Sigh... my wife in tears and a Chili stretch

Notice anything different in the photo above???


How about that black shiny rock used for the background...  That's right, it's kitchen remodel time!


How exciting, and it is going exactly as I expected...


Construction delays


Cost overruns


Dust and mess everywhere


Very exciting plumbing issues


My wife of course, being the sweet innocent trusting soul that she is, believed everything our contractor said before the project began.  She cried herself to sleep last night (just a nap, then we went out to dinner at a friends house and drank to the health of our contractor (repeatedly, so she felt better afterwards)).


The contractor asked me not to photograph during the "messiest" part of the project, only after it was finished and looking nice.


But, since this was to be a one day job, and we are now into day 6, here are a few shots in progress and after it was cleaned each day...

 Oh Boy... permanent holes being drilled into my hardwood floors.

 Several permanent holes.

 But, eventually a new island and 12 square feet of new countertop!

 This was to take @2 hours, with the countertop installed.  The countertop came cracked, and it took 2 weeks before they returned... first sigh, first sign of joys to come.

 So, I lived and cooked like this for 2 weeks, waiting to get back on their schedule.

 Then, last Thursday night, we got the word, Friday morning, they would arrive and FINISH the job, new granite countertops all around.  Empty and remove the top drawers, shut off the plumbing (oboy, seals that were never used for 12 years were expected to hold water pressure, one broke and leaked... so we have a water stain on our ceiling in the basement).  But, at least we had a promise of it all being done.

 Sure enough, Friday morning, they came and removed the old countertops.  All we had to do was wait for the new ones to be installed.  The granite was on the truck, and would arrive soon.

Nope, no arrival that day.  And of course, no one works on the weekends.

 But Monday morning, 2 of 5 granite pieces arrived... No one knew where the other three pieces were.

And here is how it looks today.  Island still not finished (see the kick board at the bottom), three of the 5 granite pieces are not here and no one quite knows where they are.  But, they have a piece of paper that says they were cut and loaded on the truck.  they have three trucks.  I offered to drive over to their lot yesterday and look through all three trucks to find out where they were.  They suggested I not.

So far,  we have been informed that we owe an extra $250 dollars for multiple deliveries, and extra $125 to repair the plumbing and I fed the delivery guys chili yesterday, hoping to get them on my side and to finish the job today.

So, $375 more than expected, and 4 bowls of leftover chili (that I dearly love), and still not a useable kitchen...

Sigh...


But hope springs eternal.  Today is another day!


But fortunately, I have a crockpot, I have another pound of brisket in the freezer just waiting to be added to the leftover chili from the chili throwdown I wrote about yesterday, added a can of diced tomatoes and a can of chili beans, two of my 5 countertops...

And I have more chili!


Got to go, I have to wash the dishes in the bathroom sink... Again.
...