Chapter 20
How long has this been going on?
Table of Contents
Days 585-587 � Merry X-mas. It�s a three-day weekend.  I spend it cooking at my parents� house� roast beef, soup, tapas.  Will I ever do this in mine?

Day 584 � 12/20/04 - Thurs. � Jerry and Bernice, friends of my parents come up to the apartment (I got to Little Wolf because of Jerry), and although the style is obviously not theirs, they think the apartment is beautiful.  I have to invite people over more. 

Day 583 � 12/19/04 - Zip.

Day 582 � 12/18/04 - Robert II comes over at 8:15am.  He has a look on his face.  I say, �He�s not coming.�  He says, �I just got off the train and had a message from him.  He has the flu.  If he has the flu today, he probably didn�t feel well yesterday and could have called��  Welcome to my world.

Day 581 � Monday, December 20, 2004 � In the evening, I put blue tape on the wall unit, where I want Joseph Zeimann to take a look at it.

Days 579 & 580 � It�s the weekend.

Day 578 � 12/17/04 -Robert� calls and tells me Mr. Zeimann can come early next Tuesday.  Fine.

Day 577 � 12/16/04 - When I get up in the morning, I turn on the Plasma, and the last scene I had watched last night was still on, frozen on the screen.  I reboot the cable box, I try to listen to music throughout the apartment, but the TV audio is coming out.  I knew I should have spent more time studying my new remote with A/V John.  My friend Robert is up from New Orleans.  I show him the apartment and then we go for dinner.  After a hearty meal, we flip my mattress.  No problem.  Whew.

Day 576 � 12/15/04 - Wed. - My mom stayed over last night and stays to wait for Time Warner Cable to come and deliver my HD-DVR cable box (for those untrained in TV lingo, that�s �High Definition-Digital Video Recorder�).  The man comes and wants to install it, but my mom calls Lenny at Lyric who convinces the cable guy to just leave the box.  My mom leaves when someone from Lyric comes and hooks up everything.  When I get home that night, I watch television on the Plasma.  Nice.

Day 575 � 12/14/04 - Richard, Dave and this time John (A/V John) come in the morning and this time I leave.  I e-mail Robin and ask when, if ever, anyone can come abck and finish up things.  I don�t hear from her.  When I come home in the evening, A/V John is still there waiting for me.  He is going to show me how to use my super cool all-in-one Marantz RC9500 Color Learning Remote Control.  I have dinner plans, he wants to get going, we go through it quickly and he leaves.  I still don�t have a cable box, so I still can�t watch TV.

Day 574 � Monday, December 13, 2004 - Lyric is coming, Lyric is coming!  That�s right� Lyric is finally coming to install all the stereo equipment and my brand new 42-inch Plasma TV!  The plumber and the A/C man come first.  I had wanted the plumber to fix my leaking radiator, my cold-running shower, install the new gas valve for the fireplace and take a look at my gas meters in order to give me a price to combine my two meters into one.  The plumber replaces a joint on my radiator (which I finally realized wouldn�t leak if I turned it off) and had no idea what I was talking about when I asked him about the other things.  He ended up replacing the gas valve, but now it doesn�t work at all.  He called the other plumber that came the first time, who told me to replace the valve, but that plumber couldn�t help over the phone.  This plumber had other jobs to take care of, so he left.  At least my radiator wasn�t leaking anymore.  Joy�s A/C guy came, took one look at the A/C return, said �it�s a 12� by 12� (standard size) and left.  I�m sorry he had to make the trip.  I thought it was a standard size, but Joy made it seem otherwise.  Anyway, back to Lyric� Dave and Richard come over at about 10am with about 20 boxes of various shapes and sizes.  Hours are spent testing wires, �pinging� speakers, cutting, splicing and sometime in the afternoon, I had music throughout my apartment!  Luckily, I had gotten five new CDs for Hanukkah!  All my other CDs are still in storage (I thought three months at the most (Ha!)).  My Plasma is hanging, but as I don�t have a cable box (no one told me to get it and I certainly didn�t think of it) and I don�t have speakers for the �Home Theater,� I can�t watch (or listen) to anything except the �Marantz� logo.  It looks great!

