Win-gineering

So we finally have begun the remodeling process on our kitchen. The demo crew came and spent all day tearing out cabinets, sink, appliances, and HALF the floor. They meant to do the whole floor, but it took more than twice as long as expected. The job foreman even remarked, "I've been doing this for 40 years, and that's the weirdest tile job I ever saw." I wasn't surprised. You see, the previous owner of my house was a great guy, a really handy Chinese fellow who told me that the closest thing to the actual pronunciation of his name is Win. And every time I come across some Win-genuity or Win-gineering, you can guarantee it's going to be quality work... that makes NO sense. For example, there's a big wire that runs from floor to ceiling behind where the fridge used to be. Not in the wall. Not against the wall. Just free-floating behind the fridge, about an inch into the kitchen. What does it do? Who knows. I told the contractor, just put it inside the new wall. I'm sure it does something important. There were live wires in the wall behind where the cabinets came out. Live, as in, not even capped off. Maybe they've been there threatening to burn the place down for 15-20 years. The sprinkler system in the back yard? Win-gineered. When a buddy of mine who owns an irrigation company helped me swap out a broken head this summer, the same question was there: "what kind of goofball did this job?" My personal favorite--the beautiful hardwood spiral staircase in my garage leading to the attic. It interferes with parking and makes using the attic more difficult. And a $100 disappearing stairwell would have worked better and could have been put up in an hour. But aside from those minor considerations, what a great staircase! And don't even get me started on Win's exquisite (and maddening to maintain) landscaping! Anyway, we're excited to have the kitchen underway, even if we're a half-day behind only one day into the job. Since we're trying to be done by Christmas, here's hoping we don't come across too many more Win-genius ideas.