As Luck Would Have It

Miracles, blessings, good fortune, or just luck, whatever you call it, a home improvement project needs a healthy dose of it on a regular basis. Whether it is finding the exact tile colour you want in the quantity you need, or getting a workman to fit you into his schedule when you need him, if too many things go wrong too often, it extends your time frame and raises the frustration level along with your blood pressure. Not everything is going to go right unless you live some kind of charmed life; you know that, you just want the balance of luck tipped in your favour.

We have received some negative circumstances and some positive. Since our project is still going it is hard to stay where the balance tips at present. For now, here one of our positives.

I mentioned some time ago that Mr. Remodel wanted a claw foot bath for the upstairs bathroom. Well after looking at the price ticket of $3,000+, Mrs. Remodel laughed and suggested Mr. R think again. But Mr. Remodel had set his heart on one so he went looking on-line and found one in the size he wanted at the American Bath Factory’s website for half the price. And because the company’s US headquarters were only two hours or less away they offered free delivery. So Mrs. Remodel declared the budget would tolerant it.


Now the free delivery only involved them bringing the bath to the curb. If we wanted them to take it off the lorry and into the house or garage, that would be another $200. Since the company said we would get a call with a two-hour arrival window, Mr. Remodel thought he could get some burly friends and neighbours to help with the unloading.

We got back from shopping one Saturday to find a note on the door saying that the delivery company had been there while we were gone. We rang their phone number. They knew nothing about a warning call. However, the bath was still on the lorry and they could come back after all the remaining deliveries had been made. That left Mr. R with 1 ½ hours to find some burly men. No one was in or in a position to help at that time. Mr. Remodel thought I could help. Hello! Remember me - bad back, bad neck? Then he thought perhaps he could do it on his own? I’m not even going to comment on that suggestion.

Finally we reached a friend who would be there just after 2pm, when Mr. Delivery Man said he would be there. But he arrived at 1.45pm instead. Mr. R went out and asked Mr. DM if he could hang on until Mr. Burly Friend could get there. No need, said Mr. DM. He noticed the bath was being delivered to a residential address and so he had a lift put on the lorry that morning. Hooray for Mr. DM! In a few minutes, he had wheeled the bath onto the lift, let it down, and wheeled the bath straight into the garage as if it weighed10 lbs, not over 500 lbs what with bath, accessories, and large bag of sand the bath was sitting on for stability.