People are always sorry when they ask about the kitchen — but I always feel better after being given the chance to complain about it!
Yesterday — after a friend made the mistake of asking and I spent five minutes complaining — she observed that it is like we are living in a dorm room. So true!
We make food choices based on how few dishes we can use, whether said food can be microwaved, we eat a lot of cereal, and dishes are washed in the bathroom sink. All we need is a loud neighbor on one side and the smell of weed coming under our door and it would feel just like a college dorm!
Everything is harder without a kitchen. In fact, I would estimate that no kitchen uses between 30 - 35 Little Soldiers every single day.
And it is not just the work of life with no kitchen, but also the work of dealing with all the moving parts of getting things reconstructed. I am exhausted by it — and truthfully, I suspect that is part of their strategy.
But I persist.
I sent this email this morning:
Good Morning [Insurance Person with copies to various other insurance persons plus the Repair Person Company]:
I have a question I hope you can answer related to the below [email string that included negotiation between various insurance companies about who is ultimately paying this claim].
I spoke with the Appliance Specialists at Home Depot about the dishwasher fiasco; the dishwasher that is Ground Zero for the destruction of 1/3 of our home was purchased there. I explained the situation, which is that one these two things caused damage to our home:
1. Faulty dishwasher (i.e., water supply line malfunctioned); or,
2. Repair Person sent by GE did not tighten the dishwasher water supply line.
There are no other options, unless someone is prepared to assert that some random stranger snuck into our home and loosened the water supply line; I suppose someone could also offer that a dog or cat did it but that, of course, is equally ludicrous.
The opinion of the two appliance experts is that it was the Repair Person's failure to adequately tighten the water supply line because there is no history of that kind of problem in GE appliances. They, in fact, recommended a GE dishwasher to me, which is how the conversation started in the first place.
By the time the house is reconstructed we will have been without a kitchen for seven months. Seven Months.
Here is the question: Who is going to make it right in terms of the disruption and additional expenses we have incurred as a consequence of either a Repair Person's failure to do his work properly (a Repair Person sent to our home by GE) or -- less likely but possible -- the failure of a GE appliance under warranty to work properly?
Absent a magic wand, I am absolutely talking about additional compensation for the loss of three rooms in our house for an extended period of time. Which of the various companies involved is going to negotiate with us about that?
Thank you!
I believe that they should pay rent — after all, they are effectively utilizing 1/3 of our home for 7 - 8 months!
SO ANNOYING.
In happy news (sort of) — after months of negotiating to get the budget where it should be we were able to finally order the kitchen cabinets and countertop — they will be here in 6 - 8 weeks (hence the “sort of” part of the Happy News).
This is the design — but appliances and sink will all be stainless like the fridge, and that is not the actual floor.
The countertop will be quartz and in a fit of whimsy, I selected something called Stellar Snow — because it sparkles. Yep — my kitchen will match my dog.
I have a most agreeable and patient Dear Husband — or maybe he is just more exhausted by it all. When I say, “what do you think of this?” he just says, “I want you to be happy.” Hence the sparkly countertop.
Aren’t you glad you wondered about the kitchen?