April Showers

Friday I finally got my bathroom shower door installed.

Rick was about to do this but then we fired Gary.

No time for anything now that Rick is working full time.

Then tax time. No time for anything more than meltdowns and cussing while staring at the computer. So during that time I used a shower curtain. But I couldn't wait until the door sitting in our garage was installed.

Rick has never done this type installation before and I really didn't think he should try this. This door wasn't cheap. I also know this man, he'd be cussin' and banging things and it would be days before he would lament and say, "go ahead call someone"  He can do most things, but I didn't see this being one of them. I just couldn't tell him that. The male fragile ego you know.

So when a woman from a company called us to see if we were willing to do a trade I responded with a huge YES. What is the cost to install a shower door that we already have? It was $5 more than if we refinished her tub. But she was calling it even. Okay with me. And it would be done in 3.5 hrs or less. Better than what Rick could do. 

These 2 men came to my home ON TIME. They were so respectful of my home and time. They were terrific. So much so I told them I would steal them to come work for me. They laughed but boy if they were interested I would so steal them away. They were that great. 

Because this was my master bath they put a drop cloth on my bedroom floor and they put all their tools on that drop cloth. When I saw that I was thrilled. Since the carpet is only 1-year old I was pleased to see them protect my floor. 

They carried the shower door from the patio to our 2nd-floor master.

At one point coming up the stairs they had to back into my office (open loft style) to get around the corner. I was on the phone with a customer and he whispered, "sorry for invading your space" 

Which was very nice but not necessary since I knew it was the only way to get around that corner let alone with very heavy glass.

I checked on them once and gave them cold bottled water. 

About an hour later they called me to come in. Oh oh.

They showed me how our wall was not straight up the one side. 

Yep, nothing in this house is straight or plum, our place was expensive but built like a house of cards.

That is the Northern Virginia way don't you know.

They gave me a couple ideas on how we could make this work, but they all sucked. We did agree on which one was going to be best to do.

The lead man was so concerned that I was going to be okay with this. I knew there were no options to fix unless the wall came down and a new straight one went in. I appreciated his concern and told him so but I would show this to Rick and we both are fine with this fix.

They both looked at each other and I swear they exhaled. I think they were sweating this or thinking maybe I'd be upset. But there was nothing anyone could do any better with a crooked wall. Once again I thought, Thank God this wasn't Rick doing this or it would have been a pain in the ass for him. And me having to listen to him bitch a fit. So all was fine to me with this situation they were working on.

They told us we had to wait for 24 hrs before we could use it.

Then we both jumped into the shower together and enjoyed our new door.

Can you tell we were both excited to use our new shower?

When we were young and poorer than poor we lived in a flat that always ran out of water. If one person took a quick shower there was nothing left for the 2nd person for what seemed like forever.

Heaven forbid don't do laundry or dishes if someone needs to shower.

So we would jump in the small shower together and actually say, "rotate" so the other could get some warm water. We laugh about all this now but back in the day it was real life. When I tell anyone we showered together they always make it sexual. 97% of the time it was truly for showering with both of us getting hot water. But every once in a while.... 

Hey we were young and flexible in those days...tee hee

Our flat was always so damn cold too. It was old and it had lots of windows but that only let more air in. Winter was brutal in this place but it was cheap.

Rick put my towel over the heater one day while I showered and when I was done he handed me this warm towel. Oh my God the first time he did this I was so surprised and then said, "You know you're going to have to do this a lot now don't you?"  He laughed and said his pleasure. Oh no, mister, a warm towel was mine buddy. It was cheaper than a real towel warmer for we broke ass kids and it just took a minute in front of the heater vent. I used that vent all time in the winter.

I thought it was genius. But whatever you do, don't flush if someone is in the shower. Then you'll finally get hot water!!

note wall on your right - it touches on the bottom and as you go up the wall the gap gets larger.

Thankfully in this home, we can run the dishwasher, do a load of laundry and still take a shower. The door is like a barn door, those round things on the top slide across a channel. I like it. But anal retentive me is concerned about water spots. So far none. Which is odd. They told me that something was put on the glass. They also told me that the newer doors like this are far better than how they used to be. So we'll see.

We planned to spend Easter Sunday putting our patio together since it was so warm. But that didn't last. It rained so we didn't do it. It was a quiet weekend.

I am hoping to drive north. Another attempt at heading to Erie. My sister Stephanie is in town and it's been a few years since I've seen her and would really really like to see her. She mentioned driving down here. While I would prefer that, she has a hectic week of flying across the country, being with her family and then having to drive down and back in 48hrs and then flying out west again. That is not a relaxing trip. So I will head up there. If they get snow again I will flip out. No more snow!! I'm hoping to leave very early Thursday morning.

Keep your fingers crossed.