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West Virginia
When I started my retirement travels in 2009, I wanted a way to share it with family and friends as it was happening. Hence, "My Travel Journal". However I realized I wouldn't always be on a trip and wondered what to do with the blog in between times. My daughter pointed out, wisely, that travels can also include trips to the kitchen to try a new recipe, trips to visit family, trips to my neighborhood Starbucks, or a fun day trip with a friend. You're welcome to join me on any of these journeys! I've set up individual pages for each of my major trips (see tabs above).

Also, I have an Etsy shop where my current needlework resides. The last pieces I posted here were in 2013! So if you'd like to see what I have accomplished recently, go to (and I apologize for having to copy and paste):

www.etsy.com/shop/thedollhouseneedle

I recently added an "Italian Word a Day" thingie which shows up at the bottom of every page. You see the word and can click to hear it pronounced. I've been enjoying it and I think my accent is improving as time goes by.

November 05, 2011

The Vanity Diaries - A Horrifying, Modern-Day Tale

My son has reminded me twice now that I'm past due on a posting and I did start one all about happenings in Huntington and have added some to it, but with all that's been going on I couldn't really put my heart into it, so today I wrote up my experiences of the last week and a half because I was going to e-mail them to my family, plus I wanted to remember as much of it as I could.  And then I thought - shoot I'll post it to my blog so folks can see what I've been busy with.  I'm including pictures cause there are so many words!

And, so, The Vanity Diaries (preceded by The Flood of August 21, 2011)

1.  Vanity ordered on Wednesday, 10/26 from 84 Lumber.  Was told it would probably be in in "2 or 3 days".  So, Friday or Monday probably.
2.  Called plumber and scheduled him for Wednesday.
3.  Called 84 Lumber Monday, turns out the order was dated 10/27 so should be there Tuesday.
4.  (A little history to clarify:   The drywall guy started work on Monday 10/24 and worked thru Thursday morning.  So, before he started I covered up, pulled out, rearranged, etc., as much as possible as seen in the pictures  The painter started painting that same Thursday, called in sick Friday and painted a full day Monday, 10/31, saying he'd "get it knocked out tomorrow".) Repair work contractor calls that Monday evening to say painter won't be painting Tuesday or Wednesday which means I have to paint bathroom walls where vanity goes.  

5.  Tuesday - still no vanity at 84 Lumber but surely by Wednesday!   Walls are painted.
6.  Called plumber (who had told me most any day that week he could install it) to say make it Thursday.  That's when he told me he wouldn't be able to get to it til next week.  Begged, pleaded, cajoled, offered overtime for the weekend, etc., he finally said okay, he'd be here Friday morning.
7.  Thursday - no vanity.  84 Lumber is trying to track it and knows it's on the road but hasn't reached Charleston yet.
8.  Call plumber, tell him forget Friday and he says "oh, and I just told a woman I wouldn't be able to get to her on Friday".  I asked if he could call her back and he said not to worry - he had plenty to keep him busy.  We set it up for Tuesday of next week.
9.  Friday - no vanity, although at some point it did apparently reach the Cross Lanes terminal (closer to Htgn than Charleston is).  But that's when we discovered that the top that was ordered was the wrong size and wouldn't FIT the vanity we ordered. 
10. At that point, I say I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to cancel the order and get myself to Lowe's and Home Depot and pick out something cause I told the plumber I'd haveone if I had to build it myself.  They were okay with that.

Just a couple more pics of my delightful living quarters as they were for a week and a half or so.  Sure was happy when at least the painter got done and I could get things pretty much back in place!  And that's about the only time I've been glad since all this started. :)