Days 572 & 573 � It�s the weekend.  My family exchanges Hanukkah presents on Saturday night.  I got a Roomba and a Dyson vacuum cleaner.  Do you think there�s a theme?  I also got my third orrery as a present to complete my collection (one is an accident, two is a coincidence, three is a collection).

Day 571 � 12/11/04 - Robert comes over in the morning and looks at the wall unit.  He sees what I mean and I show him other things.  He says he�ll have Joseph Zeimann, the head refinisher (who didn�t do the refinishing and I�ve never met) come over, take a look and see what, if anything, can be done.

Day 570 � 12/10/04 - My father e-mails me and says his vote is now for the Plasma.  Does the fact that Lyric is coming on Monday have anything to do with it?  I suggest he speak to Lenny one last time, which he does and then tells me that Plasma is the way to go.  He also say he wants to go the less stressful way and doesn�t want to drive me nuts.  Now?

Day 569 � 12/9/04 - Wed. - Hanukkah begins tonight. 

Day 568 � 12/8/04 - I e-mail Robin at Joy�s office to ask about everyone (e.g., plumber, stone man, threshold guy, A/C return guy) coming over.  The radiator in my living room is leaking badly and I still haven�t gotten a price from the floor man, who made it seem like he could whip up my threshold in no time at all and come back install it early one morning before I went to work.    I don�t hear from her.  I meet Robert II at ABC Carpet in the late afternoon.  He thought he was being nice and having me meet him there, near my office, unfortunately, I no longer work near Union Square.  I am now on 57th Street and 11th Avenue, just a few steps away from nowhere.  Anyway, Robert shows me a chair for the living room.  I�m not thrill, but I begin to come around.  He asks a salesman about it.  They don�t have it and they�ve discontinued the fabric.  I end up ordering two Mitchell Gold Ellis club chairs in red leather for the den.

