The Rules
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If you ever
for one minute think you are different from other Americans in this foreign
country, who seem to live by the motto of “I want it; I want it all; I want it
now,” just endeavor to undertake a major construction project. You will
discover your Gringo sense of entitlement. Guaranteed.
My project
isn’t major and it is only quasi construction. In a little-used space adjacent
to my bodega guest bedroom, I’m installing a bathroom. Rendering my guest
bedroom to en-suite status makes sense.
Ideas always
make good sense when they are in my head. Putting an idea into action brings
out all the hidden bugaboos. Every idea has some. It’s a rule.
Might as
well accept up front two more rules: any project of this nature will take
longer than estimated. And it will cost more than estimated, guaranteed. Just
factor the rules into the equation before you give the go-ahead. Acceptance prior
saves a lot of stomach aches later.
The hardware
stores in our little town carry a small selection of tiles. My criteria was that
the wall tile be light because the bathroom is being built into a space the
size of a narrow hallway. A touch of blue and yellow would be nice.
Josue went
shopping for me, returned with photos for both floor and wall. Easy-peasy.
Perfect, I said. Order them.
The tiles
were delivered, no, part of the order was delivered from stock-on-hand. We
opened a box of wall tile and it was rough, a floor tile, not the shiny wall
tile, easy to clean, like the sample shown Josue. Josue cancelled the rest of
the order.
I went to
Ahualulco to the first hardware store, picked a tile from the top of a stack.
This will work. I like it. Do you have ten boxes? Yes. I paid for the tile and
the boxes were stacked in the truck.
Got them
home and opened a box to discover the box hid the tile I had chosen plus a
dozen different patterns, none matching. I had bought a conglomeration of every
known traditional Mexican tile with white background, blue designs with bits of
ocher. When purchasing tile, check the entire box. Make it a rule.
Now what?
Belatedly I discover that the stores do not accept returns on boxes of tile. I
glared at the four boxes of my first choice, which I had liked better. What
will I do with those? Shrug. Okay. We will go with this tile for the walls.
This decision was not instantaneous. Or easy. Lemonade from lemons with not
enough sugar.
My friend
Michelle offered me leftover indigo blue tiles from her own building projects.
She had just enough to make an accent line. The lemonade just got sweeter.
When it came
time to put in the floor tile, Abel suggested we use the first tiles I’d chosen
for the walls. He said in the small space, they would work better, and they
were after all, floor tiles. The effect is “interesting”. It all comes down to
acceptance.
Another rule
of construction/remodel work is that if it can go wrong it will. See above. And
see below.
One of the
bathroom windows, an outsourced job because of time constraints, opens the
wrong direction. Send it back? No, it’s not a big deal. Acceptance again.
The bodega
bedroom had to be repainted. Brick dust doesn’t lend itself to a simple scrub
with soap and water. The paint I chose is darker than shown on the chip. Oh,
well. It will give the room a warmth it previously lacked.
And so it
goes. Periodically I remind myself that this space was formerly a junk room.
This project will not be featured on the cover of Architectural Digest.
That was
last week. Then my computer crashed.
Amazingly,
the men finished the project a day ahead of Ben’s arrival. And it is beautiful.
Ben came,
walked into his quarters and said, “This is better than yours, Mom. Why don’t
you move out here?” I’ve thought about it.
My Son the
Geek fixed my computer, set up the new laptop he brought me, stole the
affections of Lola The Dog, and settled in for a good visit.
Rules are,
well, rules, but sometimes I don’t care. I bend them. Break them. Twirl them
around. And, maybe, just maybe, my project will turn out even better. Like my
crazy new bathroom.
Sondra
Ashton
HDN: Looking
out my back door
August
middle
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