On Being Old--18 "D" Day plus Five Weeks

The week started with a problem. We received a phone call from Mark. The man who was to cut the granite for the island wanted us to see the stone. We re-scheduled our plans to meet Mark at the shop. During the drive to 44th and Cermak in the city, we wondered what the problem was.

The shop was typical of a stone cutters—water and stone dust everywhere. We saw one man working on one of our side countertops. Ayalla took us to the slab for our island. “See,” he said. We looked in bewilderment. What was he talking about? “Rub your hand over these spots,” he told us. We felt a slight depression. He then had us look down the length of the slab from the side. Sure enough there were splotches of areas of matte-like finishes in the lustrous slab’s finish. We stewed until Mark came. He said the defects would drive him crazy. We had the same feeling and did not want the stone.

Mark and Rosemary made plans to meet at the store where we first picked out the slab. On the way home we wondered how much time we were going to lose.

The next day while I was at work, Rosemary and Mark picked out a new top, Ayalla dropped off the defective stone and took the new one. He installed the side counter tops.

The following day Rosemary phoned me at work. Her message—they were installing the slab for the island. I couldn’t believe my ears. Ayalla must have worked all night to get back on schedule. Hooray, for the team!

Thursday was incredible. We had painters finishing the kitchen and foyer walls; we had plumbers installing the disposal, connecting the dishwasher, and making sundry connections; Ed and Randy, who I think have been living in our basement, worked on cabinets and various wiring connections for the rest of the day and through Friday.

Saturday morning found Randy at our doorstep ready to hang fixtures, etc.

It has been a hectic week, but much progress has been made. For us still more decisions to be made. Our heads, in a continual spin, kept rotating as we entered the hardware store to select knobs for the cabinets.

Ciao