What a beautiful snow we have this morning. I grabbed my camera, and took a few pictures which are still ON the camera, but which I'll post later.
The only bad thing is that Jim had planned to stay home this morning, assuming that the roads would be too bad to drive (I hear both jojo and KaeEll laughing up there in their Great Frozen Tundras!!), but the roads were clear. He'd even rented a couple of movies on his way home last night, in anticipation of a cozy day by the fire. Darn it!!
As usual, I was still snuggled down under the covers when he left. (What?? I spent YEARS getting ready to go to the office first thing in the morning, and then MORE years up early to make kiddies' breakfasts and lunches for school. I'm "retired" now... Jim grabs a mug of coffee, a cup of yogurt, and a bowl of Grape Nuts, and he's good.) Anyway...our bedroom is at the front of the house, so I could hear our next-door neighbors out shoveling their driveway and sidewalk together. George, who retured several years ago, loves to poke Jim in the mornings, whenever he sees that Jim's heading for the daily Rat Race again, asked what on earth poor Jim was doing scraping off his car, all dressed in suit and tie. Jim bitched a little about how he'd INTENDED to be in front of a fire today, but... I could hear their banter, and it all made me smile. I love these people! Jim finally climbed into his little car, and beeped his usual, final goodbye to me as he backed into the road, and drove away. George and Jackie went back to their shoveling, and I listened to the other neighborhood sounds, as others braved the snowy roads, and kids began to shriek with delight in the distance.
It's so lovely and quiet, isn't it, when there's snow? There's this beautiful, magical blanket that envelopes everything, and turns the world into a fairyland. This snow will probably be like the one we had a few days ago which, for me, is the perfect kind. It's beautiful now, but it'll probably be gone in a day or two, because the temperatures are going to rise again, and we'll have sun. That means no ugly, black slush! Perfect.
So here I sit now, all alone, with my own mug of coffee, and pictures to transfer. Lucy was snoring when I came downstairs, and she still is. Tranquility...
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Aw! It's so heartening to read of someone enjoying the romance of the snow. Usually we hear nothing but bitching and moaning about it, lol. Not to sound too Drew Barrymore-ish, lol, but it is somewhat "magical" to have the blanket all around, to see the paw prints of the critters first thing in the day.
Here it is Thursday, the day after the disastrous installation of the new counters here. What with my "rusty" Cantonese and the Chinese workers who spoke NO English, the lack of return panels on three of the counter tops, the unaligned one counter, the wrong faucet connections (and it was only delivered at 9:10 lat night), no water in the house after a flood in the kitchen (long story) and Ted being gone until after 10 last night, I'm in a bit of a *#*&^% state today. We made the leap of faith and paid the company the full amount by cheque dated before the end of January so we could take advantage of the tax credit for home improvements, so we have NO recourse here but to suck it up and possible hire another company to come fix the mess. Is there a lesson here?
I'm baby sitting again this afternoon. Two of the kids are sick with colds and cough. I suppose it's one of life's hazards when there are so many play dates to keep up on. Heaven forbid one should be daunted by sneezes and hacking coughs from babies when one has the calendar filled with all the necessary social obligations. Cranky again today....
Oh, KaeEll. Good Lord, I'm SO sorry that this project turned into a mess, and I don't blame you for being cranky! Is this particular company incapable of fixing what needs to be fixed? Can you get the owner in there, or an English-speaking supervisor?
If you don't get satisfaction, then I supposed you could threaten a law suit, and a bad report with Canada's equivalent of the Better Business Bureau. Fraud?? First, though, I'd see if I could get the owner in there to do what's necessary.
This may sound like a stupid question, but have they actually cashed the check yet? If not, maybe you can still put a stop on it. I'm sure that they probably wanted your cash as quickly as possible, but sometimes inept companies are also a little disorganized with their bookkeeping, so there's always a chance...
Why are there always so many difficulties with contractors? I swear that it's like pulling teeth almost every single time, and it makes me afraid to get involved in another project! Does ANYONE know what they're doing anymore, or are they all itinerant workers who just disappear into the ether, once they've finished messing up someone's house??
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Yeah, Moore, they DID cash the cheques, and did so almost straightaway, lol. They're no fools. They are Canadian citizens, not migrant workers. I won't get into my rant on this idiotic multi-culturalism s**t. It is very possible for new Canadians to live and work in our midsts without ever learning one of the two official languages here.
And so the saga continues. There is still no water in my kitchen. Ted ran around like a chicken with head off last night trying to locate the necessary parts for the new faucet, and eventually found them at Home Depot. He was up before 6 with head under sink, constantly swearing, multiple epithets, insults to me for making his life miserable and is now in the shower. I have to hire a plumber. (There goes his "savings" of the $150, for a start.)
The granite company refuses to do anything whatever to "fix" my problems because it's not part of the industry standard, they said. A different stone company has offered to intervene on my behalf, cost to be determined, but it would be hundreds if not more. It was pointed out to me that I should have thought of these finer points before hiring a stone company in the first place. In other words, I should have attended trade school.
Friday again, another day of running mother around, another Friday that my father is off, across town, to his Air Force lunch with other 90 year olds. I'll have to leave extra early today because mother has trouble getting up and dressed now without her helper who is off today.
Yes, I am pissed off, cranky, and out of steam.
On a happier note, my Nick haas been named one of the 40 Faces of Whistler, to be interviewed by a German TV station as well as one from Denmark. He'll be on TV this month. He has managed to circumvent the local bylaws with an ingenious marketing plan and his Club Crawls are back in business and doing extremely well. Today he begins his hosting duties for Vanoc, ushering guest around to the ski jumping, cross-country skiing and bi-athalon events. I don't know what exactly he's doing before the events begin in 6 days, but he seems happy, so that's good.
Congratulations to Nick! I want to hear more about how he solved the problem with the local bylaws, and I also want to see his interview. Good for NICK! (insert lots of clapping icons here...)
I'm so sorry that you've had to go through all of this, KaeEll. I don't understand the company's answer to you, though, about not being able to fix their mistakes. What do they mean that it isn't part of the industry standards? I'm lost... I sometimes think that all of these incompetent people went to the same trade school: Dewey, Cheatham & Howe. (The same name is often applied to law firms too.)
It's beginning to snow, and we're supposed to get about two feet, over the course of today and tomorrow. I shopped for three-days' worth of food, including Super Bowl snack thingies. Our son will be snowed in at his own place, so I guess that it'll just be Jim and me with the munchies...
Jim is home today, in anticipation of the snow storm. He had an interesting experience last night; he slept at one of those sleep centers, and was all hooked up to electrodes. He was sprung at about 5:30 a.m., came home, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. We won't have the results for about a week, but I can't wait to hear what they say. I've been telling Jim for YEARS that he ought to go to one of these places because of snoring, but lately he's developed a really weird pattern that's no fun at all. He's been having horrible nightmares on a nightly basis that usually begin about 5:00 a.m., and he wakes up suddenly shortly afterwards in a state of panic. Our doctor thinks that it's because of sleep apnea that's depriving him of oxygen, and that's creating the anxiety. So, he sent Jim to the sleep center, about twelve years after I began begging him to do it! So, we'll see... I really hope that they found out SOMETHING because the poor guy needs to get some sleep!
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Thanks for sharing that. 