Day 567 � Monday, December 7, 2004 � I speak to Robert II, tell him that you can�t see the seam on the middle cabinet, but they put wood filler between the left and middle cabinets and it doesn�t look great, but I could live with it.  He said he would come and take a look.
Day 566 � Monday, December 6, 2004 � Tonight�s my Annual Shareholder�s Meeting.  At least this year, I�m living in my apartment.  Everyone asks, �So, how�s the apartment?�  �Do you love it?�  When are you going to have a party?�  I smile, I laugh, I obfuscate (the first time I�ve actually done or said that), then I leave.
Days 563-565 � I leave work early and go up to the Caterina de Medici restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.  We have a lovely meal on Friday night, then we drive back to Queens.  On the way back, we stop at Lyric so my father can discuss LCD versus plasma TVs with Lenny.  I told my dad that I will get whatever he decides on.  I spend the weekend in Queens letting my wall unit air out.
Day 562 � I get up and I�m a little excited to finally use my shower.  The water had been used to fill workmen�s buckets and clear the steam after testing the steam shower, but I had never showered in there.  I�m not exactly sure why.  I had tried to clean the glass of the shower enclosure, but because it has been wrapped in plastic for so long, there were marks on the glass that I was trying to figure out how to get off.  Since the glass was treated, I couldn�t use anything abrasive, so I was just thinking about what to do.  Maybe it was that or maybe it was that I hate this bathroom.  Whatever.  I was finally going to use it.  So, I get in and I turn on the water.  It�s cold.  I turn the thermostat.  Still cold.  I push the button on the thermostat and turn it.  Cold.  I try the handheld shower.  STILL COLD!  I�m panicking a little and my feet and ankles are freezing.  I turn off the water and stand there.  Then I have a thought!  Maybe it�s the boiler!?  Wouldn�t that be great?!  So, I get out of the shower and run the water in the sink�cool, warm, hot.  Crap.  My shower has no hot water�  I can�t even wrap my mind around this.  Worst case scenario is that I have to have the plumbers come and open up the wall.  Really, it�s not even funny.  Have I mentioned, I hate this bathroom?  I didn�t take a shower today.  On the bright side, I tried the Toto Jasmin Washlet� and it works (praise the Lord).  Necessity is the Mother of my trying out my things.
Day 561 � Wed.- It�s December.  It�s pouring.  The refinisher is coming between 9 and 9:30am.  At 10 o�clock, I call Robert II.  They should be there any minute and he is on his way.  Two refinisher guys come at 10:15am.  Robert comes at about 10:30am.  They prep a board and stain it with a few stains.  I originally wanted it very light.  Robert suggests a color somewhat darker.  I tell him I just don�t want it to look like 1960�s rec room shelves.  I show him the seams where Little Wolf extended the middle base cabinet.  He doesn�t think that you�ll be able to see them, once the unit is sanded and stained.  We choose a color�a warm, lightish, reddish brown.  Robert leaves.  I get ready to go to work and then I leave.  When I get home at night, the windows are open and the plastic they put up between the den and the kitchen and hallway is billowing and it�s cold.  I walk into the Den/Media room and look at the wall unit.  It looks good.  You can see the seam a little, but it�s not bad.  I decide that, rather than walking through the cold, dusty den tomorrow morning to take a shower and get dressed, I will get all my things (i.e., brushes, blow-dryer, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, makeup, clothes and shoes), christen my shower and officially move to the South Wing of the Manse.  Necessity is the Mother of something, in my case finally using my other shower.  I pack up my things, and after putting everything away, I go to bed.
Day 560 � Still nothing.
Day 559 � Monday, November 29, 2004 � Nothing
Days 555-558 � Thanksgiving Day and extended weekend.  My parents come in to see the wall unit.  My mom suggests I take some of my things from their house and bring them in to my apartment.  What???  It�s only been a year and a half!  I load up the car. "The Great Crap Relocation" has begun.
Day 554 � Wed. - Nothing happens apartment-wise.  I take a day off to prepare for Thanksgiving.
Day 553 � I e-mail Robin and ask what�s going on.  Joy�s plumber, floor man, etc., came on November 4th and I haven�t heard from them about pricing and when they could come back and finish up.  I also suggested that she have Joy�s A/C company replace the A/C return that Jorge ruined by ripping out of the wall.  Joy has made it seem like it�s a custom size and will be easier for my A/C people to replace.  I have called Ed from Murphco twice and he said he would have Pete send me one, but it hasn�t come and my guess is, it�s not going to (I guess they can�t mark it up to $800).  If it won�t be cheaper, it will certainly be faster.  I think.
