Maybe I really AM a pushover

So the kitchen guys told me Wednesday that they would be "working all week."
Of course, that meant 3 days, 4 if they included Saturday.
So on Wednesday they finished the plaster.
On Thursday, I saw them driving up the hill to my house as I was on my way to get pancakes.
By the time I got back from pancakes, they were gone and there seemed to be no visible progress.
Friday one guy showed up to prime the walls.
I asked him "Hey, did you guys work yesterday?" knowing full well that they did not.
"Oh," he said "we just came to drop off our tools."
Nice.
This is getting stupid.
I called the project coordinator chick Thursday to see that the heck was happening.
She told me they would have the bottom cabinets installed Monday so they could make the countertop template and order my counters.
I so doubt that will be happening now.
It takes at least a week for them to fabricate the countertops.
She also said ALL cabinets would be installed by this Wednesday.
Again, I think this is bunk.
The guy Friday said there would be people there today to start the cabinets.
This morning my phone rings at 8.
"Hello?"
"Hello. I'm sorry, but my helper called in sick so I can't come work on the cabinets today."
"Um, OK. So you will just be here Monday?"
"Right. Monday."
I don't want to get too bitchy because I worry that they will rush the job and not do it as well.
Plus I am nice. I have a hard time getting cranky with these guys because they are doing a job I neither want nor could do.
So what do I do?

Anyway, I will take some pictures tomorrow of the newly patched and plastered and primed walls.

When cats dream, where do they dream of going?

In George's case, it might just be Tibet.

It must be good to be a cat.

Especially to be this cat.

What a load.

Starting the day off wrong

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
What the hell...
It's 7 freaking 30 in the morning... who the hell is pounding on my door...???

At first I was thinking the workers had forgotten the code to the lock box or something. Then I realized it was 7:30 a.m. and that was way too early for them to be starting.
I looked through the peephole to find my neighbor on the other side of the door.
Not the young, hot guy who bought the giant 5-bedroom house on the one side of me. No. Not him.
It was the guy from the other side.
Now the people on the other side are not super friendly, but of all of them, he seems to be the nicest.
But really, why is he on my porch pounding on my door at that ungodly hour. (Ungodly for me is anything before 9 a.m. I am a night person who tends to stay up until at least midnight, usually later.)

Me (opening door while wearing jammie pants and a flimsy tank top): Hi.
Him: Wow. I am really sorry to tell you this, but... I backed into your car.
Me: Um. OK. Um. Let me get my keys and I will be right out.

So I grabbed my keys and a sweatshirt and slipped on some flip-flops.
There is a pretty small dent in the hood and the grill is cracked. It doesn't look too bad.
Expect for the fact that he hit it right in the spot where the hood latches. So the hood latch thing was forced up, causing the dent. And I can't get the hood open.

He was so nice and so apologetic about it.
His car, a Jeep Wrangler, seems to be fine. What hit my car was not actually his car, but the giant bike rack that he has on the back of it.

He gave me his insurance info and told me to come by later if I needed anything else. But he had to get to work.

Now, normally I do not park on the street. Normally I park inside my garage. I am one of the few people on my street who uses the garage as a garage and not as storage or a rec room.

But I wanted to give the kitchen workers total access to the garage.

I had been parking in the driveway and getting up at 8 to move the car. Last night I decided to park on the street and sleep in until 9.

So much for that idea, because of course I never did really get back to sleep after that.

I called my sister on the way to work (yes, the car still runs fine) and her reaction was "Your car is the devil!"

Yes, it does seem to be a trouble magnet.

Wow, three whole days of work

A couple guys showed up today to work on my kitchen.
One of them said that the other job they were working on was done, so they would be at my house all week.
Um, yeah.
It's Wednesday. All week is all of three days.
It was a little noisy in there today.
They seemed to be sanding and doing final prep work on the walls.
There is a rumor that they will start hanging cabinets tomorrow.
But that is what they said last week, so I won't hold my breath.
If they do manage to get beyond wall prep, I will take some more pictures to post.
I stopped by their offices yesterday to make a payment and try to get a more firm timeline of the project.
Of course the woman I need to speak with was not there. She called me yesterday while I was out. I called her today while she was out.
But she did mention something in her message about doing the "templates" this week.
I am not sure what that means.
I know there is a template they need to cut the counter tops for the sink, etc.
So I really want to talk to her and find out what the heck is happening and when it will happen.

Time to (cough, cough) clean up (achoo!) some of this damn dust

Dust is everywhere.
A mere plastic drop cloth cannot stop it from migrating from the demolished kitchen to the living room, then the bathroom, then the bedroom and office.
So today is a cleaning day.
Smack dab in the middle of my 3-day weekend.
Of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I felt the need to tell you all that I will be cleaning today.
But I cannot put it off any longer.
Oh wait... Look at that. It's lunch time.
OK. Just a quick bite and then down to the dust bowl I go.
I hope you all are having more fun than I am today.