Has it really been two weeks?
It’s been quiet here the last three days - just me, continuing to turn right after I leave the bathroom and then quickly turning left - but this morning the crew returned to start installing all the cabinetry that arrived Friday.
I have been sleeping heavily lately (which is wonderful), and I have a lot on my mind. The horoscopes have been directing me to the need for flexibility (and therefore patience). Mother always used to say “This is an opportunity to practice patience.”
Now you know there is nothing I enjoy so much as being asked questions to which I do not know the answer. And today my head is full of pre-election anxiety, and also preparations for tonight’s Etiquetteer program. So when the doorbell rang about 20 minutes ago with a request to come to the back, I reacted with willing curiosity and invisible (I hope) anxiety.
The contractor’s partner, who is top-notch and a real pro, had a couple things to go over with me, but I felt like I had to drop a few breadcrumbs along the way to try to understand what he needed. More than once I had to say “I’m not quite sure what it is that you’re asking.” It boiled down to four things, one of which started with something that was my fault:
Two missing cabinets, each of which goes over an appliance. Solution: these two cabinets had been successfully reordered after I discovered I had given a faulty measurement for the ceiling, and were actually right there in the room with us.
One missing cabinet, a narrow one that goes under a counter in the pantry. Solution: maybe it’s in another box.
Is this panel between the washer/dryer and the countertop a 12” or a 24”. Solution: I have no blessed idea.
What to do about the slope in the floor toward the center of the house. Installing the counter and cabinets as is would result in a tilting countertop (not good), but adding something else to the floor (which already has an additional 1/8 inch subflooring) would compromise the height of the countertops in relation to the electrical outlets. Or something like that. Solution: shim the base of the cabinets.
Even with two-plus cups of coffee in me, this all felt incomprehensible. But I did my very best to be patient, respectful, and present in the situation.
Later tonight, when I come back from my program, I’m sure there will be some worthy progress on the cabinet installation. I am most eager to see all this completed!