Kitchen Milestone, at Pandemic Finish Line

March feels longer this year, dragging on, and keeping on just like that snow that won’t melt in the corners of the yard.  Damn, a full year of an absolute bummer.  And still, it persists, as so few friends are ready to leave their safe cocoons, and so few share my need to socialize and get together. But I’ve reached a milestone, completing my kitchen.

Tonight I tried to suggest we contact friends for a rendezvous… “only if it’s outside,” came the answer.  Arggh. It’s currently 35 degrees outside here in Deerfield, so that’s not gonna happen.

But it will happen. And so I must wait.  I just accomplished a milestone, I finally and finished the renovation of my kitchen, and it’s come out remarkably well. It was fun being involved with so much of the project and watching how each step turned out.

When my plumber was installing my new kitchen sink and drain, I couldn’t help but gawk, wanting to watch how he cut the plastic pipes and how he bent them to exactly fit in that small space to drain two sinks.

One thing I learned was that pec is a lifesaver, that’s the new kind of piping that is hard plastic and easy to crimp into Y’s and adapt to both hot and cold water, color-coded and easy to work with.

I have always had an interest in the trades, once I even spent time researching how much education and experience I would have to have in order to become an electrician.

I found out that one needs to study for approx. 800 hours in a classroom and spent four solid years as an apprentice before you can get the big bucks and call yourself certified. I don’t see myself delving into such a trade, despite the allure of the big money.   So I’ll remain a consumer of electrical services but not a purveyor.

I had a bit of an unexpected development when my 15-year-old refrigerator died. I had a little glimmer of hope that a relay switch would solve it, but Manny’s technician Mike Suprenaut confirmed that the compressor was dead, a fatal blow to the old double-door unit. So I bought a snazzy stainless steel Whirlpool which will arrive next Tuesday. Nice to have the appliances all matching now.

Life is this vortex of ‘we’re almost there but don’t get excited yet because it’s not safe yet’ and it drives me crazy. I get into arguments with Mary over whether Baker is doing too much, or not enough, I find myself bumping up against people who are just like me, confused and unsure. But most people have much more patience than me, and nobody has extended any invitations my way, despite the fact that there are now more than a few of my friends who have been double vaxxed.

I guess I’ll have to make the first move, precisely two weeks after my 3/25 second vaccine, I’m warning the world…I’m sending out invites to small six-person approved get-togethers, and I am determined to enjoy my post-covid life.