Chapter 8
And they're coming down the homestretch...
Table of Contents
Day 224 - Wednesday, December 31, 2003 - I speak to John in the morning. The stone shelves for the bathroom came and he installed them. I tell him that Robert is going to pick up the hinges, the bamboo flooring and the light fixtures (in a cab). He says, fine. At this point, John is not going to pick up too many things for me, he is trying to show that Robert is to blame for the apartment not being finished, yet.  Hopefully, he will pick up the granite stuff (sinks, sills and saddles) otherwise that's going to be some cab fare.  Ha, ha.  I leave the City, to go home and celebrate the New Year with my parents.  We eat caviar and drink vodka, dim sum and sake, we watch "Freaky Friday" and "Seabisquit" and ring in the New Year with Dick Clark.  Happy New Year!  2004!  Oy.
Day 223 - I go up to the apartment in the morning and make decisions on radiators (moved an inch off the wall using a small elbow joint, or something like that-- this was not an option yesterday).  BTW, the radiators look very good in "victory grey."  John and I "discuss" money.  The conversation deteriorates slightly, with me mentioning that NONE of the delay is my fault, John willing to admit that SOME of the delay is his fault, and blaming Robert for the rest.  Whatever...  I leave.
Day 222- Monday, December 29, 2003 - John calls me in the morning.  He has the radiators, but the way the walls were sheetrocked, they now have to be recessed.  He suggests bringing the window moulding down all the way to the floor.  The other alternative is cutting the bottom window moulding by two inches.  Unable to visualize either, I say I will come up and decide.  I can't get up there today, but there has to be SOMETHING they can do...
Days 220& 221 - It's the weekend.  It's nice.  I go up to the aprtment on Sunday to see if it's livable.  There are no radiators.  Apparently, John never got in on Friday. They did clean up some-- there's no paper or cardboard on the kitchen counters, but they're covered in a thick film of dust, as are the (still paper-covered) floors, and the kitchen sink is wrapped in plastic. I start wiping down the counters, and realize I still can't live here.  I can't bring good clothes in, they and I will be covered in dust.  I leave.
Day 219 - Friday, December 26, 2003 - Well, a minor miracle-- John said he might come in for part of the day today and he did.  Unfortunately, he forgot his keys and neither Bobby or Otto were there when he came, so I'm not sure if/when he got in.  He and Robert were supposed to meet downtown at a place that fabricates stainless steel.  I'd like theback and one side of the kitchen island to be stainless steel.  The place that will make it, Master Kitchen Supplies, won't come and measure, and John will measure, but won't be held responsible for it.  I e-mail Nevius and David (architects 1 and 2).  Nevius will be in town in early January and either he or David will measure the island.  Now that wasn't so hard now was it?  Whew.
Day 218 - Thursday, December 25th - Merry Christmas!  I hope John was visited by three ghosts last night, possibly brought on by "an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, [or] a fragment of an underdone potato" (certainly not brought on by conscience) and will return on Monday, a changed man, ready to finish the renovation ASAP.  In other words, I'm hoping for a Christmas Miracle.
Day 217 - I speak to John in the morning and he tells me my radiators will be ready today and he will go pick them up this afternoon! John, Bobby and Otto are at the apartment doing stuff-- I'm not sure what (not that there's not plenty to do).  John said that before they leave today, they will clean up the apartment from the kitchen back to the bedroom and put plastic up where the kitchen meets the front hall.  I will then have a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment.  Needless to say, how ironic.
Day 216 - I get an e-mail from John (obviously written by his wife, as there are no spelling mistakes and he's asking for money) saying, he doesn't think all the stone can be ready because Gem Marble is closed from December 25th until January 5th.  It also says I should make arrangements to pick up the bamboo for when we need it.  I guess he (or more likely, she) is pissed off that I keep asking him to get it.  The tile shelves were delivered for the back bathroom.  They were supposed to polish on both sides.  Of course, they only polished one side and, of course, it was the wrong side-- they polished the "bottom" of the tiles and they only fit one way (i.e., they can't be flipped over).  I meet Robert at the apartment in the afternoon.  John is there with Warren (the electrician) and his new helper (he fired the last one).  They've put in light switches and outlets, and hooked up my radiant floor heat in the back bathroom (yay!).  John hung my towel bar, robe hook and hand-held shower.  The fireplace guy (let's call him Mr. Fireplace Guy) came today (unannounced and unexpectedly).  He said he had come four other times and couldn't find parking.  John explained that I wanted the firebox widened in front and tapering back.  Mr. Fireplace Guy started to say he couldn't do that because the smoke needs to rise from directly under, blah, blah, blah...  John stopped him and told him it was a gas fireplace (which he should know, since he put a pipe in the wall (on the wrong side) so the GAS could be hooked up).  Anyway, he's going to call Robert.  John shows me the wood and stain samples (he remembered!).  Two boards, one oak, one maple, with four different stains slapped on them.  Based on this, I choose oak with ebony stain for the living room.  Nothing does it for me for the den/media room.  John will get another stain or two.  There's some flooring laid in the living room, but Bobby and Otto are nowhere to be seen.  They are probably working another of John's jobs.  Hopefully, finishing it up, not starting it.  Uff.
