Primitive Pete

Anyone else remember "Primitive Pete"?  He was a cartoon character that always used the wrong tool or used a tool in the wrong way.  Usually with the expected bad result.

Well, some of Pete's handiwork can be seen in the photo on the right.  Yup, rather than a collar ring there's a nail holding the light's canopy in place.  It's awesome that someone went to the trouble of painting the nail so that it matched the canopy.

All this because...  behind the canopy are the mounting bar and threaded rod.  And they are so corroded that they aren't adjustable.  I have a box full of them.  You get at least one with every light fixture you buy.  And you can get them at any hardware store or home center for less than the loose change in your pocket.  This.  Instant.

Wow.  I'm wishing I had a Tardis so that I could travel back in time to see/hear the decision making that went into this.

The next picture on the right shows the fixture that utilized this wonderful bit of handiwork.

As I've said before with other things around here; it didn't quite fit.

It's too small, so the scale wasn't quite right with the house and the space at the front entry.

The color was all wrong as well.  I don't mind verdigris in general, but it's the only thing that color anywhere on the grounds.

And the style was a little off as well.

The new one, pictured next, came in late last week.  After spending some quality time on the ladder outside today, I'm glad to be sitting by the fire writing this post.

Once again, we'd been looking off-and-on for a long time.  We found one we liked and ordered it.  When we called six weeks later to check if it was in, we were informed that it had been discontinued.  Another salesperson on my naughty list...

This one we found at a different store.  ;-)

The Big Clock

This wall in the study has always needed something.

For a long time we thought that a big, old clock would be interesting.  We'd see some at various shops, but usually they had the wrong look to them; either too casual, country, woodsy, or the wrong scale.

On a whim a few weeks ago I did some internet searching and found a place with a surprisingly clever name, The Big Clock Store.  I'm sure someone paid a marketing consultant a lot of money for that one...

A little customization and, voila, it arrived last night.  Of course, we were having a family party and it arrived just before we opened gifts.

Perfect timing.

Merry Christmas to the Emerson Hadley House.

What's a Demi-Lune Table?

Amazingly, the guy that knows how to re-plumb a bathroom also knows what a demi-lune table is.  And he's been looking for the right one for ages.

Didn't exactly find it, but found something better instead.

We wanted one in the main hall between the doors to the living and dining rooms.  While we we looking, we had a chest we'd brought along from the old house.  It wasn't quite the right size or style, but it was functional while we searched for the right piece (pictured).

Like always, we looked half-heartedly at many places on the off chance we'd find "The One" while we we really looking for something else.

Of course, there's always a story.  Or in this case, starkly contrasting stories of The Search For The Perfect Demi-Lune Table (nice detail on the top, eh?).

One day, SWMBO found a candidate on a website for a company that shall not be named.  It has a store in a lovely town at the center of the furniture world, also known as Becker, MN.  They also have several satellite stores around the metro area.

We went to one of the satellite stores to check if they had the table in stock.  The salesman couldn't find it.  Anywhere.  Even though we had it on our iPad on their website right in front of his face.  It took the help of several sales people (all falling all over themselves volunteering to be our interior design consultant) 30 minutes before they finally found it.  On a different system.  Under a different product code.  And, of course, they only had one in stock. At the main store.

We could purchase it, they said, and they'd ship it free-of-charge to the satellite store where we could pick it up in a few days.  They'd call us when it arrived and we could take it home.  If it didn't work out, we could return it; no questions asked.

A week came and no call.  So we called to check on the status.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.

They didn't.  So we called back a few days later.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.

They didn't.  So we called back a few days later.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.   (Don't worry, my keyboard is not stuck.)  We said we'd wait on the line while they checked.  When they came back, they said it was in and we could pick it up.  Now, I don't know if the dude had to carry it on his back from Becker to Roseville, if 2 days in Becker equals 2 weeks in the real world, or if they have phones that don't dial out.  And I don't care.  But it gets better.

SWMBO picked it up on Wednesday.  I knew as soon as I saw it that it wasn't the right one; the style was fine, but the color was off and it wasn't wide enough.

It wasn't until Saturday that we had time to return it.  I carried it into the store and back to the "customer service" counter.  I waited for the two ladies (who appeared to be doing nothing) to acknowledge my presence. And waited.  And waited.  Finally one looked up from her computer and glanced in my direction (note that I was standing right in front of her).  She looked back down for a bit and then, without raising her gaze asked if she could help.

I waited for her to look at me before saying, "I'd like to return this table.  It didn't quite work in the space the way we'd hoped."  She didn't offer her hand as I reached with the receipt, so I set it on the counter next to her computer.  She looked at it for a bit and said, "Our return policy is seven days. I can't accept this."

I took a deep breath to keep my head from exploding and replied slowly, "If you check, you'll see we picked it up on Wednesday which is 3 days ago by my count and you really don't want to go there."  Without saying another word she finally picked up the receipt and began doing the right thing.  After several minutes of stuff she handed back the receipt and said, "Here you go."

No "I'm sorry it didn't work out"; no "Have a nice day"; nothing.

Contrast that with the experience we had at Pomegranate Designs.

On a Saturday we were out looking for random decorating things for the house.  As soon as we saw the table (pictured) in the shop, we knew it was the right one.  They only had the floor sample and it had a small nick in the finish below the bottom drawer.  The saleswoman said she'd order one for us.  She called first thing Monday morning to say that the table was on back order for 6-8 weeks.  She added that we could have the floor sample - the owner of the shop would have the nick repaired to our satisfaction and we'd get a 10% discount.  In addition, they'd have the repair done so that we could pick it up on Saturday if that worked for us.

Wow!  I couldn't find more opposite experiences if I tried.

Just In Time

The inspector arrived on time to inspect the fireplace gas lines.

The installers arrived on time and finished the installations.

Not quite in time for an evening with some close friends (M, R , TJ, and Z - now you're famous; you got a mention on the blog ;-).

But just in time for a couple of big parties.

The important part is that they got done in time for the big snow storm we're having today.

I think I'll just sit here and scorch the bottoms of my feet.

Jeeves, before you shovel the walk, bring me another cognac my good man!