A story of ... fortune
I am in the midst of an unexpected emergency kitchen remodel. This is not the best of all types of kitchen remodels, but it is by no means the worst. What it means: I suddenly and unexpectedly had a horrendous leak in the kitchen, and it turned out that the hot and cold risers needed to be replaced. How is that not bad news? Work "in the walls" is the coop's responsibility, and they've agreed not only to cover the plumbing and repairing the wall, but to share the cost of replacing the cabinets, which had to be removed to get to the risers (but could, strictly speaking, have been saved). The coop is paying for all the labor (most of which would have to be done anyway) and a "fair" (yet to be determined) portion of the actual price of the cabinets.
That all happened yesterday. Today the HDGF and I spent a completely exhausting day at IKEA, choosing new cupboards under pressure. The verdict? Birch veneer, very plain, on the bottom, and frosted glass in aluminum frames above. Pretty and bright, nothing fancy, though nicer than what I had before. The real joy, however, is that I get much better functionality than the old ones- better drawers and more of them, and a half-high version of those clever horizontal "pantry" things they have these days- 100% less "big old cupboard with a too-narrow shelf that you have to crouch down and peer into." The whole thing adds up to precious little cupboard, given my dinky NYC kitchen, but all the more reason to have well-designed ones.
Sorry to go on and on, but I am jaw-dropped at certain circumstances about this that were just uncanny good luck in terms of timing. First of all, just 2 days earlier I had written an epic letter to the coop board president about the many misfortunes I had endured on the ground floor in the past year (won't bore you, but the words "sewage," "scaffolding," "darkness," "dust," and "waterbugs" were mentioned), and he had agreed that it would be good if there could be some adjustment to my fees, but there couldn't because it's all set by law and would be a nightmare to change. And then, along came his chance to make my life better, lickity split. Secondly, I was on vacation, at home, working on the book, when it happened, so I was completely free to seize the day and position myself to take full advantage of my own misfortune. Third, I found out a few months ago that I am getting some money from my family (property that's been sold), and it's due to arrive this month- enough to pay any cost that I want to pick up for upgrading.
Um- huzzah for plumbing disasters?
That all happened yesterday. Today the HDGF and I spent a completely exhausting day at IKEA, choosing new cupboards under pressure. The verdict? Birch veneer, very plain, on the bottom, and frosted glass in aluminum frames above. Pretty and bright, nothing fancy, though nicer than what I had before. The real joy, however, is that I get much better functionality than the old ones- better drawers and more of them, and a half-high version of those clever horizontal "pantry" things they have these days- 100% less "big old cupboard with a too-narrow shelf that you have to crouch down and peer into." The whole thing adds up to precious little cupboard, given my dinky NYC kitchen, but all the more reason to have well-designed ones.
Sorry to go on and on, but I am jaw-dropped at certain circumstances about this that were just uncanny good luck in terms of timing. First of all, just 2 days earlier I had written an epic letter to the coop board president about the many misfortunes I had endured on the ground floor in the past year (won't bore you, but the words "sewage," "scaffolding," "darkness," "dust," and "waterbugs" were mentioned), and he had agreed that it would be good if there could be some adjustment to my fees, but there couldn't because it's all set by law and would be a nightmare to change. And then, along came his chance to make my life better, lickity split. Secondly, I was on vacation, at home, working on the book, when it happened, so I was completely free to seize the day and position myself to take full advantage of my own misfortune. Third, I found out a few months ago that I am getting some money from my family (property that's been sold), and it's due to arrive this month- enough to pay any cost that I want to pick up for upgrading.
Um- huzzah for plumbing disasters?