Touchless Kitchen Faucet

This is a long, sad story, so buckle up.  It’s a story about a touchless kitchen faucet.  And one more dang, expensive project in our house.

A few years back we had a new faucet installed in our kitchen.  Our plumber at the time swore it was the best money could buy.  And, it never really worked right.  So, on one of John’s Costco runs, I had him take a look at the Kohler Touchless Kitchen Faucet they were advertising. 

Of course, he bought it.  Then he brought it home and insisted he could install it himself.  And although he must not have learned his plumbing lesson from the bathroom remodel, I did.  Oh, no.  We are scheduling an installation with the plumber.  So now this faucet will cost right around $400.  Good deal, no?

Well, maybe not, but heaven forbid we go one week around here without a big ol’ project.

So, Monday the plumber comes to install and then he informs me that the doodads under the sink need to be replaced.  That will be an additional $400.  Then he comes back to my office a bit later and informs me he needs to drill something and that will be another $100.  What?

What he really meant is he had to call in another plumber – the big guns – to do about an hour-long job undoing what the original plumber had done incorrectly to install the new faucet.

They finally get finished and John uses the kitchen only to discover the garbage disposal no longer works and he discovers that because he has filled it with garbage.  The plumbers are very busy and cannot come back that day, but the next day.

The next day they come and they don’t have the part they broke.  They can fit us into their schedule on Friday.  Again, what?  Um, no.  I have filthy, standing water in my sink.  So, after a few harsh phone calls, someone finally came out Wednesday afternoon and fixed the disposal in about 30 seconds. 

The End

Isn’t that a crazy story and isn’t that how projects go?  Scope creep, budget contingencies.  Really, don’t plan anything unless you double the cost, double the time and double the hassle!

After we use it a couple of weeks, I’ll report back in with a review, but I can tell you now, there is already some drama around it. Suffice it to say that touchless may not be a good option for homes with cats.

Midweek Vacation        

I took three days off this week and I honestly don’t know how I have time to go back to work.  I’ve been so busy.  And had so much fun!

I ventured out with DFs Evon and Barb on Tuesday for lunch and a little shopping at Kierland Commons – our outdoor mall.  It was my first time to that favorite mall since the nonsense all started.  Wow. 

We had a wonderful lunch at North Italia, a local chain and a personal favorite.  It was a total girls’ day and fun.

Wednesday was hiking in the White Tank Mountains with DFs Jann and Ali and Gail and Lane.  Jann is a bestie from Reno and Gail is her cousin.  I’m so happy they made the trip on the plane to come visit and we got to see them. 

You can never have too much love in your life and this year it has sadly been – well, I won’t say missing – but it’s been hard to find.  Seeing dear friends and spending time in the sunshine was just like good medicine.

Gail and Lane live on the opposite side of Phoenix (which is a really long distance) from us so we each drove about 45 minutes and met west of town at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.  There are over 30 trails to choose from with varying levels of difficulty.  It is not high country, though, so most certainly good for winter hiking and not summer hiking.

The lack of shade and plethora of sunshine was no problem for us because it was only about 70 degrees.   We started off on the Waterfall trail which is short but beautiful and ends at a waterfall.  Of course, we haven’t had a drop of water in months so we had to use our imaginations a bit.

We brought picnic lunches and ended our hike with a tiny bit of junk food (okay there were three bags of chips) and some healthy options too.  I think my next blog post should be picnic staples.  I consider myself to be somewhat of a picnic expert since it’s one of our favorite pastimes.

Thursday was another chick day with DFs Evon, Sarah and Cindy.

Wow, I’m exhausted from putting on makeup and doing my hair every day.  Sending lots of love and a bit of fun for the weekend. XO