Day 215 - Monday, December 22, 2003 - Today is winter.  And seven months since we started.  I don't go up to the apartment.  I hope that Bobby and Otto were there, although I'm not sure what there is to do.  I think there's some bamboo that they can install either in the living room or hallway, Hopefully, John will pick up the rest tomorrow and we can be finished with the floors (except in the kitchen (cork) and front entrance (tile)).  I see Robert in the morning.  I show him the radiator samples.  He gives me a Benjamin Moore "Color Preview" paint thing (it's a huge stack of paint chips that are attached at one end and can fan out).  There are too many colors.  I speak to Kevin of SL Metals Restoration.  He gives me the pricing for the radiators and tells me he can probably get all of them done in whatever color I want by Wednesday.  I'm going with the "Victory Grey."  This means I could have my radiators in next Monday!  I speak to Joe Jr. at Gem Marble Works. He tells me his guys are working on my stuff, even as we speak.  He says he just needs the templates for the front sink and the shower threshhold.  If he can get those, he can probably have everything to me by the Monday after next (January 5, 2004).  So, by next year...
Days 213 & 214 - It's the weekend.  On Saturday, my parents and I drive out to SL Metals in West Babylon.  Kevin left the samples in the mailbox.  As I'm taking the brown paper package out of the mailbox, I am hoping no one is watching me.  I either look like a spy or a drug runner. Either way, it looks illegal.  The amazing thing is that, I have waited for a month and a half and only one of the colors ("Gunmetal") is on a pipe, the others are on cards, just a little bigger than the ones I chose the colors from originally.  They all look fine.  The "Silk Blue" may be a little more limiting (in terms of paint colors) and since it will be a two-step process, more expensive (although, at this point...).  I'm going to call Kevin on Monday, and base my decision on both cost (ha!) and which one he can do the fastest (like it matters...).  On Sunday, family from Argentina come for brunch.  I have to explain all of this (How is your apartment coming?  �Que tal tu apartamento?) both in English and Spanish.  In any language, it's unbelievable.
Day 212 - Fri- I go up to the apartment in the afternoon.  John wants to go over hand-held shower and speaker placement.  John's brother was in a car accident (he's okay), so he didn't get to pick up the radiator color samples.  John didn't pick up the bamboo or bring the wood and stain samples.  I think he can sense my dismay.  I think I can sense he doesn't really care.  Ha, ha, ha.   Now that the bath/shower wall is tiled, I can see that I don't have enough wall space to put the hand shower where I wanted it (just up and to the right of the wall spout), so it's going just up and to the left of the wall spout.  I had noticed the other night that the granite countertop over the wine refrigerator is cut short over one side of the cabinet.  I talked to John about it, he said, there were a few things we could do.  He asks me about it, and I tell him I thought he was going to take the protruding piece of wood off and then we would go from there.  He removes offending piece of wood and it looks a lot better as is.  I ask John if that piece of wood was on when they measured for the counters.  He says, "in all honesty, I think so."  In all honesty, I think not.  I think he put it on after they measured.  We'll never know.  John asks me about speaker placement.  He cut holes in the back bedroom.  They are exactly wrong.  I wanted them on either side of the room (east/west) and he put them at the east end of the room (saying it that way makes the room sound enormous, doesn't it?).  Anyway, I notice that the speaker holes are round.  Robert had a thing about round speaker holes looking like a department store or office, so he thought I should go with square ones in the ceiling (except in the bathrooms, where I only have one stereo speaker and that has to be round).  We don't have the template for square ones, so Robert has to call Lenny from Lyric Stereo.  Finally, he has no excuse!  Although, I haven't mentioned it, I have been on Robert for months to speak to Lenny about what he's selling me and what he's charging me for stuff.  Robert doesn't like dealing with him and neither do I.  So, he's put it off, but now, we need to get the templates and the speakers.  So, Robert is going to call on Monday.  I tell John I will pick up the radiator color samples.  He says he will get the wood and stain samples and get them to me on Tuesday.  He won't be in on Monday.  Tyler is having a hernia operation.  I am having a cow.  I lose track of time and arrive home late for the first night of Hanukkah.  Candles are lit, presents are exchanged (I get some good house stuff-- more needed.  Ahem), wine is drunk, latkes are made, pot roast is heated and (along with Dunkin Munchkins, for dessert), all this is eaten and a good time was had by all.  Happy Hanukkah!
