Evening star., 1960-05-13
Their House
Was Worth
Waiting For
II sot on q street like foded dowoger
but they gove it q whole new life

(ThoSe were things he could worry about
He did He's still worrying about themD
When you moved in, you were rather
blithe about the whole thing, but that
was BWMI-Before Workmen Moved In.
That was before you met plumbers, and
began to know them we'll
Today'S plumbers have a society all
their own. 1t is known as "The Will Be
Over Tomorrow Morning at Club" They
promise to abide by their clubs name,
only they show up actually three weeks
later at a quarter-to mine, in the middle
of breakfast.
There is conference as to whether
or not they brought the right instruments.
Then there is a conference as to whether
or not you bought the right fixtures
the parts don't seem to flt together. There
are dozens Of phone calls-on your tele-
phone.
Where's Thot Wrench
Say, Joe, could you bring over the
number three wrench from the job we
did yesterday" (Joe has left for a job
in Trenton, New Jersey, with the number
one. two and three wrenches, and number
H. too)
Were all out of copper piping? But
we had a warehouse full of 1t yesterday,
or was 1t last year?"
This goes on for one solid week. Then
they start digging under the foundation
Not a small hole, but q GIGANTIC
hole. An excavation.
You go out one morning to flnd that
they have all completely disappeared in
the hole, under your house. You think
first Of calling the police. On second
thought, you consider sealing the hole
permanently with concrete. You never ex-
pect to see them again, really. when sud-
denly they emerge at eventide.
That night they put thin little railing
around the hole and leave. You are afraid
to go out and empty the garbage. (Remem-
Der, you have no automatic disposer at
this point. You haven't even a sink) All
this happens during the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays
Certainly, the job was supposed to be
finished by Thanksgiving. But how could
you be so unimaginative as to expect it to
be finished on time? From October to the
end of January, you live in what your
husband playfully describes as Stalngrad.
You eat Thanksgiving turkey from the
Hot Shoppe on collapsible trays in the
dining room, where most of the kitchen
fixtures are stored. (You can't leave them
out in the weather)
You eat Christmas dinner at hotel
Just when you think you might have to
beg Easter dinner from the neighbors. the
plumbers finish Or say they have.
There's q Difference
But upon leaving, they point out that
the kitchen and powder room really should
be plastered instead of patch -plastered
There's difference of hundreds of dollars.
Back come the plasterers and out go
hundreds of dollars you hadn't counted on
spending. During all this come the elec-
tricians. Wiring goes beautifully until you
come to the kitchen. Electricians use
gigantic drills to drill through brick walls.
Plastering comes off the walls and back
come the plasterers.
Then the painters arrive, and the kitch-
en- and powder room colors turn out to be
exactly right. But for one thing-youve
forgotten heating in the powder room. So
back come the electricians weeks later,
like plumbers with more drills, and more
plaster falls.
Ceiling has to be torn up for wiring for
chandelier (same quaint fixture from front
hail. with prisms).