11. Friday went back to Lowe's and HD and finally decided on one at Lowe's that I had originally decided I didn't like but somehow by Friday, it was looking better.
12. Asked my friend Jamie if she could maybe get her husband's truck and help me pick it up and get it home on Saturday.  She could.
13. Saturday, we pick it up and with the help of a couple of strangers on the street get it unloaded and get it upstairs.  She leaves.
14. I unpack it and find that it is damaged plus basically it's really crappy (could that be why it was kind of incredibly cheap???)
15. Spend many, many minutes (like probably an hour or more) on and off the phone with Lowe's - getting cut off, getting transferred to non-answered phones, etc.  Thought if I could talk to a manager maybe they would let me return the vanity and buy just the top that came with it cause it's the kind I'd like and can't seem to find for sale by itself unless I want to pay beaucoup bucks.  But, no, they couldn't do that.  So I said okay schedule a pickup for return and refund.  That took 2 more calls before it was accomplished.
16.  So now, it will be picked up Tuesday (that's after we first agreed on Monday until I remembered that I'd have to probably be out still buying vanities and tops!).
17.  My plan is to buy the vanity from 84 Lumber which still hasn't been delivered but is supposed to be in Cross Lanes.  I'll call 84 first thing Monday morning and have them call Cross Lanes to see if I can go pick it up myself cause otherwise who knows when it would meander its way the 25 miles or so to Huntington? 
18.  If I can go pick it up, or if by some miracle, it's in Htgn Monday morning, then I'll spend Monday going back to Home Depot to get a top I saw that I liked (it costs as much as the whole vanity w/top combo that I'm returning).  However, it has 8" center faucets which I like but that means I'll also have to get a new faucet set.
19.  But I was going to get a new toilet also and I'll drop that from the list and tell myself that's at least $100 saved and I'll also tell myself that the plumber will charge me less to install just the vanity than he would have charged to install both the vanity and toilet so I won't really have spent all that much more money.
20.  We will all pray diligently throughout the weekend that this last plan works cause if it doesn't I don't know what I'll do.  Probably, like January, I will shoot my face off.
21.  I forgot to mention that early on in the vanity saga, I decided I'd take out my old vanity so the painter could paint the walls (HA!) before the new one was installed.  Since he was starting on Thursday, I started dismantling it on Wednesday 10/25 so have been without a vanity since then.  A minor point in the grand scheme of things...

If I ever get a vanity (and I'm not holding my breath at this point), here is where it will go.  And look what a surprise was behind the old one...no WALL!!  And of course the new vanities (at least the ones I've been looking at) do not have backs.  So again, if I ever get a vanity, then I will need to high-tail it to Lowe's and have them cut me a piece of luan mahogany to cover the back.  Isn't it just fun???

As a humorous little sidebar to the above, it turns out that the vanity I bought today is a 19" deep one.  My old one was 21" deep.  Not a huge problem except that the wall where the old one was would need a fair amount of work to look good if I had ended up with the shallower one.  And in a similar vein, it turns out that my old vanity was 29-1/2" wide rather than 30" wide (who knew?!), PLUS which, new vanities are nicer than my old one and go all the way down to the floor in the front (looking sort of like legs or something) which means that the baseboard that butted up against the vanity on the side and the piece that went along the wall and into the toe-kick area will both be too long and will have to be cut back.

I have to admit - I'm pretty well frazzled.  At one point today, after being on hold forever with Lowe's, a woman came on the line to ask "who are you holding for?" and I couldn't remember why I was calling!!  I stuttered around for a minute, and she remembered and we had a little chuckle, but, oh my gosh, I am SICK TO DEATH of this vanity situation!!!

And, this post proves to me yet again how glad I am I started it.  After today's events I was really beat and couldn't talk myself into doing anything worthwhile (clean, iron, grocery shop, etc.) and did this instead and now I feel quite prepared to at least get myself to the grocery store.  So thanks to those who read this for letting me vent.  And keep your fingers crossed, please! :)

6 comments:

Diane Adams said...

OMG! What a hassle this sounds like it has all been. I'm sure you will be soooo happy to have this all over and done with.

Elga said...

I hope this is all over soon for you, gosh what a nightmare!!!!!!

Christopher said...

Om my goodness... reading it all out in step-by-step form really drives home the frustration! Hard to believe that much is so different (ie, in vanity selections, sizes, etc.) from when you moved in. And your various woes on delivery, availability, non-identicality, etc., really make me apprehensive about my flooring job (if and when that ever gets started.)
I'm glad writing it all out made you feel a little better ;) Fingers crossed it goes smoothly, and faster, from here on out...

Chinch said...

It borders on unbelievable (so sad that it's all too believable) but seeing your pictures (even with all the mess) just reminds me of how much I love your apartment and (fingers crossed) you will soon be loving it too (I hope)! xoxo

Mary Lynne said...

Thanks to all. See? That's what a person needs ... a bunch of "there, there's" from everyone. :)

Today (Sunday) I thought I'd go to Lowe's and HD yet again, just to look at what they both have one more time. But now I think to heck with it! I'll wait and see what happens with 84 Lumber tomorrow and go from there. Today's too gorgeous a day to waste looking at what I've already seen several times. :)

Diane Adams said...

Good for you!!! Sometimes you just have to give yourself a break before stuff drives you nuts. And it looks like you had fun with your mini.

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