Under pain of death I informed my boys that they had damned well better get me semi-operational by Thanksgiving. They came through, installing yesterday morning the two pieces of granite that span the distance between the range and the refrigerator, in between which is the kitchen sink. The granite guy was backing out of my driveway as the plumber pulled in, so in the space of five hours I gained a permanent work surface, a dishwasher and running water on the first floor of this home for the first time in ten months. Also, I now have the first insta-hot water tap I've ever had. I still can't move back into the kitchen, but at least I can now afford to dirty more than one pan at a time and eat off a real plate again.
Had one design bust, though: when the plumber set the faucet on the sink, I went over and commented about how excited I was about it. It's an Elkay pre-rinse style faucet and just playing, I told him to hold it down while I delatched the handle. Well, when I did, it didn't go very far. At all. Nor could it--doesn't have enough hose and isn't flexible enough to lean. The faucet base itself articulates, but it would be barely adequate for a standard 32" sink where mind is a non-standard 39". GULP! So I went and grabbed the faucet I'd bought for the not-yet-installed prep sink. Manufactured in Israel by an outfit called, I think, Hamat, it's the same shape as the Elkay though 5 inches shorter, but with enough hose to go anywhere in that big new sink. So we switched them out. The Elkay will be fine for the smaller single basin.
And one disappointment: the granite? Two pieces that span one counter--the only seam in the whole kitchen, you'd think they'd have gotten it right, right? No. The edges don't match up, and by quite a bit: one is 5/8" deeper than the other. Supposedly they'll be able to fix that in place but actually I don't see how--it's hard rock, and mine are 5 cm thick.
Anyway, definitely a banner day here at Chez J!
