(It’s July 2023 and I’m backdating a post for each month that I have not blogged, so scroll down to get the other two posts I did tonight.)

(Post 238 of 263)

Honestly, there was nearly nothing of note in April. Work this year has been firmly 200% busy or 0% busy. I’m grateful for the steady income, but have to say that I’m looking forward to refinancing the house to lower my monthly payments so I can start working more humane hours!

I went through the pictures I took from April and it’s all cooking, cats, and memes complaining about the heat, which has been the worst this year since the start of recorded history, absolutely relentless. We didn’t get a winter this past year, four to six months of low to no humidity, so it’s been pretty intolerable.

I did have a leak in the bathroom upstairs, so I had to replace the year-old sink cabinet. Let’s just say that while that contractor did a lot of good work for me, I’m starting to see problems with the plumbing and electrical work his contractors did for me and so I think I’ve moved on to my new guy.

My new guy suggested that he just make me a bare concrete counter since I still had a ton of material left over from the kitchen reno (which, a full year on, is not over, so you can look forward to an update about that!). I loved the idea of having a counter spanning the width of the room, so I told him to go ahead.

The job didn’t actually get finished until late May, a full month later, but the space was usable in the first few days of May. I was just missing those two tiles and it took a while to find ones that would kind of match. The black sink was a complete surprise. My contractor buys materials and then I reimburse him. He saw it, thought it would look good (he clearly likes black, based on the kitchen), and figured he could get a refund if I hated it. If he had told me he found a black sink, it would have been a definite no. But I could not imagine one with a matte finish like this and I love it! The new space, including the faucet, is an absolute dream and I’m delighted with the upgrade. The old sink cabinet did not go to waste, nor did the rest of the construction materials. My cleaning fairy wanted it all, so I paid the $500 for a flete to come haul it all away for her.

Another water-related upgrade happened in April, one that was a long time coming — a reverse osmosis filtering system so that I could drink my tap water and stop relying on garrafones! I’d seen the ads for Bebbia on Facebook for ages. They are a subdivision of Rotoplas, the folks who make tinacos. I asked around and found lots of people who have used Bebbia for years and are happy with the service, so I signed up. All you pay is a monthly fee and the equipment, installation, and maintenance are included. I currently pay about $250 per month and that’ll go up to $350, barely more than I was paying for garrafones without any of the hassle!

I met all the installation criteria, so it was a very quick and clean installation. I was a bit nervous about making a hole in my new sink, but it was worth it!

I’m a little frustrated there’s no cover on the filter system itself. I can’t see it behind everything I have in front of it, but I bet it’s dusty back there. Oh, well, it’s their problem!

The water tastes great. I’ve been washing my produce and rinsing rice with tap water for years as it would be too much garrafon water to do so, so I appreciate unlimited drinking water at the tap now. The unit has its own pump, so filling a water jug or ice cube tray is so quick and convenient now. I also regained a ton of space under the counters. My first maintenance is due in October, so we’ll see how “after sale” service is.