Renovation – Phase II

 Welcome back my friends to Phase II of the great renovation at the Hotel Thompson.  Phase II was an ordeal – almost worse than Phase I in my book.  In Phase II we had an electrician out.  The one thing that the hub unit has always complained about in the living room is that there is *not* enough light.  The hub unit has limited vision and when things are dark, it wipes out what vision he does have which is not much but everything counts, right?

 So one of the first things I did was to have an electrician go up into the attic and install a ceiling fan.  First, it would be great to have some air circulation and second it would have LIGHT.  I have to admit, that this is one of my favorite things about the renovation.  It was a great addition and you will see the final results on Friday.

Also during this time, I kept going back to the floor we ordered.  Something just didn’t sit right with me.  I talked it over with the hub and he told me then that if I had doubts, I needed to call the contractor then and there to discuss it before they were installed.  We had the contractor come back out on 4/12/2015 to go over more flooring ideas.  I’m glad I did because I saw a flooring color that I absolutely fell in love with so we changed it.  While the contractor was out, we also asked him to look at our bathroom floor – it really needed to be changed as well.  After reviewing the prices with him on the bathroom floor, it was a no brainer to go ahead and have it completed as well.  After speaking with the contractor, I knew the right decision had been made and we were set for the flooring.

But then at 6:55PM on Sunday night 4/12/2015, we received a phone call from American Signature Furniture which set me in a turmoil.  The lady that called advised that the furniture we ordered was back ordered until JUNE 2, 2015. What?!  And better yet, the store called us at five minutes until closing to advise us of this information.  And better yet to that, we had upgraded our internet services to fiber optics and did not know that the company had installed a voice mail on our telephone.  The date we bought our furniture and expressing that it had to be in by April 16, 2015, they called us a couple of days after that on 4/2/2015 and said that the furniture was back ordered and would be delivered on April 28th.  Now talk about nerves and stress.  American Signature Furniture was given two telephone numbers to contact – our house number and my cell number.  Not one time did they try to call the cell and we just happened to be at home the evening of 4/12/2015 to speak with the lady about being back ordered until June 2.

Of course, I didn’t sleep well this night.  I was worried about our furniture!  I called the headquarters of American Signature Furniture the next morning 4/13/2015 and advised our situation.  They told me specifically that a manager from the store would call me between 10-10:30AM that day.  At noon, I had not received any calls.  I called the headquarters again and was advised they were still in the works in getting in touch with someone at the store.  Finally around 1PM, the same lady that called me the night before called (who was NOT the manager).  She advised that the only thing she could do was refund our delivery fee.  Shakes head.  How stressful huh?  I advised her that I wanted to speak to the STORE manager.  She told me that he didn’t come in until after 2PM and she would give him the message.

By 3:30PM, no one had called me.  The more I thought about the situation, the more I got ticked.  Just a heads up, don’t tick off a woman who has purged, cleaned and stuck to a schedule to get things done in three weeks.  I left work early, picked up the hub unit and we went to Ashley’s Furniture where I met the nicest manager ever – Angela.  I was up front with her on everything – we needed furniture by Friday 4/17/2015, what I wanted and what had happened.   Within 20 minutes, I found better furniture that I absolutely LOVED, better attitudes, bigger fireplace and friendlier staff.  I highly recommend this store.  AND it gave me great pleasure to go to American Signature Furniture and advise them that I wanted a refund of nearly $3,000.00 due to their service… which by the way a manager has yet to ever call me.  I call that piss poor customer service.

Phase II included all of the tribulations of furniture and then on 4/15/2015 the painting began.  Lord help me if I *ever* see another paint brush my entire life – LOL.  I asked the ‘kids’ to invite their fellow anipals over to the Hotel Thompson for a paint party that included food but unfortunately not one single person showed up.  Who would have thought that, right?  So much for the anipals and kids helping out.  Although, Houdini did try and was almost a Smurf when he attacked the blue paint.  That’s right.  Houdini attacked a blue paint roller.  I immediately picked him up and washed him off.  And I have to admit that there might be some snout marks on one of the lower walls in the living room.  And yes.  I left them there 🙂

 So you are asking what colors I chose?  Well this is one wall and one color.  With the hub unit’s vision impairment, he couldn’t help with the painting so it was in my hands – literally.  I painted for NINE hours straight.  Up/down/on the floor/standing up.  After NINE hours, I called a break.  We went to dinner, rested for a bit and then I came back and did TWO more hours of painting.

Let me add that usually painting doesn’t bother me.  It can be fun for a while.  After 11 hours though, it is a nightmare.  I have never gotten up/down so much from the ladder and chair working in trim.  Heaven forbid – I didn’t know you could hurt in some areas that I hurt.  Let alone when we finally crashed that night, I dreamed about painting and was moving my hands in my sleep with the brush.

 This is the same wall showing how the paint dried.  Pretty huh?  This is the darkest color I used.  It is on the entry way wall and one wall that goes from the living room into the kitchen.

By the time I finished the last wall, I had fallen off the ladder once.  No biggie just a big scratch on my leg.  My legs hurt from getting up and down.  My arms hurt from going up and down with the brush. I had multiple colors of paint all over me.  And who knew you could have bruises on top of bruises.  Was it worth it?  At the end of Phase II, I was definitely questioning myself if I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Remember to come back tomorrow for Phase III.