Live Wires

Day 2 comes and goes. I am expecting dramatic improvement from the Hell’s Kitchen of Day 1.

No such luck.
Staples protrude from every square inch of the ancient original floor. Holes gape at me from every part of every wall. Wires dangle at bizarre angles like weeds overtaking a garden.

I convince myself that I am a renovation newbie and really have no realistic right to have expected anything more. As I pick my way through the heavy plastic taped to the door frame, I tell myself that Wally will wave his magic wand and tomorrow the transformation will be remarkable.

As I sit to peel the plastic off of my convenience store salad, Wally calls. I answer, telling myself hopefully that he is calling to discuss paint selection, drawer pull numbers, and faucet choices.

Nope.

“Liza, we have a problem.”

We’ve been here before. I am not alarmed.

“Your electrical wiring is a mess.”

“OK,” I say tentatively. Still not in a panic.

“I went to shut off electric to your refrigerator and the breaker turned off everything.”

“Everything?” Isn’t that a little extreme?

“Well, the fridge, the oven, the stove, the microwave, the dishwasher, all the lights in the kitchen, all the outlets, and everything in the basement.”

Ok, ok, ok. I get it. “So what do we do?” I ask brightly.

He tells me he’d like his electrician to come and see what is really going on. Better safe than sorry.
“OK – that’s fine.” And then I add, “How mush time will we lose?”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll lose any time. It should be pretty simple.”

It’s only Day 2. We are batting a thousand. But Wally isn’t panicking, so neither am I.