Day Fourteen

Today was a big day. It was also really difficult.

I was out on a site visit and Brian was at home, trying to work, but only getting kitchen things done. We kept in constant contact on the phone...when I wasn't take a sound measurement.

The order of business went something like:

- Email/call Jim to inform him about the plug strip power

- Deal with the ABT payment--they were expecting the balance of our total order when they were bringing just the cooktop. And, the only reason we had a balance was because we had added the TV after we applied for their financing deal. I wish they had thought of that before the morning of.

- Brian and Slawek realized that the dishwasher power was also missing. It was existing and should have stayed. This is still a bit of a mystery. Not exciting for, considering the appliance people were coming for a walk through. I'm less than thrilled with Javier.

- Slawek started handles and we reconsidered the sizes and locations. (Oh, right, I forgot. Yesterday, we realized that we were a few handles short and that I'd have to stop at Ikea while in the suburbs.)

- Brian needed the phone number of the countertop guy, who was scheduled for the afternoon, to let him know about the timing with the ABT guys and his doctor's appointment. I called Jim, and convinced him to give me Geoff's number.

- Brian and Slawek reconsidered the marble plank below the wood stove. As it turns out, we may chose to replace the stone, enlarge it, and get a new stove--maybe wood... maybe gas. We have to decide that tonight. Jim was here and gave us a quote for installing in the gas line to the stove area.

- Brian called. Slawek confirmed that he needs two more trim pieces and he'd need another board in order to get the finished edges. (One of the panels I ordered was mysteriously a different width than the other. Not sure why.)

- ABT arrived. They informed us that the washer/dryer power was incorrect! The washer hooks directly into the dryer, after all. We only needed a single 30 amp circuit. Brian had me get on the phone with the installer. I gave him an earful, telling him that if ABT prides themselves on customer service and they want to carry Bosch, then they better damn well figure out how to solve this problem in the future.

- The countertop guy arrived. Our peculiar details seemed fairly straightforward to him. Brian called me with some questions. He took the sink to cut the right size hole in the shop. He's going to cut the cooktop hole in the field, as it turns out. *sigh*

- I stopped at Ikea. Got the handles, got the new panels (need to pick them at the warehouse next week). Then, I threw a little tantrum because they told me that they couldn't give me the metal hardware I needed. They told me I was wrong. They told me that the couldn't help me and that it was my fault because I didn't check the parts when they arrived. (This is the metal bracket for the false drawer fronts at the cooktop. Brian realized a few weeks ago that those drawer-fronts had never been ordered--not sure why and no one has any explanation for it. But, what we didn't realize was that it required this hardware to install.) As it turns out, they didn't know what hardware I was talking about. And, in the end, they had it in stock. It costs $8 (plus frustration).

- I stopped at Container Store to return the drawer for the composter. It doesn't fit in the cabinet, which was a bummer. Not sure what we're going to do. (Oh, yesterday, we stopped at Brian's office to bring home the composter, as it had been shipped to his office. I also forgot to mention that yesterday we brought home the stainless panels which had been delivered to my office while I was traveling.)

Tonight, we're going to try to make a decision on the stove, so we can get that in motion.