Is the thrill gone? Already?
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| Chapter 2 Is the thrill gone? Already? |
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| Wait! There's still more... | |||||||||||||
| Table of Contents | |
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| Day 71 - Thursday, July 31st- I get a call from Lenny, the stereo wiring guy. He wants to know if he wrote the date down wrong, because he's at the apartment with his assistant and huge spools of wire and cable, and no one else is there. I think it's obvious, Lenny. I know nothing is happening in the apartment today. I don't go up. | |||||||||||||
| Day 70 - Wed. - I call John to see how my bathtub looks. He tell me he has it, but it's still on his truck. Not sure when he's planning on bringing it to my apartment. Until he does, the plumber can't go any further, the plumbing inspector can't inspect, and no work can proceed on the bathrooms. Bring up the tub, John! | |||||||||||||
| Day 69 - Tue. - I meet with Robert and John first thing in the morning. We rehash a lot of the electric and I meet Warren, the singing electrician. He, apparently, was singing near a shaft and my neighbors complained that someone was blasting the radio. Ha, ha. I answer questions about light and switch placement, door styles, radiators and whether TV's will be wall mounted or not. Robert and I make and appointment with Warren to meet us on Friday, August 1st to go over the stereo wiring with Lenny, the stereo guy, and then we all leave. Robert and I go to a bathroom fixture store and I check out the Toto Jasmin Washlet in person. It seems nice, comfortable, white, toilet seat-y. I decide to take the plunge, so to speak. I end up ordering it from a place I found online (see www.hygieneforhealth.com) which had by far the best prices. I will live in constant fear that I was ripped off, until it's delivered. I call the Icynene guy and tell him the apartment isn't finished. He's going to set up an appointment to come AGAIN. I'm getting tired of these guys. I ask John and he tells me we're behind about a week from the original schedule (such as it is). I think we're about three weeks behind. What do I know? John is going to pick up the bathtub today. It's been ready to be picked up for three weeks. | |||||||||||||
| Day 68 - Monday, July 28th - I try to arrange to meet with Robert and John to go over things, but it doesn't work out. I don't go to the apartment. I'm afraid no one has been there and nothing has been done. I'm right. | |||||||||||||
| Days 66 & 67 - It's the weekend. On Saturday, my parents, my niece, Jessi and I drive out to Rutt's Hutt in Clifton, NJ for deep-fried hot dogs (a death wish?). Robert's coming back on Sunday. Hopefully, we'll meet on Monday and get things back on track, if they're off. | |||||||||||||
| Day 65 - Fri. - I decide to go up to the apartment to see how things are going. I get up there at 9:45am. No one is there. I call John and when I finally get to talk to him, he tells me they have probably gone as far as they can go before some more decisions are made (I'm holding things up????!!?!?!?!), and they need the plumbing inspector to come, or something like that. Anyway, the good news is, I take a closer look at the place and realize that at any moment it's ready for a burst of activity which will really make it look like things are moving along! I hope that burst of activity comes soon. | |||||||||||||
| Days 62-64 - Tue./Wed./Thu.- I'm supposed to meet John up at the apartment to go over miscellaneous things. Nothing important and neither one of us ever get around to it. I figure, we'll wait until Robert comes back. I don't go up to the apartment at all. I do realize, however, after being back in Europe, that I (I know it's weird, but) love bidets. Thaaat's right. I really like bidets. I don't have room for one in either of my bathrooms, but I start looking into the Toto Jasmin Washlet, it's a combo toilet seat/bidet. I just hope the water comes from the right source, if you know what I mean. | |||||||||||||
| Day 61 - Monday, July 21st - I meet Robert at the apartment. He's going on vacation for about a week (the nerve!), so we meet first thing in the morning. Something he said made me think that the walls would be up and looking like it's time to paint and hang pictures . I am sadly mistaken. He must have just said, they framed the walls. Oh, well. To the untrained eye, it seems like not much was done while I was gone, but surely the infrastructure has been taken care of. As I mentioned the insulation was done, but unfortunately, I now see, it wasn't finished. They didn't do the ceiling of either bathroom (a miscommunication, I think), but better yet, the back bedroom isn't done! The whole raison d'etre to my Icynene craze was to muffle the noise of my upstairs neighbor/clydesdale in 3D! Oh, woe is me. In addition, they told me to have the front wall framed out and they would spray between the studs with no problem. Problem-- they bent the studs out of shape and they all have to be replaced (at a cost to... someone). On another note... my toilets were delivered. | |||||||||||||