Day 211 - I go up to the apartment in the evening.   Otto and Bobby are there.  It's hard to see what they've done.  John wasn't there today-- school trip for his precious tyke, Tyler.  Honestly, do these children go to school or just school trips (and I won't even mention his wife)?  There are some pieces of wood there that don't look familiar and don't look like they belong in my apartment.  I ask Bobby what they are, and he says, "I don't know, you have to ask John."  Bobby doesn't like to be in the middle.  Obviously, they are doing things for other jobs in my apartment.  Gaaaaaah.
Day 210 - Wed. - Kevin didn't get into Manhattan last night (his wife got sick).  John didn't pick up the bamboo or bring in the wood and stain samples.  Surprise!  The plumber came and hooked up my kitchen sink faucet and installed my Insinkerator (sort of, they're missing a piece), but they'll be back (when, I don't know).  John says he can have his brother pick up the radiator samples and he'll get them to me by Friday.  Otto came back.  Whew.  I call Robert and tell him I want to change one of the bathroom lights.
Day 209 - I meet Robert to look for stuff.  We meet at a custom framing store to have a piece of artwork framed.  The frame cost more than the picture.  Why doesn't this surprise me?  We go to Pearl Paint to look at some decorative paint stuff.  Then it's off to Chinatown for dumplings at Joe's Shanghai.   After that, it's little hole in the wall run by orthodox jews for cheaper drawer and cabinet handles (the same as Simon's and Kraft at a third the price!-- just tell them Shmuey sent ya!).  I've counted my kitchen drawers and cabinets.  I need 71 handles.  Yipes!  Next, it's Lighting by Gregory, where I choose lights for my closets (nicer than are necessary for closets), bathrooms and front bedroom (let's say "interesting")... I get the same lights for both bathrooms.  While I'm still in the store, I'm having misgivings.  I get a call from Kevin, the guy from SL Metals, he (finally) has my samples for the radiators. (remember November 1, Day 164, when I picked out colors?  Gunmetal, Silk Blue and Victory Grey?).  He's going to be in the City and will drop them off.  I give him Robert's address.  That night my parents come in to see the apartment and bring my Insinkerator.  Tomorrow the plumber is (supposedly) coming and will install it.  John didn't pick up the bamboo, yet.
Day 208 - Monday, December 15, 2003 - I go up to the apartment in the evening.  I have my Annual Shareholder's Meeting tonight.  I'm afraid questions will abound regarding the length of time the renovation is taking.  Luckily, most people have better things to think about and except for a few well meaning souls, not too many questions.  Whew.  I was thinking of staying over, but in the end, without radiators and with dust everywhere, I opted not to.  Anyway... I have a toilet!  and a working shower!  Yippee!  The tiling is almost finished in the back bathroom, we're just waiting for some shelves.  The medicine cabinet is in, but I'm changing the front of it.  Bobby reframed the back bedroom wall and it looks good.  John moved the pipes in the shower and is continuing to tile.  John was supposed to pick up the bamboo which is ready, so we can finished laying the flooring and bring in wood samples and stains so I could decide on them for the wall units.  He didn't do either.  Otto didn't come in today and didn't call.  I hope he's okay.  I hope he isn't abandoning me.  Por favor.
Days 206 & 207 - It's the weekend.  On Saturday, Robert and I go to yet another marble yard to look at Calcutta slabs, Absolute Black slabs and some slabs for other sills and saddles. Gem Marble Works out in Ronkonkoma.  Then we go to a Home Depot in Jericho.  I'm really showing Robert the sights. They have good prices.  I choose some stuff.    Sunday it snows.  I shovel snow.
Day 205 - I can't get up to the apartment today.  In the late morning, I am on the phone with John, when the buzzer rings...   It's the plumber!  No, really.  I told Robert earlier today which Toto toilet I want in which bathroom (Ultramax in the back, Carlyle in the front) and hopefully, I'm good to go (so to speak) in the back bathroom. 
Day 204 - I go up to the apartment in the afternoon.  Only Otto is still there.  I 'm not sure if John was there today.  The only changes that I can see are that some of the walls have mesh and spackle compound on them, there are a few more Jerusalem Gold tiles on the wall in the back bathroom and maybe one or two more blue tiles in the front bathroom (but, that might just be wishful thinking).  John still hasn't shifted the pipes in the shower.  I miss Louie.
