a wall I stick a piece of blue painters tape next to it so they'll notice it needs to be spackled. Of course this makes the house appear to be suffering from a bad case of blue measles, but the point gets across.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Yeah, But Which Year?
The original contract completion date was August 30. From the very beginning our goal was to be able to host Thanksgiving, as we've done every year since we've been in the house. That would have allowed almost three months' leeway. Well, today is November 10 and I'm sitting on a bridge chair in front of a tray table in the family room, on a plywood floor watching a TV that's covered in plastic. In other words, we'll be having turkey at my cousins'.
While the exterior is finished - even the deck, which looks so impressive that the distributor asked our contractor to save him the scraps so he could build an identical sample for his showroom, thank you very much - there's a long, long trail a-windin' before we'll get to see daylight in the inside. The upstairs level is pretty much finished, as the floors are done, Shaw's study was painted, and the only thing left up there is to paint - again - the hallway. The first attempt wasn't so hot, and the walls needed new spackling.
Now moving down a level, the kitchen base cabinets and the countertops are in, the appliances were delivered but now sit where the kitchen table and chairs will go, a few of the wall cabinets are up but the rest can't be installed until the range hood cabinet arrives from backorder, and the walls and ceiling still need to be painted. The dining room base cabinets are in, as are the wall cabinets, but those need to be replaced as the wrong ones were ordered. Plus the room needs to be painted and have the molding installed, as does the living room.
The ground level needs the hardwood floor to be laid in the family room and foyer, and both also need to be painted. The finished room in the basement isn't painted yet or carpeted, and the utility room still doesn't have a floor, doors or the washer and dryer put in. But, on Friday and then again this morning, the contractor told me all of this should be done by next Friday. Perhaps if he dreams of Jeannie.
Once all that work is completed and the house is cleaned (sandblasted is more like it), all the furniture that's being stored in the trailer outside can be moved back in. When the trailer is emptied, whatever is currently in the garage will be moved into it so the walls, ceiling and floor can be installed in the garage. And then we'll be done.
If we'd thought of it earlier, we could have paid for a good part of this little endeavor by running a betting pool for the actual date of completion. In the meantime, we're in month 8 of a five-month project. Thanksgiving 2010 is looking good, though.
While the exterior is finished - even the deck, which looks so impressive that the distributor asked our contractor to save him the scraps so he could build an identical sample for his showroom, thank you very much - there's a long, long trail a-windin' before we'll get to see daylight in the inside. The upstairs level is pretty much finished, as the floors are done, Shaw's study was painted, and the only thing left up there is to paint - again - the hallway. The first attempt wasn't so hot, and the walls needed new spackling.
Now moving down a level, the kitchen base cabinets and the countertops are in, the appliances were delivered but now sit where the kitchen table and chairs will go, a few of the wall cabinets are up but the rest can't be installed until the range hood cabinet arrives from backorder, and the walls and ceiling still need to be painted. The dining room base cabinets are in, as are the wall cabinets, but those need to be replaced as the wrong ones were ordered. Plus the room needs to be painted and have the molding installed, as does the living room.
The ground level needs the hardwood floor to be laid in the family room and foyer, and both also need to be painted. The finished room in the basement isn't painted yet or carpeted, and the utility room still doesn't have a floor, doors or the washer and dryer put in. But, on Friday and then again this morning, the contractor told me all of this should be done by next Friday. Perhaps if he dreams of Jeannie.
Once all that work is completed and the house is cleaned (sandblasted is more like it), all the furniture that's being stored in the trailer outside can be moved back in. When the trailer is emptied, whatever is currently in the garage will be moved into it so the walls, ceiling and floor can be installed in the garage. And then we'll be done.
If we'd thought of it earlier, we could have paid for a good part of this little endeavor by running a betting pool for the actual date of completion. In the meantime, we're in month 8 of a five-month project. Thanksgiving 2010 is looking good, though.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Missing Jinx
It's been a running joke for many years that whenever Shaw and I find something we like for the house - a line of linens, dishes, fabric, a particular furniture model - it gets removed from the market immediately after we buy it. So, adding to or replacing what we have becomes impossible. Well, our kiss of death apparently now extends to entire companies.
About three years ago we had a gas fireplace installed by a local shop. When it came time to choosing tile for the surrounding trim, I wasn't crazy about anything they had available, so the owner directed me to a new tile store located right next door. The selection was amazing, I found what I wanted, and I filed this place away for future reference. When it came time last spring to select the tile for our kitchen and two bathrooms I went back, worked with the owner and made some great choices. Everything but the tile for the backsplash, which we decided we'd choose once the kitchen took shape. In early September I made another visit and found the perfect tile that brings together all the colors in the kitchen. It was ordered, and I was told to expect delivery around October 15th.
Some time during the second week of October Shaw asked whether I had heard when the tile would be in. I called the store, and was greeted by a recording which stated the number had been disconnected or not assigned. Thinking it could be a phone company glitch I tried again the next day - same response. The day after that I drove by the store and saw a new business getting ready to open, with no sign of the tile place. The next few days were spent on-line trying to find the same tile elsewhere which, as the tile is made in Italy and only available through an Italian importer, was not as easy as you'd think. Just as I was about to order it from some place out west, the owner of the store called to tell me that he'd lost his lease, was looking for a new site, but the order had been placed and would be ready in another two weeks. He was now working out of his car.
Meanwhile, in order to build the addition, part of the fence and gate we'd had installed with the pool about four years ago had to be removed. We kept all of the parts, but yesterday the contractor asked us to call the company that had installed it to have them come back and put it in right, at his expense. I found the number, called and left a message. This morning the owner called me to say she'd had to close the company last month, but had a referral who could hopefully help.
At this point we're afraid to hire anybody because we don't want their children to starve.
About three years ago we had a gas fireplace installed by a local shop. When it came time to choosing tile for the surrounding trim, I wasn't crazy about anything they had available, so the owner directed me to a new tile store located right next door. The selection was amazing, I found what I wanted, and I filed this place away for future reference. When it came time last spring to select the tile for our kitchen and two bathrooms I went back, worked with the owner and made some great choices. Everything but the tile for the backsplash, which we decided we'd choose once the kitchen took shape. In early September I made another visit and found the perfect tile that brings together all the colors in the kitchen. It was ordered, and I was told to expect delivery around October 15th.
Some time during the second week of October Shaw asked whether I had heard when the tile would be in. I called the store, and was greeted by a recording which stated the number had been disconnected or not assigned. Thinking it could be a phone company glitch I tried again the next day - same response. The day after that I drove by the store and saw a new business getting ready to open, with no sign of the tile place. The next few days were spent on-line trying to find the same tile elsewhere which, as the tile is made in Italy and only available through an Italian importer, was not as easy as you'd think. Just as I was about to order it from some place out west, the owner of the store called to tell me that he'd lost his lease, was looking for a new site, but the order had been placed and would be ready in another two weeks. He was now working out of his car.
Meanwhile, in order to build the addition, part of the fence and gate we'd had installed with the pool about four years ago had to be removed. We kept all of the parts, but yesterday the contractor asked us to call the company that had installed it to have them come back and put it in right, at his expense. I found the number, called and left a message. This morning the owner called me to say she'd had to close the company last month, but had a referral who could hopefully help.
At this point we're afraid to hire anybody because we don't want their children to starve.
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