The repipe guys are busy around the house today . Their pipe-cutting saw work is rattling the house . One of the plates that Ada has up on the wall fell and broke . Too bad , too ; it’s one of my favorites . From Portugal , I think ; the face of a woman in traditional dress . Ada hasn’t seen it yet .
Meanwhile the electrician came in the morning to finish his work , to install the switches and light fixtures in the bathroom . We also bought a fan-light for the sitting room . I’m happy to see the old fixture go . It had a spike on it , which I removed a few years ago , so that it couldn’t stab me in the head any more . The ugly thing was still too low , however , dropping down from the middle of the ceiling , and I’ve gone through periods of bumping my head on it . And it’s ugly , a corroded heavy chain hanging down holding up three glass bulbs with small lights in them pretending to be flowers , I guess , a desperate man’s dangerous chandelier . It’s gone finally , though , and good riddance .
I painted the bathroom before the new lights were installed . They’ve lit the place up so much I will need to do days of touch up . All the flaws , small and large , are now beautifully illustrated . I knew that there were some , of course . But , there are many, a multitude . I’ll get on it pretty soon . No rest for the wicked , I suppose .
We had the bathroom tiled . Mark’s Quality Tile . They did a great job . They knew that the work had to be done by the time Ada got home , and they stuck to the schedule . I appreciated that .
I had the tub reglazed . I had advice all across the board on this one . I had friends tell me to get a new tub . They warned me that the glazing is just painted on ; isn’t porcelain like in the good old days , thanks to the EPA or whomever , whatever government agency is the wet blanket in this particular case . I had , on the other hand , a few glowing recommendations . One came from a man who had reglazed a tub at his house . One from a woman who said that she had reglazed a tub at her house . Oh , it was great , perfect ! , she said . But then , as happens sometimes, she had forgotten that she actually had bailed on the reglaze idea at the last minute and had bought a new tub . ” Oh , sorry ,” she said when she suddenly remembered .
I was apprehensive . Would the tub look good ? Would it be a disaster ? Maybe I should have got a new tub .
It looks good , though . Five year guarantee . Good old tub !
Ada was in Europe when the bathroom was torn apart , the guts hanging out , the toilet on the front porch , the shower’s wooden skeleton showing . I was over at a friend’s house showering while he was at work . Ada and I used to rent the same house before our friend moved in , so I was familiar with his shower . It is a tiny old claw-foot tub with a rinky-dink shower apparatus hooked up , a funky circle of shower curtain . The shower is about the size of an upturned shoebox —– it would probably be all the rage in Paris . I remember smaller Paris bathrooms ; but it might be hard to find a smaller American bathroom . Not complaining , though . It’s nice to be able to shower regularly, no matter how rinky-dink the shower is . And , after all , “Beggars …………. ” Well , you know the saying .
And the windows ……………………….
Repipe guys will be done tomorrow . We’ll have copper , with promises of more water pressure . Our water heater is now outside — more room where it had been for storage . And on it all goes ………..
[ newly glazed tub ]
itkindofgotawayfromyou 