| Days 44-60 - Thursday, July 3 to Sunday, July 20th - One day flying and 16 relaxing days on the Costa del Sol in Spain, eating. drinking, sleeping and going to the beach or swimming pool. I felt very much like Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (Columbia Pictures, 1968), trying out pools throughout Malaga. Except for the being slightly crazy part (I think). Robert called me once to see if I had authorized payment for the insulation. My heart attack was very minor. I checked my e-mails and all was well. Studs went up, circuit breaker box went in (and apparently can light the Empire State Building), the Icynene guys came and did the rest of the insulation (i.e., ceiling and front living room wall), the leak from the bathroom in 3A was fixed and additional beams were put in to shore up the rotting ones (preventing the 3A bathroom from becoming my bathroom at some later date). | |||||||||||||
| Day 43 - On vacation hiatus. Be back and blogging Monday, July 21st. Stay tuned. | |||||||||||||
| Day 42 - Wed. - I go up to the apartment. Subflooring is virtually finished! Yay! Oh, happy day! Maybe I can finally get a good night's sleep. (See subfloored apartment!) | |||||||||||||
| Day 41 - Tue. - Subflooring continues... I make some bath and shower decisions. Airtub, no. Steam shower? It's possible... | |||||||||||||
| Day 40 - Monday, June 30th - I meet with John, Robert and David (Architect No. 2) mainly to go over the Electric Plan (plug placement, kinds of lighting (recessed, pendant, sconces, etc.), telephone placement, blah, blah, blah). Decisions were made, but are not irreversible, yet. Whew. They started putting the subflooring down. I'm beginning to be able to breath easier. | |||||||||||||
| Days 38 & 39 - It's the weekend. The sun is shining. I don't believe it, but it's true! | |||||||||||||
| Day 37 - Fri. - They're spraying the insulation into my floors today. It's called Icynene and it looks pretty cool. I hope it works to keep the sound of clog dancing down from my upstairs neighbor in 3D. I decide to go up and see them spray it in. They're supposed to get there at 9am, when I get there at 11:15am they're nowhere near starting because of an electrical snafu. I stay until they start spraying, and it is very cool the way it sprays on in a thin film then rises up like beaten egg whites, then hardens and looks like bumpy pizza dough. (See pictures of Insulation Day!). BTW, it may just have been a small misunderstanding, but demolition debris has to be removed today, too. Hmm. | |||||||||||||
| Day 36 - Nothing much going on at the apartment today. The insulation guy was scheduled for today (actually, it started out that he was scheduled for Tuesday), but now he's coming on Friday. Once the floor insulation is finished, the subflooring is going down immediately. (Maybe then I'll get some sleep). I don't go to the apartment today and I realize that I'm actually afraid to go. | |||||||||||||
| Day 35 - Wed. - The floor is level! Yay! I find out I don't need the bath tub on Friday. I find out the price of a cast iron tub. Now I'm thinking air tub. Might as well. I don't go to up the apartment. | |||||||||||||
| Day 34 - Tue. - I hear from my downstairs neighbor, Joe, who has just noticed additional sheetrock on his ceiling. Apparently, the second step through the floor/ceiling was in their hallway (not near hole #1). We're all hoping it was the last. BTW, the remainder of the construction debris is taken out today. A two week schedule of demolition took 34 days. Ugh. I'm fine with this. Luckliy, floor leveling, electric work and plumbing went on at the same time (or so I'm told). I can't bring my self to go to the apartment. Subflooring is scheduled for Friday. (Oh, please, please please). | |||||||||||||
| Day 33 - Monday, June 23rd - I make final decisions on kitchen cabinets and find out I don't have to bring in a larger gas line in order to have a gas cooktop, gas dryer and my (way cool) fireplace. Yay! Some good news. I do have to get a bathtub delivered before Friday, tho. Hmm, something nice, in white? | |||||||||||||
| Days 31 & 32 - It's the weekend. It rained Saturday and looked like rain all of Sunday. No news on the apartment. Whew. | |||||||||||||
| Day 30 - Fri. - I think they have finally taken out all of the construction debris. But, I've decided not to go up to the apartment until there is subflooring down. As far as I know, no one has fallen through the floor/ceiling today. I am looking forward to the weekend, when no one will be in the apartment (I'm sure Joe and Karen are, too). The forecast is for rain. | |||||||||||||
| Day 29 - Thursday, June 19th - Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, Robert is no longer the laughing stock of the construction site. The bad news is, that's because one of the construction guys stepped through my floor (a.k.a. neighbor's ceiling), too. He's okay. I'm not sure about me. I feel calm. I am stunned. Nothing more to say. | |||||||||||||