Things are a bit weird right now, or perhaps a bit more "normal" - for us. Depends on your point of view, I suppose. What we currently have here is one new phone and two dishwashers which can't be used. For that matter, most of the kitchen can't either.
Phone first. After establishing that the cell tower had been fixed so signal strength was back to the usual number of bars, and the new SIM card updating the innards of my old flip phone, and still finding communication nearly impossible either incoming or outgoing, I finally resigned myself to getting a new phone.
The old one was a champion, and it's still here, in the box the new one came in. It's minus its SIM card, now transferred into the new phone and down to it's alternate size, aka minuscule. The new one - I know this will be a shock to all of you - is another flip phone. When I called ahead to verify the store had them in stock, the employee sighed as if carrying them was a great burden upon his shoulders. But they had them, stored out of sight in the back room lest anybody spy them and realize they could get a new phone for hundreds less than anything else on display.
The "fun" part is learning a new phone system. Everything is different on this phone except the green and red buttons, and I'm still navigating my way around, fighting the instruction manual all the way. Still haven't found the camera yet, though it's only a 2 megapixel one so no big loss if I don't get there for a few months. I'm happily spoiled by my little digital camera anyway, 16 mp and 22x zoom... or do I have that backwards?
Anyway, the initial part of transferring my contacts to the new one was already different from when I put the new SIM card into the old phone. With the SIM card replacement, I was on the (different) phone with tech support, she asked did I want them transferred, and then tapped a key or seven, told me to shut the phone off for a few seconds, and when I turned it on again there they were! This time, each contact came in as a separate text to accept or no, so the guy who sold me the phone dealt individually with around 200 contacts. It was actually fewer because once I got home and fought my way into the list, many were missing - like all the Brundys for some weird reason. Others were too. Fortunately, I had months ago typed all my contacts onto my computer in a list, just like I keep a running list of everybody's addresses for, say, X-mas (Oh-oh, memo to self....) or a complete file of club minutes. His process took so long I availed myself of one of the two chairs in the store during the wait, from which vantage point I had time to be amazed at how many customers actually showed up in person to pay their phone bills with cash. On my way out, finally, I gave him an enthusiastic thank-you for all his time and trouble.
On to the dishwasher situation. We'd gotten the advance notice of when it was to be delivered yesterday, so the kitchen had been cleared out of nearly everything. And cleaned! All is stored in the library in totes, aka inaccessible. Theoretically it all can be found, and the microwave and toaster are even plugged in. However the chaos must be overcome to locate anything, so one must first decide whether it's worth the effort or not. When I put a cup of water in the microwave for morning coffee, nothing happened. So what I drank was faucet-hot this morning. With peanut butter raisin bread. Adequate.
The dishwasher did get delivered. Period. We paid for them to remove the old one, install the new one, and haul the old one away. The new one sits on the kitchen floor inside it's styrofoam carton. The old one hasn't been touched. The delivery crew left with a bucket of excuses. Why?
It started with the length of the hose to drain the machine. After discussion in the store, their employee decided that the standard 6-foot hose would be adequate. There was no suggestion we could upgrade to a longer hose, just whether the standard hose would work. Nope, the crew said we needed an 8 foot one. To start with, it hooks up to the front of the machine, not the back near the plumbing. OK, we can go back to the store and swap. Possibly for more cost, of course. We'll see, since that's not the only issue.
They refused upon request to even remove the old machine before the counters got replaced. At the store it was set up to have the dishwasher in - limiting any possible counter damage to the old counter rather than the new one - before putting in the new counter tops. Nope, not their job, this guy claimed. The counter crew would have to remove the counters before the machine could go in (but not the old one out??? even if we didn't care about that counter?) and get everything fastened in place after they removed the machine. Then the dishwasher crew would return (we'd get a phone number so we could call and make an new appointment for them to come back - which number they neglected to offer) to put the new machine in.
Except....
They cautioned us to have the counter crew to raise the height of the new counter because the new machine was taller than the old one!!!!!! Say what? Before buying the new machine we were assured that the things came in standard sizes. Where one comes out, another fits in. So WTF? And how much higher? How much more work/cost? And how can they even tell, with the new machine all bundled up and inaccessible to measure? They said something about the counter people wrecking the new machine in installing the new countertop, so the dishwasher warranty would be invalidated.
Again, WTF? Whose fault is all this? The store, giving bad information? The crew refusing to work? The counter measuring guy? Us for not realizing somewhere there was going to be a problem?
Of course, I called the store as soon as the crew left. The call-back was prompt, and the guy I reached took down all my issues and promised to get back to me in ten minutes with some answers. Just before the call ended, he paused a second, presumably checking the order, and cautiously verified that we lived in Sun City. You know, like on the order. I confirmed we did, adding we were in the first addition, built in 1961. Another pause, then he suggested that back then things were a little... different? Unique? As in, possibly, some kind on not-completely-standard sized dishwasher had been put in. Well, somebody cut the counter to do the install, so it was some time post construction, thus not the original crew, but who had that information? And how could we tell what was what, and what do we do now?
That was yesterday around 3:30. I figured 10 minutes was optimistic, but I'm still waiting, not even receiving a call informing me there were issues still to be resolved but here's the progress report.... So the kitchen waits, clean but mostly unusable, emptied out and ready. Waiting. Still waiting. If the dishwasher sits around much longer it'll likely become just another surface on which to start stacking things needing a place to be put, and then we'll have to dig to find the hose to be swapped, and....
Steve is thinking McDonalds for lunch. I'm thinking, depending on what we hear and how soon, the microwave can get hauled right back into the kitchen for use until we have to have the counters cleared for real. Toaster too. I still have my clean spoon by my chair, so I don't have to figure out where in the library the silverware is.
Steve had family news last night. His oldest son Lance, with his wife Lisa, two of her kids, one with spouse and baby, plus Lisa's parents, all got together for Thanksgiving. All now test positive for Covid. It seems one member of the family - nevermind who, but not the baby - went out to a bar just before the holiday for a lonnnnng night out, an unfortunately regular habit. There was a surprise brought to the Thanksgiving table for sharing. We're hoping for the best, but there are some health and age issues in those 4 generations.
Keeps our dishwasher/counter/phone issues in perspective. I keep thinking there ought to be a better way to do that.
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