Kitchen Remodeling Begins

We recently negotiated the renewal of our lease with our landlord. As part of the deal, not only will he lower our rent by RMB 1000 per month ($140), but he's also going to renovate our kitchen and master bathroom, as well as fix a number of small problems throughout the apartment. In the case of the kitchen, our objective was to have the quickly-disintegrating cabinets replaced with something sturdier (and more attractive), get rid of the (useless) dishwasher and replace it with some more drawers or cabinets, and raise the way-too-low counters to a height that will not cause me to get an achy back every time I cook. In the case of the master bathroom, the only thing we really wanted was to put a shower stall in there either in place of or in addition to the jacuzzi tub which, while nice to have, is utterly useless since our water pressure is so pathetic that it would take hours to fill the tub.

We insisted that we be able to help pick out the materials used on both projects, so our landlord had the workers come by with samples and plans and we chose some pretty nice things, though in several cases the landlord eventually nixed the choices as too expensive. Once we had made all the choices, I asked the workers to give me at least three days' notice of when work would start so I could make arrangements for the dogs to be out of the house and have time to empty the kitchen cabinets. So what do you suppose happened today? Sure enough, the kitchen guy phoned to say that he would be coming TOMORROW. Never mind that I asked for three days notice, or that I have to start preparing dishes for a dinner party for 16 that we're hosting on Saturday, or that our ayi does not work on Thursdays. They were coming tomorrow no matter what.

My first step was to call the vet to see if they could fit Ivan in for his neutering surgery tomorrow and take Leo in for kenneling. Check. Then I had to call the ayi to see if she could come in for the day to let the workers in and keep an eye on them. Check. Then I had to ask the ayi and J2, who was off today, to start emptying out the cabinets so that the workers can get right to it when they arrive. Check. Then I had to call the workers to make sure they got to us as early as possible so that ayi could leave by 4:30 when she has to pick up her child from school. Check. Somehow I managed to get all these things sorted out and sure enough, when I came home my kitchen was empty and all the stuff from the cabinets was strewn around the living room. They promise that the work will be completed in one day, and for some reason I believe them, even though the promise that our hot water would only be off for one week has proved to be absolutely empty (so far it's been off ten days, with no end in sight).