Gardenz Own

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Still veering off the garden lane for a few moments, this is for any of you who've been biting your dirt-stained fingernails and waiting w/baited-organic-fish breath for an update on my Kitchen Kapers. I am still living in the Land Of Limbo...and I don't mean that dance you do with the stick. I couldn't bend that far back anymore anyway.

Betwixt and between w/cabinets up, countertop and sink installed. But the cabinets remain empty because the installer is waiting for the company (which for now shall go nameless unless they carry this over into the fall) to furnish replacement doors that were damaged and crown molding that was twice - twice - stained the wrong color. I am now in possession of no less than 8 replacement doors that are crap, partially crap and marginally crap; as well as 12 pieces of intricate, wrong-stained-ivy-engraved-crown molding. They would have just thrown all this basically beautiful maple away because of the defects. I, however, being the frugal (aka: cheap) person and ridden w/enough guilt already for having yet more trees cut down for these doors and molding - decided to keep and recycle them.

There was a marginally major problem w/the floor install. It's since been corrected mostly by myself cause sometimes you're better off just doing something yourself than waiting around for someone else to do a half-ass, aesthetically unacceptable repair anyway. Standing on overly-prideful feet cemented in too much "Principle" can often let precious time slip away while things still go undone and while you're still just, well, standing in cement.

Now, it's countertop issues. Blahblahblah. "And the hits just keep on coming" to ressurect an old jingle from the radio station where I used to work years ago.

So I awaited this a.m. for a scheduled appointment confirmed by the counter top company yesterday, when the installer calls to say he's "not sure" if he can make it. Plus...he seemed clueless about the additional work that had to be done and said "Oh, gee that's gonna take more time." Like, uh, duh... I already knew that, which is why I figured they'd have scheduled a larger block of time for the work. Then he informed me it'll probably take two visits and will take four hours! Shazaam! It didn't even take that long to install the whole freaking countertop! He ultimately did show and was quite nice, accommodating and receptive. Took measurements and scheduled another appointment when the work will get done. (My mouth to the Kitchen Gods' ears.) See? I may be paranoid- although I prefer the politically correct word "skeptical" - but I can still acknowledge good service when it rears it's all-too-frequently-hidden head.

So, in this day and age of inordinately high rates of mediocre products and services and the consumer's resignation to accept this as the status quo and not ask questions which would risk their being labeled as "uncooperative" or "a bitch" (remember Elaine's medical chart designation from "Seinfeld"?) here's my question. Yes there really is a question here.

Do some of these people (meaning people you have to pay for services and/or products to be received)...do they really think the vast majority of customers just fell off the back of the turnip truck, as my Dad used to say? Or am I being paranoid? Well, maybe, but that's another issue and can probably be traced back to having grown up in New York City environs where it's a legal requirement that you be a registered, card-carrying paranoid. Of course, most card-carrying paranoids don't carry cards because they're leery of identify theft from trusting mid western tourists visiting The Big Apple.

Are they even slightly aware of how many times in one's consumer-lifetime one has been told the equivalent of: "The dog ate my homework!" so to speak? Or "Gee, that's never happened before!" Or "Yeah. Must have been some defective stuff they used 'back at the plant'", which is code for: "Hey, it's not my fault that I screwed up." Or my personal favorite: "Boy, lady, no one's ever complained about that before. Most people aren't bothered by (fill in the blank)".

So, are we all just waiting our turn to fall off the back of that turnip truck? Who's driving that truck? Why aren't we at least issued seat belts at birth? Shouldn't the roadbed be pockmarked w/potholes by now considering how many of us have already fallen - or been pushed - off that truck? Is there a turnip-truck-road-repair-crew? Who picks up the fallen, battered and bruised bodies and recycles them on the truck again so they can fall off again? How many people and turnips can any one truck hold if brand-new, unbruised, virgin consumers keep hopping on board to join the old timers? Could that be why so many of those senior consumers limp a bit or favor one side because they've been taken for countless rides around the bend only to be pushed off that same truck gazillion times? And.....

...are there really turnips in that truck and how come they never fall off?

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