Still working on the kitchen. In the previous post you can see how wood covers the counter top. We were supposed to know that that wood was a template for the final work even though the longest part doesn't curve like it should. Well, they installed the quartz which looks pretty (don't have my camera handy for a pic) but the counter was about six inches too long and will make the aisle too narrow, especially when our stove and fridge are returned. The quartz (looks something like granite) people were upset because they are afraid the whole counter will crack if they try to remove it and the contractor said we should have known that the wood was a template. Other times when I questioned him about about stuff I was concerned about he'd say "Now, that's not the finished product, don't worry about it." So, I didn't think to question him about the counter. I'm learning--question everything. Anyway, he offered us only a $300 discount to live with it, but that's not enough to live with my husband who would probably mention how narrow it is for the next ten years. I hope they show up today to remove the counter. Of course, removing it means that we still have no sink. It's getting old washing dishes in the bathroom. Tomorrow we are getting our electricity upgraded and have been told we will have no power nearly all day. Our new waterless tank needs electricity so we won't have hot water either. Guess I'll be glad to go to work.

Saturday, we had our bathroom tiled which meant we had no toilet for the whole day, as we have one bathroom. My husband had to take his car into a Pontiac dealership because after Pep Boys installed a fuel pump the gas gauge always read empty even when the tank was full. The dealership fixed it and my husband's going to try to get Pep Boys to pay the $300 charge. We spent Saturday in a mall waiting for the dealership to pick us up. With all the money we've been spending on my dog, who had to have a tumor removed, the house (besides the kitchen we're getting a new roof)and the car, I didn't feel like buying anything much.

Friday, I'm also taking more days than I have paid vacataion to travel by train (I hate to fly) to New York from here in San Diego. I'm riding coach most of the way but do have a bedroom from Chicago to New York. ($501 round trip). Hopefully, I'll be there on time to celebrate my mother's 95th birthday. I've signed up to read my email by cell phone but I don't know how well I'll be seeing the web during the 3-1/2 day trip (and the same back). So, I'll probably won't be doing much here until October.

With a gutted kitchen, I've been a bit too stressed to do more than read my Xanga subscriptions. There have been workmen in my house for the last two weeks and for at least two weeks to go. They've made some progress but below is a photo of what it looked like last week. They've since put up drywall and painted. The new cabinets are in the backyard and my floor tiles are somewhere in Dallas Texas and won't arrive until next Thursday--which means I had to postpone delivery of the washer, dryer and dishwasher. We've also been dealing with new window installation in all the house, installation of a tankless water heater (not as great as we were led to believe), and the discovery that we need a new roof.