Day 552 � Monday, November 22, 2004 � It�s Little Wolf cabinet installation day!  Yay!  They get to the apartment at 9:00am.  I speak to Robert II at 9:15�none of the holes are drilled.  He says, they�ll do that when they see where they need to do it.  That makes sense.  Robert says, he�ll call me back to arrange coming over.  He calls me at about 10 o�clock and asks if he can come over now.  I say, �Great!�  This works out well, because it�s about now that they cabinet guy asks me for speaker wire (I can�t believe it�s not here) and (worse) I notice that the base cabinet depth is all one depth�20 inches.  The middle cabinet is supposed to be 24 inches deep, otherwise there�s not enough room for the equipment.  I mention this to the guys.  One of them shows me on the plan that it says 20 inches.  At this point, Robert walks in.  I tell him what I think the problem is.  He doesn�t remember that the cabinet had a �breakfront,� but in looking more carefully at the plans, we see two things�the drawing that shows the cabinet where the equipment goes has an interior measurement of 22 � inches and handwritten and circled on the plan is 24, but it�s scribbled over.  Hmm.  Robert calls John Wolf at Little Wolf and after discussion says, �Take it back!�  Oh, and then he says, �We need it by Wednesday.�  I think to myself, �Yeah, right.�  At that moment, Matt from Lyric comes up with the speaker wire and show the guys where it should go if they ever finish putting the cabinet together.  The guys start taking the cabinet apart and take out the bottom piece, leaving all their things in the apartment.  Before they leave, they say they�ll be back in about two hours.  Two hours!?  The whole thing took eight weeks to build and now this is only going to take two hours.  Very interesting.  Robert tells me in all the times he has worked with Little Wolf, he has never had a problem like this.  Welcome to my world.  They come back at 3 o�clock and by 5:15pm they are done.  And I have a wall unit.
Days 550 & 551 � It�s the weekend.  I do a little pre-Thanksgiving shopping and play poker with my parents and 9-year-old niece.  A typical weekend.
Day 549 � An article came out in The New York Times yesterday on large size, flat screen LCD TVs versus plasma TVs.  My dad (who is paying for my big screen TV) (Thank you very much!) decides to tell me about it and throw it into the mix.  My father sees nothing wrong with giving me something to think about regarding a decision that was finalized back in April (See Day 323).  Obviously, I am not nuts enough.
Day 548 - Thurs. � I go to Simon�s to buy handles or knobs for the front wall unit.  There are hundreds.  I can�t decide.  I debate whether I should call Robert II and come back with him.  Then I say to myself, �It�s just a knob!  PICK A FREAKIN� KNOB!�  and I do.
Day 547 � Zero.
Day 546 � Zilch
Day 545 � Monday, November 15, 2004 - Zip.
Days 542-544 � A three-day weekend vacation in Washington, DC with my parents, visiting relatives from Argentina and Maryland.
Day 541 � My couch from Desiron is being delivered today between 10am and 1pm.  At 10:30am I call the store to pin down the time and Kathy tells me it will be closer to 1pm and they can call me an hour before they get there.  That would have been nice to know before this.  Now, do I go to work and come back when they call?  I get ready to go to work , then call my parents who tell me, rather than coming back from work in the middle of the day, they will come in and wait for the couch.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  My parents get to the apartment, the delivery guys call and at 2 o�clock, I have a couch!  My mother says it looks great.  No one sits on it until I get home.  It does look good.  Then we all sit down in a row on the couch and watch the non-existent 42-inch plasma TV for a while.
Day 540 � Thurs. � Rien.
Day 539 � When I wake up in the morning, I look out the window and notice something yellowish, protruding from the building the where one of the exhaust vents is.  I don�t have my contacts in, so it just looks like a yellow blob.  I put on my glasses and realize that it�s the insulation that John sprayed into the gaps around the dryer vent.  It seems to be covering the vent a little.  I turn on the dryer to see if the vents open.  They don�t.  Great.  Being the handywoman that I am, I open the bathroom window, climb on the toilet and using a broom handle, I break off the pieces of insulation that are blocking the vents.  I turn on the dryer�two vents open.  Using and opened up a hanger, I poke at the third vent and get it to pop open.  If I had waited for John, I would be able to use my dryer again in the Spring.
