Day 3

The electricians did their magic, and if I thought ripping up the flooring was noisy...well! This was nonstop drilling and pounding. I suppose it doesn't help that the ceiling is out so sound carries exceptionally well. I was upstairs and clearly heard someone say, "I have no idea what to do with this wire!" A little disconcerting. But we now have all the wires cleaned up and routed where they're supposed to go, new lighting, new outlets, a 220 line for the electric oven. We also have one circuit that controls the outlets in the bathrooms, basement, and garage (where the fridge was temporarily plugged in) that is shorting out. Little things.

The city inspector passed the initial work. It was rather interesting to listen in. He insisted on another outlet along the countertop because code now states that outlets must be only four feet distant from each other. Too bad that code wasn't in place when this house was built--we're lucky to have one outlet per wall in most of the rooms!

The contractor principal and his designer and project coordinator all put their heads together to get us a solution to the cabinet/microwave position issue (see Day 2 post). Can't have a deeper microwave because it would be too heavy for the cabinet installation. It would also look stupid to have a 24-inch deep microwave towering over a 24-inch deep countertop. Adding 1 or 2 new skinny cabinets to finish off the wall looks like our best possibility. We could use them for trays and cookie sheets. Not doing anything would look like we ran out of money and couldn't afford to finish off the wall!

Dinner: Mexican Chicken Roll-Ups with Mexican-style rice (left over, of course)