Getting to know you, getting to know all about you…

This is what I have been singing to my kitchen last weekend. It is not quite finished yet, but it is useable! After a very long time I can wash up in a normal sink rather than in the bathroom. In fact I even could use the dishwasher. I have not had a working one for such a long time that I will need to get used to this luxury. Things are looking up. I even have a gas stove working and an oven which will cook the way I want it to cook and not according to its own whims. My old one was totally unpredictable. And it is fan forced too if I happen to want to use this function.

My new microwave is also an upgrade on the old one. The old one, in fact, was not that difficult to beat. A friend who stayed at my place during one of my prolonged visits in Poland decided that the place really needed a microwave and got one from ebay paying $A10 for it.  Unbelievably clever girl. It was a rather aged appliance but it was made to last. And it did last a long time and functioned very well to the last day. Times changed and I do not expect my new one to work that long. What a shame I did not take a picture of the old and faithful, one should treasure old friends.

I have used my new washing machine already but I will be singing to the oven, stove and dishwasher in the next couple of days. I never was the one to read instruction too carefully, but I promise myself to do it this time. Maybe not 100%, but I will try to be more diligent about it. I may even discover some unexpected functions?

I must say that the kitchen exercise was a very hard one. I thought I had experience in installing new kitchens but this was the hardest of all. For over a month nothing in the house functioned as it normally does. The whole place was dirty and the thin dust covered everything no matter how often I dusted and washed the floors. The dust will stay with me for a while but I see the end in the tunnel.

I wrote all the above the last weekend and then on Monday my not so favourite tradesmen came in and we were back to noise, dust and very poor workmanship lasting the whole day.  Why their activities lasted so long it is beyond my comprehension. The results were not that impressive and the list of outstanding tasks is not yet closed. Even a new item has been added – replacement of my brand new, not yet used cook top. It was badly scratched while installing the fan above it. This really upset me and I was definitely not inclined to sing. I am still not singing even if few days later some progress has been made and the promise of replacing the damaged cook top was made; even without any unpleasant dispute.  I was surprised by rather courteous behaviour that was rarely on show earlier. My intervention in the office may have brought some changes in behaviour.

After this experience, I declared – no more new kitchens for me!

What puzzles me still is – who will pay for four or five full days of installation activities that were not included in the original plan. My stove was not exactly cheep either. The future customers of the company that has rather good reputation will have to pay for inefficient and unprofessional work at my place. And how many past mistakes were built in in the price of my kitchen. I am mulling over my duty towards future clients and ask myself the question – escalate or not escalate?