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Never Boring
2008-01-30, 5:20 p.m.

Day 1257

Meeting with the cabinet folks went very well. As it turns out, ordering from a Mom & Pop operation like this is cheaper than ordering the same cabinets from one of the big box retailers. From what the gal told me, they buy the cabinets for the same price as the big guys, they just have a lot less overhead. I�ve only been to their store twice, but I�ve never seen her not busy. I can�t tell you how many times I�ve cruised through one of the big box joints and seen the �kitchen designers� sitting around with their thumb up their ass waiting for something to happen. I�d rather not pay for that.

Bottom line is that we can get the same cabinets, with construction upgrades (plywood vs. particle board) and upgraded drawer slides (suitable for pots, pans, blenders, etc.) for less than the standard construction/drawer cabinets at the Despot.

I�m calling her today to get our order in. If we order before Feb. 1, everything is 70% off list, plus those construction upgrades are included. If we dally and wait till Feb. 1 or later, the construction upgrades disappear and the discount reduces to 63%. That measly 7% difference is like getting the sales tax knocked off. Well almost � sales tax is 8% here, except for food & clothes. Food has no sales tax (unless you get it in a restaurant) and clothes are only taxed at 4%, but I forget who isn�t getting their cut, the state or the county. I�m thinking it�s the state though.

Last night, just for grins, we took out another small hunk of wall. Only about a 2 foot section. Removing that tiny little chunk revealed a looming problem. What to do about the electric. So far, I�ve uprooted 3 outlet boxes and a pair of switches. They�re still wired & functional, they just lost their places on the wall. Or lost their entire wall. Which ever.

Anyhow.

There are certain rules & regulations concerning electric boxes & wiring that are going to make it challenging to re-locate these uprooted boxes without ripping down the ceiling. The former main kitchen light can be operated from 3 different switches. Two of those switches will have to be relocated, and both pose problems. If the ceiling weren�t there it would be oh so much easier to resolve. But I hate doing drywall as it is, and doing a ceiling is just worse. Until I really wrap my head around the situation, I�m not going to get too excited either way. I already have some small patchwork to do on the ceiling (like filling the slot where the wall came out) and there are some areas I�d like to re-do as it is. But to tackle the entire 11x28 area? Ugh. (Hmmm, use seven 4x12 sheets, reduce the number of joints . . . � I could rent the Despots truck or rig the van to haul them . . . hmmm . . .)

Speaking of not boring � that is an apt phrase to describe the weather around here. Yesterday afternoon was relatively balmy � it got up into the 40�s and melted the tiny bit of snow we got over the weekend. Last night? Still balmy. This morning? Very, very windy. 50 � 60 mph gusts. And the temperature was dropping like a lead balloon. When I left for the Y at 5:20ish, it was still 40 degrees. When I got to the Y, the precipitation had changed from liquid to solid. Unfortunately, it was an icy solid, not snow. While walking in to the gym, I got my face sandblasted by the wind driven ice pellets. It was pretty nice, really. Free dermabrasion, woo hoo!! After doing my stint of pedaling with Patty and getting all freshened up for work, I headed back outside. Still windy, even colder. In 90 minutes, the temps had gone from near 40 to a whopping 25. Guess that qualifies as a cold front.

I just peeked at the weather channel. Looks like we have lake effect snow bands reaching us from Lake Erie. As the crow flies (or is driven by the wind), some of the snow bands are stretching 70+ miles off of Erie. That�s huge. Usually they peter out after 20 miles or so. It�s rare for us to get snow from Lake Erie. Usually we�re blessed with the white stuff coming down from Ontario. (the lake, not the Canadian province, but it IS the same direction)

So that�s weather up here in January. Practically sun tanning weather one day, blizzard conditions the next. And yes, a high of 48 is too tanning weather. Here.

It�s after lunch. Just looked outside again. Still snowing. Big surprise. Wind is supposed to die down later this afternoon and with it, the lake effect snow will retreat. Funny thing is where I work, we�ve been getting snow pretty steady all day. 16 miles south where Cindy is working, they got nothing. But if you head 15 miles west of her, they�re getting pounded. Odds are when we get home tonight (midway between our places of work) we�ll have nothing.

Now it�s after work, mostly. Just got indoctrinated into my new program. Ugh. Info overload. Got lots to do though. That�s good.

Called the cabinet lady. Now we�re committed. I drop off the down payment tomorrow. Ouch.

Been snowing here all day. Wonder how little we got at home? Time to head out and see.



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