Day 203 - Wed. - I don't go up to the apartment today.  Of course, the plumber didn't come (was there ever any doubt?)
Day 202 - I go up to the apartment in the morning.  John, Bobby and Otto are there.  Otto is growing a mustache.  It looks good.  He says, "New year, new face."  It's almost 2004.  Aack.  John is on all fours in the back bathroom.  His butt is facing me as I look in.   Fighting the obvious urge, I simply say, "Good morning, John ."  All of the floor tile and (except where we're missing tile) the wall tile is grouted.  It looks good, I think.  Although, I must admit I didn't do a careful inspection (oy!).  John and I discuss some things.  I ask if we can make the east wall of the back bedroom flush.  Currently, it indents and makes much of the wall space unusable.  This is something we should have done sooner (during framing?), but John says, it's not too late and can easily be done.  Yay!  We talk about the kitchen windowsills.  He says he'll try and take them off, but they might break (Fordham Marble won't even try).  I tell him what I thought should be done.  While we're talking, John starts wedging a spackle knife underneath the sill, then he climbs on to the counter and tries to lift it off.  Rather than leave you in suspense, I'll tell you that he was able to lift it off without breaking it.  Yay! (again).  He's going to do the other one later.  He tells me th plumber is coming tomorrow.  I ask him when I will have a working bathroom.  He says, "tomorrow."  I'd like to say, "yay!" here, but the plumbers rarely if ever come when they are first scheduled.  I walk out with John; we go to his truck so he can give me a copy of the drawing for the living room wall unit (which has taken a month to get-- one wonders how long it will take to get the wall unit built?).   I ask John, when, oh, WHEN will I be able to live in my apartment again and WHEN will he be DONE???  He tells me he will clean out the back bedroom and closet by the end of the week, and if I want to, I can move in after that.  The bathroom will be usable (no sink,  not completely tiled, and no shower enclosure, but hey...) and the kitchen will be working (there's my sink!).  It might be a little like camping, but it sounds okay to me.  Regarding when he'll be done, John says, "there''s not that much to do.  We're just waiting on some stuff."  I point out to John that we should have "been waiting on some stuff" back in August.  He agrees and kind of apologizes again.  Anyway, he thinks that almost everything will be done by the end of the year.  I refuse to fall for this.  Plus, I have to wait for Louie to paint.  I hope INS lets him back into the country.
Day 201 - Monday, December 8, 2003 - I don't go up to the apartment.  I speak to John in the morning.  He's continuing to tile the back bathroom.  We quickly go through some other things.  I'm not in the mood to talk to him.
Days 199 & 200 - It's the weekend.  We're having a blizzard.  I shovel snow.
Day 198 - Friday, December 5, 2003 - I go up to the apartment in the morning.  Robert and Otto are there.  Well, I don't like the windowsills.  Neither does Robert (who also noticed the countertop that was cut too close on one corner).  I think they look stupid.  They  jut out over the backsplash squarely, not in a "T" as many windowsills do, not with cut corners like the rest of the granite in the kitchen, and not flush with the backsplash.  Three other ways I would have preferred them to be.  Robert is going to call Fordham Marble and see if there is anything we can do.  I leave the apartment, it's starting to snow.  Later on, I leave work early, because it's really coming down.  While I'm standing in the street, in the snow, in Queens, after taking the E train to Sutphin Boulevard and then the Q43 to where I usually get picked up, because the F train wasn't running (a two hour commute), I realize I truly hate John.  I should be in front of my fireplace after taking a steam shower.
Day 197 - I don't go up to the apartment today.  I speak to John in the afternoon.  He tells me they're continuing to tile.  They're working on the back bathroom.  They got more tile for there, but amazingly enough, they don't have enough bullnose tiles.  I have no idea who is getting this wrong-- John, Robert or Fordham Marble (who, by the way, are returning Robert's call again)  Today was Louie's last day for a while.  He has to go back to Colombia for Green Card processing purposes (I think).  He'll be back December 27th (I hope).  Although, I would like to think that I'll be done by then, history shows otherwise.  Plus, I think Louie is supposed to be my painter.  John and I go over some other things.  He asks me if I've seen the windowsills.  Now, I'm nervous.  He obviously thinks I'm not going to like them.  I'm dreading seeing them now.  But, how bad can they be?   (Ahem).
Day 196 - Wednesday, December 3, 2003 - I go up to the apartment in the morning to review with John what I went over with Louie.  John agrees that all of it can be done without a plumber and without it being to much of a pain.  I wanted to go up again in the evening to see the rest of the granite installation.  I wonder how it went.
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