As I mentioned before, things are slowing down up on the land now. Andy is plowing the road when needed, and we’re gradually planning our little kitchen and bathroom. At Steve’s suggestion we went to Pittman Brothers in Santa Fe last Thursday to start talking about the process. They’ll design the kitchen and bathroom for us and provide the cabinets and counter tops. First we have to choose all of the sinks, faucets, appliances, etc. and give Steve the dimensions. As we understand it he’ll draw a set of preliminary plans that satisfy the building code, and we’ll take them back to Pittman Brothers to talk about our choices there. Apparently that will be our first draft and they will show us drawings of what it will look like so we can make changes if we like.
Some people may think this is overkill for an 8 X 8 foot kitchen, but there are so many little details to decide in the project we decided we can use all the hand holding we can get.
Steve and Pittman Brothers also suggested we go to Dahl Plumbing for the sink, tub, shower, etc. and we made our first trip there this past Tuesday. That’s another very fancy place, but we did appreciate the hour and a half Glenn, the fellow we talked to, spent with us. In the first picture above he’s showing Andy a shower head, and the second picture shows the sink we may get. (We’re not at all sure about the faucets he showed us.)
The adventure continues.
Did you have any adventures this week?
Wow! Jean and Andy, get ready to see me come to inspect!
I left toilet bowl cleaner in a toilet bowl that wasn’t de-solved. It ate pits in the bowl which got black stuff growing there. So we got a new toilet, tub & basin so they’d all match.
I picked out blue to match a blue in the wall tile. A woman at the store said it was too”sweet”. I asked my friend who orders her furniture & appliances from Europe because they’re better. She understands color. She also said the blue was too”sweet”. (I didn’t tell her I’d heard “sweet” before.) I guess like birthday cake colors?? So I went with a grey that is the color of the cement grout in the floor for the fixtures. We don’t want our bathrooms to look like White Trash — La-dee-da.
Get that sink that is shown on the left of the picture. Really La-de-da!!!
I had a huge learning curve just yesterday…I shall cut/paste in the message I sent to someone about it. But the guts is that one of my friends who went profoundly deaf at around 26years old, has got recently a cochlear implant and I agreed to meet her at my Mall, because her specialist wants her to go outside her comfort zone. The implant has not been fully turned on but it sure is giving her a run for her money!
We went to Robert Harris and upstairs is quite good – ok there is a “people traffic” noise but it’s not right in your face. And it wasn’t popular but it was quite large space. I don’t believe I really enjoyed myself as I had to to be thinking “what is that sound?” but on the other hand I have a much better understanding of the profoundly deaf. Not all the sounds have been turned on yet but there is definitely not a lot of understanding when another “unknown” person speaks.
i.e. she asked for certain things at the counter and the girl almost re-asked what she wanted, and I had to translate as such.
One of the most astounding happenings was when she said “what was that noise, it was very close”
It was indeed! It was when she moved the side plate with knife on it and the knife cluttered…I demonstrated what the sound was and she said “yes”
Apparently, when she went to Sylvia Park with Sarah (her daughter) she got tired of the constant noise and decided to just sit. When Sarah came back she asked her what a certain noise was and Sarah replied “supermarket trolley” – we heard quite a few after we left RH and she is getting to know that sound.
When she went out in the car, close to home in the first week, she thought there was something wrong with the car, she could hear a noise. When she came out of the venue, she heard the same sound again and later she realised it was “just traffic”
The week she went to church, she found a terrible noise. The organ started up and it was just dreadful AND then the people began to sing…she ended up turning off everything, because she knew she couldn’t “run away” because everyone would be upset.
I heard many noises, that she couldn’t actually hear – like a childs’ voice – sharp crying sort of sound. She can though now hear the phone ringing but she also hearing other noises that “aren’t” – one night as they were going to bed, she told John she could hear a radio – she didn’t actually know what a radio would sound like, but she was sure it was one. John said there was no noise!
John doesn’t seem very happy about all of this new found hearing, as he has spent a lifetime of compensating, and analysiing what he believes she cannot hear. Plus she can actually do alot more, which is making him annoyed. I suggested that she just back off and let him do these things…and she get on with doing other things that he might not have thought she would even attempt.
At the Mall, she asked what some other noise was near a shop and I said “music” but she said “racket” so after that I would say “loud or soft racket” depending where we were…
She must be in overload every minute right now…I can understand why deaf people want to hide away. Especially if they have given an aide which gives them sound but they do not understand what all the “racket/sounds” are. I’m actually tired just thinking about how many “sounds” there are in my world!!!
she has been deaf approx 40 years…got by with lip reading, assumptions and guess work! she is outgoing and doesn’t really give a monkeys if she misses the key points, changes the subject…as such! extraordinary talent. Now has to relearn a whole like of things, my other friend reply just like a “puppy walker” and yes I would be tired from “listening to her speak and trying at the same time to unravel a common noise, that I don’t hear as a noise” 🙂
I did join a course about turning my blog into a business – a pretty small adventure if it is one at all (certainly doesn’t compare with Cathy’s friend).
I was thinking a lot today when I was out…”listening” as well.
What I surmised is that she has to get used to distinguishing between what is “general everyday take for granted noises” and what is important like another speaking. Both to her and to others, like at the Mall the customer service announces things…like lost children or cars in service lanes.
I would like to suggest that as a baby…the noise is learnt and at some point maybe we “don’t hear” certain things like the “wipers in the car/rain” unless they are squeaking or for that matter the “supermarket trolleys”
Rummuser,
It will be interesting to see how it turns out. The most important thing is that it’s built sturdily and will be low-maintenance. For instance we don’t like the color of the roof, but we’re going with it because it’s the best product we could find. Obviously, we hope we like the looks when it’s all done. Only time will tell.
bikehikebabe,
That is the sink we’re thinking of.
We are considering the views of others, but we are building the house for us. Steve doesn’t like the laminate floors we’re thinking of, presumably because they look too cheap and will get dinged too easily. But that’s the only thing we liked the looks of at Finishing Touch (local store) so we’ll go with it unless he suggests something else that we like as well. He actually likes cork, but all of their cork are dark colors.
Cathy,
I sympathize with your friend. I’m very sensitive to noise even though I was raised being able to hear and have learned to tune a lot of sounds out. I wear ear plugs or ear protectors a lot. It must be a lot harder if you have to sort out what you are hearing.
Evan,
That sounds like a nice adventure to me. Not too overwhelming and yet a definite challenge.
Cork for flooring? It marks so easily!
The smaller it is, the more attention is needed to design details.
Evan,
I think they apply some sort of protective coating. They have it at my gym and it seems to be holding up. I think it’s ugly–black with red specks, but it’s easy to walk on.
Looney,
Agreed. Design details aren’t our strong points. I did order a couple of books for ideas, and we may try to get some professional help. The trouble is they probably will have different tastes than we do. We’ll just do the best we can and see what happens.