Day 538 � Manhattan Shade came today and now I have solar shades on all my windows and blackout shades for the bedroom windows.  They all look nice.  When the sun shines through, you can see how dirty the windows are.  (Note to myself�clean windows).
Day 537 � Monday, November 8, 2004 � Zilch.
Days 535 & 536 � It�s the weekend.
Day 534 � Fri. � Nada.
Day 533 � I�m up early and waiting for John to come at 8:00am.  He doesn�t show.  At 8:15am, I hear a banging noise, but I can�t find where it�s coming from.  I sit back down at my computer and I hear it again.  I walk into the kitchen and I see John on a ladder outside the kitchen window.  I�m stunned.  He�s attaching the range hood vent to the building.  He walked through the garden next to the building, leaned one ladder against the covered porch area of Ray�s Pizzeria and then leaned another ladder from the corrugated metal roof against my building.  I can�t be much more surprised.  John secures both vents and sprays some waterproof insulation in the gaps between the vents and the brick.  When he�s done with that, he puts away his ladders then comes into the apartment.  I had mentioned that one of the kitchen cabinets wasn�t closing correctly, so he came in to adjust it.  I ask him if he�s heard from Warren.  �No.�  I ask, if I don�t have the second Electrical Inspection, does Warren get in trouble or do I?  �Warren.�  Fine.  I don�t care if I ever have the inspection.  John leaves.  I had a lot I wanted to say to him, but what for?  The floor guy comes and takes measurements for the threshold.  He says he can make something up in oak, stain it the same color as the bamboo and install it.  He can have it ready in a couple of days.  I show him the marks, dents, and scratches in the bamboo.  Long story short�it�s wood, it scratches, it dents.  He can screen out the scratches, but then I�ll lose the micro-bevel between the planks and the dents will never come out.  Okay!  Bye!  The stone guys come and polish the stone hearth again.  They leave.  I forgot to ask them to drill a grommet hole in the desk and it never occurred to me to ask them about the granite backsplash.  Dave from Lyric comes.  He is going to put the flat screen TVs back on the walls.  He starts doing his thing with the wires, then he leaves to go buy some things.  When he gets back, I ask how long he thinks he�ll be.  I thought he was going to put the TVs on the walls and get going.  Apparently, not.  He says he�ll be there for a while.  He wants to check the wires in the bedroom and he needs to run wires for the living room television through the master bedroom closet.  I decide, Dave is a nice, trustworthy guy and I will leave him alone in my apartment.  What�s he going to steal?  My flat screen TVs?  When I get back in the evening, my TVs are hung and my DVR cable box is in the closet.  I now have infrared for my bedroom and living room TVs.  Cool.
Day 532 � We all know how the Election turned out.  I can barely get out of bed.  I, and 49% of the United States, feel like crap.  (See www.sorryeverybody.com).
Day 531 � Tuesday, November 2, 2004 � Election Day � I�m up and ready to vote at 5:30am.  I�m on line, out the door of my polling place, at the polls at 6:01am and out by 6:20am.  Early exit polls give me hope.  Damn you, Zogby!  I meet Robert Deux at Lee�s and we decide on leather colors�one armchair in Black, one in Bordeaux and two side chairs each in Caramel and Bulgarian Red.  I go home and watch the Election results.  By 9:30pm, I am depressed.
Day 530 � Monday, November 1, 2004 � I speak to Robert II and tell him I can�t decide on leather colors.  He agrees to meet me tomorrow at Lee�s.  I think he�d rather not.
Day 528 & 529 � It�s the weekend.  Sunday is Halloween.  (Boo!)
Day 527 - I have second thoughts about needing eight chairs for my dining table.  Who am I going to entertain?  I call Robert Dos and tell him this.  He agrees.  I call John to see when/if he is ever going to come and to see if he has heard from Warren.  John says he can come whenever I want.  The Lyric people are coming on Thursday, so he says he�ll come then.  I call Robin and set up the floor guy and the stone guys for Thursday, too.  On my way home, I stop off at Lee�s and look at the leather chair colors.  Since I decided I only need six chairs, which colors should I choose?  I can�t decide.
Day 526 � Nothing happened.
Day 525 � Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - I call R.H. Petersen about the gas unit.  Fred, the man I spoke with, was very nice and told me, it is a one-year warranty, but the distributor (Wm. Jackson) should replace it and to tell them at Wm. Jackson that Fred said to speak to him if they need to.  I call Wm Jackson and Donald is very nice, too.  He finds my paperwork, says they�ll send me a new one and after the plumber installs the new one, to please bring the old one back.  I say, �Yay!  I will!  Thanks!�
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1