Arghhhh!
I'm sure you can think of a friend, neighbor, or relative who you listen to as she talks and you think to yourself, "Please God, don't let me ever get that obsessed with anything the way she is with - xx." And as you politely stand there and listen to her go on and on, your eyes glaze over with boredom. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I've become that way over toilets! You would be surprised and perhaps alarmed by the amount of information I now know about toilets, the Buy America Act of Congress, and the country of origin labelling practices of toilet manufacturers. I've spoken to people in Seattle, Georgia, and California about toilets. And I can only say, you can research something like this until you have the volume of knowledge that would earn you a doctorate from graduate school and still not know if you are making the best purchase. That said, I am going to keep what I have, after buying 3 toilets, returning two in order to get models that have a special "sana-gloss" finish, only to find out that two toilets from the same company, with the same style name, exact same model #, were manufactured in different countries and may or may not have the sana-gloss finish. Hence the Arghhhhh! You would not believe (ok, if you know me, you would believe) how close I was to calling the US Attorney General's office and the Georgia Attorney General's office over this. Get this, the two toilets I mentioned, are NOT made in the US, but do qualify for the Buy America Act!!! But in my own defense, if we are putting in 3 brand new bathrooms, tile floors and all, I don't want to put in toilets that need constant plunging or replacing in a year or two. I want them to last forever, conserve water, and never need plunging!
Quick update on The House. Long story short, part of the house was flooded - AGAIN - when the work crew disconnected the radiators (picture open water valves here), charged the plumbing pipes and turned on the water. The water to the radiators gushed gallons into the masterbath, and maybe other rooms too, and flooded the downstairs entry way. The one ceiling that remained from the original flood, has now been demolished. We will make sure the contractor does not charge us for replacing that ceiling.
We had the roof replaced in 2008. Now the roof is leaking around one of the chimneys. More water is pooring into the house. Called the roofer, he checked it and said we need a chimney person to fix it. Called our chimney sweep, he said we need a mason to fix it. Called 4 masons - they are all overbooked with work, or just had a baby, or some other reason they can't get out here fast! Meanwhile, the leak is getting worse with each rain - and the attic is getting wet - AGAIN!!! Arghhhh #2!
However busy masons are now, fence companies are begging for work. In the last two weeks I've gotten calls from two fence companies I had come out and give us estimates for the fence work, asking if they could work with us on a price to do the job!!! Ha, they are a few weeks too late.
I think I found the tiles we'll use in all of the rooms to be tiled now! A terra-cotta (reddish-orange) tile for the back-entry/powder room; a green marble-like granite for the master bath, an onyx-like porcelain tile for the hall bath, and a white porcelain tile for the sunny sun porch. The rest of the rooms will be hardwood. If my contractor had been sitting down when I told him the price I got for the green granite tile, he would have fallen out of his seat. He was shocked at the price, it is a beautiful stone! But I stumbled upon this tile and the onxy looking one (by the way, this onxy is creamy with white marbling, not black like a lot of onxys; I know, I know, I fell into the bland, beige and boring color I was belly-aching about a little while ago, but at least it is a pretty, bland, boring, beige color!!!) while out looking for a bathroom vanity. I had been looking at quite a few vanities on craigslist, ebay, homeclick, overstock, etc, etc, when I drove by a shop and decided to stop in and see if they had anything I liked. Bingo! I bought the vanity - it comes with a granite counter top, undermount sink, backsplash, and a mirror all together and I loved it immediately. And it really helps having it all come together as one, that means I don't have to find a sink to fit the counter, to fit the backsplash and a mirror to go with the vanity. It's a package deal and comes delivered, already assembled, rolled in bubble wrap and styrofoam in one box. Can't beat that!
Poopers and I have been feeling under the weather the last couple of days. There's so much H1N1 going around here now we were worried that was what we had, but I am feeling much better today so I doubt that was it.
And I have to tell you I have the best sister in the world! She used her frequent flyer miles to buy me a ticket to Michigan. I'll be there when the next Twilight sequel hits the theaters - I am looking forward to seeing that with my nieces. And hopefully we'll be able to get some apple cider and doughnuts while I'm there, too!
Stay healthy and be well!
Poodle
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