Kitchen Setback Report

There’s a lot to catch up on so sit back and strap in.

Kitchen Setback Number 1: All the cabinets arrived and everything seems fine. We tried to layout the cabinets in the corner and discovered a problem. We need to order an 18 inch wide drawer cabinet plus a spacer to fill the space next to the fridge. So, that’s four to six weeks out.

Kitchen Setback B: Our gas cooktop is toast. We purchased it along with the oven some 15 years ago because we new a guy with fairly new appliances who was remodeling his kitchen. We paid him $200 for the double oven and the gas cooktop.

The downdraft fan was successfully installed last Tuesday. I laid the cooktop on top of the cabinet, plugged it in and gave it a test. When I turned the switch for the bottom left burner, the igniters for two burners were firing. One burner would not fire at all.

I took the cooktop to the Appliance Hospital where they charged me $55.00 to tell me the parts they need to fix it are no longer available.

So, we are looking to spend $600 to $1,000 for a new one. The one bright spot to this problem is we will be able to buy a cooktop that fits the space a little better than this one would have.

Kitchen Setback III:The wood laminate flooring we have purchased does not have a pad attached to each piece, as we were told. We did a Google search of the product and did not find a lot of good news. The reviews were horrible.

We want to return this stuff and look for something else.

It’s the Fourth of July weekend so nobody is available at Cabinet Pro to talk about these issues.

On the positive side, we (Susan) have been working on the deck and the painting is very close to being completed. I have done a little of the work but Susan has definitely carried the ball on this project.

I’ve been doing assorted jobs that need to get done but don’t involve the deck.

Two weeks later, we are still eating brisket. It has been delightful and I’m loving it.

At some point towards the end of last summer, I poured a bunch of cement into the hole the skunks have dug that goes under the cement slab of the garage. They have been burrowing in there for many years and I wanted to put a stop to it.

Skunks are very good diggers and one managed to dig around the cement I poured. We have been waiting to see the fresh litter of skunk puppies and they have finally made their appearance.

There are seven of them, plus the mother. They are cute as hell. I think seven is the most we’ve ever seen. 

The plan is that they generally leave for the river sometime in late August. At that point, I’m bringing a cement truck in here and making sure that hole is sealed.

In the meantime, they are fun to watch.