renovations epitome of incomprehensibility Top floor: a second bathroom is being put in. Very reasonable. A lot of people are surprised that a place that housed four people for decades only had one bathroom. Basement: two rooms nearly finished, a TV room and Dad's new study (the old one is the one that's turning into the upstairs bathroom). Reasonable. A more floodproof pump was also installed. Very reasonable. Ground floor: the existing bathroom is getting new fixtures. This I protested against. The pink and pale green tiling may have been very 1970s, the pink bathtub rusted, the white toilet (which, yes, replaced a pink one) needing extra water for some flushes, but...was it really necessary to change things now? Mom thought yes. So I tried not to be complainy. The current state is one of flux, of flow in following the plumbing: the only working sink is in the kitchen, the only working toilet upstairs, and the only working bathtub in the downstairs, original bathroom. At least that bathtub has taps now, so I don't have to do what I did last week and fill it with three large bucketfulls of water from the kitchen sink. 260525 ... e_o_i I prefer showers, though, and that won't be possible until the walls are re-tiled and the new showerhead installed. The tiles are also stuck in some limbo state. Some boxes are in a warehouse in Lachine. Others may be still in the States. Lachine is literally "the China," but it's next door. Which reminds me that the Geographically Confused Bakery is closed. This has nothing to do with these renovations, but there's a nearby shopping centre that had a bakery called Swiss Vienna. It is now closed. CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT IN LIFE. But, yeah, this is not_a_war_zone. Except that the renovations have been this prolonged because the old contractors got into a fight with the new ones, stressing people out, and my parents had to make a choice. Eventually chose the one who seems to be more reliable. And he is. He even gave the dog a new harness and got it on him without being bitten because apparently the dog only bites the hand that feeds him regularly (see when_the_dog_bites). But let's not get bitter about the biter when we're trying to radiate gratitude. Onwards! 260525 what's it to you? who go blather from