All I Want for Christmas...
By Belinda
My kitchen tap has been in decline for a very long time. It never did fit properly but the years were not kind to it. Never firmly rooted, it wiggled lately like a loose tooth. And as if that was not bad enough, the water pressure was pathetic. I got into the habit of doing something else while the sink filled.
A month or so ago it also cracked at the base. Now it was also probably harbouring whole armies of bacteria!
Our friend Frank, who recently insisted that I had to learn how to use our TV and DVD player, saw the tap recently and said, "I'll put one in for you, Belinda." It came impulsively out of a big heart that seems compelled to right all wrongs, but he is a very busy father of four little ones, so I said I was sure we'd be getting a new one soon.
Sure enough, Paul did bring home a box with a lovely picture of a shiny tap on it shortly after that, but it sat in his office for a few more weeks while other projects were being finished--and this tap installation needed someone who knew what they were doing: our friend Mark.
Last Tuesday morning Paul said that Mark was coming over to finish some jobs, including the tap. I was so excited! I could hardly wait to get home from work and see it. But at the end of the day, when I walked in and turned on the light in the kitchen, my heart sank. Where the tap should have been there was only a shiny base ! On the counter top were neatly arranged parts, complete with yellow sticky notes with arrows, from Mark, explaining that the piece meant to join two parts together was the wrong one.
Paul got home at about 7.00, tired from a long day, but after hunting down the receipt he drove all the way to Newmarket with the pieces of tap, to the store where he bought it. An hour and a half later he came home for the second time, but without the part! The store had been so busy with Christmas shoppers that they told him they were too busy to deal with our tap. Obviously that should never have happened. He spoke to the boss and the next day he went back. This time he got the right part.
Meanwhile I was now carrying buckets and jugs of water from the laundry room to the kitchen in order to make coffee, wash dishes or peel potatoes. We had our cell group Christmas party on Thursday without a tap!
On Friday Mark was able to come and put the tap in. I went to work hardly daring to hope that it would be in when I got home. But there it was--shiny and beautiful--the most gorgeous, working tap! I was ridiculously excited and happy with it. Paul laughed at me when I took photos of it.
In return I teased him because he kept mentioning how expensive the tap was, and that I should be very careful with it. We laughed a lot that night, and I have not ceased to be grateful for gift of being able to turn on a tap that works properly and fills up the sink quickly with hot water. It has a hose that I can pull out of the base and it can stream or spray! Heaven! Now excuse me, I'm just going to polish my tap.
My kitchen tap has been in decline for a very long time. It never did fit properly but the years were not kind to it. Never firmly rooted, it wiggled lately like a loose tooth. And as if that was not bad enough, the water pressure was pathetic. I got into the habit of doing something else while the sink filled.
A month or so ago it also cracked at the base. Now it was also probably harbouring whole armies of bacteria!
Our friend Frank, who recently insisted that I had to learn how to use our TV and DVD player, saw the tap recently and said, "I'll put one in for you, Belinda." It came impulsively out of a big heart that seems compelled to right all wrongs, but he is a very busy father of four little ones, so I said I was sure we'd be getting a new one soon.
Sure enough, Paul did bring home a box with a lovely picture of a shiny tap on it shortly after that, but it sat in his office for a few more weeks while other projects were being finished--and this tap installation needed someone who knew what they were doing: our friend Mark.
Last Tuesday morning Paul said that Mark was coming over to finish some jobs, including the tap. I was so excited! I could hardly wait to get home from work and see it. But at the end of the day, when I walked in and turned on the light in the kitchen, my heart sank. Where the tap should have been there was only a shiny base ! On the counter top were neatly arranged parts, complete with yellow sticky notes with arrows, from Mark, explaining that the piece meant to join two parts together was the wrong one.
Paul got home at about 7.00, tired from a long day, but after hunting down the receipt he drove all the way to Newmarket with the pieces of tap, to the store where he bought it. An hour and a half later he came home for the second time, but without the part! The store had been so busy with Christmas shoppers that they told him they were too busy to deal with our tap. Obviously that should never have happened. He spoke to the boss and the next day he went back. This time he got the right part.
Meanwhile I was now carrying buckets and jugs of water from the laundry room to the kitchen in order to make coffee, wash dishes or peel potatoes. We had our cell group Christmas party on Thursday without a tap!
On Friday Mark was able to come and put the tap in. I went to work hardly daring to hope that it would be in when I got home. But there it was--shiny and beautiful--the most gorgeous, working tap! I was ridiculously excited and happy with it. Paul laughed at me when I took photos of it.
In return I teased him because he kept mentioning how expensive the tap was, and that I should be very careful with it. We laughed a lot that night, and I have not ceased to be grateful for gift of being able to turn on a tap that works properly and fills up the sink quickly with hot water. It has a hose that I can pull out of the base and it can stream or spray! Heaven! Now excuse me, I'm just going to polish my tap.
Comments
This post goes along with your 'central heating' post of last week. The basics - it's easy to take them for granted. Enjoy your new faucet!
Merry Merry Christmas to you...may it be filled to the brim with clean, running water!
I laughed at Dave's strolling water! Gotta get that fixed, man! Call the super. :)
Marilyn, I am staying close to the sink at (nearly) all times! :) Guarding m'tap.
Meg--I'll take a sparkler or two.
ENJOY!