You have got to be KIDDING!

More rounds of telephone tag. More chats with people at Home Depot who have no authority or accountability. Finally the call from Rose at Monarch. "I'm calling to confirm our installation of those two cabinets for the morning of January 15, 2008." WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then proceeded to tell me that there is no way they could come any sooner, they're swamped with work. Okay, my contract (and my very large cheque for payment in full... up front!) has a July 22, 2007 date on it... what dates are you working on right now? Should you not finish your older jobs first? Particularly since I can't use my microwave now, never mind the cold wind blowing in through the exposed vent where it will eventually live, and my car is parked on the street in the snow because there ins't room for it in the garage. Oh and let's not forget the week of vacation I wasted while waiting for things to get done that didn't get done. "Sorry. We're trying to hire more installers and if we get someone sooner we can move it up."

Then a discussion with Shelley, the project manager at Home Depot. "What do you want us to do?" I want you to send someone over to install my two cabinets, put on the crown molding and the light rail so Bob can come and finish the wiring for microwave and let me get on with my life!!! If Laurie would have ordered that cabinet in the right size in the first place, everything would have been done a month ago!!! I'm not waiting another six weeks. I'm NOT. "My hands are tied. All I do is schedule things and keep track of what's happening." Oh yeah? Okay, I will hire someone myself to do this maybe-2-hour job and Home Depot can refund me whatever it costs me for that. "Well, I can't authorise that. Only a manager can do that. I'll have to get one of them to call you back." I have to go to work in 90 minutes, so when will that happen? Let him talk to Rick. (His response to January 15? "Are you F***ING KIDDING ME?!!!") "I'm so sorry about all this Jan, I know it's very frustrating. But we really have nothing to do with the actual installations, we have subcontractors for that. It's the Alberta Advantage, you know, too much work and too few people to do it." Shall I puke now, or restrain myself until I'm off the phone? It's been more than an hour since I talked to her and I'm still furious. And the manager has yet to call. Rick has found the contact information for Mike Holmes and he's getting things together to tell him our horror story. Seriously, Mike needs to consider whether he wants his reputation tied to this outfit. Mom told me today that Bruce told her that people in the industry know Home Depot is a fly-by-night operation. They don't take responsibility for anything but collecting the money, they hire companies like Monarch without checking the credentials of their installers, and then when there are problems, they pass the buck. I think things would have gone better if I'd just done all the work myself, even knowing what little I do about it. I think I need to call the Better Business Bureau too.

What next?

So after many calls to Home Depot we still don't have a date for hanging those two other cabinets and the microwave... But Rose at Monarch promised that she'd be calling me with a date "by the end of today". Okay...

On Saturday morning when I came home from work, I stepped in a puddle on the kitchen floor. Something was leaking under the dishwasher. Rick had already stepped in it, but hadn't mopped it up, of course. So before I went to bed I did. The plumber came back yesterday and determined the leak isn't from any of their connections but from the motor mount, so Kenmore has to fix it. Soonest they can come is December 7... In the meantime I've mopped up three more puddles and washed a dishwasher full of dishes in the sink.

Also yesterday the people from Abal Building Products, who did our windows, finally came to investigate our complaint of the windows in the kitchen not fitting properly. We've only been calling them 2 or 3 times a year since 2003... The guy put new weather stripping on the double-hungs, which still don't look like they fit in the frames properly,
but I can't feel a breeze anymore, so maybe it'll be okay. If I can lock them without needing Rick to push up on the top pane, then it'll be good.

While those guys were here, we discovered a big swollen spot along the seam in the countertop.There was a little bit of water on the counter, and it looks like it got into the seam and causes the MDF to swell... So Theresa at Monarch has been informed of this and hasn't called me back yet.

Haven't trapped any more mice. Have seen tracks in the snow along the north east wall.

More hurry up and wait

The cabinet was delivered yesterday afternoon. It's sitting in the garage. I called Home Depot twice yesterday and got no reply. Then today Shelley called to say that she'd already talked to Bob the electrician andhe can come over whenever Byron is here to do the installation. Was thinking I might hear back later today about when that might be... Nah.

Looks like I have another mouse in my office too.

This just in!!

The infamous MIA over-the-range cabinet has arrived in Edmonton. They will be delivering it tomorrow. I called Home Depot to tell Shelley or Sheila and get an install date, and neither of them was there today. Of course. I left a message, but that's not likely to be helpful, judging by past performance. Mike Holmes is SO getting a letter!

Finally photos

I finally have some photos of the countertop and some of the nifty organizers I've put in some of the cabinets.

And chaos reigns

Where to start? That's a recurring theme. The countertop was installed on Monday, while I was at work. Of course, I had the sickest patient in the unit and had to take a road trip lasting over an hour, right at the time that I knew Rick would be calling with some problem or other. He called while we were in CT and when I got the message some time later, I was just too busy keeping the kid alive to call him back... He couldn't find the new faucet. I had put it in the closet at the bottom of the stairs, only it wasn't there. He never did find it while the plumber was here, so I looked for it when I got home. Took me about 2 minutes to find it, in the spare room under a stack of his folded laundry. I ended up installing it myself Tuesday afternoon. It wasn't difficult to do the plumbing, but because the garbage disposal was already installed, and the faucet goes behind the smaller sink with the garbage disposal attached, I had to do it blind, lying on my back inside the cabinet. It looks fabulous and works beautifully.

Bob the electrician and his apprentice Matt came back on Tuesday morning. All that's left for him to do is to put in the outlet for the microwave when the time comes. He was in a MUCH better mood this time and was quite nice. The ETA on the reordered cabinet is November 23. Better be here before then! After they left, Rick and I installed the new track lighting, which has four halogen bulbs in it and is so bright you could land a 747 on my lawn.

Wednesday I spent most of the day pulling together facts and figures for my meeting with the director of nursing, human resources and the union that's happening on Monday. And it was Hallowe'en so the evening was occupied with candy distribution. We did get the new light fixture up in the dining room and the ceiling fan moved to the bedroom. (Yeah, he's not working. Something about not paying attention to the details, and quitting the job he had without making sure the job he thought he was getting was really his, and that he could take it.)

Today I cleaned out all the cabinets of sawdust and other grime and started putting things away. There are still tons of things that need to be brought up or in and put away, but it's a start. Rick scraped off the thinset from the wall under the glass-fronted cabinets and didn't make TOO much more work for me when I go to mud it for painting. The weekend will be mostly a write-off because of working days Friday and nights Saturday... the dreaded 13 hour night. How do I always end up working nights on Fall Back? Yet I never have worked Spring Ahead nights... only days on the Sunday, so I lose an hour of sleep on each end! Not fair.