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| Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. |
Welp, it's been a sublimated-primal-scream kinda day. First off, I thought I would have some photos of the finished floor to show you, but nope; my laptop still refuses to download any new photos, no matter how much stuff I move off it. Trust me: It looks very different and very cool, much brighter and almost wet-looking, thanks to two coats of sealer. They need to grout it tomorrow and then seal the whole thing.
The primal scream thing comes largely from the fact that I keep having to repeat myself, a dozen fucking times, and they STILL eff it up. I have told them ALL, so the regular crew knows this too, at least that many times that the vanity top is going to be tiled with the remaining dark gray pebble tile left over from the floor of the upstairs shower. Which they installed. But no; they go and pull out the unpacked IVORY pebble tile from the downstairs shower, which I found is filled with all manner of things, including the three bags of leftover gray grout that they said they couldn't find. And this is only the latest example. I'm starting to feel as though with men, I have to take them by the hand and walk them through every single thing that needs to be done, even they're supposed to be the experts (which they clearly think they are, since no one ever listens to me). It has also taken me to find what I think will be a way around the fuck-up with the downstairs bathroom sink intakes, and when I explained it (using the leftover downstairs bathroom tile to make a backsplash to cover it), one of them said, "Do you have enough of the gray tile from upstairs to DO it?" One, yes, irrelevant though it may be, we do. Two, why in the entire hell would I put a black/gray/gold tile backsplash in a bathroom tiled with ivory/terra cotta/cobalt? I mean, I'm at my wits' end trying to keep everybody on task already, much less from destroying the entire color and decorating scheme.
On the plus side (well, sort of), I got the molding on the vanity stained tonight; I'll check it early in the morning and touch it up if need be. Also, one delivery arrived today, at long last, and the shower door should be here on Thursday afternoon. We might not be in by October first, but we might be in (the upstairs) by the end of next week, at least. And not a moment too soon, given my wheezing and shortness of breath, and both of our levels of sheer exhaustion.
Now comes the cut-and-paste, because my brain is toast now: As I've been saying, the whole weekend was rough; my temper's long since hit the road, and my sanity's about to follow suit. Everything below is cut and paste, because I have no energy reserves for anything else (and I still have work to do tonight anyway), so here goes and please share:
So as I said last night, thanks to all of that, we're back to having to raise actual cash. Wings's PayPal link is at the top of the list, but a few good sales would go a long, long way. To that end, we're marking the official start of fall (which, I might point out, has been here since July 30th for us) with a 25%-off sale on everything in inventory that is made by other Native artists (i.e., not made by Wings; his work is excluded from the sale). Every item on the Web site not made by him qualifies, but it runs only for eight days: today through September 30th, so get your high-end Native art at a big discount while you can. Of course, Wings also has some amazing masterworks on his portion of the site, including some new high-end, high-value pieces that need a home. And while you're at it, please send the links out far and wide, because I'm never going to get well until we're out of this tin can permanently:
- Wings's direct PayPal link;
- Wings's site, for sales;
- Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
- Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
- Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.
- Our Amazon wishlist generally; at the moment, the most urgent item is the second item on the list, the pair of cervical pillows (because we're very close to being able to set up our bed and sleep in the house, but because of the mold, we cannot take any of our linens or pillows with us — yes, my collection of migraine pillows all have to go in the trash, but on the plus side, the new bed might obviate the need to replace all but these two).
- Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.
- Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's not complete; what's on it so far are drapes for the upstairs, associated curtain rods, and bath rugs for both bathrooms. The longest curtain rods (at the very top of the list) and longest drapes are the priority. [A kind soul let me know that the Wayfair rods were not strong enough for the drapes, and by the time I researched various sources for the right diameter, these wound up being far and away the best buy.]
- Partial registry #2, from Wayfair. Also not complete, but covers a number of the area rugs
and all of the curtain rods/hardware needed for the upstairs. [Wayfair has apparently never heard of a housewarming and insists on labeling it "bridal," but whatever. Also, the rugs: yes, we'd love to be able to afford Pendletons, but if we had four figures to drop on rugs, we'd get the real thing from actual Diné artists. At Pendleton prices, that's not happening; these are a small fraction of the price, but likely to last a very long time.]
Many thanks and much love from us both, for donations, gift cards, shares, recs, moral support, and just generally helping me not lose my mind. This has been a difficult day health-wise, with my flare itself seeming to flare, no doubt in part due to our high winds and drastic weather changes imminent. I am, at the urging of many different people, trying to compile registries, for lack of a better word, with several different sites to cover all the sundry stuff that's needed to make a house liveable, especially given that we can't take the fa bric furnishing, linens, towels, etc. with us as a result of the mold infestation in this tin can. The two partial registry lists are in the bullet list above; I'm so short on time and moving so slowly now that I haven't been able to add to them, although there are tons of things we will still need. I'm going to try to supplement what's on them over the next few days, assuming we maintain our Internet connection — a storm is on its way right now, and we're supposed to get heavy rains the rest of the week. Oh, and there's already snow in the mountains; it'll be visible tomorrow.
P.S. And yes, this is still ongoing, natch: IKT has "upgraded" our service (for another $10 a month, natch, and without telling us in advance) to the point that half the time, I can't load anything. When that happens, my e-mail is always the first to go, and I have messages trickling through in fits and starts, some from days ago. If you've e-mailed me and don't hear from me immediately, this is why; if you can reach me on FB or Twitter, DM me there, or try shooting another message through. I'll be sorting through them as steadily as I can, I promise.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
