Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Nearly a week again.

I'm sorry, I'm just using up all my words at the office, where new issues wash in nearly hourly.  I went to work this morning with an agenda, and walked in the door to a blinking light on my phone - our controller left me a message late yesterday, and it led to another far from quick and easy issue landing on my desk. That's on top of the dozen or so major complicated issues I already had, thankyouverymuch.  

That set the tone for the day, actually.  Every hour or so, a new WTF??? rolled in, the details of which I'll spare you, but there was a lot of exasperated cursing all round.

So yeah, I come home pretty much out of words.

The dogs: Both are well. Murphy's basically to the point where he needs the daily pred or things deteriorate, but his recent round of testing was fairly comforting that daily prednisone isn't causing any real side effects, and it keeps the poopies normal, his energy up and his appetite good.  It also makes him 7 ft. tall and bulletproof. 



Which is a way of saying he's extra annoying on walks. We WALK THE DIRECTION HE WANTS, OR HE WILL RESIST WITH ALL OF HIS NEARLY 7 LBS. OF POWER!!  Actually, he pulls like a tiny mule until I drag him (in his soft, cushy padded harness) until he surrenders and walks for a minute, then digs in because he's feeling not so in charge, drag, walk, drag, walk - I expect to be arrested for abuse any day now.

Sophie's butt appears to be okay, but we are going back for another visit on the 28th.  I had to take her back on Saturday, when it looked like the incision was getting puffy. No infection, but they switched her antibiotic to one I could get for free at the "people pharmacy" and didn't charge for the visit.  Yeah, I really am earning my own parking space there.

Condo Remodel News:

Last night I "stopped by" Home Depot to write another big check for the rest of the cost of the cabinetry installation - the tear out, installation, electrical, plumbing, etc. etc. A 30 minute visit ended up going an hour and a half.

My designer had mentioned me and my flooring issue to the store manager, and he had an idea I'd never considered, but am now considering very seriously:  vinyl plank flooring.

At first I was, "Vinyl?" It sounds so... tacky.  But, yeah, like with the laminate countertops, a lot has changed in the decades since I thought about buying flooring. It looks as wood-like as the porcelain tile and also gets rave reviews from purchasers, but the big, huge, very giant difference is the installation cost.  This is a floating floor, and much cheaper and easier to install, and also has a 25 year warranty, and is moisture proof and scratch-resistant (therefore dog proof) and looks really really nice.  The vinyl tile is also really nice, and I found one that looks fabulous with the cabinets and countertops, so suddenly I'm all about the vinyl. 

Right now I'm all about the sleep.  I do have further installments of Grandma Crabby's Book Corner, including a couple of cookbooks, and one of these days I'll get around to them, I swear I will.




12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This house has 20 yo sheet vinyl flooring, faux slate, and except for the most used work spot in the kitchen - still looks like new, and still fools newcomers at first glance. Ernst cut the worn spot out and used some of the off cuts from the original installation to perfectly match the pattern. German trained Toolmaker = accuracy.
Quieter than tiles or slate.

Gae, in Callala Bay

Catherine said...

This stuff is planks, so it really looks like planks when snapped together - you get that texture of separate boards, and each board is also textured. I think it will be deemed cool here in a few years, but right now, the same cool kids who wouldn't buy a house with a laminate countertop would scoff at it. But it's a floating floor, so if the next owner doesn't like it, they can rip it up without drama. I think my new BFF, the store manager at Home Depot, may have solved my flooring dilemma.

Anonymous said...

Sounds excellent, and I think I would choose the same now, but 20 years ago vinyl was sheet or rather daggy tiles.
Have seen some attractive examples in catalogues here.

Gae, in Callala Bay

Catherine said...

The last major remodeling project, I opted to leave the dated but perfect flooring in place, so I hadn't really shopped for anything but carpet in decades. My memory of sheet vinyl was the shiny stuff with a stamped "faux tile" etc. This stuff looks like tile or wood, but will be softer underfoot, and quieter with these high ceilings...so yes, I'm talking myself into it!

Catherine said...

One of my co-workers has wood look sheet vinyl in her kitchen, and it really does look like a plank floor! She loves it.

Anonymous said...

I read many of the reviews on the HD website, and people said that the color and texture of the floor hides the dirt. That is good---we have laminate in part of the LYS where I work, and it is almost black in color. In the winter, when the customers are tracking in salt and slush, it is an unholy mess. We are supposed to damp mop it every evening before we go home, but no matter how hard I try, I can't avoid making a big, streaky mess. I also think the natural wood grain look will compliment the counter that you chose.

Catherine said...

Yeah, I think I'm going to go with the vinyl plank throughout - I'll nail that down this weekend, I hope. I want to get all the costs nailed down over the next week, so I know where I stand.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I realised you would 'get' the Oz usage 'daggy', just not the full nuances.
Yes, it does mean 'not very attractive', but the real starting point for the word is a 'dag' which relates to a clump of soiled wool on a sheeps backside.

Gae, in Callala Bay

Catherine said...

Love it! Yeah, most of the early era vinyl flooring would totally qualify as "daggy". My memory of it is builder-quality cheap and 30 years ago. I am now officially renouncing my vinyl prejudice, and am embracing the vinyl. A dog-friendly wood-like easy care floor with a 25 year warranty and cheaper installation? Sign me up!

Anonymous said...

Hannah weighs under five pounds, and she does the same thing when I try to tell her which direction we are going to walk in. She will LEAN into her harness and try to pull me, and when that doesn't work, she lays down on the sidewalk and refuses to go any further. I don't have the heart to drag her---I carry her a little way until she forgets we are supposed to be fighting and she will walk. At 12, she has *almost* achieved her full Yorkie Princess Divahood.

Catherine said...

I have two dogs and am usually juggling two poop bags, so pausing to pick up the one who decides he has to dictate to the rest of us is difficult. The dragging only lasts for a foot or two before he decides to cooperate - sometimes for as long as five whole minutes. He's just a little jerk in his old age. :-)

Anonymous said...

Isn't it just amazing how a featherweight dog can exert such pressure on the lead (and the hand and arm holding it) ?

Four "wheel" drive and a low centre of gravity, plus the absolute conviction that his way is the right way.

Gae, in Callala Bay