Slowly but surely, we are gettin' there. New ceiling goes up soon, with high-hat lights, on a dimmer, and a crown moulding around the cabinets. Granite people coming on Saturday to measure countertop, and should have the granite in by sometime next week. New tile floor and a matching tile backsplash to follow. My brother in law coming by the end of the month to swap out the broken A/C unit.
It has almost been two weeks since I moved into my condo.
I tried to get the condo ready before I moved in, even staying at my old apartment for two weeks to give my contractor and painter time to work on my new condo while I wasn't there.
The contractor, Sammy, and I went over a series of goals in my condo, and he did a lot of work on my place before I moved in. For the last ten days, however, he was waiting to install my shelving. I kept reminding him to do it, but he had other priorities in mind and other jobs to work on. It was getting to a point where I was getting really angry. I was living out of boxes.
People would say to me, "Wow, you must be so excited to have your own place! Aren't you happy?"
No. I wasn't happy. I was pissed off. Sammy imploded my kitchen. My closet shelving wasn't done. I felt like I was on a camping trip in my new home. All my clothes were in boxes. When I would wake up, I would shower, then rummage around in my boxes for something to wear.
The "American Dream" was instead an "Armenian Nightmare". I was like a refugee in a war-torn condo, living on the brink somewhere between homeowner and homeless.
For the last 10 days I kept saying to Sammy: "Hey, can we get the closet shelving done?"
Sammy would be like "Sure, sure. I will take care of that very soon."
I'd rush home from work, like a kid on Christmas morning, hoping i'd walk in the house and see the closet shelving done. Each day i'd be disappointed to see that nothing has changed. I would call him and sometimes get his voice mail. When I could reach him it was "always tomorrow".
Finally, I called Sammy with a new attitude. Up until this point I had been nice to the guy. Persistent, but nice. My tone changed.
I already paid Sammy over 1/2 of the money we agreed on for our budget. My phone call wasn't nasty, but I just said basically that I have been living in boxes for the last 10 days and I have been waiting for him to put up the closet shelving. I reminded him what I already paid him, and asked him basically point blank: "Please - help me to live like a human being. Get me out of living from boxes and put up the shelving."
Sammy pulled through and put up my closet shelving on Wednesday. I got home from work and I was very excited to see what he did. It was amazing the difference I was feeling while unboxing everything I owned and put it on my new shelves. I had so much storage space! It was the first time since I moved into my condo that it started to feel like...a home.
Here's some shots of the before and after pictures after the jump...
