G McIntyre
G McIntyre
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You may look at the 'before' and 'after' pictures above and not see much difference. That's very observant. It's the same picture. The DIY project we tackled during my time off took a few unfortunate turns.

A brief background:  In almost 24 years of marriage, we've never had matching kitchen appliances. Trends changed and stuff breaks at inconvenient times. Things never quite lined up. White stove, white refrigerator, stainless steel dishwasher -- we didn't really care.

A few months ago my 'immediate supervisor' suggested we make a run to Genesee Valley because JC Penney was getting out of the major appliance game. "Want to just walk around and see what they have?" Denise asked. I had nothing better planned, so I tagged along.

The deals were great and maybe we got caught up in the moment. Two hours later I was signing the credit card receipt for all new kitchen appliances and sure, we'll take that dryer too because … uh, because why the hell not? It was like we were on 'The Price is Right' and Drew just kept showing us more prizes.

So we finally had matching appliances. Marriage Achievement unlocked. And then, ANOTHER idea hit me …

We needed a new sink. 'Needed' isn't the right word here. 'Wanted' is more accurate because our sink was in fine shape. But a black one sure would complement the new black stainless appliances, right? So off to Home Depot we went. (By the way, in the world of sinks black is considered a premium color, so add $150 to the price of the white one on display.)

We lugged that beast to the shed, where it sat for about a month.

Fast forward to the present when my stepsons and I could coordinate days off to tackle this DIY project. (They're the handymen, I hold the flashlight.)

  • The guys took out the old sink. Difficulty Level:  2.
  • They built additional supports to bear the increased weight of the new one. Difficulty Level:  6.
  • I was sent to the shed to fetch the new sink. Difficulty Level:  900.

It wasn't until I got stung once that I noticed the swarm of bees at the entrance to the shed. I got stung again and quickly got the message:  They didn't want to be messed with. In the picture, you can see that the nest was about the size of a football and it was clearly separating us from that white box we needed.

G McIntyre
G McIntyre
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We called in help to get rid of the bees, and by the time that was taken care of we were six hours into a project that should have taken about four.

And here's the punch line:  When we unboxed the new sink, we discovered that it was broken. There were two big hunks of enamel chipped from the edges. Cue the laughter.

We spent another couple of hours re-installing the old sink.

That's my adventure in DIY. And I'm glad we hadn't carried the old one to the side of the road for someone to salvage. A lot of Husband Points would have been lost over that.

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