Today I am thankful for handyman services. When I was a kid, we used to troop, along with our cousins, to Grandma's house, twice a year, to put up and take down her storm windows and screens. Grandma was a widow, so her son and son in law did this kind of thing for her. Or her neighbors. Like Grandma, I'm an older lady living alone, and I'm not particularly handy. So when I need something done, I have to find someone who can do it.
Nowadays, that means the so-called "gig" economy comes into play. There's not a lot of do-it-yourself. I'm grateful for having found people at various times to remove a shed, replace a door, etc. Today it will be making space for the new stove.
It's raining. One victory was that I convinced Ember to come outside to do her business, despite the rain. We did not go on a morning walk, and I cooked and ate my oatmeal before 7 a.m. The carpenter is not due until 9, so I spent the 7-8 a.m. hour clearing off counters, and clearing out drawers and cabinet shelves of the cabinet that I anticipate will be moved.
I got up on top of the 'fridge to clear off and found about five years' worth of crud underneath all the clutter of things I elevated to keep them away from the dog.
All this done, I sat down to breathe and found that the carpenter did not show up at the dot of nine as I had on my calendar, so I'm kind of guessing this is a "window" of time in which he begins to appear.
Still, within half an hour the doorbell rang, and it was not in fact, the carpenter, it was the guy from the lawn service, come to shut down the sprinkler system for the season. He walked me through the process, which has multiple steps, and I'm thinking I will probably give them a call again in the Spring and let them do it for me.
The carpenter arrived about 10:45 a.m. He's going to need help lifting the old stove out. Once they got the old one out, they discovered that it's hard wired into the wall. So now we need to have that changed to allow for a 4-prong outlet. They are trying to get that scheduled yet for today.
Old stove out, waiting to be hauled off when they deliver the new one.
The trick will be keeping Ember from tearing into this pile between now and when it gets hauled away!
Empty space awaiting the new stove. Note the power box there. The electrician is due to come within the next hour or so to swap that out for a four-prong plug.
Welp, the electrician guy came, and started working on it, in fact did about an hour and a half, but he had brought the wrong receptacle... so he has to come back in the morning!
I still don't have a time window for the delivery of the stove and 'fridge.
It's still raining, the backyard is flooding, making a stream. Ember drinks from the stream and at least does her peeing outside. Now she's back down for puppy nap #2.
Electrician Mike will come back at 8 - 8:30 tomorrow morning to finish the job on the outlet for the new stove.
Things got worse about 4:30 p.m. when the appliance store gave me a robocall saying my delivery window is between 8 and 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The electrician's appointment text says he's not here until 8:15. Considering that the carpenter was supposed to be here at 9 and didn't get here until 10:45 a.m., I freaked out and called the store. They told me they could deliver "drop off" but not install, and have the electrician install it? Yikes, that's no solution!
To reschedule, they were four days out... which hits the same day as my eye appointment! So that shoves it all the way to Monday. So, I am rolling the dice and hoping that the ballet works out. If I ask they to install the 'fridge first, then allow me to transfer the food from the old fridge to the new, then haul off the old appliances, and lastly put in the stove? Could it work out? Depends entirely on when who shows up.
So I'm all stressed out.
Consequently, for Day 37 (Tuesday), my gratitude is for the philosophy, espoused by many, that "things could be worse". It's kind of hard to argue with that one. This whole logistical shuffle is such a minor thing in the bucket of life problems, don't you think?
Life is Good. Seriously! Spark on!
When it rains, it pours. In your case, that's literal. It's probably not much comfort at this moment, but you are very lucky that you can find service people, even if they are unable to tell time or read the calendar. Finding a handyman in this area is like finding hen's teeth. A birthday present for tomorrow when all the installs are finished and you can use your new toys? 🎁 Your kitchen will be ready for holiday cooking/baking when it's all completed. 👩🏼🍳
ReplyDeleteYou have the patience of a saint! Wishing you a calm, smooth day for it all falling into place. 😇
LOL! Jeanne, I used to live in an area like you describe: where even finding someone who could do what needed doing on our circa 1901 Sears Catalog house! Re-wiring, porch building, roofing (steep, tall roof)... yikes! In any case, I'm grateful to be in an "aging" home that still feels quite modern by comparison!
DeleteIn the morning, all seems possible. Ember is down in her crate for puppy nap #1, and it's 3 minutes to the window start for the appliances.
Hope your day goes well!
Yup, steps that seem to be set smooth will always get out of wack for no good reason at all but yet it will work out and you will be all set again. Perhaps the delivery and taking away could happen no matter what and if the electrician isn't done yet he could plug the stove in, I tend to leave it be and let it unfold, less stress, but that is just me. Anyway, I hope it all works out for you and good dog Ember for managing all the visits.
ReplyDeleteI probably would not even have made the last couple of phone calls if I weren't so concerned about the possibility of Ember chewing through some wires. I feel a whole lot better now that we made it through the pre-dawn and the first walk of the day... and that it's NOT raining this morning!
DeletePouring here, too. Miss Lilly was definitely not interested in going out, but she dutifully did her duty then skedaddled back into her warm house. Of course, I was with her, too, so grateful that she made quick work of her business! Soaked to the bone. Had to dry Miss Lilly with the hair dryer. She did appreciate the war, air but not the noise of the dryer.
ReplyDeleteGlad the carpenter showed. Always the way . . . one thing leads to 10 others having to be done. Hope that Ember was a good girl. LORD! HOPE that the power receptacle and the stove can be installed today! Sheesh.
Oh no! And scheduling conflicts. **SIGH** I sure hope it all works out. It is indeed a ballet!
Good luck!
Hugs
Barb
1cd
PS LOVE your wallpaper!
LOL! I don't have the brain cells or the design preferences to choose wallpaper. The lady I bought the house from did the papering!
DeleteI'm now on alert waiting for the ballet to begin this Tuesday morning. Feeling a lot more positive as Ember and I managed to circle a block and I figured out how to cook oatmeal the the microwave. I am a late adopter. My brother used to do his steel cut oats in the microwave, and my older sister does hers in her microwave, too. But me? I kind of liked the "simmering" process giving me time to think. I used to do my Spark blog while the oats simmered on the stove top. Looking forward to figuring out the newfangled stove top soon!
Glad you and Miss Lilly survived the need to "do the duty" in the rain. Stay warm and dry today!
I can totally relate to the struggle of tackling home maintenance tasks, especially as we get older. It's great that you've found reliable people to help you out. And kudos to you for taking the initiative to prepare for the new stove installation, even with the unexpected challenges.
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand your frustration! Dealing with scheduling mishaps and unexpected delays is so stressful. It sounds like you've been going through a lot lately.
It's great that Ember has been such a good girl through all the commotion. She's a real trooper!
Hopefully, everything will work out tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the electrician and the appliance delivery people arrive on time and that the installation goes smoothly.
Enjoy the day! (((BIG HUGS)))
Everything did work out OK, in the end. I took Ember on a "reward" sniff walk after things were sort of back in order.
DeleteIn return, she dragged me around the park's "long grass", anxious to get to what turned out to be the remains of some animal... I could not tell whether it was fox, cat, or bunny, and to be honest... I really didn't want to know, and I had to apply every ounce of my frame to drag her back away from it!
No harm, no foul, at least she didn't consume it or roll in it! LOL! Onward to a fresh new, Wednesday!
Hope yours is a fine one.